Hate crime night before Bellingham Pride, Aquatic Center Closure, Reimbursements for Drug Possession Charges, Public Input On Greenways Tonight, Whatcom County Hires Outside Lawyer, State Held In Contempt, Campaign Funding
______________________________
Independent, nonprofit community radio.
KMRE brings you local news for Monday, July 10th. Good afternoon, I’m ______.
STORY: Hate crime night before Bellingham Pride
Four juveniles were arrested on Friday in Bellingham for a hate crime.
The teens assaulted and threatened three men in downtown Bellingham, throwing rocks at one victim while threatening to kill him, and shouting racial and homophobic slurs. They followed the victim as he walked home, continuing to throw rocks and causing injuries. When a friend of the victim and another man intervened, the teenagers threatened to shoot and stab them, continuing with their slurs. Prior to the attack, the boys had harassed several other individuals in the area.
The attack occurred on the eve of the downtown parade and other pride-related events scheduled for the weekend.
STORY: Aquatic Center Closure
The Arne Hanna Aquatic Center in Bellingham was temporarily closed over the weekend due to a drug incident.
The center was evacuated on Sunday after an individual was discovered allegedly using drugs in a bathroom. The person left the premises after being caught but has not been identified.
As a precaution, the facility remained closed for the rest of the day and is set to reopen today.
STORY: REIMBURSEMENT FOR DRUG POSSESSION CHARGES
Washington State will be issuing reimbursements for individuals required to pay fines or court fees for drug possession charges.
More than 350,000 defendants will be eligible for refunds after the 2021 State vs Blake decision ruled Washington’s possession law unconstitutional. The Blake Refund Bureau is launching a portal this month where it will disburse $50 million to those convicted of drug possession before February 26, 2021. The ruling entitles defendants to a resentencing hearing, where they can have their penalties reduced or convictions cleared entirely. Legislators allocated $47 million to offset the cost of hundreds of thousands of vacating requests and sentence adjustments from cases dating back to the 1970’s.
STORY: WHATCOM COUNTY HIRES OUTSIDE LAWYER
Whatcom County has hired an in-house conflict attorney to help with a backlog in cases.
As of last Thursday, eight people were still awaiting an attorney, with over half of them in jail without legal representation, according to Whatcom County Superior Court Administrator Dave Reynolds. To address the issue, the county has hired Melissa Stone, who will handle cases the public defender’s office cannot accept.
The county still requires public defense attorneys for the most serious felony adult cases. According to recent reporting by KUOW, the shortage of defense attorneys is a problem faced by other regions in Washington state.
STORY: STATE HELD IN CONTEMPT
A federal judge has held Washington state in contempt for failing to provide prompt psychiatric services to mentally ill individuals who are forced to wait in jails for extended periods.
In her order released late Friday, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled that the state’s Department of Social and Health Services has violated the constitutional rights of these individuals due to a lack of planning and timely response since 2015. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of people with mental health disabilities who were charged with crimes and required competency evaluations. The state previously entered into a settlement agreement in 2018 to address the wait times, but failed to do so.
Instead of increasing capacity in psychiatric hospitals, the state closed wards, exacerbating the problem. The fines, which amount to over $100 million dollars, had been held in abeyance, but are now ordered to be paid.
STORY: PUBLIC INPUT ON GREENWAYS TONIGHT
The Bellingham City Council is organizing a public hearing tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss a proposed fifth greenways levy.
The Council is seeking input regarding the levy, which hopes to fund the acquisition, development, and maintenance of recreation projects in the city.
The public can participate in person at the Council Chambers or stream the meeting live through the City’s website.
STORY: CAMPAIGN FUNDING
Ballots for the August 1st Whatcom County primary are scheduled to drop this Wednesday, and two candidates are outstripping the rest in the fundraising battles for Bellingham’s mayoral race and the Whatcom County Executive race.
Mayoral candidate Kim Lund has raised over $48,000 in campaign contributions, more than three times as much as the next candidate. Incumbent Seth Fleetwood has raised the second most, with nearly $14,000. Chris McCoy, Mike McCauley and Kristina Michele Martens follow with between $4,000 and $8,000.
County Executive campaign spending is even more lopsided. Incumbent Satpal Sidhu has raised $74,000 compared to Alicia Rule’s $10,000. Sukhwant Gill, Barry Buchanan and Dan Purdy follow, raising between $3,000 and $6,000. Misty Flowers is another outlier, securing around $800 in campaign contributions.
In order to help our listeners understand the candidates and their positions better, KMRE in a collaboration with Whatcom Community College, interviewed all the primary candidates for County Executive and Mayor of Bellingham. Starting Wednesday, every day after the 5pm news we’ll air a compilation of the candidates’ views on one question. You can also find the interviews in their entirety on our website, kmre.org.
WX: Sunny and Warm
Skies will be partly cloudy this afternoon with a high of 67. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. This evening more clouds are expected to roll in late, with a low of around 55. Tomorrow, expect partly cloudy skies and a high of 69. More cloudy skies overnight with a low of 54.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers Sarah Edmonds and Myles Weber. 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. I’m ________________ and thanks for listening.
