by Sandy Robson
July 2, 2020
Washington state’s Yakima County has become a hot spot for coronavirus outbreaks, and fruit packing plants and growers there have been associated with a significant number of those.
by Sandy Robson
May 30, 2020
On May 28, 2020, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee held a press conference, during which he discussed a proclamation that he asserted would, “improve our health and safety guidelines for the hard-working people of the agricultural industry.”
- Photo taken on May 11, 2020, showing Familias Unidas por la Justicia president, Ramon Torres meeting with striking Allan Bros. workers. Photo credit: Brenda Bentley
By Sandy Robson
May 24, 2019
Workers at Allan Bros., Inc., a century-old apple grower, packer and shipper located in Yakima County, Washington, have been on strike since May 7, 2020, when more than 50 workers walked off the job.
By Sandy Robson
December 10, 2019
Editor’s note: The Searchlight Review assembled “A Report on the Reports” based primarily on public records related to Western Washington University’s Center for Economic and Business Research’s 2014 and 2019 “Employment at Cherry Point” reports sponsored by the Whatcom Business Alliance. Readers can view a pdf copy of The Searchlight Review’s full report, released on December 10, 2019, here. The Introduction, Executive Summary, and Conclusion sections of Searchlight Review’s report are provided below, along with an interactive slideshow containing screenshots of email records which are included in the report.
By Sandy Robson
November 9, 2019
Washington state Senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) has been keeping busy with his company, PacRim Bridges LLC, which he and his business partner, Jay Rodne, a former Washington state Representative from Snoqualmie, Washington, founded in November of 2017.
By Sandy Robson
September 22, 2019
[Editor’s note: This story has been updated on September 23, 2019 to reflect the fact that sometime today (September 23, 2019) the “Sheriff Bill Elfo” profile appears to have been removed from the We Speak social media platform. Now, when searching on We Speak by entering the former profile name, “Sheriff Bill Elfo,” that particular profile no longer produces any search results. In addition to this new development, it appears that the Re-elect Sheriff Bill Elfo Facebook page has removed the post declaring that “We Speak is running most of Re-elect Sheriff Bill Elfo’s campaign,” which had been posted on that Facebook page on Thursday, September 19, 2019, and which is referenced in this article with an accompanying screenshot photo.]
Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo’s campaign for the November 5, 2019 general election recently urged the sheriff’s supporters to join We Speak, a new social media platform created for Christian conservatives and founded by Ray Gilbride and his wife, Danielle Gilbride, who reside in Bellingham, Washington.
By Sandy Robson
September 8, 2019
A July 30, 2019 post made by Washington state Senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) on his Facebook page read:
“Rep. Matt Shea is a good man, a good legislator, and a great American.
By Sandy Robson
August 11, 2019
The Bellingham Herald published an August 5, 2019, article, “Ferndale Police investigating signs promoting white supremacist ideology.” The article reported that the Ferndale Police Department is investigating posters linked to a group called Patriot Front which were placed in downtown Ferndale, Washington.
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.
Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office misinformed law enforcement agencies about local anti-pipeline group
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.
By Sandy Robson
July 10, 2018
In May of this year, some well known Whatcom County conservative stalwarts teamed up with one of Washington state’s most infamous tax opponents, Tim Eyman, and newly dubbed “Master Provocateur” Glen Morgan, to launch the “Full Contact Activism Tour.” The tour visited eight cities throughout the state.
By Sandy Robson
June 24, 2018
In a full courtroom in Whatcom County District Court on Tuesday morning, June 19, 2018, attendees heard Judge Pro Tempore Dave Cottingham agree to Sarbanand Farms’ request that the $73,000 penalty it was assessed by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), be reduced by half, to $36,500. The proceedings that day serve to raise significant doubt as to the ability of state and local agencies to take actions that would adequately identify and prevent abuse of farm workers employed by farms under the H-2A visa program.
By Sandy Robson
June 3, 2018
This is a follow-up story with additional details related to my March 25, 2018 article. That article had reported on what was known back at that time about Washington state Senator Doug Ericksen’s March 21, 2018 visit to Meridian High School (MHS), as he described it, to talk with students about gun violence and school safety. Ericksen, a Republican from Ferndale, Washington, is running for re-election to the state Senate this year.
By Sandy Robson
May 27, 2018
Ever wonder what is sometimes involved with trying to get a government agency to answer what should be a simple question? I thought I’d give people a picture of how I spent my entire afternoon, Wednesday, May 24, 2018, trying to find out the name and position title of the attorney who was present, on behalf of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), at a May 23, 2018, Whatcom County District Court proceeding. The proceeding involved Sarbanand Farms, located in Sumas, Washington, and L&I. I was seeking the attorney’s name to include in an article I was putting together about the May 23, court proceeding.
By Sandy Robson
April 27, 2018
Adding to the list of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries’ (L&I) inspections of Sarbanand Farms in Sumas, Washington, in 2017, is another safety and health inspection I learned more about on Wednesday, April 25. Inspection number 317946364 was conducted by L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) after being initiated back in June 2017, although it was not mentioned in L&I’s February 1, 2018 press release announcing its findings from investigations at Sarbanand Farms which the department initiated in August 2017.
The DOSH inspection initiated in June 2017 did find that Sarbanand Farms had committed a serious violation involving an employee injury.
