Posting Citizen Journalist • Member since May 23, 2014
After writing for NWCitizen for five years, Ralph Schwartz helped launch a new Whatcom County newspaper, Cascadia Daily News, joining the staff in December 2021 as government reporter. Before the Daily News, he worked for 14 years at professional newspapers, most recently the Methow Valley News and The Bellingham Herald.
McClatchy put up a fight, but newsroom employees at The Bellingham Herald and three other Washington newspapers got what they wanted -- a single union to represent workers at all [...]
McClatchy, the corporate owners of The Bellingham Herald who were taken over by a hedge fund after bankruptcy, appears willing to accept the inevitable. News employees at the chain’s [...]
There’s no telling how far a newspaper will fall. When I started as a reporter at The Bellingham Herald in 2011, some 25 people were working in the newsroom, including six [...]
"Just for the record, the Philadelphia Eagles have a female sports conditioning coach, and you’ll see female referees at pretty much every NFL game nowadays. Still, point taken.
"Jamie, I admire your dedication. I know a more thorough report is coming soon, but I’m confused by this story and would appreciate more context: The great blue [...]
"I know the author’s argument is nearly four weeks old now, and his thinking may have changed…. I will point out at this juncture that City of Bellingham is&[...]
"To “G:” These days, it’s a rare person indeed who is not incessantly sure of himself. Trump is a prime example of the mass of people so afflicted. Especially [...]
"A couple points of clarification/correction: I’ve read reports on Reinoehl/Danielson in multiple media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. [...]
The top 20% of commercial banks in the United States control 95% of our total banking assets. Remember “Too-Big-to-Fail”?
3 comments, most recent 2 weeks agoThe City has created another useless document ensuring nothing changes and mediocre communication services are protected.
13 comments, most recent 2 weeks agoWhy a vote for Jason Call for Congress is a good vote for conservatives, liberals, Democrats and Republicans. Yes, an unusual idea.
Heaven forbid our reps should attack the main problem, Medicare Advantage, head on. But no. They must nibble around the edges to give the appearance of doing something.
1 comment, most recent 2 months agoMorally significant double binds force doctors and combat soldiers into identical life and death quandaries, damaging their moral centers. To these two groups we can also add law enforcement officers.
4 comments, most recent 3 months agoIt is time to stop the “Real Steal” from Medicare.
3 comments, most recent 3 months agoEric Hirst gives us a brief and clear explanation of the water adjudication process that is beginning now in Whatcom County
3 comments, most recent 2 months agoAggressive citizen involvement carried the day.
5 comments, most recent 3 months agoBuild-for-profit, incarceration-inspired housing is destroying our souls.
11 comments, most recent 3 weeks agoThe last of the scrap metal is loaded on the ship and it will be gone from our town.
1 comment, most recent 4 months agoA 54-photo tour of the ruptured pipe area of the Whatcom Creek explosion taken in July 1999.
1 comment, most recent 4 months agoBelow is an audio tape of 911 calls, emergency responders’ radio communications, and local radio coverage from June 10, 1999 when Whatcom Creek exploded in Bellingham
2 comments, most recent 4 months agoWhatcom County’s confusing water rights will be defined by court proceedings beginning now
1 comment, most recent 3 months agoIf not killed-in-action, they are still dying from the effects of their service in Vietnam.
7 comments, most recent 4 months agoThe foam of secrecy hides all.
Local presentations scheduled on a reasonable use framework for water resource management
Broadband-Washing: Greenwashing the Internet
6 comments, most recent 6 months agoPacific Northwest organizers join a global campaign to abolish all nukes and push for a city council resolution to start
4 comments, most recent 5 months agoIf the hospitals are smelling a rat, so should Medicare (Dis)Advantage victims (AKA enrollees).
2 comments, most recent 4 months agoWith such a bank in place, we would likely not be scrambling around and asking Congress for rebuild monies, as we are now with the catastrophic event involving the Francis Scott Key bridge on March 26, 2024.
Port of Bellingham commissioners terminate last 13 years of ABC Recycling lease
5 comments, most recent 6 months agoNo public fiber means we can’t compete with big telecom. EVER.
4 comments, most recent 6 months agoCrappier coverage for us, even more money for insurance companies.
3 comments, most recent 7 months agoWho benefits? Palestinians are being slaughtered. Genocide. Gaza is being leveled.
6 comments, most recent 6 months agoThe Port Commission has decreed that Bellingham’s waterfront will remain a toxic, festering sore
6 comments, most recent 9 months agoWe needed a hook, and we think we found it.
13 comments, most recent 8 months ago"Sweet Jesus,” shrieked the thralls of the Sehomus Republic,as ABC the Yochlowitz,successor to GorgoPacificus the Destroyer,...
3 comments, most recent 10 months agoPeoples Bank proposes to tear down the once popular Zane Burger restaurant to build a branch office.
3 comments, most recent 10 months agoBiden administration is asking the public to report on bogus advertising claims of Medicare Advantage providers.
7 comments, most recent 10 months ago15 new townhouses, out-of-town developer, build-and-run, in south side Happy Valley neighborhood of Bellingham.
2 comments, most recent 10 months agoTuesday, Dec, 5, will be the first time ABC Recycling has agreed to answer the public. Don’t miss this meeting. Here are the issues.
6 comments, most recent 10 months agoThe effect of WWU students on Whatcom County’s rental housing market
5 comments, most recent 10 months agoThere seems to be no barrier to the depths to which scammers will go to steal money from the most vulnerable or deserving.
Merely musing about soldiers.
4 comments, most recent 11 months agoThe city comes through on public wi-fi hotspots
1 comment, most recent 11 months agoAn insider’s view of rental inspections in Bellingham as experienced by a long-time renter.
5 comments, most recent 11 months agoIt is time to stop the injustices that have been propagated over the years.
6 comments, most recent 11 months agoGetting a letter that declares, “An exciting new prescription drug benefit for you!” should activate your BS detector.
7 comments, most recent 9 months agoWho benefits?
3 comments, most recent 11 months agoAt Large position on the Bellngham City Council
Is this a good place to live? Do you feel safe? Can you afford it? Are too many of us living on the streets? Doug Karlberg has some ideas.
Why a Liberal is voting for a Conservative for the Whatcom County Council
14 comments, most recent 11 months agoThe truth is out there; Jon Humphrey has researched the issues and concisely compiled the results.
5 comments, most recent 11 months agoWard 3 position on the Bellingham City Council
Wendy was an intrepid voice for the environment and the humane treatment of animals. May her memory be for a blessing.
3 comments, most recent 11 months agoWhatcom County Sheriff is elected by all county voters, including those in Bellingham, Ferndale and other towns.
Or at least, take a moment to learn about the privatization of Medicare, commonly called Medicare [Dis]Advantage.
1 comment, most recent 11 months agoAn in-depth look at local housing: insightful, researched, and provocative.
5 comments, most recent 11 months agoWhatcom County Sheriff voted on by registered voters in Whatcom County
The passage of time alone will not save Bellingham from this dangerous situation. Only strong and persistent action on the part of its citizens will be effective against this menace.
