Birch Bay News

County leaders want to leave Geneva and Hillsdale as urban growth areas so Bellingham can pull them into city limits, but they only want rural levels of growth there because those areas are in the Lake Whatcom watershed.

Blaine School District and its board members are seeking community involvement in planning for the future.

The county hearing examiner gave thumbs up to a large new church in Birch Bay after county planners and the church resolved a dispute over impacts to wetlands.

Tofer Wade recalls being really annoyed as a teenager when his father played loud classical music.

After establishing a popular 320-bed hostel in Seattle, the state chapter of Hostelling International is looking to establish a smaller one in Bellingham, and it wants volunteers to help develop a plan for one.

Fellow Lions Club member Ray Zimmerman's wife Judy read about how he and Carpenter had been boyhood friends, and what a daredevil Arch had been.

Pat and Susan Brush opened Birch Bay Consignment & Thrift on Oct. 1, in Terrell Creek Landing at 4819 Alderson Road.

Concerned that the public may not be serious about the health threat posed by swine flu, some affected by the illness are stepping forward to urge greater caution and encourage people to get the vaccine.

A symposium for retailers about thriving in the current economy will be held later this month at Birch Bay Square.

Whatcom County will improve a narrow stretch of Yew Street Road near a new elementary school next year, and it'll follow up the year after by improving a heavily traveled section of Lincoln Road in Birch Bay.

All beaches in Whatcom County have been closed to recreational shellfish harvest because red tide, a marine biotoxin that can be deadly if eaten, also has been found in Birch Bay and Drayton Harbor.

Rich Kayser has never been a model railroading enthusiast the way his father was, but he still loves serving as chairman of one of state's largest model train shows.

The Synergos Business Development & Networking Group recently elected a new board of directors.

The Northwest Washington Fair, held August 17-22 in Lynden, was a blue-ribbon experience for some Whatcom County youth.

A series of open houses will give the public the chance to learn about Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen's proposal for updating urban growth areas to accommodate the next two decades of growth.

E ditor's Note: Following is an unedited statement provided to the Calgary Herald by Dan Jenkins, the father of Calgarian Ryan Jenkins, who was the subject of a week-long international manhunt after he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Jasmine Fiore.

Washington winemakers have known for years that our combination of geography, soil and climate gives state vineyards the potential to make some of the best wines in the world.

Adele and Dave Nicholson figured a visit to Vancouver Island and Victoria's Royal BC Museum would be a novel way to spend a Tuesday.

County Executive Pete Kremen released his vision for urban growth over the next two decades, and the proposal calls for returning 7,815 acres of urban-zoned land to rural zoning.

County Executive Pete Kremen wants the city of Bellingham to accommodate more new residents than city leaders previously said they would take.