News - Local News

POSTED: Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008

Top 10 news stories in Whatcom County in 2008

This was not the kind of trickle-down economics Americans wanted to see: Financial markets melting down, with the impacts making their way to the main streets of Whatcom County.

Looking back on 2008, it’s amazing what Americans had to grapple with. The burst of the housing market bubble, followed by the rise and fall of fuel prices. There were the bankruptcies of firms some considered too big to fail followed by the breathtaking fall of the stock market from 13,058 in May to 7,552 in November. A year ago not many would have considered the possibility of using more than a trillion dollars to bail out banks, investment firms, insurance companies and U.S. automakers.

This area was not fully insulated from the history-making happenings of the national economy. Every Whatcom County business began looking for ways to cut expenses, commercial and residential projects were postponed or canceled, consumers cut back on spending and people lost their jobs. The Whatcom County economy was the top local news story in 2008.

It wasn’t just the economy that made the news, however. Communities continued to grapple with growth issues, Lynden dealt with a major fire in its downtown core and everyone spent the second half of December trying to get around in frigid temperatures and tons of snow.

Here is a look at the top 10 local news stories of 2008, in no particular order, as chosen by The Bellingham Herald news reporters.

WHATCOM COUNTY CAN’T ESCAPE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

The first sign that the local economy started slowing down was in the big-ticket items: It was evident last spring that home and new car sales were significantly off from the previous year. It appears sales will be off around 25 percent for both industries this year.

This was followed by a slowdown in construction (issued permits year to date are down 18 percent in Whatcom County and down 19 percent in Bellingham) and retail sales.

Lastly, unemployment has been on the rise in recent months, hitting 5.6 percent in November, the highest in almost four years. According to the state Employment Security Department, there were 6,240 people actively seeking work locally in November, which is 590 more than in October. Bankruptcies and foreclosures are also up year over year, although the foreclosure rate continues to be lower than the state and national average.

—Dave Gallagher

LYNDEN LOSES LANDMARK IN FIRE

Lynden’s historic downtown lost a precious gem in June, as its Delft Square building — once home to the legendary Lynden Department Store — erupted in flames and was eventually gutted by the fire.

Two teens admitted to starting the blaze while smoking marijuana on the building’s third floor and pleaded guilty to burglary and reckless burning charges in Whatcom County Juvenile Court in August and September. They were sentenced to time in juvenile detention and community service.

The building may yet rise from its ashy grave. Developer Jeff Johnson purchased it in November and is pursuing an ambitious redevelopment project to salvage it.

— Peter Jensen

BELLINGHAM LIBRARY GOES ON INDEFINITE HOLD

It took seven years for a group of local volunteers to figure out where they wanted to put a new Bellingham Public Library. So what’s a few more years of waiting, right?

The sagging economy and slumping budget of the city forced Mayor Dan Pike to put a hold on a $56.4-million new library because paying to operate the new facility, and hire additional staff, wasn’t feasible. Now the mayor is advocating for consideration of moving the site away from the civic core — right in front of City Hall — to the waterfront redevelopment site.

A levy proposal that would be needed to pay for a new library doesn’t appear forthcoming to voters in 2009, either.

— Sam Taylor

GAS PRICES SOAR, THEN CRASH, BUSES BENEFIT

Gasoline prices in Bellingham fluctuated wildly in 2008, climbing to a high of about $4.50 a gallon in June, and then dropping to under $1.80 a gallon in mid-December.

High gas prices drove people to ride Whatcom Transportation Authority buses in record numbers. The Federal Transit Administration even said WTA had the fastest growing ridership in the country, compared to the country’s largest 150 transit agencies.

Unlike gas prices, however, riders stayed put. Despite gas price drops, in October, ridership was up 26 percent compared to the same month in 2007.

— Jared Paben

A DECEMBER NOT TO REMEMBER

December brought the storm that wouldn’t end.

Snow first started falling on Friday, Dec. 12, with major accumulations starting on Saturday. Then storm after storm walloped the county, bringing single-digit temperatures, gusty winds and snow drifts several feet deep.

Schools closed. The city of Bellingham closed. Some stores even closed, and it was during the Christmas shopping season.

Crews worked around the clock to keep roads clear, with more than 5,000 tons of sand and salt dropped.

The weather and road conditions also snarled holiday shopping and travel plans, stranding people at airports, bus and train stations or in the middle of roads.

The snow continued beyond Christmas.

— Kira Millage

TRAIL RAPE IS HOAX

The news was horrifying for those who love the outdoors: A woman out alone for a morning run on a trail near Little Squalicum Beach in Bellingham told police she was kidnapped, beaten until she was unconscious and raped on March 2.

The community reacted by rallying behind the unnamed jogger, when an estimated 600 people showed up on March 30 for the Take Back Our Trails 5K Run/Walk.

Only, the 39-year-old woman who had recently moved to Bellingham hadn’t been attacked.

On April 16, Bellingham police said the woman had made up the story and that her wounds were superficial and may have been self-inflicted. They took her into protective custody and ordered a mental health evaluation.

— Kie Relyea

BELLINGHAM STRUGGLES WITH MORE GROWTH

Bellingham’s future growth was a contentious topic in 2008. In February, the Whatcom County Council decided to allow Bellingham’s urban growth area to expand by only 286 acres, mostly on King and Queen mountains. That denied a previous city request for more than 2,000 acres stretching north to Smith Road.

Landowner Caitac USA, which proposes a massive development between Bellingham and Smith Road, appealed the decision to a state growth board, but the board in October essentially handed the county a victory. Caitac has appealed to the courts.

Meanwhile, City Council members in August voted to pull 635 acres between the Meridian and Mount Baker neighborhoods (not the same land the county added in February) into city limits. They gave their final vote of approval in December, creating the city’s 24th neighborhood, the King Mountain neighborhood.

— Jared Paben

TRACK COACH SHOT TO DEATH

Track athletes at Ferndale High School and Western Washington University were shocked in late April after coach Jeremy Scully disappeared one day.

Scully’s body was found on Blanchard Mountain several days later. He had been shot to death.

Police searched the Alger home of Venessa and Kenneth McBride three times, but no arrests have been made.

The investigation into his death is continuing, said Chief Criminal Deputy Will Reichardt of the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office.

Some evidence in the case has been turned over to the Sheriff’s Office and prosecutors, and some continues to be processed at a Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, spokesman George Johnston said.

— Peter Jensen

BELLINGHAM, PORT FEUD OVER WATERFRONT

As a self-imposed, end-of-year deadline for winding up waterfront planning efforts approached, relations between the city and Port of Bellingham plummeted to an all-time low in 2008.

But just when it seemed as though the differences over land-use planning issues might doom both waterfront redevelopment and port plans for new public and private investment in and around Bellingham International Airport, the chilly relations began to thaw.

Port commissioners and City Council members got together for a joint meeting to reaffirm their waterfront partnership and approve a multimillion-dollar package of waterfront-related public works projects.

Then port and city officials found a way to end the long-simmering dispute over availability of city water and sewer service to the airport and adjacent port industrial land.

The year ended without the waterfront master plan and development agreement that both port and city had hoped to have in hand when 2009 began. But both sides appeared committed to finishing the job early in the new year.

— John Stark SPRING SNOW, COLD HARM CROPS

A warm spring was slow coming to Whatcom County this year.

A storm brought about 3 inches of wet snow to some of the higher elevations at the end of March, and the next month was one of the five coldest Aprils on record.

Hikers itching to wander farther afield were warned to expect winter hiking conditions in the mountains, including avalanche danger.

Cold spring temperatures stunted the growth of raspberry crops, while the spring snow damaged and killed blueberry and strawberry crops, Whatcom County farmers said.

Raspberry farmers reported an average of 25 percent loss in production compared to the previous season, but higher prices for the fruit helped farmers turn a profit.

— Kie Relyea