Heat wave kicks into high gear, how to stay cool, Police suspect suicide in case of body found in Lake Whatcom, Dept of Ecology to begin cleanup of Bellingham waterfront contamination site, District 40 to only feature one contested race on November ballot, WA initiative to protect natural gas could be on November ballot, Boeing to plead guilty to fraud charge surrounding Max 737 crashes
Independent, nonprofit community radio.
KMRE brings you local news for Monday, July 8th. Good afternoon, I’m ______.
STORY: Heat wave kicks into high gear, how to stay cool
The heat wave that is scorching nearly the entire West Coast is expected to get worse today.
Meteorologists say temperatures in California will range from 100 to 120 degrees, Portland is expected to hit 103 degrees today, and here in Whatcom we’re likely to see 87 degrees in Bellingham– with temps in the high 90s out in the county.
Although the heat is expected to linger for most of next week, the Puget Sound area might see temperatures dip slightly to the low-to-mid-80s on Wednesday due to incoming westerly winds.
The weather service advises people to stay hydrated, use cooling centers available in Whatcom and Skagit Counties, and be cautious of heat-related illnesses, especially for vulnerable populations. Local places to get cool include every County library, the WTA Station in downtown Bellingham, the Lynden Community Center, Ferndale City Hall, Pioneer Pavilion in Ferndale, and the East Whatcom Resource Center in Maple Falls. A reminder from the Health Department– it takes just 10 minutes for someone to suffer heat stroke inside a parked vehicle, so don’t leave kids or dogs in closed cars.
STORY: Police suspect suicide in case of body found in Lake Whatcom
A man in his early 20’s was found dead on Lake Whatcom Saturday evening, in a suspected suicide.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, his body was found floating on a raft with significant head injuries near North Shore Drive. Whatcom County officials say he appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and a firearm was recovered. A release from the Sheriff’s Office said the man had been listed as a missing person for two days in Snohomish County, but his identity was not released.
The incident is unrelated to another Lake Whatcom occurrence around the same time– a hit-and-run collision involving a boat and a personal watercraft. The collision was reported around 7:30 p.m., and is still under investigation.
STORY: Dept of Ecology to begin cleanup of Bellingham waterfront contamination site
The state Department of Ecology will begin sampling and dredging this month in the I & J Waterway, a polluted inlet on Bellingham’s industrial waterfront.
This is part of a long-planned cleanup at one of Bellingham’s “dirty dozen” contaminated sites. One portion of the site is in the cleanup phase, with construction crews dredging contaminated sediment. Another portion is in an earlier ‘engineering design’ phase, with scientists sampling sediment as they assess the extent of contamination.
Over time, the inlet off Bellingham Bay was contaminated by nearby industry, including a pulp and tissue mill, a rock-crushing plant, frozen food and seafood processors, and the runoff from a massive waterfront fire in 1985. Dredging operations will remove about 18,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the area adjacent to Bornstein Seafoods.
The Port of Bellingham is spearheading cleanup efforts with assistance from the city of Bellingham and the state Department of Natural Resources. Costs are estimated at $160 million dollars. The port is eligible for reimbursement of up to half of their costs through the state’s remedial action grant program which helps to clean up publicly owned sites, and is funded by revenues from a tax on hazardous substances.
Sampling activities will last about a month and in-water construction is expected to conclude by next February.
STORY: District 40 to only feature one contested race on November ballot
Election season is approaching, and candidates are lining up on both sides of the aisle.
District 40, which encompasses San Juan County along with portions of both Whatcom and Skagit counties, will have only one contested race on November’s Ballot.
In 2020 State Senator Democrat Liz Lovelett defeated Republican Charles Carrell in the general election. This year they are both running again in the only contested election in the 40th. Lovelett is a fifth-generation Anacortes resident who served on the Anacortes City Council for five years before being appointed to the state senate in 2019. Carrell is a resident of Sedro-Woolley, who worked at the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office from 1991-2023. 40th District Representatives Alex Ramel (RAM-ull) and Debra Lekanoff (luh-KAN-off) are both running unopposed.
In the 42nd District, however, it’s a different story. A primary election will be held in August to decide the top two candidates for the 42nd Representative Position 1. Incumbent Alicia Rule will face off against fellow Democrat Janet Mellman, and Republican Raymond Pelleti. In addition, incumbent Representative Joe Timmons will face Republican challenger Kamal Bhachu in the general election in November. The 42nd District includes most of Whatcom County.
This year’s primary ballots will be mailed on July 17th.
STORY: WA initiative to protect natural gas could be on November ballot
An initiative to protect natural gas users might make an appearance on ballots in November.
Combating Washington’s plan to transition to clean energy, Initiative 2066 hopes to protect home and business owners who use natural gas. Supporters have already turned in more than 400,000 signatures for their cause.
The initiative, if passed, would also hasten Puget Sound Energy’s transition away from natural gas, and halt Washington’s new energy code designed to install electric heat pumps rather than gas furnaces in newly built residential and commercial buildings.
Puget Sound Energy said it is quote “deeply concerned” unquote about the misinformation being spread on the Initiative, saying there is no ban on natural gas and they will continue to serve any customer who desires it.
If Initiative 2066 qualifies it will be the first item on the ballot.
STORY: Boeing to plead guilty to fraud charge surrounding Max 737 crashes
The Justice Department announced late last night that Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge related to the two fatal 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people.
Boeing had the option to plead guilty and pay a fine or face trial for conspiracy to defraud the United States. The plea deal, pending federal judge approval, includes an almost $244 million fine, an independent monitor for safety procedures, and a mandatory $455 million investment in compliance and safety programs. The deal covers only pre-crash wrongdoing and does not protect individual officials from prosecution or grant immunity for other incidents.
Relatives of crash victims oppose the deal, arguing it fails to hold Boeing accountable for the deaths. The Justice Department initially charged Boeing in 2021 for misleading FAA regulators about flight-control software implicated in the crashes. Boeing’s status as a federal contractor remains uncertain, potentially impacting its defense contracts and NASA projects. Critics argue that harsher penalties, including prison sentences for executives, are necessary for meaningful change.
The plea agreement is expected to be submitted to a U.S. District Court by July 19th.
WX: Sun
And now for your Whatcom County weather:
The weekend’s hot weather is expected to persist, with clear skies and daytime highs in the mid-upper 80s. Expect mild southwestern winds beginning in the afternoon. Nighttime lows will be in the mid-60s with sparse cloud coverage.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers Carlos Braga, Connor O’Boyle, Jayne Kuhlman, Carlee Schram (CAR-lee SHR-am), Tristan Trudell, Kyler Cantrell, Ikumi Mashiko, Anna Vickers, and Theron 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.
##
