Police investigating assault that left one man dead at Squalicum Harbor Wednesday, Bellingham awarded $1.3M to install heat pumps, Road to Artist Point opens today, Blaine school board approves $70 million bond for November 5 election, Whatcom County organizations net $3.2M for solar energy projects, Whatcom County organizations net $3.2M for solar energy projects, Free and Cheap, WA plans to use $32 million to help asylum seekers
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Independent, nonprofit community radio.
KMRE brings you local news for Friday, June 21st. Good afternoon, I’m _David Korb_____.
STORY: Police investigating assault that left one man dead at Squalicum Harbor Wednesday
The Bellingham Police Department is investigating an assault near Squalicum Harbor that left one man dead.
On Wednesday at around 10:00 pm, authorities were notified of an assault with a weapon near Squalicum Harbor gate 9. The person who reported the assault told dispatcher that he and another man, later identified as Thomas James Westendorf (WEST-en-dorf), got into an altercation. During the fight, a gun went off, killing Westendorf. Officers arrived on scene and found him deceased on the reporting party’s vessel.
According to Megan Peters, a spokesperson for the Bellingham Police Department, no arrests have been made and no charges have been filed. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances leading up to Westendorf’s death.
STORY: Bellingham awarded $1.3M to install heat pumps
The Washington State Department of Commerce announced that The City of Bellingham has been awarded a $1.3 million dollar grant for the installation of electric heat pumps.
According to the COB, the funding was part of more than $39 million dollars in grants for cities, counties, and recognized tribes to support electrification – made possible by Washington’s Climate Commitment Act.
The installation of these pumps will be used for space and water heating in homes of low-to-moderate income residents and small businesses. Electrification lowers the use of natural gas – which the City says will not only help people in need, but will also help the county reach pollution reduction targets.
STORY: Road to Artist Point opens today
The Road to Artist Point has re-opened for the summer season, one week earlier than in 2023.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WASH-dot) crews have cleared up to 30 feet of snow in the final 2.7 miles of Mount Baker Highway. Travelers should still expect WSDOT and U.S. Forest Service maintenance crews completing repairs and installing signs.
The road usually closes to traffic in winter, but sees nearly 40,000 annual visitors after reopening each spring. For real-time updates, visit the WSDOT Mount Baker Highway Mountain Pass website.
STORY: Blaine school board approves $70 million bond for November 5 election
The Blaine school board voted unanimously to put a $70 million capital bond initiative before voters in the November 5 general election.
Funds would go toward an extensive renovation of Blaine Middle School, field upgrades and additions to the Pipeline Athletic Complex, and various improvements to Blaine primary and elementary schools and Point Roberts Primary School. Money would also be directed towards design work for a possible Birch Bay school.
The initiative is practically identical to the February 2024 special election bond proposal that failed to reach the required 60 percent supermajority.
For a median-value home of $550,000, a property owner would pay $420 annually for the bond, if approved.
In order for the bond to pass, along with a 60 percent supermajority, more than 40 percent of last election’s voters must fill out ballots. About 5,760 people voted for last election’s bond measure, with 58 percent voting to approve, just shy of the supermajority hurdle.
STORY: Whatcom County organizations net $3.2M for solar energy projects
Washington’s Climate Commitment Act is funding over $3 million for clean energy projects in Whatcom County, primarily focusing on solar energy.
The projects are part of a $72.6 million state investment with 71 grants across the state, aimed at helping communities tackle climate change.
Grants in Whatcom were awarded to Bellingham Public Schools, Point Roberts Park and Recreation District No. 1, and Western Washington University. Bellingham Public Schools received a $2.75 million grant to install solar arrays on five schools, Western Washington University received more than $320,000 for solar panels on its Science, Mathematics and Technology Education building.
Point Roberts Park and Recreation District No. 1 received $133,000 for a feasibility study on solar backup power for community buildings to increase the community’s resilience against energy outages due to climate change-related weather events.
Additional grants were also awarded to Skagit County school districts and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community for similar clean energy and decarbonization projects.
The Climate Commitment Act, signed by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2021, funds these initiatives through a cap-and-invest program targeting the state’s largest polluters. Initiative 2117, which will be on the November ballot, seeks to repeal this act and prevent new carbon tax credit programs.
STORY: WA Supreme Court revives AG’s case against crime-free rental program
The Washington State Supreme Court has overturned a 2022 ruling preventing the state attorney general’s office from pursuing a discrimination lawsuit in Yakima (YAK-uh-maw) County.
Washington AG Bob Ferguson sued the city of Sunnyside in 2020, accusing the city’s police of violating the right to due process by evicting tenants from crime-free rental housing projects without a hearing. The lawsuit alleged that the evictions were disproportionately targeted at Hispanic households, as well as homes headed by women.
A Yakima County Superior Court Judge dismissed the suit in 2022 on grounds of overreach of authority. On Thursday, Washington Supreme Court Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis (rah-KEL) affirmed Ferguson’s initial suit, stating that by protecting citizens’ civil rights, ensuring the lawful operation of crime-free rental housing, and preventing police misconduct, the lawsuit was within the scope of the Attorney General’s office.
Ferguson praised Montoya-Lewis’s decision for affirming his office’s authority to defend the civil rights of Washingtonians. Sunnyside Interim City Manager Rob Layman was unavailable for comment.
STORY: Free and Cheap
Here are some free and cheap activities to beat the heat:
Spray parks will be open this Saturday for free family fun-zones to cool off. Cornwall memorial park and Fairhaven park will offer spray fun from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., while Cordata park kicks off its sprinklers from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. All parks use clean water, which makes them a perfect way to start off your summer.
A free Tidepool exploration at Birch Bay State Park is also available tomorrow at 11 a.m. The program is hosted by Blaine-birch bay park and rec, and will be family friendly. Explore the shore with experts and learn more about the many species that live in between the waves and the land. No registration is required, but make sure to bring water shoes.
WX: Cloudy
And now for your Whatcom County weather:
Today will be yet another sunny day, with highs in the mid-70s to lower-80s expected. Winds will be blowing southwest at around 10 mph until midnight, when they are expected to become south. Nighttime will also bring cloudy skies and lows in the 50s. Expect cloudy weather for most of the weekend.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers AnThu Nguyen (ANNE-two new-WIN), Carlos Braga, Connor O’Boyle, Jayne Kuhlman, Kye Salinas (KEY suh-LEE-nus), Maggie Flowers, and Kyler Cantrell. Tune in to local news on KMRE weekdays at 3, 4 and 5 p-m. For news tips and feedback, send us an email at news@kmre.org or call 360-398-6150. KMRE is a nonprofit community radio station, powered by your donations. Check out our Patreon page or visit kmre.org and click on the banner. I’m ________________, and thanks for listening.
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STORY: WA plans to use $32 million to help asylum seekers
Washington officials are working to distribute around $32 million dollars in state funding to aid asylum seekers.
Funds for The Washington Migrant and Asylum Seeker Support Project were approved by the legislature in March and will be available for use starting July. About $5 million dollars will go to King County and $2.5 million to the city of Tukwila, with an additional $25 million allocated to the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance. The state says it will utilize one office as a hub to connect new arrivals to the specific services they may need. Services include immigration related legal aid, housing, and “culturally responsive case management services.”
About $1 million will go to schools serving asylum seeking students who are homeless. The Shelton, Tukwila and Wapato school districts were chosen based on the reported amount of homeless students who did not speak English as their first language.
According to Sarah Peterson, chief of the state Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, agencies involved will need some time to distribute the funds.
Applications to receive funding through the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Services closed on Thursday, and the office plans to have contracts in place with organizations by the beginning of August.
