Drive-by shooting in Mount Vernon left two people with multiple gunshot wounds, $14M bond approved for Port of Bellingham Shipping Terminal modernization, Former Bellingham employees file class-action suit against city over COVID-19 vaccine policies, ‘High priority’ to get Sudden Valley Fire Station 22 back operating, City of Bellingham seeks new name for pier on Bellingham Bay, WSDOT plans for $85M fish passage project at I-5, Guide Meridian, Johnson & Johnson pays $123 million to WA following opioid lawsuit, WA plans to use $32 million to help asylum seekers
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STORY: Drive-by shooting in Mount Vernon left two people with multiple gunshot wounds
Two people were injured after a drive-by shooting took place in Mount Vernon on June 11th.
Police were dispatched to the scene on North 1st Street and found two men – a 23-year-old, and an 18-year-old – who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The 18-year-old was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, while the 23-year-old was treated at the nearby Skagit Valley Hospital. Neither of them suffered life-threatening injuries.
Mount Vernon Police believe the incident was not a random shooting. Witnesses and people who have information relating to the shooting are being asked to contact Mount Vernon Police.
STORY: $14M bond approved for Port of Bellingham Shipping Terminal modernization
On Tuesday, the Bellingham Port Commission approved a $14 million bond that will fund a large portion of the Bellingham Shipping Terminal modernization project.
The two-year, multi-million dollar project is meant to improve the existing wharf by replacing the dock, which port projections say would encourage more cargo traffic and business in the port. The recently passed bond will fund upgrades and repairs at both the shipping and cruise terminals.
At the Tuesday meeting, Port commissioners and employees explained that the approved bonds wouldn’t be paid for by taxpayers. Instead, port revenues will be used for the payback period. Once the bonds are issued, it will take about 15 years for the port to repay the amount borrowed, with an estimated annual payment of up to $1.4 million.
In January, the port started dredging the Whatcom Waterway to increase the navigation depth to 35 feet. The work is expected to be completed by February of next year, and port officials say a deeper waterway will create jobs for longshoremen, as well as shipyard and rail workers.
Dan Tucker, part of the Working Waterfront Coalition of Whatcom County, added that economic activity at the shipping terminal will ripple into downtown Bellingham and greater Whatcom County.
STORY: Former Bellingham employees file class-action suit against city over COVID-19 vaccine policies
Eighteen former employees of the City of Bellingham, fired in 2021 for refusing COVID-19 vaccinations, have sued the city and former Mayor Seth Fleetwood.
This follows Fleetwood’s September 2021 emergency order mandating vaccinations, which was eventually lifted in February of last year. The lawsuit, filed on June 13th in the U.S. District Court of Western Washington, claims the plaintiffs had the right to refuse the vaccine without penalty. The plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages, attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and compensation for lost wages and benefits.
The case is part of a broader pattern of legal challenges to vaccination mandates in the state. Neither party has commented on the lawsuit.
STORY: ‘High priority’ to get Sudden Valley Fire Station 22 back operating
Fire Chief Mitch Nolze (NOULz) says that getting Sudden Valley’s Fire Station 22 operational again is the “highest priority” and hopes to have cost estimates ready by July.
In January, a burst pipe caused enough water damage to render the station largely inoperable. Currently, the station’s administrative office remains open during business hours, alongside a crew of three to four emergency responders at all times, while the bulk of the South Whatcom Fire Authority’s responders have been relocated to the Geneva Fire Station. Even before the burst pipe, Fire Station 22 had long been slated for a remodel. Now, Nolze says, that conversation has been accelerated.
Nolze noted that despite the change in circumstances, the Fire Authority is still hitting their response time goals, typically taking between five and fifteen minutes to reach a call. He also says that he does not anticipate the project to require tax dollars, and will instead draw on existing cash reserves.
STORY: City of Bellingham seeks new name for pier on Bellingham Bay
The City of Bellingham is seeking public help in renaming the Bellingham Bay pier.
The pier, originally built in 1912 in the southwest of Little Squalicum Park, will soon undergo renovations which will provide up to 1,200 ft of public access over the water.
The renovations, primarily funded by the Greenway Levy Funds, will start later this year, and will run only between August to February, to protect in-water habitats and wildlife.
Name suggestions can be submitted on the City of Bellingham’s website, where they will then be forwarded to the Bellingham Parks & Recreation Board and Bellingham City Council for final approval. Voting for the new pier name closes on July 12th.
STORY: WSDOT plans for $85M fish passage project at I-5, Guide Meridian
This week, WSDOT (WASH-dot) presented their plan for an 85 million dollar fish passage project spanning I-5 and the Guide Meridian, to begin in 2026.
The project will work to fix existing creek culverts that are the wrong size and shape to accommodate fish moving up or downstream. This is one of many projects across the state that are working to comply with a 2013 federal court injunction that enforces tribal treaty fishing rights. The state has until 2030 to repair or replace culverts to open up salmon habitat upstream.
The design phase has already begun, and is currently informing businesses of future disruptions and changes. Both I-5 and the Guide are expected to be reduced to a single lane in each direction for periods of time while construction is underway.
WSDOT says it should have a clearer picture of the traffic impacts by December 2025.
STORY: Johnson & Johnson pays $123 million to WA following opioid lawsuit
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that the state and its local governments received a $123 million lump sum from Johnson & Johnson as part of a settlement to combat the opioid crisis.
The payment stems from Ferguson’s 2020 lawsuit against the company, which allowed them to avoid a trial. The funds, split equally between state and local governments, must be used to address the opioid and fentanyl epidemic. The Attorney General’s Office has recovered a total of almost $1.3 billion for this cause. Local governments will determine the use of their share, which includes substance abuse treatment, housing, youth and tribal prevention programs, and support for first responders.
Washington secured more from its resolution with Johnson & Johnson than a 2021 proposed multistate resolution, which Ferguson rejected. The state would have received almost $99 million dollars over nine years from that proposal but instead secured almost $150 million in total.
The Attorney General’s office still has pending litigation against two national pharmacy chains involved in the opioid epidemic.
WX: Cloudy
And now for your Whatcom County weather:
Today is expected to be a sunny day, with highs in the 70s and winds blowing west at 10-to-15 mph. Nighttime will bring clear skies and lows in the 50s, with winds becoming east after midnight.
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 listener donations. Check out our Patreon page or go to 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 in state funding to aid asylum seekers.
The Washington Migrant and Asylum Seeker Support Project, with funding campaigned by The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, will provide $5 million to King County and $2.5 million to the city of Tukwila. $25 million will be allocated to the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, where $20 million will go to community organizations to create coordinated support. The state will be utilizing one office as a hub for the operation, to connect new arrivals to the specific services they may need. Services include immigration related legal aid, housing, and “culturally responsive case management services.”
$1 million will go to schools serving asylum seeking students who are homeless. The first schools selected to receive funding, 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.
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. According to Sarah Peterson, chief of the state Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, agencies involved will then need some time to distribute the funds, with some to be set aside for emergency housing.
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.
