By Sandy Robson
June 1, 2019
Whatcom County Council Chair Rud Browne announced in a press release on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, that he had withdrawn from the 40th Legislative District (LD) state Senate race. Browne, who resides in Bellingham, Washington, had filed to run for state Senate on Friday, May 17 at 3:44 PM, according to the listed 2019 candidate filings posted on the Whatcom County Auditor’s website.
By Sandy Robson
April 24, 2019
An April 5, 2019 article published in the online version of The Seattle Times reported that Washington state Senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) registered as a foreign agent for the Kingdom of Cambodia in an April 3 filing with the U.S. Department of Justice, along with former Republican Washington state representative Jay Rodne, of Snoqualmie, Washington.
According to the April 5 Seattle Times article, Senator Ericksen and Rodne registered as foreign agents under a company, PacRim Bridges, LLC to lobby for the Cambodian government.
By Sandy Robson
April 12, 2019
A forum featuring a panel of individuals representing local farming interests was held on March 6, 2019, at the Meridian High School auditorium, in Bellingham, Washington.
The forum, “Whatcom Agriculture – Is There A Future for Farming in Whatcom County?” was hosted by Common Threads Northwest, a local conservative organization that was created in early 2015. Common Threads Northwest essentially assumed the role of the Whatcom Tea Party after it became defunct in March of 2017.
By Sandy Robson
February 24, 2019
Bellingham, Washington, known for its unofficial nickname, “The City of Subdued Excitement,” is also known for its fairly subdued winter weather — not too cold, not much snow, but with a pretty steady stream of rain. Sunday, February 3, 2019, brought unusually frigid temperatures to Bellingham and its surrounding county. Those below freezing temperatures were accompanied by several inches of snow that fell on that Super Bowl Sunday, along with power outages which impacted thousands of Whatcom County residents. Local schools were closed the following day due to the snow.
By Sandy Robson
November 1, 2018
In doing research for The Searchlight Review’s October 20, 2018 report entitled, “Undermining tribal sovereignty and stoking anti-Indianism: The 40th Legislative District Pos. 1 House race,” some campaign finance information that was discovered, was not included in the report.
By Sandy Robson
October 20, 2018
The November 6, 2018, general election race for 40th Legislative District State Representative Position 1, features Democratic candidate Debra Lekanoff, versus Republican candidate Michael Petrish. Parts of both Whatcom County and Skagit County in Washington state make up the 40th Legislative District (LD). The district encompasses southwestern Whatcom County, northeastern Skagit County, and San Juan County.
By Sandy Robson
August 25, 2018
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office found itself in the news last month in a July 17, 2018 article published by The Intercept entitled, “The U.S. and Canada are preparing for a new Standing Rock over the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline.” In late May of this year, the pipeline expansion project proposed by Kinder Morgan Inc. was purchased along with the existing Trans Mountain pipeline between Alberta and British Columbia. The purchaser was the Canadian federal government.
