Fictional whale tale underscores real-life role of kinship in orcas’ survival

October 21, 2021
Gretchen K. Wing

In the newly published novel “Beyond the Human Realm,” Lopez Island scientist and author Gene Helfman draws on the real-life intelligence of orcas in a fictional story that affirms that preservation of the species requires the adoption of an approach characterized by kinship.

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Skagit fair sates longing for fun and ‘normalcy’ in face of COVID-19

August 19, 2021
Teya Heidenreich

After a year’s hiatus, the Skagit County Fair resumed Aug. 11-14 with an increased attendance over past years — despite COVID-19 infections spiking in the county.

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Lummi Island’s original Willows Inn was a local-food hotspot — 100 years before ‘locavore’ was trending

July 1, 2021
Matt Benoit

Today’s Lummi Island in Whatcom County is home to permanent and vacationing residents, local businesses — and a historic resort known for more than 100 years as The Willows.

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photo: Teya Heidenreich © 2021

Local Juneteenth event celebrates diversity, freedom, challenge

June 21, 2021
Teya Heidenreich

Black Lives Matter signs waved over the Maritime Heritage Park amphitheater and booths lined the concrete walkway on Saturday, June 19 — the fourth annual Juneteenth celebration in Bellingham.

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As gun death rates rise in Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan counties, state refocuses to public health approach

June 11, 2021
Kenneth Duncan

With the number of gun deaths in Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan counties on the rise and outpacing statewide trends, policy and law makers are stressing public health-focused solutions that could be more effective in prevention than legal tactics.

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photo: © 2019

In an age of social controversy, the show goes on

June 9, 2021
Matt Benoit

Theater producers, actors and audiences are bringing new perspectives to the question of what play content may be inappropriate, offensive or even harmful. Responses to a recent choice by Western Washington University’s theater department prompted a debate of those questions among the local theater community.

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photo: Amy Nelson © 2021

From the Editor’s Desk / One year old and changing life for the better

June 4, 2021
Amy Nelson

Nonprofit local news organization Salish Current is celebrating its one-year anniversary of incorporation on June 5, and continuing on its mission to fill gaps in covering vital news and provide a forum for civil discourse in Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties.

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photo: Amy Nelson © 2021

House of Tears Carvers visit Bellingham with totem pole bound for DC

May 27, 2021
Amy Nelson

Several hundred people in Bellingham visited a totem pole created by Lummi carvers from a 400-year-old cedar log — the latest stop in the Red Road to D.C. tour of the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere across the U.S. toward its final destination in Washington, D.C.

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Community Voices / Trouble in paradise: Lummi Islanders react to a national exposé of its famous restaurant

May 20, 2021
Jean Godden

A historic inn on Lummi Island made national news lately when a story focused world attention on problematic operations. Locally, the report stirred mixed reactions from island residents

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photo: Amy Nelson © 2016

Community Voices / Acknowledge, learn — and transform, during Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May 6, 2021
Terri Thayer

America continues to struggle to recognize the contributions of all to the building of this nation. In May — Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month — we have an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the resilience and voices of these communities.

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photo: Matt Benoit © 2021

Sumas, border town of boom and bust, stays hopeful

April 21, 2021
Matt Benoit

The main thoroughfare through Sumas on its way to the Canadian border isn’t seeing much traffic since the COVID-19 pandemic forced closure of the border crossing to all but essential traffic. Although the town is home to 1,700 people and still growing, closed gas stations, empty storefronts and a lack of grocery stores give the impression of a town in decline.

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Books under scrutiny: censorship and cancel culture in a changing society

April 1, 2021
Ella Banken

In a time of massive reevaluation of once widely accepted tropes, celebrities have been called out for past insensitivities and much worse, schools renamed and statues toppled. But what does it mean when books are brought into the discussion?

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From the Editor’s Desk / Young adults weigh risks in choosing to mask, distance in COVID-19 fight

March 6, 2021
Salish Current readers

To help stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, young adults are making choices that range from the hard decision to curtail visits home to see family, to feeling safely unmasked with family or select friends.

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Artist’s Corner / Tailored to the task

February 11, 2021
Tony Angell

The northern harrier is a regular presence along the outer fields, sloughs and dikes bordering the Salish Sea.

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photo: Amy Nelson © 2021

Community Voices / Powerful stories bring understanding, in celebration of Black History Month

February 5, 2021
Terri Thayer

The study and knowledge of Black history bring understanding to race and racism in the United States.

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Community voices / Cascadia’s media ecosystem connects our cross-border bioregion

January 20, 2021
Derek Moscato

Journalism that embraces a larger vision of the international corridor will best serve the Cascadia bioregion’s constituents by setting up the region up to tackle the big challenges of the next century.

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