
Governance
Four of six Whatcom executive candidates respond in forum
July 14, 2023
Responses in a candidates forum from four (of six) vying for Whatcom County Executive sketched out four differing perspectives on how to serve.
Salish Current Editorial Staff
Governance
Bellingham mayoral candidates field forum questions in primary quest
July 14, 2023
What should be the way forward for downtown Bellingham vitality, a new jail, waterfront development and housing? Bellingham mayoral primary candidates offered responses in an online forum this week.
Salish Current Editorial Staff
Natural Resources
Using ‘rights of nature’ to correct environmental wrongs
July 7, 2023
Will the rights of nature movement, called the “fastest-growing legal movement of the twenty-first century” by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, find a foothold here?
Clifford Heberden
Education
Lopez school district grapples with shortfall, layoffs
July 7, 2023
What’s the solution to Lopez Island school district’s $700K shortfall? Administrators and school board candidates grapple for the solution.
Nancy DeVaux
Editor’s Desk
What do you know about public hospital districts?
July 7, 2023
From the Editor’s Desk: Public hospital district elections are at the basement level of local democracy and have at stake the cost and quality of local health care.
Salish Current Editorial Staff
Education
Change lives, expand minds, boost careers — with science — say teachers and the Science Guy
June 30, 2023
Bill Nye the Science Guy and local educators and students agree: studying science can be life-changing and career-enhancing.
Matt Benoit
Commerce
Showtime in Mount Vernon: Lincoln Theatre is a star in downtown renewal
June 30, 2023
A symbol for local revival, the century-old Lincoln Theatre has helped stimulate business and bring back visitors to riverfront downtown Mount Vernon.
Kai Uyehara
Culture
With hard-earned acceptance, Sikh community flourishes on both sides of border
June 23, 2023
South Asians in the Pacific Northwest reflect on the different journeys Sikhs took while making the United States and Canada home.
Catherine Skrzypinski
Governance
Paradox of passion, apathy impacts young voter turnout
June 23, 2023
Younger voters care deeply about renter protections, homelessness, social justice and racism — but will they go to the polls to make their voices heard in this year’s election?
Kai Uyehara
Community Voices
The old-fashioned ‘new politics’ of civic activist Jack Delay
June 23, 2023
Commentary: A colleague takes a memorial look at a life-long activist whose career culminated in the co-founding and success of Communitywise Bellingham.
Sati Mookherjee
Education
Impact, importance high in local school board elections
June 16, 2023
Do local races risk turning into political referendums instead of reasoned debates over school district functions?
Matt Benoit
Agriculture
Wireworms pester new farmers, puzzle the seasoned
June 16, 2023
Growers who are farming organically on converted pastureland tend to face what amounts to an entry fee in the form of a hard-to-manage pest that bore into the below-ground portions of potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, corn and other crops, killing or stunting the plant.
Kai Uyehara
Recreation
R2AK: North by Northwest
June 9, 2023
The annual wind- or human-powered — no engines — Race to Alaska is becoming a quintessential Northwest experience.
Ross Anderson
Community Voices
Use unleaded fuel at Bellingham International Airport
June 9, 2023
Commentary: “Lead emissions from aircraft engines that operate on leaded fuel cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare.” — EPA
Bert Webber
Housing
Moving in: new affordable neighborhood celebrates in Friday Harbor
June 9, 2023
A fourth neighborhood of permanently affordable homes in Friday Harbor has celebrated completion, as a 40-unit rental project is in the planning stages.
Nancy DeVaux
Journalism
State of the state: Washington State Standard comes to Olympia
June 9, 2023
The Washington State Standard, a free internet news publication, began coverage of state government in Olympia last month.
Bruce Ramsey