The Editor:
Once again, the Blaine Food Bank (BFB) has been overwhelmed!
It is with great pride in our communities and deep gratitude for the local residents that BFB volunteers announce we successfully raised over $30,000 which was the original goal set by a generous benefactor.
Last August, a local resident challenged BFB to raise $30,000 by December 21 and he would match the donations up to an equal amount. We did it!
Our goal was not only matched, but with a flurry of last minute donations it was exceeded as we ended the challenge with well over $30,000 in cash donations.
Blaine Food Bank volunteers were especially gratified that, when the challenge was announced, our local residents, churches, schools and businesses listened. From the smallest donation to the largest, our communities responded to the plea overwhelmingly. And a special thank you also to The Northern Light for their continuing support.
Who comes to the food bank? Your neighbors, your friends, your family and people who you attend church with are all among those coming to visit the food bank once a week. Or described another way, people who are out of work, low income families, senior citizens, veterans of the armed services, the disabled, single moms or dads or anyone who temporarily needs help are represented by every person who makes their way to BFB.
Who is eligible to receive help from the food bank? With legal documentation proving they live in Birch Bay, Blaine or Custer, BFB will give food to any family or individual who walks through our front door asking for help. Thank you for helping us to help others. With these donations, there will be milk and eggs far into 2019!
Jerry Bladies and all the BFB volunteers
Blaine
The Editor:
How nice to attend the 42nd Legislative District town hall meeting (sponsored by Whatcom Republicans) on January 5, and find an elected representative representing me and my views. Thanks to the Republicans for inviting our newly elected House Democrat, Sharon Shewmake, to join them in the event.
This was uncharted territory and things were rocky at first with a portion of the audience complaining about the long opening prayer. Separation of church and state was the issue and this was clearly overlooked by those in charge.
The questions and answers are always interesting, but this time I found Sharon Shewmake presenting new ideas in dealing with climate change, offering proven solutions to a complex issue. Sure, senator Ericksen is still extolling “that there are scientists on both sides of the climate change issue that could debate, etc.” but Shewmake was there to present a different stance – one I found most hopeful.
Teacher salaries were discussed where different opinions were voiced and truths presented. Representative-elect Shewmake stated that attracting quality teachers requires offering profession-like salaries. She also briefly mentioned looking into regulations to help with affordable housing and reduce homelessness. There was agreement on this and perhaps a bipartisan solution can be presented in the near future.
Let’s continue the debates now that we have both sides of the issues being discussed, debated and, hopefully, passed so our community can benefit.
Naomi Murphy
Ferndale
The Editor:
Having just returned from the town hall meeting with Doug Ericksen, Luanne Van Werven and Sharon Shewmake, I am struck by the differences in their styles and issues they think are important. To make a point about education funding, Van Werven cited that teachers make $96,000 per year. Later, when she was questioned about it, she retracted it to say somewhere in the $70,000 range. She may have been speaking of the average of Washington as a whole, but she represents Whatcom County and should know there are no teachers here making $96,000! The average teacher pay in Whatcom County is between $50,000 and $66,000. She doesn’t know her facts, yet still complains about how much teachers make!
The answers from the two Republicans seem to have centered around money – taxes in particular. It seems it’s about all they care about. Shewmake, on the other hand, came loaded with stats about how much better a society functions when the people are happier and better educated.
Ericksen and Van Werven both decried the damage to places like Intalco and BP if a carbon tax were to be put in place. A convenient sound bite, but Intalco uses mostly electrical energy to smelt aluminum. The taxpayers built the Bonneville Power Administration to promote and power the smelting operations in the Northwest. Intalco’s carbon footprint is relatively small. Shewmake’s plan is to redistribute the fees to the residents of the county, you know, the ones who get to breathe dirty air from PSE and BP, and the refineries in Anacortes. Yet, these Republicans will fight tooth and nail to defeat these proposals.
Ericksen won his race by 45 votes – out of a total of 72,779. Van Werven won by 81 of 72,493. Don’t believe them when they tell you they have a mandate from the people. They don’t.
Gary Meader
Nooksack
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