NwCitizen.us - What's New in 2002

Mon, Dec 30, 2002

Cancer. A start to learning the facts of the extremely high cancer rates in Whatcom County is contained in the United States Cancer Statistics, a study by the Center for Disease Control. The CDC is part of the US Department of Health. The statistics are for 1999. Washington state ranks as one of the highest states for cancer rates, and has the highest rate west of the Mississippi.

As I began posting a few weeks ago, the cancer rates for Whatcom County may be higher than the rest of Washington state. We don't know because our County Health Department is hiding reports and distorting what it tells the County Council and the public.

The responsibility for learning the truth rests with our County Council. They can demand the full report on cancer rates. The Health department has put out some misleading numbers on cancer 'deaths', which does not include those who have recovered.

With this report of high rates in our state, the concerns for our county have been given credence. I call upon our county council - and most of them have told me they read this site - to demand the full truth on our county health statistics from the County Health Department. We cannot prevent or fix any cause if we don't even know there is a problem.

I haven't the personal time nor resources to investigate. This site is my best effort. If only some of the many people who constantly tell me how much they appreciate this site would do something themselves. We citizens have the right and duty to request information, speak, write and communicate with our fellow citizens on issues. And to petition our government agencies.

Tue, Dec 24

Season's Greetings to all. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, other or non-believer. For thousands of years this is the very time of year when people have hoped anew for a good new year to come. A rebirth of all we value and believe in. A renewed love of other humans and our sharing of a common future with others. All the best to everyone.

A few words for this time in our lives.

This winter we have war to fear. It appears inevitable. Our country's leaders are determined to squash a country exactly on the opposite side of the world from ourselves. We embark on our own eventual self-destruction by bullying the rest of the world. As individuals we feel helpless as raising our voices in objection brings down screams of treason upon our heads. Our leaders lash out at imagined enemies with blind fear and barely hidden greed. We are a country in turmoil - and it is getting worse every day.

We Americans mean well. But our leaders are sometimes bent on other ends, such as conquest and domination. Our media does not inform us honestly and fully of what other countries are doing. We are like Germans in 1930s Germany - we cannot understand why the rest of the world doesn't like us. It is because we don't know what is truly happening. In the end, we and our children will bear the result of our country's reckless adventures abroad.

Sun, Dec 22, 2002

Mercury. Oh, the expose is coming. Maybe soon. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency is getting concerned that the Washington State Department of Ecology has ignored the mercury in Whatcom County for to many years.

What is it all about? Well for over 30 years, Bellingham was the only city in the US to have a chlorine plant inside its city limits. The GP plant. Mercury was used as a 'catalyst' to make chlorine. But mercury got "lost" - in the water and the air. Our wind generally blows from the south, so the mercury released into the air spread north over Bellingham, the county and -- Lake Whatcom, our drinking water supply.

How much mercury? We don't know. GP knows, but is not saying. And no government agency has required them to say. Estimates are up to 80 pounds a day in the 60s and slowly lowering to maybe 10 pounds a day in the 90s. GP knows how much mercury they bought and that is how much was released into our water and air. It is at least 50 tons and could be 200 tons - or more. Toxic. Debilitating. In the soil of our lawns. In our children's bodies.

Our State Department of Ecology has "lost" vital documents that relate to this poisoning of our county. (Others have the supposedly non-existant documents) Our County Health department has routinely ignored the problems. GP would 'burn" mercury wastes in their hog burners and it "went away".

Why believe any of the above? Well, just wait a while. The story may be broken by a national news organization. The EPA and DOE may be caught with their pants down yet again - with the evidence of a major pollution situation that they ignored.

We should ask our Whatcom County Health Department to provide a complete report on disease in Whatcom County. We have a county council that has the power to demand this report. That is where we start. Don't believe me. But ask for the council to get the report. Are our cancer rates high? Lets have the facts.

A note on where I'm coming from. I am in contact with people doing research now. I have been concerned with the GP mercury problem since 1969. I served on GP's Community Advisory Forum for 5 years at their invitation. In the early 90s, I spent an entire work day with the top GP managers discussing the mercury and pollution concerns at the invitation of the then VP and General Manager Franklin. Does any of this make me an expert? Nope. But the "experts" at DOE and EPA and GP might soon be caught in their crime of silence.

More to come. Oh, forgot to mention. The Bellingham Herald is also guilty of the crime or silence on this one.

Fri, Dec 20

8:00 am
The Sudden Valley wastewater overflow was minimal yesterday and has stopped. It is doubtful that any reached the lake. Sewage did make it to a drainage ditch and straw was spread on it.

The spill was caused not by rain, as last year, but by a bug in a computer program that is supposed to turn on one pump (#3, if you are interested). I am told that Water District 10 folks jumped all over this problem immediately on learning of it. Much improvement over last year.

I received the above basic facts from a conversation this morning with a Water District official.

While the notice that boiling lake water is no longer necessary before drinking has not yet been sent out, it is my opinion that common sense says there is no need for it related to the spill. It is good that agencies were cautious this year. When the 'boiling not necessary' report is sent out I will post that info here.

Thur, Dec 19

6:00 pm
Today, the wastewater system at Sudden Valley is again overflowing into Lake Whatcom. The Whatcom County Health Department is recommending that if you get your drinking water directly from the lake that you boil it for 5 minutes before consuming. This according to Water District 10 news release at 5:20 this evening.

If you do not live on Lake Whatcom, then this does not apply to you. No other facts are available. I will post any further news.

This happens every year at this time. It rains in the Northwest and, because of faulty sewer pipes in Sudden Valley, the sewage system overflows - into the lake. Last year it was very severe. There was a lot of minimizing by the Department of Ecology and local news media until this web site publicized how bad it was. DOE and other government agencies proceeded to say it would never happen again.

You can check the photo that angered the brass at the Department of Ecology last year. Fitz creek is named for the DOE director - a rather deserving honor. Wonder if it is flowing again tonight.

Wed, Dec 18

Does the Bellingham Herald read their own stuff? Apparently not. Yesterday, Tuesday, a page 3 article told how the council had voted 6-1 the previous evening, Monday, for the PSE franchise to use our city rights of way. In fact, the council had voted 5-2 against extending the PSE franchise. Today the Herald has a correction. Their excuse is they reran the story from a week ago. However, someone edited that earlier story before printing it yesterday.

For those of us watching this issue, accurate news is very important. Monday was supposedly the final vote on the 25 year contract. The reality is the council has delayed until January a final decision. It is very unusual for the council to reverse itself on the final, and third vote for any issue. Maybe the Herald just reported that, thinking it was a done deal. Reporting? Not needed.

Why did the council decide to delay? Many people have contacted council members over the past week urging that the franchise contract be set at 10 years instead of 25. Many have urged that clauses be put in to encourage PSE to dismantle unused - dead - power lines and poles. These are all over the city and are a visual blight. Another suggestion is a clause encouraging the undergrounding of power lines as this provides more reliable power during our winter storms and removes the visual blight in the views from our homes. There are more clauses that appropriately belong in the contract.

The council is to be congratulated for reversing itself. Bob Ryan especially deserves credit for this. Washington State law gives cities broad authority to include clauses in franchise agreements with power companies so that the city gains benefits from the franchise. This contract should be for only 10 years, not 25, so that we can modify it as we see the need. It also keeps PSE honest when they know the contract can be amended soon.

Hopefully the council will add these clauses in January, will look for other improvements and will limit the length to 10 years.

Fri, Dec 13

Mercury. Mercury in our living environment - in the air we breathe, in the water we drink from Lake Whatcom, in the topsoils of our yards. Today's Bellingham Herald editorial says gee, environmental groups should do more to publicize this danger. It ends by saying with more "information" from these "groups" that then "People can learn the facts and decide for themselves the acceptable level of risk."

Incredible. By that naive reasoning, if there is nuclear waste lying around the county, we can all individually decide if it is dangerous or not. And if a person decides the mercury is dangerous, what is a person to do? The Herald editors, in their lecturing, stop short of offering any solution.

The Bellingham Herald is the greatest offender of systematically working to keep the citizens of Bellingham and Whatcom county ignorant of the toxic contamination of our environment. Georgia Pacific has dumped literally tons - tens of tons - of deadly mercury into our air over the past 30 years. And the same amount into our Bellingham Bay. And the Herald has systematically ignored the issue, giving it only scant notice with no urgency about public health.

The Herald editors, when confronted by me over the ommission of some vital news, always point to some obscure small article at some far distant time and say they covered the issue. They always say nothing new has been learned since that long ago time. They will do so again when the true nature of Whatcom county's poisoned environment becomes known to all. They will point to today's goofy editorial and say they tried.

Our DOE - State Department of Ecology - has destroyed records of toxic dumping in Whatcom county. Can I prove it? No, not alone. What is my evidence? Off the record statements from persons in the know. And some of my own experience over the past 20 years trying to get documents on dumps. An example is the toxic dumps at F street and Roeder Avenue. DOE had no records of this dumping in 1974 of mercury contaminated sludge. It has since been trucked to provide fill for development. And spread its toxic legacy.

I've learned that the EPA - the Federal Environmental Protection Agency - is looking into what our DOE and County Health departments have been "ignoring" for all these years. Don't expect the Herald to report this until they cannot avoid it. The toxic levels and health problems are too severe for this to remain hidden much longer.

I expect we will learn that DOE has allowed GP to dump toxic waste down old mine shafts from which it has leached into Lake Whatcom. We will learn that DOE has allowed GP to dump discreet amounts of toxic sludge in dozens of land fill sites around our county over the past 30 years - keeping a low profile on all these. (example at airport) We will learn many areas of toxic polluted Whatcom county are causing record high levels of cancer and other diseases.

I've reliably heard that our county cancer rates are 2 to 3 times the national rates. Maybe 5 times for prostrate cancer. Delestra Drive on Lake Whatcom has a breast cancer rate that is out of sight. The folks there get their drinking water directly from the lake. Childhood leukemia in the rural county is way higher than state and national rates.

A "Health" report on Whatcom County was issued a few weeks ago. It has nice graphs of home ownership, WTA ridership, high school drop-out rates, property crimes, adult obesity, and even what they call "neighborliness". But no information on cancer rates, diabetes, rates of Ritalin use by our children to control nervous problems, and other actual health problems. Nada. There is a graph on toxic releases that shows we suffer from 2 to 3 times the rate of the rest of Washington state. But no information on what those high levels have done to our health. This report is nice but it is not a health report.

What to do? We have elected representatives. They can ask the DOE and EPA for a full public accounting of our toxic wastes and our health. Our County Council can ask the Health Department the hard questions - what are the cancer rates. But so far they have not demanded answers. We citizens need to push our representatives to ask these questions. I do that with this web site. You, gentle reader, can do your part. Call or write your city, county, state or federal representatives. One or more of them. Our county council especially should hear from citizens. We need to know. And the Herald certainly isn't any help to learning of health concerns.

Mon, Dec 2

I add my comments to that of a letter in the Herald Sunday, praising David MacDonald, assistant police chief, who retired this fall after over 30 years with the Bellingham Police. I knew him, dating back to the 70s. He served our city well. He should have been made chief - he was much much more qualified than the guy the mayor appointed.

During the Pit protest in May 2001, chief Randy Carroll was making a war with the young protesters occupying the pit at Holly and Railroad. The situation was about to get out of hand - from anyone's perspective.

The mayor ordered Carroll out of town to a meeting, or something, and put David MacDonald in charge. David immediately acted to calm the situation and within hours the protest was on the way to a peaceful end. I watched the police officers quickly start referring to him as "the chief" in obvious respect.

We all hope David enjoys his retirement. I'd like to ask him to stay in shape as we might still need to recall him to serve as chief again.

Tue, Nov 26

The Every Other Weekly has posted the last Skinny online. Editor Tim Johnson blasts the city government - mayor and council - for taking the Bellingham downtown district down a dead end road to poverty. The actual last issue of the paper will be on the streets Thursday. It started in April 1997.

Not included in the last issue are details of future plans. Tim Johnson, editor and owner of the EOW, has already started a new company, Atomic Telegraph LLC, that will be the owner of a new weekly newspaper to start in February. It appears that the new paper will be named The Bellingham Weekly as the new company has already registered that name.

Mon, Nov 25

The Every Other Weekly is going out of business, with this Thursday's paper being the last issue. Started five years ago by Wayne Ellis and Tim Johnson, the paper has been an independent political voice and a good source for local music and entertainment information.

On the left column are two new links. Duff Wilson, who went to Western in Bellingham back in the 70s, is now an award winning investigative journalist with the Seattle Times. He has written a book Fateful Harvest about how large corporations get rid of their toxic metals sludge by "recycling" it into common fertilizers that we buy and use on our home gardens. Deadly? Of course. It is an example of industry self regulation and has not been reported by our daily newspaper.

Wed, Nov 20

In Vancouver, Canada, over 10,000 marched for peace last Sunday. Just 80 miles away. The yellow banner in the top right, "Lawyers Against The War" is carried by a group of lawyers, including some from Bellingham.

Today's Seattle P-I has a report on how Bellingham Police frustrated the efforts of John Malvo's mother to get him back from John Muhammad. You won't find such a critical report in our local paper - which carefully covers up police screw ups and corruption. There is a huge story in Bellingham about the snipers which is not being investigated.

Yesterday, the Seattle Times carried an opinion piece by WWU prof Floyd McKay where he says the snipers didn't commit violence in Bellingham. He rationalizes that we are such a loving community that they were soothed into a calm state. The problem with Floyd's thinking is he is premature in his analysis - we don't yet know if the snipers did no harm in Bellingham. Floyd has been quick in the past to condemn web sites such as this for irresponsible posts, without ever being specific.

Tue, Nov 19

Note: Today's post is a reprint, with his permission, of an email sent out today by Paul de Armond, a local political researcher. I think it speaks directly to the present crisis in our two party system - and to the lack of voter choice.

Paul writes:

Anybody who thinks that relying on Republicans to save the Democratic Party hasn't learned anything from the fiasco over the war authorization vote.

Dems sat back and allowed the Repos to lead the opposition to the war measure and then were stranded when that phoney opposition flipped to Bush's side at the last minute. Only a principled opposition from mavericks managed to get 60% of the Dems to vote against. The problem is that the 40% who supported the Bush regime's rush to war came entirely from the "leadership" of the party. Exactly the same people who see Senators McCain and Chaffee as "saviours."

The "poodle factor" is the major difficulty facing the Democrats. There is a lesson in Georgia Gardner's much-deserved defeat: given the choice between a Republican lap-dog and a Republican, the voters will reject the lap-dog.

The Democrats have to become the party of opposition if they are to mobilize their potential majority. Anything less than outspoken and principled opposition leadership will further erode the party's base.

Bootlicker's like Craig Cole and Georgia Gardner should be disciplined for selling out the party endorsements as a way of sabotaging the grass roots of the party. The right-wing hacks are always barking about "party discipline" when it comes to selling out and collaborating with the Republicans. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. No more fat patronage appointments for back-stabbers and quislings.

Let's fight! Better outside the party than inside, but chips should be falling like autumn leaves in a windstorm. - Paul de Armond

Monday, Nov 18

The U.S. media are starting to report the huge demonstrations against war. Not only in Europe and England but also in many U.S. cities, thousands are protesting every week against the oncoming war against Iraq. After weeks of coverups of these protests, the corporate media are now admitting there are protests. We are in for an interesting winter.

Wednesday, Nov 6

Yesterday, the citizens of the United States voted for Empire. As such, the march of history for the past four thousand years continues. Nations or states that gained a singular power have always decided to go for all the marbles and we have decided also.

Our choice was to cooperate with other states, through the United Nations, and forego Empire. With the rise of Liberalism in the early 1700s began the idea of all peoples having natural rights. From that followed the idea that no nation or state had a divine charge to conquer all and also the idea that peoples in different states had common interests. Those notions are now put on hold - again. The U.S. will now impose its will on others and slowly squeeze the civil rights of its own citizens. Empire is never risked by allowing too much internal discussion.

In a sense, Liberalism may have been saved by this setback. With Senate and House control, George the Usurper will not have a credible scapegoat when his wars and economic programs start to cause havoc in our nation. His vision of the future is war without end - to always have a reason to attack and control the next state, nation or people. There will always be the next problem and the solution is always the threat of force. In the end, as four thousand years of collapsed empires have shown, this results in the destruction of the original prosperous society. We have chosen our path.

Just the opinion of one citizen.

Monday, Nov 4

12:40 pm
I'm reliably told the bullet that wounded Margot Poss in Bellingham was not fired from the handgun loaned to the suspected DC snipers and used in the Tacoma murder. Bellingham police had no comment to my request for confirmation of this information. Apparently Randy Carroll wants to announce this himself later today or tomorrow.

Sunday, Nov 3

Corruption in Bellingham? In the mayor's office? Corruption with county officials charged with protecting our clean water supply? By city, county and state agencies helping Georgia Pacific to hide the dumping of toxic wastes around Whatcom County? Corruption in our Washington Department of Ecology as it hides toxic dumps from citizens?

Why does Whatcom County have a cancer rate over 200% higher than the rest of the U.S.? Why is Lake Whatcom, our drinking water source, so polluted with toxic heavy metals? Is our Public Works department hiding the positive tests for mercury or just not testing for it?

I attended an informative meeting last week in Bellingham. Two local citizen activists, Allie Cummings and Tim Paxton, presented their findings on local toxic problems to five U.S. EPA officials. They condensed their 3 years of research into a 2 hour presentation. The EPA was here to listen to charges that local and state agencies are not doing their job of protecting the health of Whatcom county residents. They will now consider whether the EPA needs to get involved and do the job of protecting our health that our state DOE, county health and city public works have not done. More later.

Related to this, we may see some 'developments' this next week directed towards local corruption.

Regarding the DC snipers and their time in Bellingham. The Bellingham Herald continues to be totally naive. Saturday's editorial blandly stated the DC snipers didn't commit any crimes in Bham during their many visits here. In fact, we don't know yet. The editorial should have called for a review of the Margot Poss shooting last June and the 4 to 8 cat mutilations last winter and spring - all while the two were apparently here.

Over the past few days, I've heard conflicting reports from reliable people that the Bellingham police are not investigating any ties of local crimes to the two snipers and also reports that the FBI has taken jurisdiction away from the local police. The reports are reliable, but the police are telling different people different things. We need the help of reporters from Seattle and the East Coast to prod the FBI to check out Margot's shooting. The Herald has not printed any new local information on the snipers for 5 days.

The Herald still has not a word about the fascinating details in the NTSB report on the pipeline explosion. NwCitizen will carry a report when we are able to. (No paid researchers) This report deserves close reading.

NwCitizen is an unpaid effort by one citizen. It is indeed sad the Herald serves us so poorly.

Friday, Nov 1

John Malvo T-shirt C.C.R.A. Sniper 10:10 pm
By blowing up the decal on John Malvo's shirt from our photo below and first posted here on Thursday, we can see the lettering.

B.C.R.A. SNIPER

Seth Esterby took the photo of Malvo and Muhammad at a BBQ last April on the south side of Bellingham. I borrowed the photo, scanned it in on Wednesday evening and posted it Thursday morning with Seth's permission. Since then the photo has appeared in national news media.

This appears to be the decal of the British Columbia Rifle Association. As you can see at their web site, they do have a "Precision Rifle" discipline, described as "Sniper style shooting..." Was John Muhammad up there in 1997 and did he earn a rating for sniper shooting? Or did he just buy the shirt and allow Malvo to wear it after the teenager passed some test? I can only ask questions and raise the issue. Hopefully a news organization in Canada will look into this. I've written to the B.C.R.A. asking for more information.

Morning
The Bellingham police have confirmed that they are reviewing local shootings and crimes these past several months against shootings and crimes in other cities where the DC snipers are believed to have been. This includes ballistics tests, fingerprints and writing samples.

I have also learned from a reliable out of town source that the FBI will check the markings on the bullet that wounded Margot Poss in Bellingham with the .45 caliber handgun used to kill Keenya Cook in Tacoma - the same handgun loaned to John Muhammad earlier this year.

Still today nothing in the Bham Herald about this or any other local connections related to John Muhammad's many visits to Bellingham over the past 14 or more months. Three days and no local reporting.

Bellingham police are not looking into the cat mutilations and killings on Bham's south side as they don't think they are related to the DC snipers.

Yes, I know nwcitizen has been missing in action. I've heard from many of you. I try to post news here that is not carried by the Herald. Thus, I have to take personal time to actually research the validity before posting. Otherwise this site would be a blog. I have not had personal time lately.

But one tidbit fell out of the sky today, thanks to DS. It is a reminder of how we humans need to be careful how we judge others - and how the problem is poor police work rather than the police not being provided with legitimate information by citizens.

The Washington D.C. serial killer suspect, John Muhammad, was hired by local real estate agent Greg Grant (Herald Oct 25) to do yard work at one of Greg's apartments in Sumas. The Herald on Friday told us how Greg had many conversations with John as they drove to and from Sumas.

Well, this is the same Greg Grant who allowed U.S. Customs to post a billboard (Herald Oct 21) on his property that encouraged us citizens to spy on our neighbors and report "Suspicious Activity". Greg rode with the worst serial killer in recent times and never suspected the guy had a problem. But he advocates us turning in our neighbors for out of the normal behavior. Leaves us all wondering what "suspicious" signals Greg missed from his travel mate Muhammad. How very ironic.

Of course the Herald has not made the connection between its own two stories.

Contrasting this, Al Archer, director of the Lighthouse Mission and an experienced judge of people, did report John M. to the FBI who did nothing. And another citizen reported John M. to Bellingham police who did nothing. Both had legitimate information and reasons to be concerned. Indeed the Herald is allowing police chief Randy Carroll to slide sideways on this as substantial information was reported to him.

Unfortunately the Herald deletes articles from its web site after two weeks. Check the above links now as they will go dead soon. And write the Herald asking that they keep articles posted. They should love me - I drive people to their advertising.

Appreciate your checking this site. Wish I had the time to run it correctly.

Friday, Oct 18

A reminder - Peace Vigil today, 4pm at the Federal building downtown, corner of Cornwall and Magnolia. Over 300 people attended last Friday, but that was day after Congress voted to give away their war power to Bush.

A majority of Americans oppose the US going to war alone without the UN. A reliable poll shows this. 52% oppose war without UN support.

The Herald has carefully avoided reporting anything about the vigils, as have most newspapers in other cities. Yet all over the world there are continuing demonstrations against the immanent war. One has to search the Internet to find the reports. 1.5 million in Italy on one day. 450,000 in London. All American cities. What Bush is about to start will dwarf Viet Nam in its confusion, lack of exit plan and deaths to young Americans.

The Shayler spy trial in England continues. Now the English press is not allowed to report that the trial has secret sessions. For 9 days there is not even a report that there is a secret trial going on. I've posted the only tidbits found. The British government paid bin Laden to assasinate Gadhafi and gave other funds to al Queda. They do not want he world to know this. Just as our Bush administration is keeping 911 information from us - and wiping out our bill of rights with the so called Patriot Act.

Saturday, Oct 12

Today's Herald has a story on Dan Warner, candidate for Port Commissioner last year, being heavily fined this week by the state ethics board for illegal use of WWU mailing lists and his computer equipment during his campaign. Page A3. The Herald says a "whistleblower" filed the complaint. That would be myself, the Herald knows that and I don't own a whistle. I posted only a short report here at NwCitizen back then.

Now I have a couple comments.

1. The fine of $7,500 is way too much. Warner readily admitted his error when the incident was reported. He even personally apologized to me a year ago and told me he held no animosity towards me for doing what he said was the right thing to do.

2. His campaign manager, a WWU staff person, is the real violator of ethics and she was fined only $750. WWU president Karen Morse and VP George Pierce were copied on my complaint and they then acted to cover up her actions. When trying to learn the truth of what happened, I was lied to and deceived by the administration at Western. Dan, for being forthright, was made the scapegoat.

3. Western's administrators, led and directed by George Pierce and Karen Morse, continue to lie and act illegally in their obsessive drive to transform Western's campus into their personal dream landscape regardless of the cost. They lie to their board of Trustees, state representatives, state agencies in Olympia and to citizens. They work illegally behind closed doors with the Bellingham city planning department.

It would be nice if state agencies - the Auditor, the Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Governor's Budget Aide, would actually check Western's statements as they spend over $50 million taxpayer dollars on the campus projects that do not add classrooms and are not needed for infrastructure support systems.

Our state representatives should answer to the voters for this waste during this campaign. Dave Quall, Jeff Morris, Keli Linville, Georgia Gardner and Doug Erickson. This is their dirty little secret - that Western gets a free ride because the money is spent on local construction projects. It is pork barrel politics. And our local anti-tax conservatives - Nelson, Goldsmith, Manchester, Deger, Dietsch and the BIA - all wink at this because it funds the local building industry, a conservative group.

Well - there you have it in plain language. If I had the time to investigate and report the tax dollar wastes in this county, I could easily document $20 million a year. This doesn't excite anyone in power. Democrats like spending money. Republicans like complaining but really support tax dollars spent on construction regardless of need.

Meanwhile, much is made of a minor case of bad judgement. I never intended to so embarrass Dan Warner. I just wanted his campaign manager to stop using the email system at Western for campaign purposes.

Want a real violator of public trust? That Republican and conservative favorite son Doug Smith, Port Commissioner. He routinely violates state conflict of interest laws by contracting with Port tenants to construct their buildings. I reported his violations here a year ago. State agencies were notified. The Auditor wrote me a letter white washing Smith - saying they didn't know if he knew what he was doing was wrong. No action was taken. You can help by calling the State Auditor and asking them to investigate Smith. The Herald won't touch this issue. The Port is a heavy advertiser in the Herald.

I've been told I'm all wet on the Doug Smith issue. Well they said that 10 years ago when I worked to expose the KAP scandal - until it broke and we learned the Port blew away 4 million in tax dollars. They were taken by a scam artist from Seattle. They bought into a shell game. The Herald, after not believing me for a year, printed the final page of stories about the scandal without mentioning my name and has never written about it again. The Port changed the name of the building to the International Trade Building and has lost money on it for 11 years.

But the state and the Herald readily nail the honest person like Dan Warner who admits an error. Such is how government agencies go about their business. Such is Herald reporting. We citizens should insist on better.

Friday, Oct 11

Evening
Over 300 people attended the peace vigil in downtown Bellingham at the Federal Building this afternoon. Young, old, poor and well off. This is not a narrow based peace movement.

The vigil was from 4 pm to 5 pm, at which time many joined a sidewalk march around downtown - see photo above. Each week the number of participants grows.

Noon
With the Congress giving away its war powers to GW Bush, the usurper, everyone agrees our country is entering a new and momentous time. The war mongers say finally we will clean out terrorism. Those of us in favor of working through the UN say this is a fatal step towards imperialism.

As an ordinary citizen, I predict that in a couple years we will all wish we had this decision to make again and differently. I predict we have opened pandora's box. Wiping out Saddam will not begin to wipe out terrorism, but will unleash new enemies on ourselves. We strike out from fear and anger - and greed. We covet the oil of Iraq. The powers behind Bush think the time is right for the US to dominate the world.

Many have commented on historical analogies. Here is mine. In the fall of 200 BC, the Roman Republic declared war on Philip of Macedon - the country bordering Greece. Rome had just won a long war against Carthage - the same as our having just overcome the Soviet Union. Rome could have learned to live with other countries at that point. But Rome was looking for new glories. Philip was depicted as a threat to Rome. He was given impossible conditions to fulfill. Historians are in common agreement that this war was the beginning of the Roman Empire. Rome got into a mess with Philip's neighbors, got sucked into other peace keeping operations and the rest is history.

Tuesday, Oct 8

3 pm
Rick Larsen, our representative to the US Congress, has told local supporters he will vote NO on Bush's authorization for war on Iraq. Good for him. He is showing courage. Many planning to vote Green may now vote for Larsen.

Sens. Cantwell and Murray continue to avoid the issue which gives aid to Bush's push for war. They are obviously afraid to speak out against war.

Noon
The National Transportation Safety Board has today released their report on the Whatcom Creek pipeline explosion on June 10, 1999. Olympic Pipeline controlers' poor performance and faulty computers are cited as the immediate cause. IMCO construction of Bellingham is cited for causing the "damage" to the pipe where the rupture occured.

The analysis of the accident posted on NwCitizen in Feb 2000 holds up very well. The NTSB leaves the city off the hook but evidence of Olympic and city hall being in bed together is out there. The city was in charge of the construction site when IMCO was working with their backhoe and damaged the pipe. Further, the city located the new water pipe too close to the gasoline pipe - about 7 inches from it. The only existing photos in public availability that I've ever seen of that were taken by myself in July 1999 during a specially arranged tour. The NTSB report does not go into this, as their report is very concise.

Monday, Oct 7

As expected, the Herald has not a word in today's paper about last evening's peace vigil. Does tell us about Seattle, San Francisco and other places. But under its own nose, no. Typical.

The drums of war are beating. War fever has gripped our national leaders. We need to show our US Congress that we people do not want war.

If we unleash the hounds of war we will not get to choose when it stops. Others will. Germany learned that. It will not be surgical and quick. We might not win. We will suffer greatly regardless. We can avoid war. We can work with and through the UN to deal with Iraq. Our US congressional representatives lack the courage to speak out. We people need to show them our courage to say no to war. Or we can only blame ourselves.

Sunday, Oct 6

9:30 pm
Perhaps 100 or more people spent time standing for peace and against war this evening at the Federal Building in Bellingham. Many others drove down to Seattle where thousands demonstrated against war today.

Folks came, stood maybe an hour with or without a sign and quietly left. Young and old. Doctors and teachers. There were people there standing who have passed by these peace vigils for 30 years. A majority of passing motorists beeped or waved in support. No negative noise from any passing cars - unlike the vigils during the Gulf war eleven years ago.

A common question heard often was where are the voices of elected Democrats in opposition to the war. Consensus was they were afraid to speak out, fearing the Bush administration smear tactics.

The vigils continue every Friday at 4pm. Maybe more often during the next week or two. Check back.

Noon
There will be a peace vigil at 7 pm this evening at the Federal Building in downtown Bellingham. Spread the word.

I've only learned this morning of this. Apparently it is happening in other cities also. This is a peaceful demonstration against war with Iraq. Of course the Herald did not have a word about the 1.5 million Italians who demonstrated peacefully yesterday.

On another issue, I learned the Department of Ecology is holding secret meetings with Georgia Pacific Corporation to decide the fate of the toxic mercury pollution in Bellingham Bay. I requested confirmation of these meetings and got blown off by the DOE. You can read their answer and my email in a new section for following this issue. I'll post their next reply.

Saturday, Oct 5

Today 1.5 million Italians demonstrated against war with Iraq. But you probably won't spot that news on CNN or MSNBC. Just like the Washington Post and NY Times did not report 450,000 Londoners demonstrating against war last weekend. And the Bellingham Herald ignores the increasing numbers of demonstrators at the Federal Building here each Friday.

Where is this news? At Google News - a new online source of conventional news - and fast becoming better than the others. The news is selected by computer with no editors from over 4,000 news sources around the world. This explains how news contrary to American political goals is not filtered out.

Oh CNN does carry a story, but you have to drill down a couple layers to find it and the story says "thousands" demonstrated. Yeah, 1,500 thousands.

Friday, Oct 4

I've received objections to my reporting that Angel did not plead guilty. As such, I will be get copies of relevant documents and post them here - but not today.

My criticism of the Herald was too harsh. Their reporting was not deliberately false. I'll restate it as overly general and misleading.

An Alford Plea, which is what she pled, is a legally recognized statement that needs explaining. Why is it important? Because the city accepted it rather than a regular guilty plea and that goes to the weakness of the city's case against Angel Drayton.

Wednesday, Oct 2

As expected, the Herald got it wrong. Their story says Angel pled guilty and that it is just her attorney who says she did not plead guilty. But - her attorney faxed the Herald reporter the actual agreement yesterday afternoon, so the reporter has no excuse for mis-reporting. It is deliberate false reporting - to make Angel look worse and the city look exonerated. Just as expected and predicted below last evening. There was no Herald reporter at court. It was reporting by phone - 2nd hand, inexpensive and convenient - but not accurate.

KGMI is also falsely reporting guilt this morning. They also report the city dropped "nine animal abuse charges". Gentle reader, there never were any abuse charges. None.

The difference is huge in that the city accepted less than a guilty plea. The headline could accurately state "City accepts not-guilty plea". The city was getting into an awkward spot and wanted out. Note she got a dog back. Why? Because she would not sign unless she did. Yesterday, during plea bargaining, she held the good cards. This web site will try and document some of the city's problems in future posts. For now, my assessment of yesterday is below.

Tuesday, Oct 1

Angel Drayton made an Alford Plea to two counts of a dirty yard today and received stern punishment from judge Debra Lev. The judge seemed reluctant to let the black woman off, saying "I'm not convinced she will be the poster child for dog ownership". Indeed, Lev placed a long list on conditions on Angel, which would do justice to a crime of violence - assault with a deadly weapon or gross vandalism of city property. Not a dirty yard.

Angel accepted the plea after threats from city prosecutor Lustick of much more severe punishment should she refuse him and Judge Lev preside over her trial. He threatened to have a two year ban on pet ownership follow her no matter where she might move to. Jail was what Angel most feared and Lustick played the card. He only softened the plea terms in the last 24 hours. We think he became concerned about possible media attention and the presence of more citizens at the hearing.

Angel got one dog back. She must subject herself to city inspection every 2 weeks for several months. She cannot have other dogs. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail, suspended. She was fined $2,000 with $1,500 suspended. She is on probation and must pay a monthly fee to the county for that "service". Judge Lev appointed a 'Guardian Ad Litem" for the dog - yes, the judge said that with a straight face. It was hard not to smirk.

Gentle reader, there was no charge of dog neglect. No charge of viscous dog. Nor of biting. Nor of the dogs running loose in the neighborhood. No charge of mistreatment of the dogs. The charges were for a dirty and smelly yard. The judge and the city prosecutor went to extremes to punish this innocent black woman and teach her a lesson about Bellingham. White folk needn't worry about their yards. Nor their freedom from reckless prosecution and biased judges.

The court tried hard to humiliate her. She held her head up. Lustick wanted even more blood, but Joan Hoisington, his boss, was in court to make sure the plea bargain went through as agreed. Joe Pemberton, Angel's attorney, normally handles civil cases but agreed to represent Angel when all the criminal attorney's in town closed their doors to this black woman targeted by the city court machine.

The insidious partnership of Judge Debra Lev and city prosecutor Jeff Lustick remains in place - ready to railroad the next person the police drag into their court. Last year it was the Pit 33 - the young innocent protestors from the Mason building site. Who is next?

I expect the Herald to get the story factually wrong. They had no reporter there, and depended on phone calls again. The KGMI reporter spent a long time in Lustick's office. I watched them go down the hall laughing and yucking. Then later KGMI asked Joe one short trap question. That was it. Don't expect any fair reporting from them.

What's an Alford Plea? She did not admit guilt. She wrote "I deny any wrong doing but enter a plea of guilty to avoid risk of trial." The US Supreme Court has legalized Alford Pleas. Angel knew Lev would make sure she was convicted and there would be no fair trial. She took her only way out. She did not lose.

In this court case, Bellingham lost.

Wednesday, Sep 25

Lets say you are served with an abatement order from the city to clean up something. Maybe it is an unfinished building project that the neighbors have complained about. Maybe it is too many old cars in the front yard. Maybe it is complaints of dog feces in your yard.

Ok - the order gives you 5 days to get rid of the problem. You didn't really know you were violating any law. Every dog owner has some feces in their yard. So you clean it up. The inspecting police officer comes by a couple days later and writes up a clean inspection. You complied.

Well, for you and every case in Bellingham history, that is the end of it. You obey an abatement order and you are not cited. That is the whole point of abatement orders. To give you a chance to correct the problem.

But not for Angel Drayton. The day Officer Burkhart inspected and gave her yard a clean bill of health, city prosecutor Lustick filed four criminal charges of dirty yard against Angel. Angel is a black woman, who made the mistake of moving to white Bellingham three years ago.

Tuesday in court, Lustick successfully convinced Judge Debra Lev that the law works that way. He turned the law on its head - and Judge Lev went along with it. Case law? None cited. Did the judge ask for case law? Nope. Angel's attorney, Joe Pemberton, had asked for dismissal on the basis that the charges came after Angel obeyed the abatement order. Judge Lev ruled she goes to trial.

Now, if you are a white guy with a gawd awful yard or building, don't worry about being cited for criminal acts. Officer Burkhart knows of no other case in her career where this has happened - and she has many years experience. You can get extensions to abatement orders - not criminal charges.

This is just another piece of evidence for my accusation that the city prosecutor Lustick is motivated by racism in his prosecution of Angel Drayton. He is using the law in twisted ways that he would never use on white persons. The case is about a dirty yard. He is making a federal case of it.

Hey, you attorneys reading this. You know this is weird. Why not offer some help to Joe Pemberton on this case.

No Herald reporter there. Just a couple supporters for Angel. Just a railroad job to drive this black woman out of Bellingham. Lustick smirked and tossed out insulting remarks the judge somehow never heard - although we in the audience did. A sad sight.

In closing, can't help but remind you of the Flame Tavern and the rusty skelton in Fairhaven. They got extensions of extensions on their abatement orders. And no criminal charges. Of course not. Lustick is targeting Angel because she is black. Yes, gentle reader, even in Bellingham. Someone told me that if I wrote about pet abuse I'd get more concern from Bellinghamites. Are we a racist community?

Saturday, September 21, 2002 - top of home page

(Sep 21) Loved Dogs Held Hostage : Day 109
City prosecutor Lustick says they are evidence of a crime
and he does not want them returned to owner. Ah - but
city law allows him to charge her for the city keeping them.
The bill is over $2,700 and increasing daily. Nice guy.
He'll make this black woman regret she ever moved to Bellingham.

Angel Dratyon Pretrial Hearing
Tuesday, Sep 24, 2:30 pm, Municipal Court.
Watch for yourself the racist prosecution of a black woman.

Sat, Sep 21

Protesters against War with Iraq have grown greatly in the past few weeks. This is the scene in front of Bellingham's Federal Building yesterday afternoon at the weekly 4 pm demonstration.

Of course no coverage in the Bellingham Herald. This upwelling of concern by citizens is real news. How much is this happening all across the United States? We don't know as there is little reporting on this.

The fellow who took these photos for NwCitizen said "Wow! What a group. Now THIS makes me proud to be an American." He reports that an enthusiastic drummer and guitar player were singing peace songs. The crowd included children as well as very old folks.

One sign read "USA - A greater threat to peace than Iraq."

The peace vigil takes place every Friday at 4 pm in front of the Federal Building at the corner of Magnolia and Cornwall in downtown Bellingham. Anyone is welcome to join. It is a very peaceful protest, with participants standing quietly on the sidewalk as a visible demonstration of their belief. Most hold a personally made sign, but it is not necessary to have a sign. No registration. The demonstration ends about 5 pm and everyone goes their way.

Howard and Rosemary Harris started this vigil in the early 70s as a protest against the Vietnam war. They could be seen every Friday of the year, in rain or wind or snow, standing quietly on the corner. Others joined them. After Vietnam it continued as a protest against nuclear war through the 80s. Now it has new urgency as our government prepares to attack Iraq.

NwCitizen strongly supports the protest against war with Iraq. George the usurper and his oil colleagues are hell bent on war with Iraq. For months they yelled that unless inspections for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction could resume, war was needed for protection of the world. As soon as Iraq OKed inspections, the party line changed overnight to "disarmament" of Iraq. That means elimination of Iraq's army, tanks, air force, etc. That is pure escalation by war mongers in Washington DC.

Tue, Sep 17

Seven years ago this week I started NwCitizen. Sep 19, 1995. At the time I expected it was only the first citizen edited web site and felt good to be ahead of the curve. I'd been an active citizen for years and set up the web site so as to be free of the Bellingham Herald for getting information to fellow citizens.

Today, there are still very few political web sites in Bellingham. Along the left column are links to all those I know of. Most are very narrow in their aims, are the web sites for civic groups, or are sites that go months without any new postings. If you know of any others, let me know and I'll link to them.

On a personal note, last January I posted that I was going into 'hibernation'. The reason was I was going blind and was pretty depressed. I didn't know I had a cataract. Then an operation restored my eyesight. The world looks wonderful again. And I'm again committed to this web site.

I'll continue to post more about the Angel Drayton case. I've a lot of info and more coming in. However, I must put a priority on making a living - and that causes no posts for days at a time. Believe me, hours of research - meetings, reading original documents, interviewing people - goes into each post. I've been accurate most of the time because of that. It is part of what infuriates those public officials who find their actions being questioned by this web site.

Right now the police are scurrying around trying to discredit me and intimidate those who provide information to me. Dac Jamison, one of the most senior police officers and the official public relations person for the department, is the point guy for this work. Indeed, he has succeeded to a degree. He has suggested that people might "jeopardize" their relationship with the police if they support Angel Drayton. Some have backed off or hesitated. Chilling.

So, I hope you voted today. It is the act that constitutes democracy. Flags are symbols. Newspapers exist to inform so we can vote intelligently. Free speech allows the unofficial opinion to be heard and hopefully prevent tyranny. But it all comes down to each of us actually voting.

Thanks for visiting NwCitizen. I'll continue do my best on important local issues that the Herald ignores or covers up.

Sat, Sep 14

What the Herald did not tell you. Yesterday's Herald reported that Angel was submitting a plan to the court for the return of her dogs. However, this will be the second time - and the Herald did not tell you that. The judge ruled last week against returning the dogs but told the city to work out some conditions with Angel for the return. Apparently that did not work and so Angel is submitting to the court again.

What the judge proposed did not require another court hearing. Judge Lev said she would sign an agreement the city and Angel worked out. I will try and learn on Monday why this did not work.

For now I can only guess that Lustick is refusing to work out an agreement. After all, Judge Lev did not formally make her request part of the order. Lustick may be defying the judge. After all, his aim is to deny Angel the return of her dogs ever. This is racist prosecution in that a double standard is being applied to this black woman. White dog owners need not fear.

Funny how the Herald likes to capitalize on the dogs being pit bulls. The breed is not a factor in this case. But the Herald is oriented towards selling papers with sensational heads, not accurate reporting. A more accurate head would be 'Black dog owner to file again'.

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

We remember those who lost their lives a year ago and salute the many heros of that day.

May we as a people and as a nation find our way in this new age of uncertainty.

I stand by the words I posted at noon on 9-11-01. Common sense guided me. Nothing more. However, the voter turnout did not improve in the elections since. Why? I'm baffled. The act of voting is the basis of democracy and freedom. Not tanks and wars.

Tuesday, Sep 10

As the Herald reported this morning, Angel did not get her dogs back. Yesterday, Judge Lev ruled that she was not convinced that Angel would follow the recommendations from the Humane Society in the care of her dogs. The director of the Society had testified extensively about what Angel had done wrong in the past and how Angel could not and would not properly care for her dogs in the future.

The Herald had no reporter at the hearing but got their story from a phone call from chief city prosecutor Lustick. Therefore the Herald probably did not know that the judge also ordered the city to reach an agreement with Angel for the quick return of her dogs under some conditions of periodic supervision by Humane Society agents. The judge said she would have ordered the dogs returned if the city had suggested some conditions - which the city did not do. Maybe Lustick 'forgot' to tell the Herald that very pertinent fact.

The Herald reporting is often done over the phone with a proponent of one side of an issue. This is not reporting. Whatever the Herald's reasons for not observing news events, the result is we citizens cannot rely on their stories.

Are you a dog owner? Did you know there is no whip or hook worm in Whatcom County - except in Angel Drayton's dogs? This is the sworn testimony of the director of the Humane Society. She painted a picture of Angel possibly causing an infestation of these worms. She said in her years as director no dogs brought to the Humane Society have had such worms - until Angel's dogs.

The director also feels Angel should pave her entire yard with concrete before her dogs are returned. Hey, I'm just reporting here.

It is obvious to this observer that a double standard is being enforced by the city prosecutor and police. If all dog owners in Bellingham were held to the standards being ordered for Angel Drayton, a black woman, then there would be very few dogs in Bellingham. This is racism. Whether Mr. Lustick is aware of his own prejudice is not the issue. I lived in the South for several years and have solid personal experience here. When a community holds a person of a different race to a higher standard than the predominant population then it is racism. The most effective way of driving people out of a community is to convict them of spurious crimes and have the police harass them constantly. It works. Lustick is either a willing or unknowing key player in this process with Angel.

Only 3 white guys showed up. No reporters from the Herald, KGMI or KVOS. But you will probably hear others condemn me for accusing the city of racist prosecution - from people who haven't the time in their life to observe the facts for themselves. Too busy making a buck to be concerned. I stand by my accusation of racism by the city prosecutor. And I challenge the city to release the requested records of any previous prosecutions similar to this. They have so far refused to release records in violation of state law.

Saturday, Sep 7

Are you a white guy? We need10 of us to attend the hearing for Angel on Monday afternoon at 1:30 pm. We need to witness the racist actions of city prosecutor Lustick as he attempts to keep Angel from getting her dogs back.

Why white guys? Because the powers that be allow us to deviate more without repercussions We need witnesses to this racist prosecution of a black woman. If we grant the prosecution's case, then she had a dirty back yard. He is throwing the book at her. The city refuses to release information on past cases of this type - a violation of the state public disclosure act - but hey, no one is going to spend the money to take the city to court, so they can ignore the law. Without the records, we can only guess that this heavy prosecution for a dirty back yard is not normally done.

Municipal Court, 2014 C Street - across from the police station. Monday. 1:30 pm. Take a little time off from work to aid the cause of fairness in our democracy. I am.

Wednesday, Aug 28

Remember that sewage spill at Sudden Valley last winter - the one that we posted photos of and named the sewage creek flowing over the golf course after the director of the Dept of Ecology - Fitz Creek? Remember virtually no coverage in the Herald? Remember DOE denying there was any real problem? Remember NwCitizen was alone in publicizing that? We thank some environmental friends for those photos and information.

This web site is used to being alone in telling you - the public - about government coverups and abuses of power. This site focuses on government - not private persons or businesses. It is the waste of our tax dollars and secrecy that I speak out against. The local news media are in bed with the politicians and local governments. The Herald depends on them for fat legal notice contracts and public relations advertising as well as easy access to news.

Well the DOE has now fined Sudden Valley $24,000 for that spill they first said did not exist - but later had to investigate because of pressure from people who read it here and contacted DOE. Expect the fine to be dramatically reduced after the initial press releases have shown how tough DOE can be. Cynical? Naw - just experienced in watching this circus. It was only Bellingham's drinking water that had hundreds of thousands of gallons of raw sewage dumped into it.

Now back to the Angel Drayton case - only the latest issue that I am alone on. For now.

Tuesday, Aug 27

Angel Drayton's motion hearing for the return of her dogs will finish on Monday, Sep 9 at 1:30 pm in the Municipal Court. Even if Judge Lev returns her dogs, they will have been over 3 months in humane society kennels - not the best place for any pets.

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday, Sep 16 at 1:30 pm. I am told - but have not confirmed - that her trial is scheduled for Feb 24. The web site www.courts.wa.gov (click 'Find Your Court Date') is supposed to have this information. However it is missing. You will note that typing in "Drayton" does not bring up her case - you need to type in the case number - CB37205. This error has been allowed to remain for weeks now.

The police continue to attempt to intimidate people against supporting Angel. Why does KGMI state my personal name on the air but not mention this web site? My only public comment has been on this web site. Maybe they don't want the public to visit here.

You know what would be nice? For ten white guys to attend her hearings. Why? Because we have the least risk of retribution in our society for out of norm behavior. Ten guys could witness and become aware of the sad tax wasting childish and racist prosecution of Angel. Let the police count us and note who we are. They have certainly noted me - and are targeting me in their verbal attacks of intimidation. Just show up. We have public trials for a purpose - to prevent abuse. If no one shows up they may as well be secret. I show up and report and the system goes berserk. Strange.

Friday, Aug 23

The short Herald article today was a fair report of yesterday's hearing - as best as a short article could be.

Thursday, Aug 22

6:00 pm
Careful when you talk to local news media - like KVOS news reporter Joe Bates or a KGMI reporter. You might tell them something that they agree to not report but they might tell it in open court - exactly what you said - even that you asked and they agreed to not report it. Happened today.

City prosecutor Lustick subpoenaed the two reporters yesterday to testify under oath today and impeach the testimony of Angel Drayton's neighbor who had said they didn't have any problem with Angel and her dogs. The reporters testified with no objection.

News media normally have their attorneys object and keep reporters off the witness stand. And courts respect the role of news reporters as persons the public trusts with information. It is called privilege. I won't elaborate here. News media in Seattle will learn of this soon enough.

Today's 2 hour hearing focused on the smell of dog feces. Could you smell it from here? From there? How do you know it was dog feces? City prosecutor Lustick seemed a scatological obsessive.

He was on his game attacking and bullying Angel Drayton. He grilled her on an expired dog license in 2000. He asked if she remembered being "arrested" on such and such a date: she replied she was not arrested but "cited" for an expired dog license. He made sure the judge knew she was not expert on different dog diseases. Her kennel was not large enough. (she bought it from another dog owner) He spent several minutes grilling her on the condition of her bathroom.

Glad I'm not a black living in Bellingham. I've visited neighbors who told me to be careful of the dog poop - that their kid was supposed to clean it up. Man, a black has the police there to take photos of the pile. And report it.

One amazing item. Turns out the one dog was being kept in the bathroom at the suggestion of the police four days earlier. The Herald article made much of this without reporting why the dog was there.

The hearing was continued. 4 hours down, 2 more to go. $$ your tax dollars being wisely spent by your city legal department. Lustick said he expects the trial to last 4 to 6 days. That is not even scheduled yet.

The city has a losing case. It is trivial - a dirty back yard that got that way when the single mom was having a baby and her mother was taking care of the home. Lustick is showing way too much energy trying to put this lady in jail. This is racist motivated. This big white guy - ex military lawyer - just insulting this black woman. It's a sad commentary on Bellingham.

KGMI had another reporter there. Herald finally there - expect something Fri morn.

1:00 pm
Am reliably informed that the city prosecutor asked to discuss a plea bargain with Angel and her attorney this morning and those talks are still going on. He is threatening her with jail time if she does not cop to something. Trying to save face.

Today's Every Other Weekly has devoted the entire Skinny column to Angel's case. The Skinny, written by EOW owner Tim Johnson, presents a very mixed picture. He is loathe to call the Bellingham Police racist so he calls them everything else. At least he is finally reporting on the case.

Mr. Johnson has a couple very troubling paragraphs which don't show him in such a good light. In one he states that "...our justice system goes out of its way to frame guilty people." Gentle reader, you should know that Mr. Johnson has a cozy relationship with the police, getting off the record briefings from them. Indeed, he says as much earlier in the Skinny, writing that he "feels uncomfortable" writing about an investigation he knows of - so he doesn't tell us any more.

The implication is the city will get Angel one way or the other. They have to once an officer mistakenly issued her a citation. In spite of 60 some enforcement actions, Mr. Johnson still doesn't think the prosecutor's office and the police are racist. A mixed read. But as always, entertaining.

What ever happened to enforcing the city code against dog feces in parks? The police have long ago informed the Parks Department that they will not enforce that law. We all like to walk in the park. Such vigor of enforcement is wasted on back yards. If you are white, don't worry about it.

Wednesday, Aug 21

Angel Drayton asked the city to give back her 4 dogs. They have been in humane society kennels since June 7 - over two months. She is facing a criminal trial for not cleaning up the dog feces in her yard fast enough last spring. Yesterday in court, she asked only for the dogs back, and promised to keep the yard cleaner.

The city prosecutor, Jeff Solomon (Jeff Lustick's assistant) objected. He didn't object because of concern for the dogs' welfare or because he doubted Angel would comply. No, his was an amazing answer.

He objected because the dogs are evidence for a criminal trial. The dogs "are like the seizure of weapons at a crime as the dogs are responsible for the accumulation of feces and odor." and "They are instruments of a crime similar to a homicide."

The dogs will again... - how do I put this delicately - will again..., once released to the owner's loving care, the dogs will still... - I can't do it. Must send these tape recordings to Dave Barry. He will know how to put it.

Keep in mind that the evidence for the trial will be the photos of the dogs on the day they were confiscated, not the dogs in court.

So - no decision yesterday. The hearing ran two hours and is continued tomorrow, Thursday at 2:30 pm in Municipal Court.

Do you know of any white folks who have been so prosecuted in Bellingham for a dirty yard? Can any reader provide me with a case similar to this in Bellingham history? I'm not criticizing the neighbors here - they may or may not have had an odor problem. But for the city to persist in its persecution of Angel to convict her as a criminal - to stubbornly spend hours of court time, attorneys costs, police time and our tax dollars - this is the real crime. Why? What is being served here?

No Herald reporter. KAFE news - fm 104.3 - was there.

In other news - check the article in today's Herald on Western Washington University's road closure woes. The most telling comment is the second to last paragraph where Western's Tim Wynn says a replacement road might be built "to the west" of Fairhaven College. That is where the current street is that Western wants to vacate. Go figure.

Simply put, Western has does not want to release their plans for roads because they don't want to follow legal planning processes as required by city and state laws. Western wants to decide their road plans without public process. Problem is those roads will dramatically impact traffic on Bellingham's south side. They have hired one of the most expensive law firms in Seattle to fight neighbors attempts to make the process public.

Yes, Western will continue to avoid obeying the state Growth Management Law and yes, the dogs will shit again.

Lastly - a personal experience last evening that I want to tell you about. Today's Herald has a photo on page A-3 of a car accident on I-5 near Sunset exit. I was driving about 150 yards behind those cars and watched the accident. That little red sports car went airborn 5 feet up and flew off the highway. I pulled off into the center strip and called 911 and stayed on the phone with them telling what the situation was with the scene.

Two things to tell you, gentle reader.

1. Wear your seat belt. I don't know if all were wearing theirs, but the ones in the pickup truck were and it is amazing they survived. That thing rolled. Seat belts prevented injuries. Amazing

2. America is well and healthy. Other cars all stopped safely and everyone - 20, 30, maybe 40 people - all immediately helped victims and directed traffic. Everyone was so competent - a doctor appeared and she cared for the one slightly injured person. I stood there on the phone to 911 just amazed at how fast and well all these strangers helped. We were all there by pure chance - and you could not have organized a better group of people to help in an emergency.

Tuesday, Aug 20

Today at 2:30 pm is a Motion Hearing for Angel Drayton. Her attorney is requesting that the city return her dogs. Municipal Court at 2401 C Street - across the street from the police department.

I am told a public disclosure request has been submitted to the city asking for records of previous criminal prosecutions for dirty yards due to pets. The city has responded saying it wants the wording of the request changed. The public disclosure law does not allow the city to manipulate requests. It must answer with either the documents or a written reason why the request will not be honored. This will be pulling teeth.

Remember the Yaco case a few years ago? The city responded to a request by trashing the document and saying in court that it did not have the document. This resulted in the state legislature changing the state law that once a request is submitted the document may not be destroyed. Such is the record.

Monday, Aug 19

I've posted the press release from the Whatcom Humane Society that was faxed to local media on August 12. You might compare it with the report from C. Cooper that was posted over the weekend (see below for more info).

This fax is one example of the efforts by city prosecutor and police to smear Angel and justify their persecution of her. The society would not have sent the fax without their permission. The prosecutor has reportedly tried to make a deal with Angel which would have allowed him to drop the charges. His case is very weak.

The police gave their file on Angel Drayton to a member of the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force and told them to read it before they support Angel in public. This raises the question of the legality of this action, but without any agency to enforce laws against this action the police can do what they want.

Intimidation of the public by police? Yes. That is exactly what it is. The police have no business going around visiting people and warning them against supporting people who are charged with a crime.

The police also suggested the Task Force take the link to NWCitizen off their web site if they wanted good relations with the police in the future.

By the way, you can read the Task Force mission statement on their web site. It is one of many local links along the left column of this page.

Sunday, Aug 18

No local news in the Bellingham Herald today. None. Thick Sunday paper. Three feature stories - one on the fair, one on a student paying back school loans, and a nice one on the Lummi Healing Totem Pole. None are news - they are nice feature stories. Soft news. (easy-to-write filler pieces) You can't find a 2 inch column of local news. Not even local business news.

Issues? The city council meets tomorrow. They might vote a half million dollars to subsidize another downtown building. (its on the agenda) Lake Whatcom water is on the agenda - our health. Hell, they are voting on the final city center plan. Do you know what in the plan is controversial? News? Is it news if the Herald does not report on it?

County news? Apparently there is none. No police news. Candidates running for office? That can wait for weeks - no need to inform voters. Did you know the Bellingham Hearing Examiner ruled this past week against Western Washington University on their rush to vacate streets on campus? Violated their own planning process, she ruled. This impacts traffic flow for the entire south side of Bellingham. Not news, though, to the Herald. Not a word.