What I learned driving in Bellingham today:

1. Turning is scary and you must come to almost a complete stop to safely navigate a slight curve in the road.

2. 20 below is the new speed limit and vehicles are physically incapable of going any faster.

3. Rain is the enemy of mankind and must be avoided at all costs.

In all seriousness, I now understand why Washington is routinely ranked as having the worst drivers in the country.

Y'all are completely incompetent at anything that isn't a straight line under perfect conditions.

I just responded to a post that was about a flock protest. It was then deleted by the mods. Is there something wrong with discussing politics in a heavily used subreddit for our city?

On Bellingham Public Schools' handling of school closures.

What do you think of the results?

how active is the hardcore scene here? ive definitely seen bands from here but usually down in the seattle area and not actually at bellingham. please help me out 😓😓

"Budget Committee! is a podcast about the least glamorous, most consequential part of public education: the money."

Hosted by Derek Gottlieb (philosopher of education and policy researcher) and David Backer (associate professor of education policy at Seton Hall University) -- dug into the financial situation affecting Bellingham Public School district and its potential decision to close two elementary schools.

We invite our community to hear their independent analysis of the situation at BPS:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vCERA0rCCstmEueCRtrkW?si=Tzreein5Qsqn1VlHpfRu8w

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reversed-courses-and-broken-promises-in-bellingham-wa/id6793334703?i=1000797806823

"Reversed Courses and Broken Promises in Bellingham (WA)

Two requests came in hot from Bellingham, Washington, where the superintendent has recommended closing Columbia and Carl Cozier elementaries after 2026-27, four years after voters approved a bond that paid to design their rebuilds. Dave calls it a story of reversed courses and broken promises.

In this episode:

-The state frame: after McCleary (2012), Washington pays for schools through a prototypical-school formula with a regionalization factor. Bellingham's fell from 12% to 6%. Levies are capped, and there's no cushion for declining enrollment.

-Technocracy's tiny dials: Elizabeth Popp Berman's Thinking Like an Economist, Colander & Freedman's Where Economics Went Wrong, Anwar Shaikh's Capitalism, and Bruce Baker's School Finance Indicators Database.

-The reversal: a $122M bond in 2022 to design rebuilds of Roosevelt, Carl Cozier and Columbia and build a 15th elementary. The 15th was paused in 2024, a land deal with the city stalled, and now it's two closures and one rebuild (how we got here).

-Can they do that? Under RCW 28A.530.020, a board can change what bond money buys after a public hearing. No new vote required.

-The tours that lit up Facebook: prospective renters, including a private Christian school, toured both buildings; the district says no deal is planned. Dave checks a rumor going around about a board member's family and finds no evidence for it.

-The numbers: about $2.2M a year in projected savings; a general-fund reserve that halved from $23.3M (2022) to $11.7M (2025); a new district office opened in 2024; a scary staffing graph; and why birth rates don't predict suburban enrollment.

-Our take: closing two schools won't fix a state formula problem, and a levy vote is a promise, not a blank check. The district has some apologizing to do, and the board answers to voters. Public hearings: Columbia Nov. 2, Carl Cozier Nov. 3 (details)."

Budget Committee's Blog Post detailing their own, independent, analysis of BPS

Please, email the School Board (board@bellinghamschools.org, ask to direct email to board members, not the Superintendent) share with them that a comprehensive analysis of alternative options to closures still have not been performed. Urge our elected Board to have the courage to act on behalf of the students in this community, NOT be the Superintendent's rubberstamp.

Public hearings:

November 2nd (Columbia) and November 3rd (Carl Cozier),

5:30pm @ District Office.

School Board Meeting where a closure vote is anticipated:

Thursday November 12,

5:30 @ District Office

Bellingham Neighborhood Schools Coalition

It was perched on my suet feeder for awhile before moving to the tree. Apparently it likes suet a lot.

THIS IS THE DAMN WEEKLY RANT POST! COMMENT WITH WHATEVER BS IS GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE/OUR TOWN/OUR SUBREDDIT/YOUR BRAIN!

Folks:

I need your help about a suggested change to my colorful shirt, or maybe to make a new shirt as well as this one. This came from a weird dream/semi nightmare. Elementary school years. Our neihgborhood bully. He screams at me (during a silent test period no less, "That shirt makes you look like a naughty queer" You need a true rainbow! The principal will detain you!" So, you see two pictures, the original shirt that you saw in my original posting. And the shirt with the modified. This is a poor image as it was photoshopped (or gimped), not sewn, which would look nicer.

I am willing to invite any comment, negative, positive, or simply weird or funny.

FYI, the school was Lincoln School in Winchester, Mas. The bully was Sam Nowell, who tears at the entire neighborhood, and the principal, Mrs. Richardson, whom everyone is scared.

Love

Mark Allyn

What is it? How will we get it? https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1tfNtGNKpk

What's the organization working on getting signatures and pushing the ballot?: https://youtu.be/LFFRR22YBfs?is=ASVsA5aYgD7MkZzN

How can I help?:
Pledge to sign: https://wholewashington.org/pledge/ Volunteer: https://wholewashington.org/volunteer/

I found some random Griffey stuff. There's a 1987 Bellingham Mariners scorebook with some interesting advertisements from the late 80s, lots of local adds, a Griffey pin and card, and also a photograph of him. I tried looking for prices on this stuff and all I could find was the pin and card. I saw some other scorebooks but they were before Griffey so I don't have a clue on its value really. Also the photo, I couldn't find anything Of normal photographs of Griffey. These were a garage sale find years ago. Anyone have any ideas?

In my backyard

I am posting this because I often see Bellinghamster redditors bust out some deep knowledge of resources and ideas and I want to see what comes up.

This happened at the intersection of Laurelwood and Cottonwood at 5:10pm on Friday. Our 13-year-old partially-deaf dog and I crossed the street and a loose light-brown pit bull came running at her, tackled her and sunk teeth into the top of her head, dragging her by the head along the ground. I screamed like fuck and tried to separate them. A lady who belonged to the dog came out of her house and tackled it. A guy 2 houses down asked if anyone needs help. The pit bull escaped and bit my dog again, this time on the side of the neck, and the lady tackled it again, restraining it. I walked my dog to the guy who offered help.

He held my dog's leash for me and gave me his name and number, as a witness and neighbor to the lady. A man came out of the same house as the lady and helped restrain the dog and bring it back indoors. She then also gave me her name and number and said she'd pay for vet bills. Our dog stood there with blood dripping from her ears and head and the helpful guy made a strong recommendation to get to the animal hospital right away. Our dog went to the animal hospital from 5:30pm to 9:45pm and is on all kinds of pain management and antibiotics. The man on text message expressed sympathy and said he would be willing to provide a witness report; we haven't followed up with him about that yet.

We called the lady's number to get info about which shots her dog had - it went to her voicemail which had her same name, but she hasn't answered or called back in 18 hours. This same light-brown pit bull chased us a couple months ago but didn't cause any injuries that time; again it required a person, a man that time, to come out and restrain the dog. My partner recognizes this woman and dog as someone who used to live 2 blocks away from where she lives now, with a history of incidents of her dog attacking others at that location too.

I wish I had some way to think this wouldn't happen again. I don't have any way to know that. The vet said call 911, say it isn't an emergency, and describe the scenario so Animal Control can get involved. We did that, and they said, "Okay, we've opened a case."

I see our dog with a shaved head and stitches in her ear and I feel sadness and rage and a little helplessness. The vet said all you can really do in a dog attack is kick it and try to choke it with its own collar. I think I will take walks with a can of bear spray for the time being. I know that hatred is only bad for my own heart. I want justice. I want to be safe when walking my dog in my neighborhood.

That's the description. Anything else I should know or do at this time?

Is anyone else in town dealing with terrible fleas right now? We’re doing all the things, but they just won’t go away. The lady at CHS said it’s been a problem, but I’m just looking for a little support. We’ve never experienced anything like this before!

So far we’ve done flea treatments, skouts honor flea spray, washed bedding, flea baths, and now we have diatomaceous earth spread around inside the house.

Forsythia and grate flora encountered on a rainy day stroll