The Editor:
As I read complaints posted on a neighborhood social media platform alleging that The Northern Light weekly newspaper shows bias toward Blaine city officials, I have grown increasingly concerned that its journalistic integrity appears to be unfairly characterized. Disagreement with coverage is healthy and expected in a civic community, but claims of bias should be grounded in specific, verifiable examples rather than dissatisfaction with outcomes or editorial judgment.
In contentious local matters, particularly those involving environmental or public records issues, some accusations may arise from heightened risk interpretation rather than confirmed facts. Strong language and repeated assertions online can create an impression of certainty that the available evidence does not support.
A simple safeguard can help readers navigate these disputes. Not every warning sign is proof. Not every interpretation is evidence. And not every procedural disagreement signals misconduct. Readers who follow extended post threads should also review primary documents and seek independent verification before drawing conclusions.
I value having a local paper that covers city government and community issues, and I appreciate the work involved in doing so. I also look forward to seeing the paper continue to serve the community well under its new ownership.
Steven Colson
Birch Bay
The Editor:
I write in response to Sharman Burnam’s letter. I honor your choice to support Donald Trump. It is certainly your right and privilege. Since you offered few specifics about Trump’s “real results,” allow me to offer some more.
Trump campaigned to deport “the worst of the worst” illegals. However, only five percent arrested have had violent criminal convictions, according to the Cato Institute. Meanwhile, 170 American citizens were improperly detained in 2025; others, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were recently shot under possibly criminal pretenses. Trump and his minions have blamed the victims.
He also campaigned on taking revenge against his political enemies, and to do that he needed a compliant FBI and Department of Justice to do his bidding, breaking their long tradition of independence.
Trump claims he is a man of faith, so he might remember Matthew 5:43-46 about loving his enemies. His Big Beautiful Bill slashed SNAP and food assistance funds for the poor and hungry to give tax breaks to billionaires. You might urge him to reread Matthew 25:31-46 about feeding the poor.
Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution grants the House of Representatives the sole authority to issue revenue and other bills. Trump has repeatedly withheld congressionally approved funds or diverted them to other purposes. He has thereby violated his Oath of Office to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.
Trump has alienated our allies with quixotic tariffs and threatens U.S. support for NATO, the primary architecture of American security since WWII. Many European countries, and Canada, are now reaching out to China, our supposed enemy, and boycotting American-made products.
Trump ordered the purge of watchdogs in the government and gutted the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section. I agree our history shows widespread government pay-to-play corruption almost from the beginning, and many allege Trump is following that tradition, not the reforms he has promised.
Finally, words don’t matter, actions do. Watch what Trump does, not what he says.
Bob Schober
Blaine
The Editor:
It was with unexpected shock that I actually read a supportive letter regarding President Trump.
I agree 100 percent with Sharman Burnam of Birch Bay regarding the positive changes President Trump has brought to our country.
I rarely, or never, see a supportive article about President Trump in the Seattle Times, which I read every day, or The Northern Light, which seems to support my belief that there isn’t fair and balanced treatment of him, or conservative views, in Washington state.
I hope that this will change, which will better serve the people.
Christine Gerhardt
Semiahmoo
The Editor:
Reading the article about the de-annexation and the paper noting that the proposal received 64 percent of voter support is somewhat misleading. While there were 1,310 votes in support of the measure, that total is actually only 25 percent of all registered voters in Blaine.
With 2,000 votes cast in all, the proposal is about 40 percent of the registered voters in Blaine. While we don’t know what or how those who didn’t vote felt about the proposal, how the paper presents the argument to de-annex failed to look at that full picture.
Why did so many people choose not to vote? Wouldn’t the paper be curious to pursue that fact? On the part of non-voters, was it ‘Why bother?’ Or, ‘I don’t care,’ or what? Why did the paper just ignore the fact that 60 percent didn’t vote?
It’s my hope that with the new publisher that The Northern Light will actually shed light on the incomplete and inaccurate offerings of the city management that continue to appear within its pages, and not add to that.
Treat the city like you do the Port of Bellingham and the border. Put it under a microscope. It’s time for this paper to actually shed some light for our community for it to live up to its name.
Ray Leone
Blaine
The Editor:
With all due respect to Sharman Burnam’s efforts at communication, I still have issues with Mr. Trump. Grocery prices have not gone down, likewise with many other products. High prices are due to the tariffs on imported products, which the American people are paying. Importers simply add the tariff quotient to the price of their product. Why else are American food banks finding it so difficult to provide for their clients?
Our 200-year-old fraternal relationship with Canada has been destroyed. This is evident by the significant loss of business in Blaine and to its tax base. Mr. Trump has also reintroduced the concept of imperialism from the 1800s: Greenland, Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba. He has successfully destabilized the balance of NATO, the WHO, and our own Department of Health and Human Services. He has cut off U.S. food supplies to third world nations. We are no longer a shining beacon to the rest of the world.
I concede that there is a need for ICE but cannot support the aggressive manner in which it carries out its mission.
Mr. Trump did not “overwhelmingly,” as Ms. Burnam put it, win the election. Only 65 percent of qualified voters went to the polls, and he won 50 percent to Harris’ 48 percent. This is not exactly a “mandate of the people” as he claims as only 32.5 percent of qualified voters supported him.
Quite frankly, Trump lacks the gravitas necessary of a president and I cannot follow a leader like he is.
Richard Mollette
Custer
The Editor:
In 1620, the immigrant white Christian Pilgrims came to the lands of the Wampanoag in search of religious freedom. The native people had already called this territory home for up to 10,000 years. Within 50 years of their landing, the Pilgrim’s offspring had broken a treaty, killed over 3,000 native people, stolen their land and made slaves of many of the survivors.
Now let’s look at what Trump’s immigrant ICE policies have brought on Americans and the U.S. Constitution. Threatening anyone who disagrees with him, attacks by ICE in cities and states that disagree with him, the murder and harassment of Black and brown men, women and children, and the murder of protesting white citizens by ICE. All under direct orders of the White House. All this by a man who is a convicted felon and never punished for his crimes. Trump once said he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and wouldn’t lose any voters. Well, he has reached his goal, except it happened in Minneapolis.
Trump and Vance are moldable pawns for Steven Miller and his white nationalist Project 2025. The project’s goal is to create chaos, which Trump is an expert at doing. While we’re all distracted, they’re stealing the government and turning America away from democracy and into a white theocracy. Regardless of your race, your constitutionally guaranteed civil rights will be gone, your hard-won rights as a woman will be gone, our working relationships with countries other than fascist-led countries will be gone, and our neighbors throughout North and South America will be targeted for domination.
Is this the country and the world you want for your family?
Please, read Project 2025 and then answer that question.
Time is against us, and voting in November has never been more critical. Don’t let Trump, the Congress and the Supreme Courtiers steal your Democracy. We really are in the same pickle as the Wampanoag 400 years ago.
Cathy Taggett
Blaine
The Editor:
“To hell with letting go of the pain”
It echoes in my soul’s deep core,
It’s like a reluctant whisper, furious roar,
Against the urge to let go.
I’ve been told that time heals,
A soothing sting, but the pain clings,
It’s a living thing.
Letting go, not me!
To surrender to just memories,
To embrace the empty.
This pain is sharp,
It tells me all that has been lost,
A whole lot of love,
No matter the cost.
I find that clinging,
It has a strength untold,
A refusal to let this story unfold,
Putting it away.
No, this pain is held close,
It will stay.
To hell with letting go of the pain.
For I desperately ache,
The echoes of the past remain,
A bittersweet reminder,
A rawness to my crying like rain.
With these tears,
Are the whispered fears.
So, let the pain linger,
A constant burning flame,
A symbol of acceptance,
Of your cherished name.
For I will embrace the sorrow,
A truer version,
One of a kind,
To hell with letting go of the pain.
Julie Hanft
Blaine
