Initial results of primary election, Hiker hospitalized after being rescued near Baker, Tullwood Apts owner pushes for action in Walmart encampment lawsuit, NWS to update weather reporting zones in western WA, anticipates greater accuracy in forecasts, Bellingham Senior Activity Center to relocate to newly acquired building, Gov. Inslee declares statewide emergency among wildfire surge
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KMRE brings you local news for Wednesday, August 7th. Good afternoon, I’m ______.
STORY: Initial results of primary election
The early results of yesterday’s state-wide primary election have been released.
Washington is a top-two primary state, so the top two candidates in each primary race will move on to the general election. With a 22% turnout in Whatcom County and more than 15,000 ballots left to count, Maria Cantwell is walking away from ten other contenders in the race for State Senate, with more than 58% of the vote.
With 28 candidates in the race for governor, Democrat Bob Ferguson is ahead with 48% of Whatcom County votes cast in his favor, while Republican Dave Reichert is second with almost 25%.
In the almost-as crowded Congressional District 2 U.S. Representative primary– Rick Larsen has the majority of Whatcom County votes, with 47% compared to Cody Hart’s 21%.
Closer to home, it’s turning out to be a very close race for Legislative District 42 State Representative Position 1– with Alicia (uh-LEE-shuh) Rule barely ahead of Raymond Pelletti by roughly 0.7%. Rule has nearly 46.8% while Pelleti currently sits at 46.1 percent of Whatcom County votes.
In the 40th District, Democrats Liz Lovelett, Debra Lekanoff (luh-KAN-off), and Alex Ramel (RAM-ull) are winning their contests handily with 77%, 96%, and 96% for each.
In the local race for District 2 PUD Commissioner No 1, Athul Deshmane (ah-TOOL desh-MAH-nee) is leading challenger Dan Johnson, 45 to 41%.
Levy measures across the county appear to be failing– the Lynden school district levy is being rejected with 52% no to 47% yes. Fire Protection District 1 is failing 50% to 49%, and Fire Protection District 21 is failing 56-43%. The only fire levy that is ahead at this time is District 17 with 54% yes and 45% no.
A local election update is expected tomorrow at 5pm. Keep updated with all of Washington’s primary election results at results.vote.wa.gov.
Ballots for the general election are due by November 5th.
STORY: Hiker hospitalized after being rescued near Baker
A hiker was rescued from the south side of Mt. Baker on Saturday.
The Bellingham Mountain Rescue Council, an all-volunteer rescue and mountain safety education organization affiliated with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Skagit County Search and Rescue responded to an emergency call from a hiker who had fallen near Watson Lake. According to reports, the group executed a ‘steep-angle rope rescue’ and ‘trail carryout’ while providing medical care. The hiker was then transported to the hospital.
According to the Whatcom County Search and Rescue Council, the rescue went smoothly because the hiker was prepared and they ask local hikers to pack extra food and water, in case they get injured and must wait for help.
STORY: Tullwood Apts owner pushes for action in Walmart encampment lawsuit
Tullwood Apartment owner 52nd & Brooklyn LLC is seeking a summary judgment after joining the City of Bellingham’s lawsuit earlier this summer against the owner of an undeveloped land plot.
The land in question is a 20-acre lot southeast of the Bellingham Walmart owned by Li-Ching Fang (LEE JCHING FONG). The city filed a lawsuit against Fang in February seeking a judge’s authority to remove members of an illegal homeless encampment on the property. According to court documents, Fang argued that she had tried to address the encampment by authorizing the Bellingham Police Department to issue trespass warnings and arrest trespassers when necessary, but was provided quote “very little assistance” unquote from the BPD.
Court documents show that Fang hired Abatement & Decontamination Specialists to conduct a site assessment and lead clean-up of the area on May 1st, but 52nd & Brooklyn LLC’s attorney Adam C. Doupe said the quote “health and safety crisis” continues.
The Tullwood Apartments are directly adjacent to Fang’s property and according to the property manager at least six tenants have left due to the encampment. Tenants of the building have complained of gunshots and the distribution and use of illegal drugs on the property. According to residents of the camp, an estimated 50 to 150 unhoused people camp on the property every night.
The hearing for 52nd & Brooklyn LLC’s summary judgment motion has been set for September.
STORY: NWS to update weather reporting zones in western WA, anticipates greater accuracy in forecasts
According to the Seattle office of the National Weather Service (NWS), there will soon be a significant improvement on how counties in Western Washington are alerted to upcoming weather hazards.
Under the current system, notifications are done by county. According to the Weather Service this can result in over-or-under warning of communities due to their size and climate diversity within each zone. For instance, an entire zone may be alerted when only a small portion of it is having a weather hazard. Alternatively, a decision may be made not to send an alert at all, because it’s only affecting a small area of a county.
According to the NWS, these changes will be the most beneficial during the event of an extreme snowfall, coastal flooding or tsunami.
The Seattle office of the National Weather Service plans on implementing the new public zones next month.
STORY: Bellingham Senior Activity Center to relocate to newly acquired building
The Bellingham Senior Activity Center is getting a new home.
The Whatcom Council on Aging (WCOA) announced the purchase of the former WECU office building on East Bellis Fair Parkway. The current Senior Center sees around 400 people coming through its doors every day. According to reporting by the Cascadia Daily News, a lack of air conditioning and open spaces have caused the senior center’s popular fitness classes to be canceled when the weather gets too hot. The new location is bigger, has central air conditioning and a spacious open floor plan for dedicated activities.
In addition, the nonprofit distributes 270,000 meals a year for homebound seniors, and right now those meals are mostly purchased from a vendor. The new building has a large outbuilding that they plan to convert into a commercial kitchen, to bring its ‘Meals on Wheels and More’ program fully in-house.
The building also has a large parking lot and is served by public transit, to provide easy access for the growing Whatcom County senior population.
The Council on Aging says it plans to fundraise for the $10 million needed to renovate and operate the new senior activity center.
STORY: Gov. Inslee declares statewide emergency among wildfire surge
Last Friday, Governor Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation to help the fight against ongoing wildfires in Washington state.
The proclamation waives hours of service restrictions for delivery drivers until August 16th. The waiver will primarily support aircraft-based firefighting efforts by allowing more frequent fuel deliveries to remote areas.
Elizabeth King, from the Washington State Department of Commerce, emphasized that this measure aims to address increased fuel demand during an ongoing wildfire, while still allowing drivers to work longer hours within safety limits. The proclamation also mobilizes state resources, and directs the State Guard and National Guard to assist in firefighting efforts.
This year, Washington has experienced significant wildfire activity, with nine fires burning over 1,000 acres each, including the Swawilla (swah-WEE-la) and Big Horn fires. So far, 265,000 acres have burned statewide, with five large fires currently active.
For ongoing updates, visit the Department of Natural Resources online dashboard.
WX: Sun (perhaps)
And now for your Whatcom County weather:
Today is projected to be sunnier than yesterday, with highs in the upper 70s and low 80s, as well as calm west-southwestern winds throughout. Nighttime lows are expected to be in the lower 60s. Tomorrow, expect partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the high 70’s.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers Carlos Braga (BRA-guh), Connor O’Boyle, Jayne Kuhlman (COOL-mun), Carlee Schram (CAR-lee SHRAM), Tristan Trudell, Kyler Cantrell, Ikumi Mashiko (ih-KOO-me muh-SHE-ko), Anna Vickers, and Theron (THAIR-in) Danielson. 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 listener donations. Check out our Patreon page or go to kmre.org and click on the banner. I’m ________________, and thank you for listening.
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