Lummi Nation arrests two for human trafficking, Point Robert’s man arrested for bomb threat, Bellingham man arrested on child rape charges, Semiahmoo woman found guilty of murder, Gas prices jump, Mental health grants for schools going away, Two budget bills in Olympia slated to draw from ‘rainy day fund’, AI suspected by ‘con’ side of Millionaire’s tax, Places to free file your taxes
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KMRE brings you local news for Tuesday, February 24th. Good afternoon, I’m _David Korb_____.
STORY: Lummi Nation arrests two for human trafficking
Lummi Nation Police have arrested two people for alleged human trafficking and child rape.
A 41-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man were booked into Whatcom County Jail on Friday. Records show they are associated with the same police case number. Both suspects are being held without bail and face charges of human trafficking, child rape, harassment, and intimidating a witness.
The woman also faces charges of second-degree assault, child neglect, and criminal accomplice. The man faces additional allegations of misdemeanor assault, unlawful imprisonment, and patronizing a prostitute.
As of Friday, neither individual had been formally charged.
STORY: Point Robert’s man arrested for bomb threat
A Point Roberts man was arrested after he allegedly threatened to bomb the exclave’s U.S. port of entry.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office says officials called 9-1-1 early Saturday morning after the 34-year-old, armed with an ax, allegedly broke windows at a port building and damaged a government vehicle.
Spokesperson Deb Slater says the man also made bomb threats, saying he would return and use his truck. Deputies say he returned to the port, where he was arrested and transported to the mainland for booking into Whatcom County Jail.
Charges included suspicion of malicious mischief, bomb threats, burglary, and felony harassment. He’s being held on $150,000 bail.
STORY: Bellingham man arrested on child rape charges
A 30-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a reported sexual assault in downtown Bellingham.
According to the Bellingham Herald, the alleged rape was reported just after midnight on Sunday at East Magnolia Street, two days after investigators say the assault occurred.
The man was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of assault, child rape, and indecent exposure. He is being held pending formal charges.
STORY: Semiahmoo woman found guilty of murder
A Whatcom County jury has returned a guilty verdict in a 2021 murder case.
The Bellingham Herald reports jurors on Monday convicted 67-year-old Fairhaven resident Lynda Mercy of second-degree murder in the killing of 67-year-old Thomas Flood.
Flood’s body was found on the Semiahmoo Spit in April of 2021 with two gunshot wounds. Prosecutors said Mercy shot him near the Coupeville ferry terminal to steal his vehicle, then drove it through Blaine and Fairhaven before abandoning it. Surveillance footage — including images of Mercy in a distinctive pom-pom hat — helped tie her to the crime.
Investigators also linked a .40-caliber pistol owned by Mercy to bullets recovered at the scene. Mercy claimed Flood committed suicide and argued the investigation was flawed.
Mercy has been held in Whatcom County Jail since her 2021 arrest, and will be sentenced in March. Second-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
STORY: Gas prices jump
Gas prices are spiking in Whatcom County.
AAA reports that the average price has risen by nearly 60 cents a gallon over the last month. The average price for the county is currently four dollars, twenty-eight cents — but that is still some of the cheapest gas in western Washington.
Analysts say that rising costs are driven by refinery issues, tightened regulations, and facility closures.
STORY: Mental health grants for schools going away
Whatcom County schools are bracing for major cuts to student mental-health support.
According to the Bellingham School District, more than one-and-a-half million dollars in temporary grants expire in June — funding that helps pay for specialists and clinicians to help students with anxiety, depression, attendance, and addiction.
Administered since 2002, the Washington state Healthy Youth Survey is a biennial, cross-sectional survey of 6th-thru-12th graders that measures adolescent health and wellbeing. The 2023 survey found 16% of Whatcom County 10th graders considered suicide in the past year, and 7% attempted it.
Grant-funded partnerships provide services in-school for students who cannot access them outside of school. However, providers are in schools only one or two days a week, and typically only serve Medicaid-eligible students.
District leaders met in February to explore long-term funding — from insurance billing to federal grants — but no clear solution has been reached.
STORY: Two budget bills in Olympia slated to draw from ‘rainy day fund’
Two different budget bills are being debated in Olympia.
The Washington State Standard reports that majority Democrats in the House and Senate have unveiled two supplemental budget options as the March 12th legislative deadline approaches.
Both proposals tap more than 700 million dollars from the state’s rainy day fund. Neither budget fully adopts Governor Bob Ferguson’s idea to use cap-and-trade revenue for tax rebates aimed at low- and middle-income households. The House would redirect some carbon auction dollars to rebates and construction, while the Senate leaves climate funding untouched.
Overall spending would increase under both plans, with Democrats citing higher demand for services… and inflation. Republicans, meanwhile, argue the proposals reflect what they call a “spending addiction.”
The committees vote this week, followed by their chambers, after which the House and Senate can hammer out a final version.
STORY: AI suspected by ‘con’ side of Millionaire’s tax
A flood of sign-ins against a proposed tax for high earners is now under investigation.
According to the group Invest in Washington Now, many of those entries are fake. In a recent press release, the group says it has identified more than 100 confirmed false “con” sign-ins on Senate Bill 6346, which would levy a 9.9% tax on households who are paid over one million dollars per year.
Beyond those individual cases, organizers said they identified nearly 38,000 additional opposition sign-ins generated through thousands of duplicate name submissions across House and Senate hearings combined. In more than 15,000 instances, identical names were entered repeatedly — sometimes 50 to 100 times. Many of the submissions were filed late at night, or in rapid succession.
Several supporters of the bill — including State Senator Victoria Hunt and leaders from the WEA and SEIU 775 unions— say they were wrongly listed as opponents.
Union leaders have asked Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and House Clerk Bernard Dean to investigate what they call widespread duplicate and suspicious entries. Dean says the online sign-in system has safeguards but is not failsafe, and the House is reviewing improvements.
Republican Senator John Braun says there’s no evidence of bot activity, and notes duplicates appear on both sides. The conservative group Let’s Go Washington also rejects the fraud claims.
The House Finance Committee takes up the bill today.
WX: Where all the rain at?
And now weather:
It looks like the weather played a trick on us — the rain decided not to. Temperatures on this lightly clouded day are expected to be in the upper 40s, with lows in the upper 30s.
Tomorrow morning should be cloudy and rainy — unless the weather is again fickle.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers Carlos Braga, Connor O’Boyle, Kyler Cantrell, Glen Hirshberg, Kathi O’Shea, Austin Wright, Tyler Warne, Kai Blais-Schmolke, and Kieran Dang. 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. To help support our work, check out our Patreon, or Substack, or visit kmre.org and click on the banner. I’m _David Korb________… thanks for listening!
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STORY: Lummi Island ferry dry dock scheduled for mid-April
STORY: Places to free file your taxes
Even though the Trump Administration has ended the IRS Direct File program, many Americans can still file their taxes for free this season.
Taxpayers earning under eighty-nine thousand dollars a year can use IRS Free File software online, while those making about sixty-seven thousand dollars or less may qualify for free, in-person help through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites at libraries and community centers. Seniors can get no-cost help through AARP Tax-Aide, and military members can file for free through the Defense Department’s MilTax program.
Anyone can also file at no charge using the IRS’s Free File Fillable Forms on IRS dot gov. The tax filing deadline is April fifteenth.
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