Citizen Journalist • Member since Jul 23, 2015
Eric Hirst has a Ph.D. in engineering from Stanford University, spent 30 years as an energy policy analyst at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and retired to Bellingham 18 years ago. He is a local environmental activist.
How can we best resolve long-standing water-resource issues in the Nooksack River Basin? These problems–primarily too little water in the river and streams during the summer months–have been [...]
Electricity and water are essential resources in our society. But the way we efficiently plan for our electricity needs is vastly different from how poorly we plan for our water [...]
State water law is a complicated mess, a piece-by-piece accumulation and accretion of disparate laws since 1917. Worse, these laws confound solutions to the problems we face today in managing an [...]
"Hi David, Thanks for your insightful comments. I agree that unpermitted water use in the agricultural sector is a big problem, perhaps 40% of total irrigation water use in Whatcom County. [...]
"John, Congratulations on turning 77 and deciding to begin a well deserved retirement. Although I often disagree with the stories and/or comments published in NW Citizen, I very much [...]
"Elisabeth, thanks for your helpful comments on my article. We likely both believe that salmon are doing poorly because of many factors, some involving ocean conditions and others involving their [...]
"I agree with Greg’s comments. As he notes, we have allocated more water for human, out-of-stream uses than is actually available. Therefore, salmon, other fish and the environment in [...]
"I agree"that it is impossible to make definitive statements about who is or is not using water illegally, until we have accurate data.” But there are no plans, at [...]
Six applicants for Bellingham’s Broadband Advisory Group are examined by Jon for their conflicts of interest with their business ties to the broadband industry.
2 comments, most recent 2 days agoProposition 2020-14 allows us to support pedestrians and bicyclists by continuing the sales tax of a mere two cents per $10.
3 comments, most recent 2 days agoJon explains why the Starlink satellite Internet service will not be so great and why fiber is still best for reliability, speed, cost, safety and the environment. Really.
4 comments, most recent 3 days agoSome candidates and issues can be a bit obtuse as we look at the campaign literature. These recommendations are for those with progressive, liberal, or moderate values and perspectives.
4 comments, most recent 3 hours agoBellingham is foot-dragging and Whatcom County gives nearly $1 million to “Big Telecom.”
2 comments, most recent 5 days agoOnly four US counties remain covid free, each of them rural. We discuss how the pandemic reached rural, isolated counties.
15 comments, most recent 2 days agoWinter quarter at WWU will look much the same as the fall quarter with mostly online classes.
Satpal Sidhu supports Ferndale School Levy
Daniel Kirkpatrick has a letter to the editor endorsing Christine Grant for Public Utility District Commissioner.
The novel coronavirus infects the US president and he responds, after a weekend visit to Walter Reed Military Hospital, with wild mood swings and reckless policy pronouncements.
Changing or eliminating the definition of “family” in our zoning codes is fraught with difficulties and likely inevitable unintended(?)consequences.
4 comments, most recent 2 weeks agoSchools especially are losing out because of local government neglect of broadband access. And it isn’t getting better.
Let’s stop calling the president “our Commander in Chief.”
10 comments, most recent 2 weeks agoJC Mansfield explains how Bellingham and our police have chosen to deal with our homeless residents in unproductive, criminalizing, uncaring, and unconstitutional ways.
1 comment, most recent 2 weeks agoCity hall is trying to keep planning commissioners on the job as vacancies mount in a game of musical chairs.
2 comments, most recent 3 weeks agoMike Pellicciotti is the one to replace the current, Trump-loving incumbent Washington State Treasurer.
2 comments, most recent 4 weeks agoWhy the Trump “administration” is responsible for at least half the 200,000+ US coronavirus deaths.
11 comments, most recent 2 weeks agoBellingham police are between a rock and a hard place. Resolution of issues will not be easy or pleasant given the history of policing.
6 comments, most recent 1 month ago4th Update posted. We will provide short updates to the article “Cougar Trapping … Maybe,” to keep you informed of the cougar’s status.
4 comments, most recent 1 month agoAs of January 2021 only one planning commissioner will have served more than a year. Experience will be woefully lacking
1 comment, most recent 1 month agoAn effort to trap a cougar that has been hanging around the southside too long is in place.
1 comment, most recent 1 month agoMarkis Dee guest writes as the County Council appointed Homeless Advocate for Whatcom County. This is a first person account of his experiences and recommendations.
1 comment, most recent 1 month agoA Public Works document on Bellingham’s fiber optic network leaves much to be desired.
Neither innocence nor guilt will add much to our understanding of the deaths of these two men.
7 comments, most recent 1 month agoReal progress on broadband and fiber optics is not what is being sold to the public by the city.
3 comments, most recent 1 month agoNot local, but we would be remiss to not speak out.
About two-thirds of all returning students will live in campus residence halls, but that does not mean they will be confined to campus.
12 comments, most recent 1 month agoClose questioning of the auditor’s office reveals the truth. Now the issue becomes, what will county leaders do with these two extra ballot drop boxes?
6 comments, most recent 1 month agoVoters prefer drop boxes to ensure their ballots are counted, yet our county auditor thinks that is not true. The numbers are against her.
8 comments, most recent 2 months agoStudents returning for the fall semester at WWU present the greatest threat to local residents during this pandemic.
An undemocratic process awaits a workgroup on broadband.
The curtain has been pulled back on the vulnerability of US higher education.
3 comments, most recent 2 months agoIn a specific and obviously sternly written request for information, the city outlined the deficiencies in the CityView project proposal.
Enoch J. Ledet guest writes, advocating for a better method of cleaning Lake Whatcom of the phosphorus. The phosphorus that our drinking water must not contain.
1 comment, most recent 2 months agoIrene Morgan guest writes. She is turning 80 this week and reflects on her many years of helping victims of our so called justice system.
1 comment, most recent 2 months agoWA State Department of Commerce Internet Access Test is a Scam to Protect Big Telecom
7 comments, most recent 2 months agoWhite guilt in tow, the author treks 260 miles from Bellingham to Portland to see what all the fuss is about.
4 comments, most recent 2 months agoSee link to map of Ballot Drop Boxes. It is too late now to mail your ballot. Postal Service is struggling. Drop your ballot in a Drop Box.
5 comments, most recent 2 months agoVeterans honor veterans in this time of national mourning.
Only very limited number of experiential courses will be taught on campus.
4 comments, most recent 2 months agoMoving to the governor’s Phase 3 reopening will very likely never happen. What we have is what we get, except for going back to Phase 1.
29 comments, most recent 2 months agoWhatcom Human Rights Task Force has sent an open letter to Mayor Fleetwood and Executive Sidhu expressing their concerns about the planned four Listening Sessions.
4 comments, most recent 2 months agoRelative to the state’s other 38 counties, Whatcom is doing reasonably well in terms of COVID-19 deaths
2 comments, most recent 3 months agoGuest writer, Dianne Foster, a self-described “old radical hippie, yearning for a better world,” shares her election choices and reasoning.
14 comments, most recent 2 months agoEven a partial opening of the WWU campus will threaten or reverse our progress in fighting the pandemic. Play with fire, get burned.
11 comments, most recent 2 months agoThe 30 Republican-leaning states now lead in total COVID-19 cases
4 comments, most recent 3 weeks agoNo kidding, this mature cougar was casually prowling backyards inside the Bellingham city limits this past weekend.
6 comments, most recent 3 weeks agoSo far, so good for San Juan County. The July 4th holiday visitors have not led to either a “Yellow” or “Red” alert for covid-19 cases among its residents
This brief article will appear on days when Old Glory is at half-staff.
A writer has a conversation with an article about police unions.
5 comments, most recent 3 months ago
