Governance

Following the comment period on a draft Environmental Assessment of a proposal to cut trees and manage vegetation to improve habitat and stand conditions and to harvest timber in the North Fork Nooksack area, next steps are up to Forest Service project managers.

A local business owner and rag-tag group of skaters have cleaned up an abandoned parking lot under the Chestnut Street bridge on the Bellingham waterfront with the goal of establishing a skatepark, as the City and Port of Bellingham look at expanding the area’s current agreement to include that use.

Change happens when you speak up, and speak out. Drawing the attention of politicians and ordinary citizens to the need for change often helps bring it about … to shine light on the work that remains to be done in this great state, particularly with regard to racial equity and social justice.

The state Department of Ecology has announced its intent to resolve the contentious issues around water rights in the Nooksack Basin through the legal action of adjudication, and money to move that process forward is proposed in the budget under consideration by the Legislature.

Lopez Island readers of the article “Rescue tug stationed in islands is best bet to avoid oil spills in San Juan-Gulf waters, study says” responded to the article’s posting in Lopez Rocks.

With increased vessel traffic around the San Juan Islands, some worry that the risk of oil spills may be rising as well. A new study makes the case that an emergency response tug stationed in the islands would be money well-spent.

Gains in voter support made by local Democrats in recent years may be due to demographic shifts caused by a wide variety of trends in who lives here, how they work and how each political party gets its messages out.

One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, many more students in Whatcom County are able to connect to the internet for remote learning, thanks to communitywide efforts, particularly in rural communities with limited or no internet options. Still, a clear digital divide remains.

An apparent focus on reducing the ongoing costs of recovery of Puget Sound rather than recovery efforts themselves worries some who are concerned about the health of the ecosystem.

A month into the 2021 state legislative session, it’s time to review the legislation introduced by our elected representatives as of this week.

Naturalized citizens of the United States share some common knowledge about our country when they discuss, argue and vote. How much of that do you, as a citizen whether naturalized or born, share?

An understanding of the elements of sovereignty of the Lummi Nation and the significance of the term “treaty” is integral to understanding the importance of these agreements then — and now.

After more than a decade of discussion, planning and cleanup of an industrial waste site on Bellingham Bay, the city’s partnership with the port and a contract with a Dublin-based company are putting the waterfront’s future on the ground.

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.

An oil train derailment spilling more than 29,000 gallons of Bakken crude in Whatcom County is prompting officials lobbying for state and federal oil train regulations in recent years to consider whether more can be done.

A combination of potent social and political turmoil made many people eager to close the book on 2020 and emerge into a fresh year.