In the Media

"Local governments in Whatcom County reacted with shock Tuesday, June 8, to an announcement from the Washington Department of Revenue that British Columbia residents will soon be entitled to an exemption from state and local sales taxes on merchandise."

"Following a nationwide search for the National Hispana Leadership Institute's 2010 class of the Latinas Learning to Lead Program, the 22 selected Latina college students arrive in Washington, DC this Saturday to participate in the program from June 12-19 held at The Catholic University of America campus."

"Teenagers looking for summer jobs are running into a wall. Teen hiring in May – typically the kick-off for seasonal jobs kids get to save for college or pay for fun – was worse than it’s been in more than 40 years. "

"Superintendent Burgess announced that John Gebert, current principal of Cavelero Mid High, will be moving to the Educational Service Center to take on the position of Executive Director of Secondary Education and Mike Snow, current Associate Principal at Lake Stevens High School, will become Principal of Cavelero. These position changes are effective July 1, 2010."

"Distance runner Sarah Porter and pole vaulter Ryan Brown were honored with Most Valuable athlete awards at the Western Washington University Track and Field Awards Picnic."

"Maria Santos was 15 when she stepped off the bus after a 32-hour-ride from Southern California, with only her younger brother and a couple small suitcases in tow."

"Darcy Weisner was just selected for the superintendent’s job at the Clarkston School District. The Clarkston School Board has been in executive session most of the day. After two days of interviews and a site visit, they voted unanimously in favor of hiring Weisner."

"It took a couple months for Bellingham High senior Vang Le to open the boxes his mom kept.

Buried among the papers were notes about her fleeing a Vietnamese refugee camp. English as a Second Language awards from decades before proved she tried to get an education before the children were born."

"Whatcom County's apartment vacancy rate has been slowly rising in recent years, but that's expected to change as demand starts to outpace supply.

The Washington Apartment Survey puts the vacancy rate for Whatcom County's 14,612 apartment units at 3.5 percent, up from 3.2 percent in March 2009 and 2.1 percent in March 2008. That's still well below the state average apartment vacancy rate of 6.1 percent. The survey was put together by the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University. The full report can be viewed at wcrer.wsu.edu."

"City leaders might ask voters in November to raise the local sales tax to pay for transportation projects, especially those adding bike lanes and sidewalks.

Mayor Dan Pike wants the city to form a citywide Transportation Benefit District and increase the sales tax by two-tenths of 1 percent, which would generate about $3.8 million a year."