Letters to the Editor

Thanks & more thanks
The Editor:
I would like to thank all of the Lawrence Anderson family for inviting me to spend some time with Grandma Finnson on her 101st birthday. Grandma, you were just as beautiful as ever and the happiness in your face is something to remember forever.
My thanks go out to Jim and Julie for welcoming me into their home for the celebration. Happy birthday Grandma, and many more to come.
Sarah Paulsen
Blaine

The Editor:
I want to thank the citizens of Blaine on behalf of the council in voting for the street maintenance levy on property.
There are a few who continue to say what’s wrong and are against everything. They can’t even get my name spelled correctly. Enough said.
We have had population increase, building permits are up, the state mandates have all increased demands on staff, which has not increased in the past eight years.
Blaming city staff and council for the decline of the Canadian dollar is ludicrous. Past dependence on Canadian dollar with slots, liquor, adult book store, three shoe stores, mall and gasoline made it easy to produce a seemingly busy downtown. Now we are hopeful of making Blaine more of a place for tourists on this side of the border. Any Lower Mainland visitor will be a plus to our economy – not a necessity for survival.
The fees for development have been under study for years. It was dropped as a priority over five years ago when the planning department staff was cut. We are just now catching up for ill-timed personnel cuts. We will shortly be finalizing changes, which will result in fee schedule lower than Ferndale and Lynden who are just now raising theirs as we go down.
In November, the council will be going over the 2003 budget. We welcome citizen scrutiny and input. All of us have the same problem balancing income to expenses.
A senior citizen or disabled person who lives in a single family home, mobile or one unit in a multi-unit place making less than a combined disposable income of $30,000 and is over 61 may qualify by filing with the court assessor office to be eligible for the property tax exemption program.
Again, thank you for your continuing support as we move forward together.
Mayor Dieter Schugt
Blaine

Bus service wanted
The Editor:
My name is Neal Teutsch. I am a senior at Blaine high school and a resident of Point Roberts. In today’s society, getting into university is a big step and a competitive one. Simply having good grades just isn’t enough anymore,. You have to be involved with programs associated with your school and community. So why am I bringing this up? Because Point Roberts has many brilliantly gifted students who may never be given the opportunity to reach their goals because they don’t have access to a car or because they can’t afford $50 a week for gas.
Currently there are 140 students whotravel daily to Blaine to school. During the 13 years that I have attended the Blaine school district, I have seen the student population in Point Roberts double; where we used to fill one bus we now fill two. I have witnessed a number of families who have moved out of Point Roberts to avoid the transportation challenges, including my neighbor and best friend of 16 years who moved to Blaine so that he can play football.
We are fortunate to attend a school that has so many programs available to its students. Unfortunately the majority of these programs are scheduled before and after school and are not available to students of Point Roberts who do not have private transportation. The problem has been long avoided and addressing it is much overdue. Scheduled public bus service between Point Roberts and Blaine would help solve this problem.
On Wednesday September 18, a committee of Point Roberts citizens presented a grant proposal to the Whatcom Transit Authority. The request was for the WTA to apply for the rural mobility grant, a state grant that provides funds to communities like ours, whose citizens have challenges reaching necessary services. The proposed service would provide weekday connector service between Point Roberts and Blaine, linking to WTA service between Blaine and Bellingham.
Please support our WTA grant proposal to bring public transportation to Point Roberts so that every future student has an equal opportunity to participate and reach their full potential.
I would like to thank the WTA for agreeing to apply for the grant on our behalf. Thank you to all the individuals who wrote letters in support of the grant proposal.
Neal Teutsch
Point Roberts Transportation Cttee
Point Roberts

Great auction!
The Editor:
What a great day! A sunny day when the beautification committee, staff, and the community came together to spend a Saturday raising money for more improvements to the city’s downtown. The auction raised almost $4,500, just about double what we were expecting. Lots of hard work went into this event with tons of help from people like Laurie Hart, June Auld, Jan Hrutfiord, Carol Lee Ann and Renate Tomsic.
Special thanks to Marv and Deb at the Pizza Factory for all of their help. Some great buys!! And, yes, Bruce did buy the chair.
See everybody next year.
Terry Galvin
Blaine

Letters Policy
The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor; however, the opinions expressed are not those of the editor. Letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters must not exceed 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste. Thank-you letters should be limited to 10 names. A fresh viewpoint on matters of general interest to local readers will increase the likelihood of publication. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published.

Please send your letter to:
225 Marine Drive, Blaine, WA 98230 or fax 360/332-2777.
E-mail:editor@thenorthernlight.com

Letters Policy

The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor; however, the opinions expressed are not those of the editor. Letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters must not exceed 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste. Thank you letters are limited to five individuals or groups. A fresh viewpoint on matters of general interest to local readers will increase the likelihood of publication. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published.

Please email letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com