The Bellingham Herald from Bellingham, Washington • A1

SOCCER DEJA VU Sehome-Squalicum matchup recalls 2002 state title game. B1 LOCAL WAGES BELOW U.S. AVERAGEAverage pay in county saw small increase in 2008, B6 BEST BETS Artists, crafters sell wares in Lummi Island tour, B8 GRAND PARADE TODAY Starts: Noon. Ends: About 2 p.m. Route: Begins at Alabama Street and Cornwall Avenue.

Heads down Cornwall to East Champion Street to North State Street, ending at York Street. Best viewing: Any- where along the route. Bring lawn chairs and arrive early for front-row seats. Streets closed: Portions of Cornwall and nearby streets closed as early as 7 a.m. Main route closed from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

JARED PABEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BELLINGHAM Craig car runs on biodiesel, but not why be driving in the Ski to Sea Grand Parade this year. be there because it barely sips biodiesel. The Avion needs less than a gallon of fuel to drive 100 miles, and one of the 111 remaining competitors for the $10 million Progressive Automotive X-Prize for the design of viable, efficient cars that people want to buy. If the Avion theoretically drove 55 to 60 mph in the mile-long parade (Henderson evoked images of the parade scene in the movie it might need only about tablespoons of fuel. But be going a lot slower and doing lots of stopping and Parade car is competitor for $10 million fuel prize Grand Parade today, race Sunday Kaleb Bruch, left, a fireman with North Whatcom Fire and Rescue, and P.

J. Burt of the Bellingham Fire Depart- ment carry their kayaks down to the community dock at Squalicum Harbor on Friday afternoon, May 22, to practice for Ski to Sea race. Burt is a member of team Bellingham Firefighters Too. Bruch partici- pating in the race. just going out with Burt, he laughingly says, make sure he Russ Kendall The Bellingham Herald TheBellinghamHerald.com Saturday, May 23, 2009 50 cents Business Classifieds Comics Horoscope Lottery Movie times Sports TV listings Whatcom INDEXNEWS TIPS WEATHER HIGH 65 LOW 44 Full report inside on A4.

Send news and event information to ham herald.com Customer Service: 676-2660 Morning clouds, then sunny. ONLINE bellinghamherald.com Get up-to-the minute views of Bellingham Bay from high atop The Herald Building by clicking on the link on our home page. Track Bellingham and Canada border traffic at bellinghamherald.com/trafficcams. ALABAMA ST. AL AV E.

N. TA TE T. Bellingham High School START FINISH 5 RACHEL LA CORTE ASSOCIATED PRESS OLYMPIA A 66-year-old woman with terminal cancer has become the first person to die under Washington new assisted suicide law, an advocacy group said Friday. Linda Fleming, of Sequim, died Thursday night after tak- ing drugs prescribed under the with law that took effect in March, said Compassion Choices of Washington. Officials with the group said Fleming, diagnosed last month with advanced pancre- atic cancer, died at home with her family, her dog and her physician at her bedside.

pain became unbear- able, and it was only going to get Fleming said in a statement released by the group. A physician prescribed the medication, but under the law, patients must administer the drugs themselves. BACKGROUND OF LAW: Voters approved the law in November by nearly 60 per- cent, making Washington the second state to have a voter- approved assisted suicide law. It is based on a law adopted by Oregon voters in 1997. Since then, about 400 people have used the Oregon law to end their lives.

HOW IT WORKS: Any pa- tient requesting fatal medica- tion must be at least 18, declared mentally competent and be a resident of the state. Two doctors must certify the patient has a terminal condi- tion and six months or less to live, and the patient must make two oral requests 15 days apart, plus a written request that is witnessed by two people. A number of forms are required for each patient, but doctors have 30 days to file the forms after the prescription is filled. OPTING OUT: Doctors and pharmacists are not required to write or fill lethal prescrip- tions if they oppose the meas- ure. Some hospitals have opted out, which precludes their doctors from participat- ing on hospital property.

TO DATE: As of Friday, the state Department of Health had received six forms from pharmacists saying they have dispensed life-ending drugs. The state has received five forms from people requesting life-ending medication. Sequim woman, 66, suffered from pancreatic cancer First suicide assisted in state SAM TAYLOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Discussion about a poten- tial merger between Everson and Nooksack was killed this week as officials from one community decided not to move forward. Nooksack City Council members on Monday, May 18, voted unanimously, with Councilman Scott Bodven absent, to not continue with the merger discussions. Everson City Councilman Andy Rowlson, who was the main organizer looking into the issue, said he will not pur- sue it further because, as of now, officials have spoken.

Nooksack Mayor Jim Ack- erman said the council decid- ed to not move forward based on citizen input. had like 20 calls from citizens and all been against a Ackerman said. me, the squeaky wheel gets the Mayors of both cities said they believed Rowlson was trying to push the issue him- self and make it look as if there were a committee of supporters, including the mayors. me it was not a concert- ed effort. Yeah, not op- posed one way or the other, but I like the way it went Ackerman said.

Everson Mayor Jaleen Pratt had a similar take and thinks that as of now, no merger should be discussed until Nooksack residents and officials come to her city to work it out. Rowlson said he believes the leaders are trying to back away from their involvement. He insists they were involved by attending an early discus- sion about the issue as well as being consulted several times in person and through phone calls and e-mail Nooksack council votes to end talks Proposal to merge Everson, Nooksack dropped SANDY SHORE ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER Backyard grillers may get a little steamed this holiday week- end when buying refilled propane tanks: They will be getting less fuel for their money than last Memorial Day. When oil prices soared in 2008, propane suppliers qui- etly reduced by two pounds the amount of gas pumped into each 20-pound tank, say- ing they wanted to avoid rais- ing prices. Since then, propane prices have been cut in half as the price of oil has dropped.

But smaller refills are still being sold nationwide by many dealers, and most buyers are unaware because the tank is the same size. The problem, consumers say, is that no one tells them getting less propane. Companies have adopted similar practices in the pack- aging of coffee, sugar and laundry detergent. For the past year, tank ex- changes at retail stores have generally cost $20 to $25. For a few bucks less, consumers can take their tanks to some stores to get them refilled instead of exchanging them.

Those refills usually contain the full amount of fuel allowed by law. Until last year, Blue Rhino and Amerigas, two major suppliers, put 17 to 18 pounds of propane in each 20-pound tank (tanks should not be filled completely for Propane suppliers quietly reduce size of refills See MERGER, A6 See PROPANE, A6 See PARADE, A6 Ski to Sea hits peak GRAND PARADE: Car that gets 100 miles to gallon joins lineup. A1 PARADE ENTRIES: A5 RACE COURSE CONDITIONS: A3 MORE ONLINE: Find the latest Ski to Sea news, race information and photos from parade at TheBellinghamHerald.com/skitosea FAIRHAVEN FESTIVAL is bigger, better this year. A3 ENTERTAINMENT, WEATHER AND CARNIVAL INFORMATION: A6.