In the Media
Sometime in the first six months after I began working the counter at my first bookstore job, I started offering each customer a sack for their books. I say “started” because no one in the Pacific Northwest or their right mind says “sack.” We say “bag.” Actually, we say “bayg.”
“Sack” began innocently enough, a subversive way of making a polite conversation vulgar. “Do you need a sack to carry your books home?” I ask.
“Come again?”
And I repeat, “A sack, to put your books in?”
The Bellingham Public Library is teaming up with two more local colleges to make it easier to get library materials into the hands of the public.
The public library has expanded its Connections program into the libraries at Western Washington University and Bellingham Technical College.
Library director Pam Kiesner says they’ve had a successful Connection with Whatcom Community College since 2006.
After 20 years of coaching Western Washington University's women's basketball team, there's no denying Carmen Dolfo knows the ins and outs of the sport. She has won 424 games and has made 19 postseason appearances in her illustrious career.
However, while much of Dolfo's offseason has been filled with studying how to make her basketball team better, there's a new sport that has been garnering a lot of Dolfo's attention lately.
Since September 2010, in Dolfo's spare time, she has been trading in her coaching whistle and clipboard for a tennis racquet - a sport she used to play in high school in Penticton, B.C., where she grew up.
The continued economic slump brought more bad news for state government this morning, as Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered agencies to prepare for another round of budget cuts next year of up to 10 percent, or $1.7 billion.
That would be on top of the $4 billion in recession-driven cuts that lawmakers agreed to when they approved the two-year budget in May.
The memo from Gregoire's budget director, Marty Brown, cited the weakened economic outlook since the session ended.
A quadriplegic skydiver had more than 100 jumps under his belt before he lost his life to one.
Over the weekend, Zack Fogle took part in an annual skydiving event in Montana. The 27-year-old's pockets were packed with jump tickets. But on his first dive, Fogle's parachute didn't open.
"But it appears he didn't pull it," said his mother.
Fogle's backup chute didn't deploy. The instructor who jumped with him says Zack gave a thumbs-up before plummeting to the ground.
The FAA ruled his death an accident.
Volunteer Citizen Scientists are being recruited for the Cascades Butterfly Project, a long-term effort in six locations in the Cascades Mountains to help biologists identify and count subalpine butterflies. North Cascades National Park and Mount Rainier National Park are among the participating locations.
Subalpine meadows are projected to shrink dramatically due to the effects of climate change, but the rate and magnitude of this change are unknown. Butterflies make ideal indicator species because they are particularly sensitive to climatic changes, and are relatively easy to identify in the field by scientists and volunteers alike.
Look at the football field as you would a game of chance. Where every yard gained in field position is like tilting the odds a little more in your favor.
So it makes sense that the farther an offense has to drive, the fewer points it tends to score. This was, in fact, a mathematical reality for the Buccaneers defense in 2010.
And it explains why Michael Koenen is a rich man today.
Of all the hundreds of free agents on the market last month, the Bucs targeted a punter and kickoff specialist to the tune of $19.5 million over six years. The deal makes Koenen one of the highest-paid punters in the NFL, and it makes the Bucs a better team in 2011.
Sisters Morgan and Ali Parkerson, who combined to make the All-Europe team five times when they played for the Lakenheath Lancers and who now start for the national fast-pitch softball team of Great Britain, can plan on spending part of next summer at the International Softball Federation's World Championships at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.
With Morgan, 23, playing first base, and Ali, 19, at second, the Brits downed the Czech Republic 2-0 Friday night to advance to the losers-bracket final and clinch third place in the 20-nation event which ended Saturday. The top three teams from the European tournament qualified for next summer's Worlds.
Imagine being the top elected official in Snohomish County, a well-known figure with twice the amount of campaign cash to burn as your opponent.
Would you spend the money now or save it for later in the campaign?
Then put yourself in the other guy's shoes. Would it be better to be thrifty or to go on a big splurge ahead of this month's primary election?
Those are the relative positions of two rivals vying to be Snohomish County executive: two-term Democratic incumbent Aaron Reardon and his Republican opponent, state Rep. Mike Hope.
Reardon has raised $183,364 for the campaign as of Friday to Hope's $88,276. While Reardon had much more money, Hope has outspent him by some $20,000. Reardon has yet to go through a third of his cash, while Hope has used up 86 percent of his.
That's a pretty typical pattern, according to experts.
Western Washington University distance runner Lauren Breihof, middle distance runner Rachael Johnson and javelin thrower Monika Gruszecki were selected to United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division II Women's Track and Field All-Academic Team announced today. All three made the team for the third time.