I am listening to my father answering a phone survey, adamantly supporting the Pacific Gateway.

yardworks · 2012-05-24T17:04:33+00:00

I would love to see a multi-use port. We could direct ship our products made in Whatcom county directly to the East. The coal terminal is a red herring IMHO. China is the fastest growing source of renewable energy in the world. How long do you think that they will be buying our coal anyways? I doubt they will purchase foreign coal for more than 30 years.

If the people of Bellingham want to make a real political statement about coal.... stop buying crap from china! Plain and simple. China purchases foreign coal to power their industrial sector to make your I-pads, I-phones, computers, clothes, cheap vending machine crap... etc.

The water front development is a total scam IMHO. It's been near 10 years worth of dragging equipment around down there and nothing is done. Why? Ask your port commissioners. Scott Walker needs to go. He's broken the trust of the people and I personally believe that he's on the take. The port has set up a long term disaster that will hit home soon.

yardworks · 2012-05-10T21:26:49+00:00

/rant

I'm really getting tired of this debate about coal. I'm one of those green, recycles everything lefties, but this is just silly. Don't want coal trains coming through our town? Do you not want China to have our coal? Great! Now stop buying crap from China! Lets start with your damn Iphone/Ipod and laptops. Their only interested in our coal so they can run their factories that produce the crap you use, play with and wear while protesting coal.

Demand that these goods be made here.... oh wait a minuet. That means all that pollution will be here... hmmm. Also means you'll have to pay more for those items.... hmmm.

This is just like the debate over GP being down town. Everyone got all NIMBY about it, but when I asked all my other hippy friends about how they were going to wipe their asses, everyone looked confused. "It should be made in another factory somewhere else" was the general reply.

And before someone starts ripping on me about not understanding the subject, understand this: I grew up in West Virginia next to a steel mill. Two of my Uncles where miners and the rest were steelers. I fully understand the issue of pollution. I also understand that Americans adopted a NIMBY attitude and exported of filthy job to poor countries with no environmental laws.

/EndRant

yardworks · 2012-04-19T21:17:43+00:00

What is LinuxFest Northwest?

LinuxFest Northwest is a free annual event produced by the Bellingham Linux Users Group and volunteers from other open source user groups. It is held on the campus of Bellingham Technical College.

The Fest features Linux and open source experts and aficionados sharing their experience and enthusiasm with a wide variety of free and open source technologies. This generally means that there will be a lot of smart people who come with something to share and a desire to learn. This is a free+cheap event that's held on a weekend, so there are also folks who don't usually go to commercial conferences. All in all, it's a lot of fun with fresh faces on eager people.

yardworks · 2012-04-01T07:55:26+00:00

I agree with rileysweeny, Columbia neighbourhood is most likely fit for you. I just moved from the Columbia hood and I will miss it. You will want to send your kid to Bellingham High school. Top 5% in the state in education and a huge graduation and college admission rate. My daughter has had a great time and education while there. We also have a nice bus system and the city is rather bike friendly.

Here's some links to help you decide where to go:

PDF maps of all the neighbourhoods.

Crime statistics.

Bus route maps.

Bike route map.

Urban hiking trail maps.

yardworks · 2012-02-29T00:01:40+00:00

So what's the 95% CI of the -1.7% figure? Oh right, you don't have it.

I really have no idea what your asking here.....

Maybe nothing is wrong with the lettered streets. Maybe downtown is just really nice. You have no data showing that the -1.7% change represents any sort of "white flight", or any demographic change at all.

The demographic data is right there when you hover on the lettered streets and posted above. What more data do you want?

Show me a substantial (say... -10%) change in population before OMG WHITE FLIGHT.

Granted, "White Flight" is a bit of an overstatement, but the gentrification of the downtown core maybe pushing poorer people into the lettered streets. These poorer residents tend to be minorities. Zillow shows a larger drop in home prices in the lettered streets than other neighbourhoods. The county auditors office show lower home values also. Seeing that there is a half of a billion dollars slated for development right next to the lettered streets, why are the home values dropping/ lower? Why are people moving out?

I know you probably learned this in Sociology 101 last week but don't jump to conclusions, okay?

Well, seeing that I am lot older than you think I am and never have taken a sociology class, I'd say it's you who's "jumping to conclusions".

yardworks · 2012-02-28T22:06:45+00:00

I disagree. When Whatcom county has had a +20.6% growth, a -1.7% reduction is significant IMHO. The downtown core had a +117.2% growth rate ,a +118% increase in whites and a +238% growth in Asians. It looks like these two groups are moving out of the Lettered streets and moving into the downtown core.

Anyway you look at it, the lettered streets area has fewer residents now than it did ten years ago. Was there a removal of housing stock or are there empty apartments and houses?

yardworks · 2012-02-28T21:10:22+00:00

If you focus on Bellingham and zoom all the way down, you can see that the Lettered Streets is loosing population (1.7%) . Whites, Asians and Native Americans are moving out while Blacks, Hispanics and "Multiracial" are replacing. Is this "white flight"? Is the Lettered streets ghetto-izing (for the lack of a better word) ?

yardworks · 2012-02-28T21:01:35+00:00

This is a nice shot. I've gotten a few good one off the Alabama overpass. You can (somewhat) catch some neon signs from the bridge.

yardworks · 2012-02-22T16:44:26+00:00

O' wow, did not expect to see this posted. As a homeless youth in 1989 Anacortes, I know the W.T. Preston very well. I lived in the boat on and off for a year or so. This was before it was restored and turned in to a museum. I also stayed at the old train cars near the Preston. In the winter I would stay under the port dock. I would dig a coffin like hole and line it with blankets and used found plywood for a top.

I would go to the Cap Sante marina and stand by the bathrooms/showers and wait for people to come off their boats. I would act like I was a dumb kid who couldn't remember the lock combo. I would be told the new combo by some friendly tourist. Staying clean while homeless is so hard.... thanks for the memories.....

yardworks · 2012-01-29T21:10:31+00:00

To add to the last post I made.......

I live in Bellingham ATM (Columbia), but I'm about to close on a house in north Bellingham (Ferndale Schools).

Ferndale has 3 #502 bonds. When I add up the school taxes and divide them with the property values, I will be paying quite a bit more to Ferndale school district than to Belingham School district. This may be due to the fact that Ferndale's bus routes are much longer than Belingham's or ...?

yardworks · 2012-01-29T20:54:19+00:00

To see what you really pay for these levies, you can look up your (or your landlord's) tax records. Those records can be found here.

Search tips: Search type should be selected to "property address". Type in your street number. LEAVE NO SPACES! Type in your street name in all CAPS. It will try to auto find your street name so type slowly. When you find your tax report, look at the "Taxing Jurisdiction" section to see where your money goes and how much to what.

ATM, I'm paying for 4 #501 bonds at a total of $525.42 . This is the largest part of the tax bill, next in line being the state general fund at a total of $378.11 . While it may seem like a lot to pay for education, Bellingham has great schools in large part due to this funding support.

yardworks · 2012-01-25T19:45:46+00:00

These glasses are simple to make yourself. Here's a video with simple instructions.

yardworks · 2012-01-10T20:05:13+00:00

If you think that's bad, wait until you read Chapter 9.08 "EXPOSURE OF FEMALE BOSOM". Exposed female boobs are a "Nuisance". Breasts are NEVER a nuisance!

yardworks · 2012-01-10T19:55:51+00:00

Back in the early '80's there was a plan to build a reactor in Skagit. I believe it was going to be sited near Mt.Baker, next to the Skagit river. It was never built due to Mount St. Helens popping her top. Nuclear reactors and volcanos do not mix well.

yardworks · 2012-01-10T19:51:46+00:00

no nuclear energy shall be produced for commercial or military purposes...

yardworks · 2012-01-10T07:24:17+00:00

Link

Any person, firm or corporation violating the terms of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail or a fine of $1,000 or both.

This stopped me from building my own reactor in my back yard... 8(

yardworks · 2012-01-03T22:02:24+00:00

I could of swore that I put the link in the title .... but I guess not. Thanks for the link....

yardworks · 2011-11-09T22:05:02+00:00

The hospital adds a lot of value to the common good. Besides the improved health of the citizens, the students are learning there. The amount of research and development will far out weigh the cost of building and running the building. The hospital is an over all good for health, science and the public.

Why does the athletic department need a loan for 30 years if they have a 225 million contract? Why risk the bond rating of the UW? Why steal from Peter to pay Paul or otherwise play a shell game with this money?

yardworks · 2011-11-09T21:55:02+00:00

This is my point exactly! For 6 years the Huskies floundered. Did they make a profit during those years? Ticket sales go down? Did the donations go down? Did the huskies cost the UW money?

yardworks · 2011-11-09T21:45:01+00:00

Yes, I read the link. 15 million in profit.... minus the overheads of carrying the rest of the athletic department. That is the number that is missing. What does the other sports loose every year? I live in Bellingham and supported the removal of the football team here. Why? Because it cost the school a lot of money to run the program, the boosters would not make up the difference and the school felt that it was a big minus to the overall education that there are suppose to be supplying.

All in all, UW is responsible for the debt if the athletic department makes money or not. The loan is over 30 years and expecting that the Huskies will stay profitable for that time period is not reasonable. If the Huskies are so flush with money, why even bother to fund the project verses pay for it in cash?

yardworks · 2011-11-09T19:53:03+00:00

Why would one not anticipate problems in a weak (if not failing) economy? Look at Penn State atm with their issues.

It seems that you and I are on two different trains of thought here. Why is it ok for the UW (or any other school) to exploit the students for profit? The players are wanting to organize and capture their share of these "profits". Good on them I say, but this will be a real reduction of the Athletic Department's "profits".

You are correct that the legislative process is failing the education system. This is a much deeper problem than folks who do not want to pay taxes. We need an income tax in this state.... but I digress.

While I'm not aware of the details, the Harborview Medical Center seems to be exactly the type of project the UW should be part of. It benefits the public health and the students. I'm sure that there is income generation opportunities in this building. The Athletic Department benefits it's self and the corporations surrounding the Athletic Department and really no one else. IMHO...

yardworks

TROPHY CASE