The Whatcom Watch is imploding under pressure from Craig Cole’s baseless libel threat at precisely the time they and sensible environmental citizens should be standing together, arm and middle finger extended to Cole and GPT.  How dare Cole and Coal threaten our fourth estate, the foundation of any hope for an informed civic dialog?

Cole overwhelmingly succeeded in dividing and scattering his opposition against incredible odds through nearly transparent deception.  GPT is getting their money’s worth.  Cole could not have done it without the tacit silence of local corporate and developer-based media feeding on GPT advertising revenues, and a veritable host of lickspittle lapdog liberals who would rather lash out at allies than think critically for themselves. Congratulations, Bellingham.  Once again the circular firing squad has sacrificed the courageous, preserving the cowards and fools.

My hat is off to Cole for a Sun Tzu move of the highest order.

http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/relevant-documents-to-libel-threat

I don’t know who to feel sorrier for;  Richard Jehn or Craig Cole.  Both will regret their over-reactions. 

It is easy to say that the offending article did not rise to libel—as myself and others have—but from the evidence presented so far, it looks like this whole affair has been mishandled by both sides.  Cole should never have threatened a libel suit in the first place. And if you are serious about a lawsuit, the first demand letter should come in the form of a letter from your attorney, not one from your own consulting company.

Over the years, there have been occasions where community leaders and government employees alike have fired off letters and e mails in a fit of pique, only to regret their actions later.  Former Bellingham Public Works Director Dick McKinley is one example in which a written screed cost him his job.

  It will be interesting to see how Craig Cole is affected, and remembered, for his regrettable threat against a community newspaper. But you can bet it will overshadow any past good works for native Indians.

The March Roundtable meeting of Whatcom Watch will be held from 4:30 to 6 pm on Monday, March 3, 2014, in the RE Sources library on the 2nd floor above the RE Store at Meridian and Broadway.  As always, if you have an item to add to the agenda, you are welcome to do so at the beginning of the meeting. Public invited, everyone welcome to attend and participate in the discussions.

John,  Thank you so much for this information.  I would appreciate it greatly if you made this your lead article.  Craig Cole"s letters reveal his lack of respect for freedom of the press and democracy.  I hope GPT realizes Cole’s actions are not having any positive effects towards their goal of what they consider “progress’ versus what most people in Bellingham and the majority of the world consider ecological destruction. His name is now toxic mud to me and probably many others.
Barbara Perry

http://publicgood.org/2014/03/domestic-terrorists-handbook/

Jennifer Karchmer
http://www.jenniferkarchmer.com/freedom-of-the-press-libel.html

Coinciding with the Whatcom Watch story, on March 3rd, researchers at the University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences Dept revealed that the passage of coal trains does indeed degrade air quality. See Cliff Mass’ blog at
      http://cliffmass.blogspot.com

and page back to March 3 entry. You can also pull down the PDF of the article from

    http://www.atmospolres.com/articles/Volume5/issue2/APR-14-040.pdf

Best wishes,
Abe Jacobson
Bellingham