Community Voices
Who are the homeless?
Our concept of the “deserving poor” needs to expand past attitudes mirroring 17th and 18th century mores that drive today’s ambivalent response to homelessness.
Raising awareness of missing, murdered Indigenous women
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day is observed on May 5, and in an installation at the Lightcatcher Building through May 15.
City of Bellingham police chief hiring process — success or flop?
A local civic action group is hoping Bellingham’s next police chief will work to strengthen community cohesion and be transparent and accountable to the public.
A second chance
Sharing the story: A rough road from abuse during an upper-middle-class childhood to an adult life of “camping out,” estrangement from loved ones and time in prison have led one man to the Light House Mission, a new sense of purpose and a better time of life.
Making community whole again during a time of plagues
Salish Current’s recent Trust 2022 forum on media and democracy highlighted ongoing challenges the news industry faces — but also charted a pathway for how local newsrooms can potentially revitalize our civic life and institutions, notes Community Voices contributor Derek Moscato.
Reflecting on International Women’s Day
Much change has happened since 1910 when the idea of an International Women’s Day was proposed by Clara Zetkin at the International Conference of Working Women. A lot still needs to change, notes a Community Voices contributor.
Community Voices / MLK Day in Bellingham: looking backward, stepping forward
Community organizers of Bellingham’s 30-plus-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. Day event are refocusing this year from an in-person gathering to a call for voting rights action — and asking the community to urge Bellingham officials to commit to support for the community-based observance going forward.
Community Voices / Nooksack flood, water solutions to protect families, fish and farms will require collaboration
Whatcom farmers are calling for communitywide collaboration in pursuing solutions to flooding and water supply issues in the Nooksack River Basin.
What’s life without a future?
What awaits us in the new year? Salish Current asked our readers and writers to take us there by sharing one thing they look forward to doing in 2022.
Community Voices / Is time running out? Streamflow trends in the Nooksack watershed
Given the high volume of rain and flooding during the past few weeks, it may seem strange to talk about water scarcity in the Nooksack River system. Although the watershed has ample water in the winter (often too much water), it holds too little in the summer to support healthy salmon. Complicating the water supply issue are the adverse effects of climate change.
Community Voices / How farmers can fight climate change
Farmers are in a powerful position to help curb climate change, and many locally already are taking steps to do so, note dairy farmer Katherine Steensma and author Stevan Harrell. While this bodes well for the future of agriculture here, there is more to be done to stop “wasting and poisoning the good and beautiful things of the world”: natural resources.
Community Voices / East Whatcom parents say, ‘We want our youth to stay drug-free!’
East Whatcom County parents want their youth to stay drug- and alcohol-free. To that end, the Mount Baker Community Coalition engaged a local teen as a Summer Youth Prevention Fellow in a collaborative effort with alcohol and cannabis retailers, to increase safe storage and reduce youth access to those substances.
Community Voices / Electric vehicles and the Tesla experience
With the state legislature and some local governments contemplating a future without fossil fuel-powered vehicles, Northwest Washington car buyers are beginning to ponder what it’s like to drive an electric vehicle — a computer on wheels — and some already are behind the wheel.
Community Voices / The loudest jets in the quietest park: How Growlers invaded the Olympics
It’s good to take a rational look at how we came to have an electronic warfare training range for the loudest jets on the planet over the quietest national park in the lower 48, writes a Community Voices commentator.
Community Voices / Voting is what constructs a democracy: be a voter
Voting is what constructs a democracy, and elections have consequences, with decisions made at the local level having direct effects around planning, housing, police, fire, parks, transportation and public works. People vote to make changes they think are necessary by putting people in office or by voting for or against issues.
From the Editor’s Desk / 9/11: Who we were, who we’ve become
Twenty years after 9/11, have the terrorist attacks and their aftermath changed us? Salish Current readers shared memories of where they were 20 years ago when they first learned of the attacks and what they thought and felt.