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©2020 CASCADIA WEEKLY (ISSN 1931-3292) is published each Wednesday by Cascadia Newspaper Company LLC. Direct all correspondence to: Cascadia Weekly PO Box 2833 Bellingham WA 98227-2833 | Phone/Fax: 360.647.8200 info@cascadiaweekly.comThough Cascadia Weekly is distributed free, please take just one copy. Cascadia

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NIMBYS OR PHIMBYS?Once again, Galen Herz proposes that ending

single-family zoning will increase affordability for low-income families, and refers to those of us who defend it from predatory developers as “anti-housing activists.” Yet we in the Sehome and York neighborhoods spent years getting permanently affordable housing in our ’hoods, such as Eleanor Apartments and the new Aloha Motel project.

Does that make us NIMBYs, or PHIMBYs (public housing in my backyard)?

Oregon abolished single-family zoning, yet my daughter’s apartment in Portland is almost twice the price of her significantly larger and more elegant one in Little Rock, Arkansas that was $900 per month. This one has no dishwasher or air conditioning.

I quit the Sehome Neighborhood board due to the presence of one slumlord property owner, and the meeting in which student renters stood up and divulged his abusive behavior toward them.

Our neighborhood is becoming a colony of Hammer, Lakeway, and other vulture property owners, who are salivating at the prospect of changing zoning to they can tear down the old houses stuffed with young people and build compartments with unaffordable rents.

One of hundreds of “For Rent” signs on High Street admits, “This place has rats.”

Maybe he thinks people like me who fought po-

lice in the ‘60s to end the war machine and redlin-ing in Seattle are racists. But the YIMBY “move-ment,” funded by millions of Big Tech dollars, paid for him to attend a fancy conference in San Fran-cisco. His employment by a developer bears rel-evance. And maybe he could tell me why so many Black people are clustered on the far southeast end of Portland, where rents are cheaper, if ending single-family zoning is so great.

Notably, there is a difference in cost of living on the desirable West Coast that factors in cost differentials, and we live in a capitalistic caste society. This has less to do with zoning than cen-turies of wealth concentration.

Ending institutional racism begins with eco-nomic justice and honesty about one’s own fi-nancial bias.

—Dianne Foster, Bellingham

MAKE PUBLIC HEALTH A PRIORITYAsk ten people on the street to define “pub-

lic health.” Along with blank stares, you’d get no agreed-upon definition. If the community can’t de-fine public health, how can we expect support to shore up funding? The COVID-19 pandemic under-scores the chronic underfunding of public health.

Broad threats to public finance and the dif-ficulties more specific to public health finance are long in the making, but we must reverse that trend. We need more dedicated young people

ALAN RHODES P.04 + CREATURE COMFORTS P.11 + BACK TO SCHOOL P.14

SPRING FLINGShelter in place

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OCEAN DREAMSESCAPE TO TOLEAK POINT P.10

BLACKLIVESMATTERGRANT'S SLANTPower to the peopleP.06 —SAVE OUR STAGESThe time is now P.12 —

IN AND OUTPicnic with a

PurposeP.19—

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08-19-2020 • ISSUE: 34 • V.15

THISWEEK

Views & News02: Mailbag

04: Gristle and Rhodes

06: Watershed woes

08: Power play

09: 52 Women

Arts & Life10: A coastal escape

11: Creature Comforts

12: Save Our Stages!

14: Back to school

Rear End15: Free Will, Advice Goddess

16: Crossword

17: Sudoku, Comix

18: Biz Briefs

19: Picnic with a Purpose

COVER: Photo by John D’Onofrio

“This is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning. We have got to vote like we did in 2008 and 2012. We’ve got to show up with the same level of passion and hope for Joe Biden. We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can. We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow up to make sure they’re received. And then, make sure our friends and fami-lies do the same. We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too, because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to.”

—Michelle Obama, speaking Mon., Aug. 17 at the 2020 Democratic National Convention

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moving into public health. The coronavirus pandemic will not be the last of new infec-tious and contagious agents.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials has noted “local and state health departments have lost a quarter (23 percent) of their workforce since 2008, shedding over 50,000 jobs across the coun-try” and “almost a quarter of health depart-ments staff are eligible for retirement.”

Medicine helps one-on-one when people are sick. Public health by preventing illness and injury, across large numbers of people through actions and programs that reach thousands, even millions of individuals, saves money.

Contact your state, city and county lead-ers, urge them to give higher priority to pub-lic health funding. Also, Congress can take a first step to invest in the public health workforce, by enacting and implementing a loan repayment program for public health professionals who agree to serve two years in a local, state or tribal health department. Phone the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will con-nect you directly with the Senate or House office you request.

Let’s invest in our young people—they are the future.

—Micki Jackson, Bellingham

CHANGE THE SYSTEMI am the founder of the Restorative Com-

mUnity Coalition and have been an advo-cate for the voiceless and underserved the majority of my life. This letter is written as a birthday gift to me. I have a lot on my 80-year-old chest that needs to be delivered to the rightful owners, “the operations” of our “system”—our politicians, government, especially the courts, the police and the workers within all these categories.

There are only a very few who know or see the entire picture and know the roles that are played in this game.

I’ve known for a very long time that there is something wrong with how our society works. While nosing in and around the community, working and volunteering at nonprofits for more than three decades, I’ve gathered bits and pieces—building the nonsensical puzzle.

The “operations” of the system are very proud of the list and the services they pro-vide our citizens in need. What “the opera-tions” don’t tell us is that they are mostly token programs that serve very few, and most people do not have a continuum of care. The barriers and cracks in the system that most experience keep them in a state of dysfunction and chaos, which from my experience is deliberate and contrived.

Why?To keep “the system” intact.“The system” works “the system”—not

the people going through the system.While working with people with convic-

tion histories, I’ve experienced myriad situations that defy common sense within

“the system.”It’s all fixable. It can be fixed with common

sense—fill the gaps! Take responsibility. Be accountable. Possibly the biggest hurdle is a change in attitude from the “operations de-partment” and the service providers.

There are many who look upon our citi-zens with conviction histories with dis-dain, using names like bimbos, losers, fre-quent flyers, and worse.

I’ve followed and helped dozens of these folks as a court navigator (a program I de-veloped when I saw its value), and none of them would have been successful without our help. The trauma that comes from an arrest, the probable loss of a job, the fees and fines that rack up are devastating. The chaos within the courts, defender, proba-tion, myriad program appointments, treat-ment, etc., is almost impossible to navigate without support. The shame and depression that is experienced is debilitating. The relief and hope that comes from community sup-port is truly awesome to experience.

Since the inception of RCC I have been considered an intruder on the scene of the jail expansion efforts. I have been disre-spected, shut down, uninvited, rejected, disallowed and silenced by the powers that be. I am devoted to being a voice for this in-sane 20th century plan to cripple our coun-ty financially. There are jails closing down and hundreds if not thousands of empty jail beds in our state. The population in our jail needs to be reduced, yes, even more!

Do your homework.Our punitive system is archaic and de-

meaning and very lucrative. My goal is to ed-ucate and advocate for more of the “Defund Police” funds to be used to expand the token programs to support more of this population so they can be the functional citizens we expect them to be, and they want to be.

My vision for the ReStoreALife Center is one of the stopgaps needed. We have a long list of helpful programs and business plans for housing, employment, parenting, living skills, treatment, restorative justice circles, conflict resolution, emotional resilience and wellness training that can and should be implemented to solve these issues.

We as citizens of Whatcom County have this opportunity to raise our voices in sup-port of this segment of our population. If more of them don’t have the chance to suc-ceed we all suffer—with more taxes, less public safety, more crime and continued useless arrests and failures in our courts. It creates an economic ball and chain that debilitates our seniors, middle class and all segments of our community. Our current practices are not right.

If this gives you pause—or if it gives you hope—please contact the Restorative Jus-tice Community and see how you can join the masses knowing that your one degree of change will make a difference—www.TheRestorativeCommunity.org

—Irene Lincoln Morgan, Bellingham(edited for length)

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THESE COVID days have gotten pretty strange for me. I’ve never had this much time on my hands, so I’m behaving differently in many ways. I have, for example, started watching way too much television news. This has led me into imagi-nary conversations with Donald Trump, like this recent one:

Hey Don, I heard you bragging about your fantastic score on your dementia screening test. Setting the bar a little low are you? You considered it a triumph of mental acuity when you could memorize the five words person, woman, man, camera and TV, then repeat them back a short time later. Well, POTUS Guy, I aced that test also. It was so easy that I asked for the advanced form. My five words were syzygy, sciolism, zymurgy, eleemosynary and subdermatoglyphic. Not only did I repeat them back later, but I also spelled and defined them.

And you thought you were so smart because you could identify and name an elephant? My identifi-cations were of a Tasmanian devil, a black-spotted cuscus and an axolotl.

OK Don, I admit it, I didn’t really take the test, but at least I’m not boasting about knowing what an el-ephant looks like. To do that I’d have to be, well, you know, “demented.”

It’s not just TV news I’m overdos-ing on, I’m binging on television in general. I’ve lost the restraint and discernment I used to exercise. My wife Susan is starting to worry about me. Last night she walked into the room, shook her head sadly and said, “Really? It’s come to this? Reruns of Barnaby Jones?”

I figured I needed to get some focus back into my life and thought maybe meditation would help. I got a book on Zen meditation and tried it out. Sitting on the floor in the lotus position hurt my knees. I switched to the half-lotus, which only hurt one knee and wasn’t much of an improve-ment. I tried just sitting on the floor but that hurt my back. I switched to my easy chair and that worked fine. Susan said I should probably turn off the TV while meditating. She suggested that one of the koans in my Zen book might help me center. I started with “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” After about 20 minutes I decided it was too hard, so I pulled out my phone and asked Siri. She told me that the sound of one hand clapping was silence. Well, duh, that’s pretty obvious. I didn’t feel en-lightened, just irritated, so I gave up on meditation. Besides, it was time for the six o’clock news.

There is, however, one thing that has helped keep some balance in my life since this coronavirus thing started, and that’s my indispensable work here at the Cascadia Weekly. I must confess, though, that I recently considered giving up writing satire. This occurred while perusing the 36 candidates running for governor in the state primary election. I said to myself, “Mr. Cranky, you can’t make

up stuff this outlandish. Reality is rendering you obsolete.” The major-ity of candidates were crackpots, cretins, conspiracy theorists or all three. One of my favorites was Alex Tsimerman of the Standup America Party who has a 25-point program consisting of the same sentence re-peated 25 times: “Stop Seattle/King Fascism with idiotic face!” Another favorite was Thor Amundson of the Independent Party who entered the governor’s race but asked voters to send him to the U.S. Senate.

After the smoke cleared, Republi-cans chose Loren Culp, a small-town police chief who thinks COVID-19 is no big deal and thinks that as a policeman he gets to decide which laws are unconstitutional, appar-ently confusing himself with the state Supreme Court. Given Culp’s disdain for face masks and fondness for gathering in large, unmasked, closely packed groups, gamblers are now taking odds on whether he’ll still be alive when the general elec-tion rolls around.

I was so dismayed by all this that I had to sit down for three hours and watch reruns of Andy Griffith, Gomer Pyle, Green Acres and Hogan’s Heroes.

As if all this weren’t enough, I’m suffering from numerous injuries related to staying at home. I have carpel tunnel pain from pressing the TV remote too much, my fingers hurt from opening too many cans of soup, and I recently took a nasty fall, tripping on my bathrobe cord at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Alan Rhodes can be reached at mr_cranky@cascadiaweekly.com

THE GRISTLE

VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF CASCADIA WEEKLY

viewsYOUR VIEWS THE GRISTLE

BY ALAN RHODES

Pandemic PonderingsPERSON. WOMAN. MAN. CAMERA. TV.

INCREMENTS: Under pressure to move forward with their work on the proposed Cherry Point amendments despite the COVID-19 pandemic and social distanc-ing, the Whatcom County Planning Commission held a virtual meeting by audio conference on those top-ics last week. After 11 work sessions revising the draft code amendments, the Planning Commission offered this final online public hearing as an oppor-tunity for industry leaders and citizens to weigh in on the topic of fossil fuels and the expansion of fos-sil fuel exports at Cherry Point. More than 75 people spoke at the virtual meeting.

When their work is completed, the Planning Com-mission will return their review of the proposed land-use changes, along with recommendations, to What-com County Council for approval. If approved, the land-use amendments could be added to the county’s Comprehensive Plan for its heavy industrial zone.

Due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus, County Council in June extended their moratorium on new major fossil-fuel export projects for an additional six months while the Planning Commission completes their work. In 2016, Council initiated the public review process for a set of draft code amendments to control pollution and better protect the air, water and com-munities around Cherry Point’s fossil fuel industries.

The long genesis of the Cherry Point amendments, coupled perhaps with a dramatic cooldown of the heated economy driving the production and export of fossil fuels, may have created an opening for creative approaches and collaboration among both petroleum industry leaders and activists seeking to limit carbon pollution leading to climate change.

These collaborative approaches produced a clearer definition of renewable fuels and their requirements, a focus both groups would prefer to see receive greater emphasis at local refineries. The joint pro-posal would make clear that movements of tradition-al petroleum products are not prohibited and are an understood use of the heavy-industry zone.

At the heart of these amendments is the land-use distinction of an outright permitted use versus a conditional use, in which a development permit must be sought through a more extensive public review; and what factors might trigger those distinctions.

“The initial Council proposal would prohibit new fossil-fuel refineries and new transshipment facili-ties, and require a conditional use permit for renew-able facilities,” Senior Planner Matt Aamot sum-marized. “The Planning Commission proposal also prohibits new fossil-fuel facilities; however, the Planning Commission recommendations are that new, renewable facilities should be a permitted use.

“Both proposals allow for activities associated with existing refineries,” Aamot said, “although the Planning Commission recommendations would allow for a more extensive list of permitted uses. Renew-able facilities would be permitted outright under the Planning Commission proposal.”

The distinction would reduce the barriers to refin-eries pursuing advances in renewable fuels, industry analysts noted in their comments to the commission.

Disappointingly, the Planning Commission recom-mendation reduces or eliminates analysis of green-house gas emissions in the zoning code—the impe-tus for seeking the amendments in the first place.

“We’ve come quite a ways since this Council put

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THE GRISTLEthese amendments out for review,” commented Eddie Ury, the clean en-ergy program manager for RE Sources. “Now I think most people are in agree-ment that the Planning Commission has worked to improve and resolve these amendments. I’m really proud to say that just within the last 30 days, we’ve made some substantial progress to resolve some outstanding issues.”

Ury worked alongside BP, Phillips 66, and Petrogas on on many of the collaborative changes outlined by the commission.

“I appreciate the industries coming forward to work with us on how we could meet the policy interests that Whatcom County Council set forward to pursue—in ways that don’t create burdens or con-flicts of interest in what the refineries need to continue to operate,” he said.

“What passed the Planning Commis-sion last week was both cleaned up and watered down,” Alex Ramel observed. Ramel, now a representative for the 40th Legislative District, had worked as a consultant for several years on the Cherry Point amendments. “The draft passed by Council and sent to the com-mission last year, for example, had an inconsistency between the way that climate pollution is accounted for and dealt with between the sections on land use permits and on the State En-vironmental Policy Act (SEPA). The in-dustry, perhaps fairly, didn’t like that,” he said. “The commission deleted the requirement in the land-use section, which I could live with as long as it is done well in one place. But they also did away with the requirement that the pollution reported on in SEPA would need to be mitigated. That means it’s still just a staff decision that happens on an ad hoc basis, project by project.”

“Over the past decade we’ve seen the range of dangerous coal, oil and gas projects the dirty energy companies want to bring to Cherry Point. So we are counting on the Whatcom County Council to act decisively and protect our community from these fossil fuel expan-sions,” said Matt Krogh, director of the extreme oil campaign for the environ-mental policy group Stand.earth, a po-sition Ramel held until his appointment to the Legislature last year. “They can and should require that all climate pol-lution from new projects and expansions be mitigated or prevented. And they can keep our community safe by requiring in-surance so that the public isn’t left hold-ing the bag after a spill or explosion.”

The amendments head back to County Council, and a more heated ferment with new members than when they were first proposed.

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NEWS POLITICS FUZZ BUZZ INDEX

currents

Power to the People

BY TIM JOHNSON

It’s an expectation, in this nexus of pow-er and natural beauty, that seldom arrives.

The very name tells its story: Whatcom County Public Utility District Number One was among the first of its kind formed in the state—the product of dynamic citi-zens who understood control of their util-ities was vital to their local economy, and to the public initiatives they deemed im-portant. But where other similar districts around the state have flourished over the decades—providing power, water and di-verse utility services—Whatcom PUD has languished, its potential unrealized.

The elected commission of PUD holds their meeting in this location that are brief and sparsely attended. The comments of the three commissioners, a diverse and talented group, while noted and recorded are not made broadly available to the pub-lic. The agency has no presence on social media. The PUD’s executive director, Steve Jilk—vital, expressive and articulate—is eager for an expanded role in planning for the county’s future that, for a number of reasons, just doesn’t arrive.

They have only one power customer—a refinery, and not even the county’s larg-est refinery.

Efforts to do more have been stillborn.The sense is the PUD doesn’t do much;

but the more accurate reality is the PUD has capacity to do so much more than it does.

While the utility can purchase electric-ity from the federal Bonneville Power Ad-ministration at the lowest cost, Whatcom PUD No. 1 has only that single customer—the Phillips 66 refinery at Cherry Point. The utility has enormous capacity to serve water to farms, industries and neighbor-hoods, but this role has been taken up by the county’s patchwork of water districts and water associations. A plan a few years back to catalogue, understand and light up the county’s extensive fiber network to provide telecommunications services was killed in the quarreling competition of for-profit cable service providers—a fancy notion without a business plan.

“PUDs across the state are innovating to serve their communities through wide-spread access to affordable high-speed internet, cheaper and cleaner power, and innovative water management. Here in Whatcom County, our PUD provides min-imal services and has fallen decades be-hind,” Christine Grant said.

She’s running for a spot on the commis-sion to help change that.

“I am an industry consultant, not a pol-itician,” Grant admitted, “but we need an industry expert who is passionate about modernizing the PUD.”

Over the last ten years, Grant helped win $25 million in funding for regional clean energy infrastructure and jobs initiatives. She has advised utilities across the country on a range of issues including finance, bill-ing and program management. Grant served on the board of directors of Spark North-west, a nonprofit that promotes clean ener-gy infrastructure. She also teaches energy policy at Western Washington University’s Institute for Energy Studies.

The PUD race did not have a primary. If elected in November, Grant will be the first woman to serve on the PUD commis-sioner in Whatcom County history.

“As a parent, I think climate change is going to be an incredibly defining chal-lenge for my generation and her gener-ation,” Grant said. “I think there is still time to make meaningful change in public policy to address this challenge.”

Grant is known for her thoughtful anal-ysis of policy issues, and has spent her ca-reer working with utilities, PUDs and rural electric cooperatives across the country. She served on Bellingham’s climate action task force, and is widely endorsed by over 50 elected officials, business leaders and community members. She seeks an ex-panded role for the PUD in all of its current (though mostly dormant) areas of activity.

“One of the things that I have become intensely interested in, as an educator and a mother, is the issue of the digital divide,” Grant said, noting the gap across commu-nities in their access to advanced informa-tion and communication technologies.

“The digital divide, which has been ex-acerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is in part what inspired me to run for of-fice,” she admitted. “Internet access is no longer a luxury; it is an essential utility. Many people in Whatcom County have un-reliable and expensive internet.

“Other PUDs started building broad-band infrastructure 20 years ago. What-com families and businesses deserve the same,” Grant said. “The PUD had really delayed in engaging on that issue.“

Similarly, Grant has consulted on agri-cultural and water issues for clients such as the American Farmland Trust, the Na-tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Port of Seattle.

Public utility districts are not-for-prof-it, community-owned utilities. They had their genesis in Washington at the turn of the last century, as private inves-tor-owned utilities (IOUs) declined to provide electricity to rural farms. The IOUs did not see the initial outlay as prof-itable. That state’s associations of grang-

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CHRISTINE GRANT SEEKS EXPANDED ROLES FOR PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT

THE TOWERING high-tension lines of the Pacific Northwest pow-er grid hum away to the southeast. Here, tucked away on a quiet road in an obscure corner of Ferndale with the county’s most exquisite views of the western face of Mt. Baker and the Sisters, the cool, modest of-fices of Whatcom County PUD No. 1 seem alert for opportunities.

CONTINUED ON PG 08

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es and farming communities fought back.“When we decide that a service is es-

sential, we want to make sure that we keep it affordable and make it accessible to everyone,” Grant said, commenting on the important interplay between the roles of both models of utilities. “Public owner-ship of a utility can help keep rates low, and it gives communities control over how they get those services.

“The community makes choices about what their utilities look like, with a great deal of local control.”

PUDs elsewhere are still performing in that essential role of delivering utility services the IOUs deem onerous or unprofitable. And because there are no investor shareholders clamoring for a profit, PUDs are often able to provide these services at remarkable dis-count to businesses and residents.

Several public utility districts, particu-larly in the eastern sections of the state, are active and dynamic. A few have even explored their own hydroelectric and so-lar power generation projects. On average PUDs are 95 percent carbon-free, thanks to favorable rates from Bonneville Power.

In the most recent PUD expansion in 2008, voters in Jefferson County approved a ballot initiative with 53 percent support to authorize their water and sewer PUD to wrest control of providing electricity from Puget Sound Energy, the largest private utility in the state. The move created 39 jobs and $11 million in wages for the area, and shifted the district’s power mix, too, from 60 percent fossil fuels to just 2 per-cent. Importantly, the expanded role of the PUD in Jefferson County provides an ave-nue to more fully explore clean, renewable power at costs unavailable through PSE.

“Washington state is a net exporter of power,” Grant observed. “The PUD has ac-cess to some of the cheapest and cleanest electricity in the entire country. And that portfolio is improving all the time with in-creased solar.

“Let’s start by offering two customers access to this power,” she laughed.

Kitsap PUD, long the dominant provider of water to county residents, recently ex-panded its role to provide retail high-speed internet and telecommunication services in areas underserved by cable providers.

As public agencies, PUDs can be high-ly responsive to community interests. An elected board of commissioners charged with setting rates and making strategic decisions holds open meetings to discuss plans and solicits public input. As a result, some PUDs are leaders in implementing in-novative new projects.

Other PUDs are less active—even mor-ibund.

Despite long being empowered as a full-service utility in ways Kitsap and Jef-ferson voters were required to freshly cre-ate through initiative, Whatcom PUD No.

1 has been relatively quiet, and even left behind in innovative proposals.

“For the past five years I have worked with rural electric cooperatives across the country on everything from billing and rate design to utility truck selections to the grid impacts of electric vehicles,” Grant said. “One of the most eye-opening things for me is that many of these rural electric co-operatives are doing very innovative things

with demand-response, financing energy ef-ficiency and reducing carbon emissions. But their primary interest is in keeping rates low—because they are owned by the members.”

The failures of What-com PUD have not been for a lack of trying, or from the absence of in-novative ideas.

Grant sketched a number of potential activities in each of the PUD’s areas—pow-er, water and circling back to telecommuni-cation services.

“PUDs can provide open access to fiber that’s not commonly available to internet service providers, who then can lease that fiber” in a public-pri-vate partnership, Grant explained. “In the case of Kitsap, if there isn’t a private provider available, the PUD can

step in and deliver that service.“One of the key things to understand

is that fiber is the form of internet in-frastructure that much of the devel-oped world already has,” she said. “It is fiber-to-the-premises that really gives value to people and businesses. The com-munities that have been able to provide broadband access have shown there are tremendous economic gains.

“There’s a lot changing in this particular area of broadband access from a regulatory perspective, and from the state Legislature. If we’re nimble,” she observed, noting that Whatcom PUD has not assigned a commis-sioner to the state association of PUDs’ communications group for many years.

“That’s how disinterested the commission has been in even tracking what’s going on.

“In order to move forward, we’re going to have to think about issues in innovative ways,” Grant said. “One of my philosophies is to invent as many options for mutual gain as possible. So I think we need com-missioners who are willing to go into the PUD who will bring everyone to the table, work with everyone at the table, and try to create new solutions.”

CONTINUED FROM PG 06

ATTENDWHAT: Bill McKibben and Christine Grant: A ConversationWHEN: 5pm, Thurs. Aug. 20 teleconferenceMORE: Whatcom County PUD candidate Christine Grant and climate activist Bill McKibben discuss a range of topics focused on clean energy and climate science,. Jeremiah "Jay" Julius, former Chairman of the Lummi Nation, will provide an introduction.COST: FreeINFO: www.grant4pud.org

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Phyllis Self (b.1937) is a patron and champion of the arts in Bellingham. As an accomplished pastel artist herself, she has won the Mayor’s Arts Award. When Self came to Bellingham in 1988 she dedicated herself to the cultural growth of the community. Self joined the board and co-chaired the Mount Baker Theatre’s fundraising campaign to restore the 92-year-old theater, transforming it into a grand performing arts center. A decade later, Self again stepped up to co-chair the fundraising for the Arts District, which helped finish the theater project and built the Whatcom Museum’s Light-catcher Building where she now serves as a docent. Self said she became a docent to become more involved with the muse-um and cultivate a deeper understanding of art. Aside from the arts, Self had a therapist practice and led a hospice grief group, was a trustee for Planned Parent-hood and Whatcom Literacy Council, co-chaired the Bellingham Arts Commission and volunteered at Alderwood School. She served 10 years as a trustee of Whatcom Community College and continues on its Foundation Board. The Phyllis and Charles Self Learning Commons is named for their generous support for the college.

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF BELLINGHAM AND WHATCOM COUNTY52 WOMEN OF

WHATCOM COUNTY

Mabel Zoe Wilson (1878-1964) was the librarian who created a library for what was to be Western Washington University. Wilson had no formal library training, but in a study hall, she arranged a few piles of magazines and 400-500 books into an organized collection, created a handwritten catalog and began teaching students how to access the “li-brary“ and its resources. Wilson was born in Athens, Ohio, and why she came West for a salary of $600 a year is not known, but within a year there were 4,600 books properly catalogued. In 1909 she got her library degree in New York from the school founded by Melvil Dewey himself. In 1924 a dedicated library was built. She developed the library’s holdings, secured additional professional and clerical staff and expanded the library’s instructional services to include credit courses in library and research skills.

Wilson served on many state, regional and national library committees, includ-ing the formation of the Washington Library Association. She was beloved by students and faculty and famed for extravagant parties she held for them. In 1964 these friends campaigned success-fully for the library’s name change to the Mabel Zoe Wilson Library.

SOURCES: Library Women by Marian Alexander (Associate Professor Emeritus, Western Washington University

Libraries). Northwest Women’s Hall of Fame

In a civilization, it’s the arts that last.—Phyllis Self

08.11.20

TUESDAYBoth of Washington’s U.S. Senators and

two local members of Congress call for relaxed travel restrictions that have iso-lated 1,300 American citizens in a five-square-mile enclave just south of the Canadian border. Point Roberts lies in U.S. territory, on the southern tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, but it can only be reached by land by traveling through Can-ada. The shutdown of the U.S./Canada border to nonessential travel has largely confined residents to the postage-stamp-sized area. Meanwhile, nearly 4,000 Cana-dian citizens have been unable to get to their vacation homes and other properties at Point Roberts. [U.S. Senate]

08.13.20

THURSDAYCity officials issue a public rebuke of

four Bellingham Police officers who used a mentally ill man to pull a prank on other off-duty officers. The Bellingham Herald ob-tained documents detailing an investiga-tion into the incident in September 2019 that began when the man called 911 to re-quest a cab. The man was taken to a restau-rant in a patrol vehicle and given money to spend with the intent that he would make the off-duty officers uncomfortable. The four officers responsible received letters of reprimand in their files and remain on the force. “This is not the level of behavior that our community should expect or have from our police officers,” BPD Chief David Doll said. [Bellingham Herald]

An investigation into the death of a Whatcom County resident from an appar-ent accidental overdose of counterfeit fentanyl-laced prescription pills ends in arrests for homicide. Extensive investiga-tion indicated two women and a man from Ferndale and Bellingham allegedly provided the counterfeit pills. They were charged with manslaughter and controlled substance ho-micide. [WCSO]

08.14.20

FRIDAYThe good news for this year’s troubled

Fraser River salmon stocks is that high levels of freshwater runoff have been dropping in recent days, giving return-ing fish a better chance of making it past the Big Bar landslide and to their home streams to spawn. But that boost is unlikely to offset the historically low return of 283,000 sockeye forecast for the run this year. [Vancouver Sun]

This year is shaping up to be the worst for sockeye salmon in the Fraser River since tracking began in 1893, according to the Pacific Salmon Commission. The ex-pected run has been downgraded to less than a third of preseason forecasts, and unusually high water levels on the riv-er have made for a challenging migration for early-season sockeye. “The majority of those runs will not reach their spawning grounds,” said Catherine Michielsens, the commission’s chief of fisheries manage-ment science. [CBC]

08.15.20

SATURDAYAmid pressure from Democrats and

some Republicans, the Trump adminis-tration withdraws a controversial nom-inee to head the federal Bureau of Land Management. The sprawling public lands agency, which manages roughly a tenth of the landmass of the United States, has not had a permanent, Senate-confirmed director for the entire Trump era. The nominee, William Perry Pendley, has been leading the agency since last August through a series of controversial contin-ued appointment extensions. “Pendley wants to sell off our public lands—and has no business being in charge of them,” Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said in a statement. [NPR]

08.16.20

SUNDAYLynden youth again march for social

justice reform. The group, called Kids 4 Equality started by elementary students in Lynden, was joined by about 250 peaceful activists who marched to a rally to focus attention on minority groups and migrant workers. [YAWC, Bellingham Herald]

THE WEEK THAT WAS: GOAT RELOCATION

Another 50 mountain goats are relocated by road, boat and air from the Olympic Mountains to their native habitat in the North Cascades. The iconic wilderness animals survived sedation, capture, vet checks and transport by ferry and helicopter to their new homes in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests. Most were released into rugged landscapes just outside Skagit County, including north of Washington Pass and south of Darrington. The goats bring the total relocated during the three-year project to 325.

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STORY AND PHOTO BY JOHN D’ONOFRIO

Toleak Point A RETURN TO THE OLYMPIC COAST

BACK IN March, in what we can now call the before times—before the quarantines and lockdowns—I spent a few glorious days on the wilderness beaches of Olympic Na-tional Park doing what I like best: exploring the Pacific Ocean’s complicated margins, watching eagles and clouds pass overhead, relaxing beside the fire.

As it turned out, it would be my last backpacking trip for many months. In the ensuing time, I have been working harder than I ever have in my life, struggling to navigate the changes of a world gone haywire, trying to maintain my equilibrium and stay positive.

The Olympic Beaches had been closed by the Park Service since April 11. When they reopened in mid-July, I knew I had to go back. The opportunity to return to these glittering, windswept beaches was more than welcome, it was necessary. There’s noth-ing like a few days of wandering the tide pools and sea stacks to gain perspective, to reacquaint oneself with the real world in all its splendor, succor and silence, to escape, if only for a few days, the reach of Google News.

And so it was that I found myself—along with several of my favorite human beings—overloaded pack on my back, walking eagerly through the moss-festooned rain forest toward the blue-green Pacific. It felt like coming home.

At Third Beach, we turned south and enjoyed easy going on packed sand, moving in rhythm with the music of the waves and the plaintive songs of vociferous seagulls. The beach came to an abrupt end at the looming headland of Taylor Point with its sinuous waterfall cascading down from parts unknown. A series of “sand ladders” and fixed ropes provided access to the top of the point, suitably challenging to mandate a reconnec-

lars that comprised the point proper; the rich, golden sunlight streaming between the rocks to illuminate sand, seaweed and sea like a Renaissance painting; soaring eagles and swimming raccoons; spec-tacular sunsets that painted the ocean in rose and magenta. Evenings spent in relaxed conversation around a crackling driftwood beach fire, watching an orange crescent moon set on the vast Pacific.

Eventually, of course, it was time to head back, hiking along the broad sandy beach-es and navigating the assorted chutes and ladders over the headlands. After one last lingering mile through the green forest, we found ourselves back at the trailhead and headed for home, our hearts restored and our minds filled with ocean dreams.

HIKING RUNNING GARDENING

outside

tion to the elemental. Sweat, in a strange way, cleanses the palette and the state of alertness presented by hanging off a cliff on a rope tends to clarify the mind.

We crossed the top of the headland through gardens of salal, deer ferns and mushrooms before dropping down to a lonelier beach for a few moments, followed by another rope-assisted ascent to Scott Bluff. After passing through cool, shadow-filled rain forest, we dropped once again to the beach and dropped our packs beside Scott Creek, our home for the evening. The ocean breathed like a living thing in the last light of day. It was sublime.

In the morning, after a suitable period of reverie (and several cups of coffee), we broke camp and continued south around Graveyard Point. Offshore, the Graveyard of the Giants—a collection of dark sea stacks—lined the horizon like massive teeth. We rounded Strawberry Point with its flower gardens and grazing deer and made our way beside the surf to our desti-nation: Toleak Point.

The days that followed were consumed by serendipity; explorations of the com-plicated topography of towers and pil-

EXERCISE FOR EQUITY

AUG. 24-30 ONE MILE FOR JUSTICE: Fairhaven Runners &

Walkers will host “One Mile for Justice” to benefit

the Whatcom Community Foundation’s Equity

Fund from Mon., Aug. 24 to Sun., Aug. 30. Choose

any day among those dates and run or walk

one mile anywhere you want—while respecting

social distancing guidelines, of course. Make a

suggested $10 donation to the fund, which gives

money to grants such as Lummi Stepping Stone’s

project, Salish Sea Youth Summit (making it

possible for Native and non-Native youth to come

together to learn about the history of the Coast

Salish people); purchase accessibility devices and

services to improve accessibility and participation

in racial justice discussions and trainings across

multiple social justice organizations such as the

Racial Justice Coalition via Whatcom Peace & Jus-

tice Center; mapping systemic racism in Whatcom

County with Whatcom Human Rights Task Force;

and Language Healers training, which revives

indigenous languages threatened by extinction.

Fairhaven Runners will match up to $2,000 in total

donations. Notify them that you have completed

your outing, and you will be entered into a num-

ber of prize drawings. Through Aug. 31, the run-

ning store will also be hosting a “Scavenger Hunt

on the Move,” featuring three hunts highlighting

different part of the city—Fairhaven/Southside,

downtown/waterfront, and city parks. Everyone

who completes each hunt will be entered in a

drawing for tons of cool prizes.

WWW.FAIRHAVENRUNNERS.COM

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visualGALLERIES OPENINGS PROFILES

BY STEPHEN HUNTER

Creature Comforts FROM ORDINARY TO EXTRAORDINARY

ANNE SCHREIVOGL’S idea for her home studio show of new works, “Creature Comforts,” came to her this April as she wondered how to survive sheltering in place.

“I started to notice the play of sunlight dancing on the floor and the simple beauty of the ordinary became a source of peace,” she says.

She asked friends to inspire her with pet photos. In “Warmth,” a calico cat fits neatly into that play of sunlight on the floor. Another sunny composition, “Cat’s Perspective,” finds a black-and-white tabby guarding a colored pencil.

The most cloying paintings boast peaceful pairs of cats and dogs—“Sweet Dreams” is a stunning red, green and orange. “Get Off the Couch” catches a cuddling twosome in the act.

Schreivogl was recently honored with a solo show at the Bain-bridge Island Art Museum, and her studio in Anacortes will fea-ture the new works through August.

In other arts news, why did I only now discover the Guilded Gallery in Stanwood? The Stanwood Camano Arts Guild artists’ co-op on 271st Street is filled with high-quality artwork. Its front-room juried show has plenty of “winners”—as do two other rooms, which display excellent work by guild members.

I was delighted to revisit Mark Ellinger’s fine glasswork, includ-

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ing a blown-glass lamp, a sculpture of a Steller’s Jay, and “Chickadee Bliss,” a wall sculpture in glass and copper.

Gene Jaress shows a masterpiece in oil on canvas, “Smoke at Sunrise.” You can lose yourself marveling at near and

distant, mysterious hills swimming in the gloom. Dedrian Clark offers several of her marvelously atmo-spheric pastels, in-cluding “Leaves and Things.”

Other lovely realist art includes a remark-able and refined pair by Robina Lindsay, (es-pecially “Warm Beach Fun,” acrylic on can-vas), Bill Koger’s ex-cellent gouache land-scape, “Skagit Bay,” and Kathleen Ritz’s sensitive oil study, “Fall at English Boom.”

Paulette Hill’s strictly realist “Early Morning Crossing,” an oil study of an empty ferry deck, is striking, even unsettling in its severe luminesce. Abstract paintings

include several of Dotti Burton’s acrylics and Andy Friedlander’s mesmerizing “R35 with insets.” Bill Harrison skillfully com-bines geometric abstraction with snip-pets of realism, somewhat reminiscent of early works by Picasso.

Standing out is the quirky, unmis-takeable work of Val Paul Taylor, each a tour de force of exquisite detail and trenchant satire. “The Civics Lesson” boasts a red-bearded professor seated backward on a donkey in the company of a dodo, armadillo and toucan—Tay-lor’s favorite beasts. In “Splendid Iso-lation,” a gent swings a COVID yo-yo, oblivious to masked and unmasked ob-servers who frown from mole-holes and from clouds above.

In contrast, “Bashful” is a restrained composition of finely detailed sunflowers behind a tablecloth, upon which I over-heard a viewer comment, “I think that’s one I would put in my house.”

SEEWHAT: “Creature Comforts” by Anne SchreivoglWHEN: Through AugustWHERE: Screechingbird Studios, AnacortesINFO: www.schreivogl.com-------------------WHAT: A Guilded GalleryWHEN: 10am-5pm Tues.-Sat; 11am-3pm Sun.WHERE: 8700 271st St. NW, Stanwood INFO: www.stanwood camanoart.com

ONGOING EXHIBITS ALLIED ARTS: Through Aug. 29, view “We Are WACK” at Allied Arts, 1418 Cornwall Ave. The exhibit fea-tures various works by members of Whatcom Artists of Clay and Kiln—a group with a passion for creative expression with clay. Gallery and thrift store hours are 11am-4pm Tues.-Fri. for the foreseeable future. Safety guidelines are in place.

WWW.ALLIEDARTS.ORG

ARTWOOD: Hours are currently 11am-5pm Wednesdays through Fridays, and 11am-6pm Saturdays at Artwood Gallery, 1000 Harris Ave. Please wear a mask when entering the gallery; gloves will be available for guests who need to handle the merchandise.

WWW.ARTWOODGALLERY.COM

GALLERY SYRE: Peruse “David Syre: Envisioning a Better Future” from 11am-4pm Tuesdays through Thursdays (and by appointment) through Nov. 7 at Gallery Syre, 465 W. Stuart Rd. The works Syre created during quarantine have a unique language and message for a better future. Mostly abstract and painted with powerful colors, these recent canvases inspire people to take a leap into the unknown, to think about new forms of living together—and a new world in which humans can coexist with nature again.

WWW.DAVIDSYREART.COM

GOOD EARTH: “Growth, “ an exhibit of works by featured artists Ann Marie Cooper and Heather Hitt, can be viewed from 11am-5pm Thursdays through Saturdays, 12pm-4pm Sundays, and 11am-5pm Mondays through August at Good Earth Pottery, 1000 Harris Ave. No more than six patrons will be al-lowed inside the gallery at a time, and customers and employees will be required to wear a mask. Gloves and hand sanitizer will be provided for handling pottery, and a sneeze guard/barrier is installed at the cash register. Curbside pickup is also available.

WWW.GOODEARTHPOTS.COM

FOURTH CORNER: Paintings by Brooke Borcherding can be viewed through Sept. 12 at Fourth Corner Frames and Gallery, 311 W. Holly St. Masks should be worn in the shop, and hand sanitizer will be available.

WWW.FOURTHCORNERFRAMES.COM

I.E. GALLERY: “Through This Valley” shows from Aug. 21-Sept. 27 from 11am-5pm Fridays through Sundays in Edison at i.e. gallery, 5800 Cains Court. The exhibit fea-tures sculptures by Clayton James and Ruth Pumphrey, plein air paintings by Ed Kamuda (RIP), and plein air ink drawings by Christine Wardenburg-Skinner.

WWW.IEEDISON.COM

JANSEN ART CENTER: Submis-sions for the eighth annual Virtual Cup Show will be accepted through Aug. 24 at Lynden’s Jansen Art Center, 321 Front St.

WWW.JANSENARTCENTER.ORG

PERRY AND CARLSON: “Altered Landscapes,” an exhibit of works featuring linoleum block prints by Natalie Niblack and paintings by Es-teban Silva, shows from 11am-5pm Thursdays through Sundays through August in Mount Vernon at Perry and Carlson Gallery, 504 S. First St.

WWW.PERRYANDCARLSON.COM

SMITH & VALLEE: Peruse hand-cut works by paper artist Ann Chadwick Reid and pencil drawings by Kim Obbink through August in Edison at Smith & Vallee Gallery, 5742 Gilkey Ave. The exhibit—plus a “Deconstructed Art Fair” collec-tion—can be viewed from 10am-5pm Saturdays and Sundays.

WWW.SMITHAND

VALLEEGALLERY.COM

SCOTT MILO GALLERY: Seattle-based artist Barbara Noonan’s new interpretive, abstract landscape pastels can be viewed from 11am-4pm Wednesdays through Fridays through Sept. 1 in Anacortes at Scott Milo Gallery, 420 Commercial Ave. Also showing are still-life pho-tographs by Randy Dana, landscapes by Amanda Houston, and big-sky oils by Jeanne Levasseur.

WWW.SCOTTMILO.COM

WHATCOM ART MARKET: Works by Whatcom Art Guild members can be from 11am-3pm Fridays through Sundays through August at Whatcom Art Market, 1103 11th St. Masks are required for all customers, and hand sanitizer will be provided.

WWW.WHATCOMARTMARKET.ORG

WHATCOM MUSEUM: Whatcom Museum’s campus—including the Lightcatcher Building, Family Interactive Gallery, Old City Hall, and Syre Education Center—will be closed until further notice. Museum staff are preparing for safe reopening during Phase 3 of Governor Inslee’s plan. Meanwhile, the museum is hosting virtual programs designed to educate and engage; offering a selection of downloadable at-home activities; updating its YouTube channel with curator-led virtual gallery tours, collection highlights, and educa-tional activities; updating articles about the museum’s art collection; offering curbside pickup from its Museum Store, and more. This month, individuals and groups can also register to decorate clear plas-tic sheets with designs and imagery that best represents them and their community as part of a “Whatcom Squared” project. Finished pieces will be affixed to the outside of the museum’s Lightwall for the public to view starting in late summer.

WWW.WHATCOMMUSEUM.ORG

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musicSHOW PREVIEWS RUMOR HAS IT

PRETTY MUCH MY whole deal these days—other than fretting, eating premade Toll House cookie dough and checking myself for COVID-19 symptoms—is tracking bills that could help the independent music industry.

If they pass, that is.In my music story, I spoke of the biparti-

san Save Our Stages bill that, like the broad-er stimulus bill, is currently being held hos-tage by the congressional vacation schedule.

Also taken hostage is the Help Indepen-dent Tracks Succeed act—aka the HITS act because relief bills with catchy acronyms are just another facet of our fresh hell (I didn’t mean to be dramatic. Time for more cookie dough). Like the SOS bill, the HITS act is a biparti-san effort, this one introduced in the House by Democratic Rep. Linda T. Sanchez and Republican Rep. Ron Estes.

Unlike SOS, the HITS act is geared not toward helping music venues, but instead would provide financial relief to music mak-ers, to the tune of as much as $150,000 each. The relief would come in the form of a tax incentive, allowing artists to write off 100 percent of the cost of production expenses.

The goal of the measure is twofold. First, it would eliminate some of the COVID-induced barriers that stymie creativity. Instead of forcing musicians to rely on pandemic unem-ployment that can be tough to qualify for, it would incentivize them to write and record their way through this mess.

Probably more importantly, since the HITS act would enable all costs related to produc-tion to be completely written off—such as studio time, equipment fees, staff costs, mu-sicians for hire and even electricity bills—it would also help support the constellation of people, most of them contractors, employed in the business of making music.

Is the HITS act a perfect measure? No. With its emphasis on the recording indus-try, it doesn’t address the needs of people with jobs that rely on touring who work in positions that don’t translate into other realms. They need financial relief as well.

All in all, the HITS act is yet another piece of a safety net that, when stitched together, could help catch a falling music industry. But like those other pieces, the SOS bill and the RESTART act, it’s not going to pass with-out public pressure. And we are the public that must apply that pressure. Because the HITS act was introduced in the House, that means contacting our Representatives is what’s in order. If you need help determin-ing who they are or what to say to them, contact me and I will help you. In between chunks of cookie dough, of course. A girl has her pandemic priorities.

BY CAREY ROSS

rumor has it

BY CAREY ROSS

The Time is NowSENDING OUT AN SOS

WE HAVE a lot of things to worry about right now. Surviving the pan-demic, physically, emotionally and economically. Saving the USPS so that we can hopefully save the integrity of the upcoming election. Institutional racism. Police brutality. Climate change. Maskne.

In the past, when my worries would overtake my ability to manage them, I’d take myself out on the town, meet up with friends, have a drink or five and, most importantly, see a show. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate live music until it was gone—I did and always have—it’s more that I didn’t understand how much I rely on it to get me through.

I know I’m not alone in this. And now when we have so much to get through, we have no live music.

However, last Wednesday, for the briefest moment, I was able to travel back to a better, easier time. I donned my mask and coated myself in sani-tizer and met someone for a drink outside. Then, I went to a show.

You read that right. I went to a show.No, I didn’t stand in a room crowded with hundreds of friends and

music fans, all singing and dancing and thrusting their fists into the air. Instead, I peered into the windows of the Wild Buffalo and watched Petty or Not off in the distance play part of their Downtown Sounds concert on the venue’s stage. It wasn’t quite the same, but my friends were onstage, Rich Canut was in his sound booth, owner Joey Crahan was laughing while seated at the bar, the Downtown Bellingham Partnership’s Lindsey Payne Johnstone was making sure all was running smoothly, and Doug Starcher was even there in his Carhartt shortalls to lend a hand if needed—it was many of the things and people I love doing what they love. After watching

from my sidewalk vantage point, I went home and streamed the rest of the show (the con-certs are broadcast on BTV and YouTube)—and it did the heart good.

Two more dates remain in this year’s virtual iteration of Downtown Sounds—Aug. 19 with Mostafa and Dryland at the Shakedown and Aug. 26 with Hot Damn Scandal at Boundary Bay Brewery—with a goal of raising $20,000 to be split between the three participating ven-ues, two of which are closed completely and all of which desperately need the help. Donations can be made at www.downtownbellingham.com.

Then when you’re through with that, guess what I’m going to ask you to do?

If you guessed call/email/write (probably that last one—the post office can use the help) your elected officials, you’ve obviously read me before. The ask this time: Support for the Save Our Stages act, cosponsored by a bipartisan duo that draws a fair amount of political water: Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and Republican Senator John Cornyn. The legislation would create a $10 billion grant program specifically geared to-ward offering a critical lifeline for indepen-dent venues, promoters, producers and talent reps. The grant disbursements can be used to mitigate a wide range of COVID-related expenses. Even better, it limits recipients to those venues that employ 500 people or less—meaning larger corporate venues won’t eat up the money before it trickles down to our favorite indie spots.

Currently, Congress is in recess until af-ter Labor Day—apparently you can do that when your income and job are guaranteed to be there upon your return—leaving the Save Our Stages act on the table until their return. However, their vacation doesn’t stop you from reaching out to senators—not just Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray in Washing-ton, but any senator in a state in which live music is a powerful economic driver—asking them to sign on to cosponsor the bill. If you don’t have confidence in your own words, use the handy template at www.nivassoc.org un-der the “Take Action” tab, which makes the process very easy.

I know reaching out to elected officials isn’t very rock ’n’ roll, but trust me when I tell you that it’s what we can do to get our rock ’n’ life-style back. Save Our Stages isn’t just a hashtag or the name of a piece of legislation, it is our battle cry. Let’s show up to the fight.

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filmMOVIE REVIEWS FILM SHORTS

BY CAREY ROSS

Back to SchoolESCAPE TO THE BIG SCREEN

BACK WHEN I was a high-school student—which was a fair bit of time ago, but not so long that I’ve forgotten it—starting the school year was an event fraught with controversy. In elementary and middle school, I mostly went peacefully, barring a few dustups over hygiene (elementary school) and wardrobe choices (middle school). By the time I hit my freshman year, I’d learned how to clean and dress myself, however I believed the first day of school to be a waste of time because “nothing happened.” Instead, I tried to get my parents to let me skip and hang out in my friend Holly’s base-ment with the other kids whose parents were “nicer” than mine.

Needless to say, I never missed a first day of school.This year, thanks to COVID-19, back-to-school controversy is real in a way it never has

been before. Whether learning happens at home or in a classroom—or in some combina-tion of both—the choices parents and teachers are facing wedges them right between a rock and a hard spot, with precious little wiggle room to maneuver.

This is where I take a serious moment to commend everyone involved in the rearing and education of kids of all ages for trying to navigate an impossible and frightening situation with careful consideration, thoughtfulness and an abundance of courage. Parents, I know you’re up against it and have been for some months now. Teachers, your job has gone from being challenging to treacherous in short order. Both groups of you are meeting difficult circumstances with what can only be described as real heroism.

But for now, all of you could probably use an escape, and that’s where movies come

in. Movies set in the halls of high school might not seem like the obvious choice when trying to take a break from start-of-school creeping dread, but I believe that hearkening back to a more normal time goes a long way toward reminding us that we will get through this and will make it back to a place in which wardrobe arguments and skip-day negotiations will be nice problems to have.

John Hughes was the undisputed king of the 1980s high school comedy—no one mixed angst with jokes quite like he did. It is true that some of his movies have not aged well (Sixteen Candles and Break-fast Club, I’m looking at you), but what makes Hughes’ movies still watchable and relatable was his way of writing charac-ters that fit into well-known archetypes—the jock, the nerd, the goth, the popular girl—and fleshing them out, flaws, soft spots and all. Of course, few of his char-acters are as memorable as the cast of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Technically this is not so much a movie about school as it is about skipping school, but Ferris and his fourth-wall-breaking antics remain charm-

ing, even though as time has gone by, I’ve come to feel sorry for Cameron, who cer-tainly deserved better treatment from his bestie. Matthew Broderick was so good in the title role, it’s no surprise people still think his real name is Ferris. (For more of Hughes’ take on high school, see also Pret-ty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, and, if you must, Weird Science.)

For some reason, Hollywood seems to think high school is a place where people break into song and dance in the hallways, in class, in the cafeteria—or anywhere else there might be room to groove. Of course, Grease is probably the standard-setter for such behavior, even if its cast appeared to be well in its 30s by the time they started singing about “Summer Lovin’” and “Greased Light-ning.” While it is true that I know every lyric from the soundtracks to both Grease and its unfairly maligned sequel Grease 2, my favorite high school musical (no, it’s not High School Musical) will forever and always be Footloose. First, to dispel a long-held myth of unknown origins: No, the movie is absolutely, positively not based on Lynden and its hatred of danc-ing. It’s based on a small town in Oklaho-ma called Elmore. Let go of that dream. Stop trying to make Lynden happen. But Kevin Bacon as Ren is iconic (even if his gymnastics in the barn dance sequence stretch anyone’s suspension of disbelief to the breaking point), and bromance was never expressed quite as endearingly as when Ren taught Willard (Chris Penn) to dance in that cornfield. (For further view-ing, check out Fame, Bring It On, and, for the best dance sequence in modern cin-ematic history, Napoleon Dynamite.)

Lastly, even the genre of high school cinema has its classics, such films as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Say Anything, American Graffiti, as well as nearly every film mentioned above. However, I’m here to make a case for the modern classics. For instance, not only does Clueless feature an iconic turn by Alicia Silverstone as Cher, as well as the seemingly ageless Paul Rudd in a role so charming we somehow forgive him for romancing his high school step-sister, but it also contains the 60-second speech Cher gives about Haitian refugees that addresses the immigration crisis bet-ter than any politician I’ve ever seen. 10 Things I Hate About You has Seattle as its backdrop, Heath Ledger at his high-school dreamiest and a clever take on Shakespeare that I believe would make the Bard himself proud. However, all of those movies bow before the altar of Mean Girls, Tina Fey’s cinematic masterpiece that manages to be smart, snarky, hilarious and bighearted, all at the same time. There is no movie line I’ve quoted more often than “You can’t sit with us,” a sentiment that stretches far beyond the high school cafeteria. (Keep the classics rolling with American Pie, She’s All That, Rushmore, Dazed and Confused.)

FERRIS BUELER'S DAY OFF

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BY ROB BREZSNY

FREE WILL ASTROLOGYARIES (March 21-April 19): “We never know what is enough until we know what’s more than enough,” said Aries singer Billie Holiday. I don’t think that ap-plies to everyone, although it’s more likely to be true about the Aries tribe than maybe any other sign of the zodiac. And I’m guessing that the coming weeks could be a time when you will indeed be vivid proof of its validity. That’s why I’m issuing a “Too Much of a Good Thing” alert for you. I don’t think it’ll be harmful to go a bit too far and get a little too much of the good things; it may even be wise and healthy to do so. But please don’t go waaayyyy too far and get waaayyyy too much of the good things.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus author Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) took many years to write The Human Comedy, an amalgam of 91 intertwined novels, stories, and essays. For this vast enterprise, he dreamed up the personalities of more than 2,000 char-acters, many of whom appeared in multiple volumes. I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because I believe that the next 15 months will be an excellent time for you to imagine and carry out a Balzac-like project of your own. Do you have an inkling of what that might be? Now’s a good time to start ruminating.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Not until the 19th century did humans begin to take organized actions to protect animals from cruelty. Even those were sparse. The latter part of the 20th century brought more con-certed efforts to promote animal welfare, but the rise of factory farms, toxic slaughterhouses, zoos, circuses and cosmetic testing has shunted us into a Dark Age of animal abuse. I suspect our descendants will look back with horror at our barbarism. This problem incurs psy-chological wounds in us all in ways that aren’t totally conscious. And I think this is an especially key issue for you right now. I beg you, for your own sake as well as for the animals', to upgrade your practical love and compassion for animals. I bet you’ll find it inspires you to treat your own body with more reverence.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian literary critic Harold Bloom bragged to The New York Times that his speed-reading skills were so advanced that he could finish a 500-page book in an hour. While I be-lieve he has indeed devoured thousand of books, I also wonder if he lied about his quickness. Nonetheless, I’ll offer him up as an inspirational role model for you in the coming weeks. Why? Because you’re likely to be able to absorb and integrate far more new information and fresh experiences than usual—and at a rapid pace.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Magic lies in challenging what seems impossible,” says Leo politician Carol Mose-ley Braun. I agree with her, but will also suggest there’s an even higher magic: when you devise a detailed plan for achieving success by challenging the impossible, and then actually carry out that plan. Judging from the cur-rent astrological omens, I suspect you’re in an unusually favorable position to do just that in the coming weeks. Be bold in rising to the challenge; be practical and strategic in winning the challenge.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Joy is a mystery because it can happen anywhere, anytime, even under the most unpromising circumstances,” writes author Frederick Buechner. What he doesn’t say is that you must be receptive and open to the possibility of joy arriving anywhere and anytime. If you’re shut down to its surprising influx, if you’re convinced that joy is out of reach, it won’t break through the barriers you’ve put up; it won’t be able to land in your midst. I think this is especially important counsel for you in the coming weeks, Virgo. PLEASE make yourself available for joy. P.S. Here’s another clue from Buechner: “Joy is where the whole being is pointed in one direction.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “I transformed still-nesses and darknesses into words,” wrote Libran poet Arthur Rimbaud. “What was unspeakable, I named. I made the whirling world pause.” In accordance with current astrological potentials, I have turned his thoughts into a message for you. In the coming weeks, I hope you will translate silences and mysteries into clear language. What is unfathomable and inaccessible, you will convert into understandings and revelations. Gently, without force or violence, you will help heal the inarticulate agitation around you with the power of your smooth, resonant tenderness.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Your desires, whether or not you achieve them, will determine who you become,” wrote author Octavia E. Butler. Now is a fertile time for you to meditate on that truth. So I dare you to take an inventory of all your major desires, from the noblest to the most trivial. Be honest. If one of your burning yearnings is to have 100,000 followers on Instagram or to eat chocolate-covered bacon that is served to you in bed, admit it. After you’re through tallying up the wonders you want most, the next step is to decide if they are essential to you becoming the person you truly want to be. If some aren’t, consider replacing them with desires that will be a better influ-ence on you as you evolve.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If you can manage it, I recommend taking a break from business-as-usual. I’d love to see you give yourself the gift of amusement and play—a luxurious sabbatical that will help you feel free of every burden, excused from every duty, and exempt from every fixation. The spirit I hope you will embody is captured well in this passage from author Okakura Kakuzo: “Let us have a sip of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Rapper Eminem advises us, “Never take ecstasy, beer, Bacardi, weed, Pepto-Bismol, Vivarin, Tums, Tagamet HB, Xanax, and Valium in the same day.” What’s his rationale? That quaffing this toxic mix might kill us or make us psychotic? No. He says you shouldn’t do that because “It makes it difficult to sleep at night.” I’m going to suggest that you abide by his counsel for yet another reason: According to my analysis, you have the potential to experience some wondrous and abundant natural highs in the coming weeks. Your capacity for beautiful perceptions, exhilarating thoughts, and breakthrough epiphanies will be at a peak. But none of that is likely to happen if you’re loaded up with inebriants.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Everyone who has ever built a new heaven first found the power to do so in his own hell,” declared philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. That’s a rather histrionic statement! But then Nietzsche was a Maestro of Melodrama. He was inclined to portray human life as a heroic struggle for boldness and liberation. He imagined us as being engaged in an epic quest to express our highest na-ture. In accordance with your astrological potentials, I propose that you regard Nietzsche as your power creature during the coming weeks. You have a mandate to adopt his lion-hearted perspective. And yes, you also have a poetic license to build a new heaven based on the lessons you learned and the power you gained in your own hell.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Here’s some knowledge from author John le Carré: “In every operation there is an above the line and a below the line. Above the line is what you do by the book. Below the line is how you do the job.” According to my analysis, you have, at least for now, done all you can in your work above the line. That’s great! It was crucial for you to follow the rules and honor tradition. But now it’s time for a shift in emphasis. In the coming weeks, I hope you will specialize in finessing the details and massaging the nuances below the line.

BY AMY ALKON

THE SCIENCE ADVICE GODDESSCATTY LITTERI’m a woman who just turned 30, and so is my best friend, who just got out of a three-year relationship. She’s now on the rebound hard—hitting on her coworkers, going on multiple dates every week, hooking up with different guys all the time, etc. I can’t decide whether to admire her confi-dence or be concerned that she needs con-stant attention and validation from men. Do you think this is healthy behavior? Should I tell her that she needs to stop acting out and work on healing from her relationship in healthy ways? —Worried Friend

Nothing like women celebrating other women. “Yay, you, getting in regular workouts doing the walk of shame!”

I get that you mean to help. Uh, help your friend, that is. However, it appears we women evolved to help ourselves by “helping” other women, or as I like to call it, “benevolent mean-girling.” This plays out, for example, in telling a hot friend in a fabulous little dress, “I have to be honest, that makes you look a bit trampy,” and engaging in other acts of humanitarian frankness to help keep her from giving men whiplash and jamming up her evenings with lots of dates.

These acts of female frenemyship are often subconsciously motivated, which is why we can tell ourselves we just want the best for our friends while in fact serv-ing our own evolutionary best interests. Hidden treachery is actually a primary feature of “female intrasexual competi-tion” (women competing with women).

Women are mistakenly seen as the sweeter, kinder sex. You hear people sigh, “If only we had women in charge,” as if this would lead to world peace, universal basic income and cats that paw-dial 911 when their owner dies instead of eating their face. But this view of women as the better half of humanity is psychological-ly naive. Women aren’t less aggressive; they’re just differently aggressive.

Aggression gets a bad name because it gives rise to uncomfortable emotions such as fear and, sometimes, to unex-pected workplace activities, such as murder-suicide. However, aggression is actually a vital evolved motivation for getting our needs met so we can sur-vive, mate and leave surviving children to pass on our genes.

Research on sex differences in male and female aggression by psychologists Anne Campbell, Joyce Benenson, and

others suggests that while male aggres-sion is direct, manifesting in, say, yelled threats, a punch in the nose, or a bar-stool upside the head, female aggression tends to be indirect and thus hidden.

Though there are women who get physically violent with each other, Be-nenson explains that this happens rarely, and usually just in certain contexts (like impoverished neighborhoods). Gener-ally, women fight other women with poi-sonous veiled aggression such as mean gossip, ostracism, shaming and sneaky sabotage dressed up as concern for other women’s welfare. Campbell contends that covert female aggression likely evolved out of women’s need to avoid physical confrontation, which could kill them or damage their reproductive parts, leaving them unable to fulfill their role as an in-fant’s primary caregiver.

Depressing as all this twisted sister-hood stuff surely seems, an inclination to behave a certain way isn’t a man-date. So, if you’d prefer to be the sort of woman who acts in her friend’s best interests, you can be. However, the real-ity is we often think we know what’s best for somebody else, especially when we believe they’re harming themselves. In fact, a person sometimes needs to go a bit wrong to get right again.

When (and if) what they’re doing ulti-mately proves unsatisfying, they’ll stop. Telling them to stop can actually be counterproductive, even if you feel sure you have their best interests at heart. Research by psychologist Jack Brehm finds that telling people what they should do seems to make them rebel and do exactly the opposite, like by continu-ing to do whatever they’d been doing, but louder and harder.

A more effective technique—one that’s proved successful in addiction treatment—is “motivational interview-ing.” It starts with asking a person what they value deeply and ultimately want (romantically, in this case). After they reflect on that and answer, ask them how whatever they’re currently doing, whatever behavior they’re engaging in, aligns with their values and goals.

This technique might not get you im-mediate answers (or any answers), but you might inspire your friend to reflect on behavior she might be engaging in somewhat automatically. And how nice if you’re doing this through some insight of your own—for example, on sisterhood ideals like, “There’s a special place in hell for women who do not cre-ate space for other women,” and how this can play out in reality: “I want to get your shoes in the shot, doll. Just take two more steps back” (right into that open manhole).

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ACROSS1 Band that’s the theme

of this puzzle

6 “Heroz4hire” rapper

___ the Damaja

10 Slasher flick props

14 “... quack quack

there, ___ quack ...”

15 Actor Arkin

16 “99 Luftballons”

singer

17 Impulsive, coura-

geous person, so

they say

18 Hollywood cross

street

19 He was a real Dick

on “NewsRadio”

20 1-Across guitarist

and vocalist

23 Summer month, for

short

24 Speaks like a heavy

smoker

26 Shop class tool

29 Cry convulsively

31 Letters on a Cardi-

nals hat

32 “Bali ___” ("South

Pacific” song)

34 1-Across and The

Dude of Life album

released in 1994

38 “Hell’s Half ___”

(1954 movie)

39 Velvet Underground

vocalist Reed

40 Singers lower than

soprani

41 1-Across predeces-

sors and mentors

46 Jazz band’s song list

47 They taketh away on

Apr. 15

48 ___ Fighters (Dave

Grohl band)

49 Org. that gives out

9-digit IDs

50 Sends to hell

52 Sound from a lamb

54 1-Across keyboardist

who started as a fan

61 Cheat, in a way

63 Cleopatra’s river

64 “Jeremy” singer

Vedder

65 Subject of “Weird”

Al Yankovic’s “The

White [31-Down]”

66 The last word in

sermons?

67 “___ White Swan”

(T. Rex song)

68 They’re separated on

some old sitcoms

69 Elevator, to Elvis

Costello

70 European compi-

lation album for

1-Across

DOWN1 ___ Farm (bygone

clothing line)

2 Mister, in Munich

3 Powerful and pleasing,

to a Rasta

4 “Later”

5 Is of practical value

6 Coffeehouse quaff

7 Yale students, famil-

iarly

8 Blow a gasket

9 Dig up

10 “Henry and June”

diarist Nin

11 They adore strange

things

12 Jim Morrison song,

with “The”

13 “___ Anything”

(John Cusack movie)

21 Gps. like CARE and

Amnesty Interna-

tional

22 Word after bake or

garage

25 Ubiquitous December

mall guys

26 Sings like Kurt Elling

27 Like an angry cat’s

back

28 Spied via the tele-

phone

30 Neckwear for Fran-

kenstein’s monster?

31 Nondescript category

33 “___ bad, bad thing”

35 1000 K

36 Friend’s opposite

37 “Spy vs. Spy” maga-

zine

42 Decoder’s wear?

43 “Your ___” (Mor-

rissey album)

44 Man, in Mantua

45 Cars given while

yours is in the shop,

e.g.

51 Sandwich spreads

53 “We love to fly

___ shows” (Delta

slogan)

55 “Rent” character

56 F or G, on sheet

music

57 It’s worth next to

nothing

58 Old Icelandic saga

59 “What ___ Beneath”

60 Remini of “The King

of Queens"

61 Corn remnants

62 Raw metal source

Last Week’s Puzzle

©2020 Jonesin’ Crosswords

rearEnd crossword

Food for ThoughtTHE FIRST JONESIN' PUZZLE EVER

Last week’s puzzle was published in our digital edition, which can be viewed on the Cascadia Weekly website www.cascadiaweekly.com. Last week’s digital edition also includes the solution for the prior week’s puzzle.

LOOKING FOR PUZZLE SOLUTIONS?

HAPPY HOUR IS BACK!Open until 6 every day, and all day Sunday.

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rearEnd comix + sudoku

44 2 7 19 5 6 2

3 1 8 42 1

1 4 2 64 9 8 5

5 1 3 27

SudokuINSTRUCTIONS: Arrange the digits 1-9 so that each digit occurs once in each row, once in each column, and once in each box.

Marie BjornsonTeam

*Fairway is not affiliated with any government agencies. These materials are not from HUD or FHA and were not approved by HUD or a government agency. Copyright©2018 Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation. NMLS#2289.4750 S. Biltmore Lane, Madison, WI 53718, 1-866-912-4800. All rights reserved. This is not an offer to enter into an agreement. Not all customers will qualify. Information, rates and programs are subject to change without notice. All products are subject to credit and property approval. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. Equal Housing Lender.

Marie Bjornson - Certified Mortgage PlannerReverse Mortgage Planner, CPA, CMPS , NMLS #111765

360-676-9600 | Marieb@Fairwaymc.comwww.wa-mortgage.com | 112 Prospect StreetLouise and Marie

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BUSINESS BRIEFS

08.19.2020BY CAREY ROSS

COVID-19 CLOSURESLIGHTS OUT IN LA CONNER

According to the fine folks at the Skagit Valley Herald, there has been a rash of permanent small-business closures in La Conner. The shuttered businesses include Seeds Bistro and Bar, Whitey’s BBQ and Catering, Pelindaba Lavender, Les Femmes, Indigo Stitch, Cottons, La Conner Sweet Shoppe, Lux Art Center, and Bears ’N Friends. Nearly all of them cited COVID-19 as their reason for closing at what would normally be a busy time of the year for the local business community.

JECKYL AND HYDELongtime pur-

veyors of barbecue, Jeckyl and Hyde, announced they’re closing—sort of. However, while they’re giving up their brick-and-mor-tar space on Orchard Street, they’ll remain available for online orders, catering and other opportunities as they arise. You have until Aug. 28 to score Jeckyl and Hyde’s edible offerings from the spot before it is taken over by new restaurateurs with a new menu and vision.

THRIFT AND GIFTASSISTANCE LEAGUE REOPENS

The long wait is over and the Assis-tance League’s Thrift and Gift shop at

2817 Meridian St. has reopened, complete with weekly steals and deals. The store has curtailed hours for now, and will be open 10am-5pm Thursdays and Saturdays only. They are also accepting donations, but cannot take clothing or large furni-ture at this time due to limited capacity.

OUTDOOR SEATINGSPROUTING UP ALL OVER

Continuing to prove their remarkable adapt-ability in the face of considerable adversity, local restaurants are expanding outdoor seating every-where you look. Uisce is now open (yay!) with extended al fresco space, Redlight has swanky outside booths, Culture Cafe has built a corral for its customers, El Gitano is bringing patio life to Sunset Square, and the mystery seating at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Magnolia Street belongs to 7 Spice Cafe, with an opening so soon they could be slinging shawarma as you read this.

COMING SOONEVOLVE MEETS THE LEOPOLD

Because my favorite hardworking ladies at Evolve Chocolate + Cafe just don’t have enough to do with figuring out how to reopen their cafe inside Village Books while grilling oysters, mak-ing barbecue and pouring drinks on the patio behind the bookstore, they’ve taken on another project, Evolve Espresso + Provisions, set to open any minute in the Leopold building. It’ll be grab-and-go coffee, food, pantry items, baked goods, cigars and, of course, chocolates.

Azusa Farm & Gardens — Open Daily 9am-5pm 14904 State Route 20 - Mt Vernon — 360-424-1580

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Susan RiceFinancial Planning SpecialistFinancial Advisor2200 Rimland Drive, Suite 105Bellingham, Wa 98226360-788-7005 800-247-2884susan.e.rice@morganstanley.comNMLS # 1290656 © 2019 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Member SIPC.

SNAIL MAIL RULES……EMAIL DROOLS

Here at the Casca-dia Weekly, we are proud and devoted patrons of the United States Postal Service. Join us! With the USPS under attack (another sentence I never thought I’d type—thanks, 2020), buying stamps has become an investment in democracy. Plus, sending a letter hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles for the cost of a first-class stamp is still the most righteous deal around. Procure some postage, find a pen pal, save democracy.

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bag distributions from Aug. 24-28 at five senior centers located throughout What-com County.

Older adults who join the queue will not only receive a delicious takeaway lunch to be enjoyed either at the dining room table or at a picnic of their own making at a private locale or a safe pub-lic space, but they’ll also be recipients of bags filled with resources and swag from local businesses and programs in the ar-eas of housing, transportation, health and wellness, recreation and more.

If you’re interested in the particu-lars, “Picnic with a Purpose” kicks off from 12pm-1pm Mon., Aug. 24 at the

Sumas Senior Center; and continues from 11:30am-1pm Tues., Aug. 25 at the Lyn-den Senior Center; 11:30am-1pm Thurs., Aug. 27 at the Fern-dale Senior Center and concurrently at the Blaine Senior Center; and finally from 11:30am-1pm Fri., Aug. 28 at the Bellingham Senior Ac-tivity Center on Hal-leck Street.

While the drive-throughs won’t provide opportunities for at-tendees to mingle at informational tables, win an advantage on

the bocce court, or dance along to a band, the in-and-out events will still serve a vital purpose—connecting community members with programs and people de-signed to help them live a fuller life.

Although there’s a $5 suggested dona-tion to partake of the meals and receive communiques about everything from aging in place to Meals on Wheels and far beyond, nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. Those who do have the scratch should know all donations will directly benefit Whatcom County senior centers—who, even during a pandemic, are still doing their darnedest to make sure information is getting to people who need it, and providing lunch while they do so.

BY AMY KEPFERLE

In and Out PICNIC WITH A PURPOSE

THE SCENT of barbecue filled the air during last August’s Senior Day at the Park.

In addition to the spread of hamburgers, hotdogs and associ-ated dining fare set out for public consumption, the 21st annual summertime shindig at the Hovander Homestead Park located on the outskirts of Ferndale also featured spirited games of bocce ball among acquaintances old and new, live tunes by local mu-sicians, tours of historic buildings, a variety of performances, and an informational resource fair featuring more than 40 local businesses and programs focused on supporting healthy aging.

A year later, humanity is in the middle of a global pandemic calling for the wearing of masks and extreme social distancing, so it probably won’t come as a surprise to hear this year’s event will be an entirely different affair than its predecessors.

Instead of a one-day gathering featuring the aforemen-tioned roster of seasonal activities and socializing, “Picnic with a Purpose” will instead see the Whatcom Council on Ag-ing hosting a week of drive-through cookouts and resource

chowRECIPES REVIEWS PROFILES

ATTENDWHAT: Picnic with a PurposeWHERE: Sumas, Lynden, Ferndale, Blaine, and Bellingham senior centersWHEN: Aug. 24-28COST: $5 suggested donationINFO: www.wccoa.org

UPCOMING EVENTS WED., AUG. 19 SEDRO MARKET: The Sedro-Woolley Farmers Market continues today from 3pm-7pm at Heritage Square. Health and safety protocols are in place in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

WWW.SEDROWOOLLEY

FARMERSMARKET.COM

AUG. 19-31EAT LOCAL MONTH: Sustain-able Connections and Eat Local First present the annual Eat Local Month with virtual and in-person events happening through August—a month earlier than is typical, due to COVID-19—throughout Whatcom and Skagit County. Remaining events include Market Week (Aug. 16-22), an Eat Local Virtual Gala (Aug. 21) and Seafood Week (Aug. 23-29). A farm stand loop, restaurant specials and much more will be part of the food-focused festivities.

WWW.EATLOCALFIRST.ORG

FOOD CRUISES: Whale-watching lunch cruises, Chuckanut cracked crab dinner cruises, Sucia Island pic-nic cruises, Bellingham Bay BREWers cruises, UnWINED on the Bay cruises and more take place throughout the summer aboard San Juan Cruises' watercraft. Fees vary. Please note that COVID-19 safety measures are in place, and that capacity aboard the boats is capped at 50 percent.

WWW.WHALES.COM

THURS., AUG. 20 FOOD FOR STUDENTS: Various Western Washington University enti-ties will be offering free food pickup from 12pm-2pm every Thursday through Sept. 24 at Vendor's Row in the Viking Commons. Wear a face mask and bring your WWU student ID to pick up a bag of nonper-ishables and a box of farm-fresh organic produce.

DEYSHEK@WWU.EDU

FRI., AUG. 21FERNDALE MARKET: The Ferndale Farmers Market continues today from 2pm-6pm in the parking lot next to the Grocery Outlet. If you’re interested in helping them grow, head over—and be prepared to fol-low safety standards.

WWW.FERNDALEPUBLICMARKET.ORG

SAT., AUG. 22ANACORTES MARKET: The Ana-cortes Farmers Market is open from 9am-2pm at the Depot Arts Center, 611 R Ave. Their rules include following and obeying all signs, markers, barriers and instructions from market staff or volunteers.

WWW.ANACORTES

FARMERSMARKET.ORG

MOUNT VERNON MARKET: The Mount Vernon Farmers Market takes place from 9am-2pm Satur-days through Oct. 20 at Riverwalk

Park, 501 Main St. Only 25 custom-ers are allowed in at a time to peruse the goods.

WWW.MOUNTVERNON

FARMERSMARKET.ORG

TWIN SISTERS MARKET: The Twin Sisters Market continues its fifth season from 9am-3pm at Nugent’s Corner, and 10am-2pm in Maple Falls at the North Fork Library. The markets continue Saturdays through Oct. 23.

WWW.TWINSISTERSMARKET.COM

CONCRETE MARKET: The Concrete Saturday Market takes place from 10am-1pm at the Concrete Communi-ty Center, 45821 Railroad St. Posted signage will direct shoppers to follow safety guidelines, and, for now, it’s a drive-in, farmers-only market.

WWW.CONCRETE

SATURDAYMARKET.COM

BELLINGHAM MARKET: Attend the Bellingham Farmers Market from 10am-2pm Saturdays at the Depot Market Square, 1100 Railroad Ave. At the modified market, social distanc-ing is strongly enforced, patrons are not allowed to touch the food, and a limited number of vendors are allowed on site. Entertainment, music and eating areas have been suspended until further notice, and masks are mandatory. Please stay home if you are sick, and be pre-pared with small bills to offer exact change to vendors when possible.

WWW.BELLINGHAMFARMERS.ORG

BLAINE MARKET: The annual Blaine Gardeners Market continues from 10am-2pm Saturdays through October at the city’s G Street Plaza. Due to social distancing requirements, vendor booths will be spread out.

WWW.BLAINECHAMBER.COM

SUN., AUG. 23 BIRCHWOOD FARMERS MARKET: Find locally grown vegetables, flowers, fruits and other goods from more than 10 growers and producers in Whatcom County at the Birchwood Farmers Market happening from 9am-2pm every Sunday through October at the Park Manor Shopping Center, 1538 Birchwood Ave. The cooperative single-stand market is dedicated to increasing food access in the Birchwood neighborhood by providing fresh, sustainably grown produce at a reduced prices.

WWW.BIRCHWOOD

FARMERSMARKET.COM

ALGER MARKET: The Alger Sunday Market takes place from 11am-4pm Sundays through Oct. 11 at Alger Community Hall, 18735 Parkview Lane. The low-key, barter-friendly neighborhood cooperative features produce, plants, artisan crafts and recycled and upcycled items to reuse. Drop-ins are welcome to “sell from your truck and make a buck."

(360) 724-0340

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