Presidential Primary Results for Whatcom, Inmate dies in Whatcom County jail of apparent drug overdose, Interview with Mayor Lund, Salvation Army food pantry celebrates expansion in Bellingham’s Birchwood neighborhood, Gov. Signs Bill to Recognize Lunar New Year, Kreidler fines Molina Healthcare $100,000 for enrollment and billing errors, Maritime Washington National Heritage Area Awards Grants for Interpretation Projects, including KMRE’s Love Your Waterfront, Judge rejects challenge to Washington gun control law
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Independent, nonprofit community radio.
KMRE brings you local news for Tuesday, March 14th. Good afternoon, I’m ______.
STORY: Presidential Primary Results for Whatcom
Presidential primary results have been released for Whatcom County.
Both Biden and Trump won their respective primaries, by wide margins. Biden won 81% of the vote, with 11% voting uncommitted delegates. Trump won 75% of the vote, and Nikki Haley got 20%. Whatcom’s results mirror the statewide results very closely.
The 2024 Presidential Election will take place on November 5th.
STORY: Inmate dies in Whatcom County jail of apparent drug overdose
A Whatcom County Jail inmate was found dead and a cellmate hospitalized after apparent overdoses.
According to a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office announcement yesterday, an attempt was made to resuscitate the inmates but was only successful with one of them. The resuscitated inmate was taken to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center. It is unclear how the cellmates obtained the drugs. In the release, Sheriff Donnell (duh-NELL) Tanksley said that his office is reviewing the jail’s drug screening procedures.
The exact circumstances of the death are under investigation by the Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Response Team and will be made public.
STORY: Interview with Mayor Lund
In an interview with KMRE yesterday, Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund talked about her first 72 days in office and touched on her top priorities. Key among them is resolving a more than 4 million dollar deficit. Pointing to a combination of declining tax revenue and overhiring, Lund says solving the shortfall will require a new approach.
Lund Deficit Audio
Lund says the City increased staffing by more than 30% in the last five years– a level the new income prediction does not support. However, when asked about the possibility of layoffs, she had this to say:
Lund Layoffs Audio
Lund says Federal funding has been able to backfill around declining tax dollars, however, she plans to address the deficit head-on and with transparency across the entire organization. She sees the situation as an opportunity to reevaluate how things are done in municipal government, and says, although it’s unfortunate, Bellingham is not the only city facing this kind of financial strain.
Lund Many Munis Audio
To find out more about some of Mayor Lund’s top priorities, listen to the complete interview tomorrow after the 5pm news right here on KMRE 88.3FM.
STORY: Salvation Army food pantry celebrates expansion in Bellingham’s Birchwood neighborhood
The Salvation Army food pantry celebrated its expansion this week in Bellingham’s Birchwood neighborhood.
Birchwood was classified as a food desert after it lost its grocery store in 2016. The new pantry, at 1515 Birchwood Ave., served as a Salvation Army thrift store in recent years before being converted into a traditional food bank and now transitioning to a grocery store model. The self-serve style of the pantry allows food bank users to shop around the space like a grocery store, picking up items for themselves and their families. All food is free to pick up.
In the last several years, the need for food banks has increased. The Birchwood food bank has historically fed about 3,000 families each month, distributing about 1.5 million pounds of food in the last 12 months.
The food bank is open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Donations are welcome.
STORY: Gov. Signs Bill to Recognize Lunar New Year
In an historic move, Governor Inslee signed the bill establishing Lunar New Year as a recognized holiday in Washington.
Sponsored by Representative My-Linh Thai, the bill celebrates the cultural contributions of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Innslee had this to say about it:
LUNAR AUDIO
Washington is now the fourth state to officially recognize the holiday, after California, New Jersey, and Colorado.
STORY: Kreidler fines Molina Healthcare $100,000 for enrollment and billing errors
Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler announced Tuesday that Molina Healthcare will be fined $100,000 due to errors in enrollment and billing systems.
Kreidler said the problems at Molina are long standing. The Commission review began in 2021, and issues persisted even after a third-party platform was set in place in April of that year. Molina was found to have wrongly terminated customers for non-payment, denied coverage for people with pre-authorizations, and sent out incorrect invoices. Kreidler says the $100,000 fine is intended to encourage Molina to address these issues.
Molina has been operating as an HMO in Washington since 1985.
WX: Sun
Your Whatcom County weather – today will be mostly sunny, with a high of 56 degrees and calm winds. Clouds will roll in tonight, as temperatures drop to a low of 39. Tomorrow will be sunny and warmer, with temperatures in the high 60s.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers AnThu Nguyen (ANNE-two new-WIN), Carlos Braga, Connor O’Boyle, Jayne Kuhlman and Tristan Trudell. 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. If you would like to help keep local news accessible, check out our new Patreon page at patreon.com/kmrenews or go to kmre.org and click on the banner. I’m ________________, and thanks for listening.
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STORY: Maritime Washington National Heritage Area Awards Grants for Interpretation Projects, including KMRE’s Love Your Waterfront
STORY: Judge rejects challenge to Washington gun control law
A federal judge dismissed a challenge to Washington’s new gun law, which requires gun manufacturers and dealers to take reasonable steps to prevent their products from reaching the wrong hands.
The law, known as the Firearm Industry Responsibility & Gun Violence Victims’ Access to Justice Act, aims to address loopholes in Federal gun law which shield the gun industry from liability. The law was challenged by the National Shooting Sports Foundation in federal court last year immediately after it was signed into law. U.S. District Judge Mary K. Dimke (DIM-kee) rejected the lawsuit in a decision Friday, saying the organization had not established legal standing to challenge the measure. She noted that its members were neither being sued under the law nor had expressed an intent to violate its terms.
This is the eighth challenge to SB 5078 that Attorney General Ferguson has successfully defeated. Similar laws in other states, including New York, have also withstood legal challenges.
