Tom Pratum

Closed Account • Member since Jan 21, 2008

Tom Pratum is a native Whatcom County resident, having arrived at St Josephs Hospital, and having attended Lowell, Fairhaven, and Sehome High Schools. He later obtained a PhD in Physical Chemistry at UC-Berkeley and worked as a research scientist at UW for 15 years. In 2000 he returned and now lives just outside the city limits with his wife Peggy and their two cats and two dogs. He has been a board member of North Cascades Audubon since 2001, and has taught part time in the WWU Chemistry Department since 2004.

Articles by Tom Pratum

Whatcom County Budget Shell Game

By Tom PratumOn Nov 05, 2009

Not surprising to most readers is the fact that Whatcom County has a relatively large general fund budget hole to plug. I wrote about this in July, and commented on [...]

Is Whatcom County Government ‘Frugal’?

By Tom PratumOn Jul 20, 2009

We have heard for years about how our county has been prudent in its expenditures and exhibited only the best in financial stewardship. The only proof - as far as [...]

Stillman Creek: Real Possibility or Scare Tactic?

By Tom PratumOn Sep 17, 2008

This past winter, during torrential rains to the South of us, there were some very serious slides on Weyerhaeuser land in Lewis County adjacent to Stillman Creek (a tributary of [...]

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Recent comments

"Gosh John, I seem to have offended you - I didn’t mean to do that. I certainly respect your opinion, and wouldn’t mean to imply that you don’[...]

Jan 26, 2011 on
WWU Prof Easterbrook on Global Warming

"As a scientist myself, I agree almost completely with what David M. has said. Yes, the temperature of the earth does appear to have changed significantly up and down in [...]

Jan 26, 2011 on
WWU Prof Easterbrook on Global Warming

"Of all of the things going on around here to attack - a park facility that could actually increase public interest in the wildlife and shoreline in Bellingham. Are there [...]

Dec 17, 2010 on
Is Boulevard Park/Cornwall Landfill Overwater Walkway A Toxic Trail?

"Dave- Thanks for adding your voice to these pages. I am guessing the raid of the Conservation Futures levy and Flood Fund will go down with nary a whimper from [...]

Nov 23, 2010 on
No "future" for conservation?

"I think there are some good comments here, and Tip’s article is on the money. I don’t know enough about the right-of-way issue to make any guess there, [...]

Aug 27, 2010 on
Lummi Island - The Price of Admission