The Bellingham Herald from Bellingham, Washington • B1

Newlyweds face the issue. So do cities that decide to marry. What name do you take? Folks in Everson and Nooksack are exploring the idea of merging their cities. Issues include eco- nomics, each sense of self, and what name to use. Judging by local history, the municipal name game can generate lots of heat, then simmer, then flare again.

In Skagit County, Sedro and Woolley merged in 1898, but it an easy romance. Sedro, itself, was the combination of an old Sedro first called Bug and a new Sedro, about a mile away. They merged in 1891. Woolley got its name from Philip Woolley, a rail- road man and developer who platted his town north of Sedro in 1890. Debate about merging Sedro and Woolley persist- ed, but Mr.

Woolley kept balking. He want his town name to disappear. In 1898, when dueling petitions for a merger were filed, Skagit County commissioners played Solomon by inserting a hyphen. Sedro-Woolley was born. The issue dead, however.

In the 1920s, city leaders asked the state to change the name back to Sedro. Lawmakers reject- ed the idea. The hyphen did fade from popular use until 1995, when city leaders persuaded the Postal Ser- vice to restore the punctu- ation mark. They even chiseled a hyphen above the entrance to the post office. At least Bellingham did- have to bother with a hyphen.

roots go back to four platted towns Whatcom, Sehome, Bellingham and Fairhaven. Four became two after Fairhaven devel- opers bought the town of Bellingham and after Whatcom and Sehome consolidated as New Whatcom. In 1903, voters in Fairhaven and Whatcom (which by then had dropped the agreed to consolidate. The name Bellingham was a compromise, because the old town of Bellingham had never really amounted to much. Still, some people like the idea of taking the name of the local bay, and some suggested other names, such as Whatever.

Everson got its name from Ever Everson, an early Norwegian settler. The name Nooksack derives from a local term for Nooksack Indians. If the cities merge and take a new name, they could turn to some old area names for inspira- tion. One early site was called Tuxedo. Local his- torian Jim Berg said his great-grandfather report- edly picked the name to honor his birthplace in Cities consider merging; identity questions arise Everson, Nooksack: in a name? VIEWPOINT DEAN KAHN Easter egg hunts sought for listing THE BELLINGHAM HERALD The Bellingham Herald will publish a list of Easter egg hunts in the April 9 edi- tion of the Take Five section.

To add your event to the free listing, e-mail informa- tion to margaret.bikman@ bellinghamherald.com, with the subject line egg Deadline is Monday, March 30. Digital images are welcome. Include the target age group, day, time the event begins, street address or location, cost, sponsor, phone number for publica- tion, sponsoring group and any descriptive information about the event. Crews to clear North Cascades Highway ISABELLE DILLS THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Crews on the North Cas- cades Highway will begin clearing snow Monday, March 30, to reopen 37 miles of the highway. Clearing the highway is a significant effort each year, according to the state Department of Transporta- tion.

Crews plan to work 10- hour days Monday through Thursday through April. The highway reopened May 1 last spring and was closed for the season Dec. 11. The cost to reopen the high- way each spring ranges from about $200,000 to $250,000, according to the DOT. WWU lecture to feature poet KIRA MILLAGE THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BELLINGHAM The final Western Washington University Turning Points faculty lecture of the school year will feature poet and instructor Nancy Pagh.

Pagh will present Cracking Up? Humor as Subversion in on Wednesday, April 15, in Communications Facility room 110. Her lecture starts at 5:15 p.m. and is free and open to the public. WHATCOM TheBellinghamHerald.com/localnews Contact: Debbie Townsend, 715-2280, debbie.townsend@bellinghamherald.com B1 Sunday March 29, 2009 Former WWU president to be honored KIRA MILLAGE THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BELLINGHAM Former Western Washington Uni- versity president Karen Morse is returning to cam- pus, but only for a day. The WWU Chemistry Department is hosting a symposium for Morse on Saturday, April 4.

The event is to celebrate sup- port of chemistry and sci- ence education. Presenters, including current WWU President Bruce Shepard and professors from all over the country, will share how Morse has impacted their work and other scientists. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be from 1 to 5 p.m. in Science Lecture building room 150. SAM TAYLOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Whatcom County offi- cials are trying to take advantage of a voluntary unpaid leave program for staff members, created in 2002, to help with current budget woes.

unclear how many people in 2008 or 2009 have taken the furloughs, but since 2002 some 35 staff members have taken unpaid leave at a savings to the county of about $44,000, said County Human Resources Director Karen Goens. Last week Deputy Administrator Dewey Desler County Execu- tive Pete second in command was off because of such a furlough. For nearly a year now, the county has struggled with declining revenues and increasing expenditures. County officials recently announced another $2 mil- lion hole in the budget for 2009 and are looking at ways to help cut costs. Kremen said the fur- lough program has been in place for about a year, though the one he is refer- ring to is a more expanded program that allows department heads more authority to approve fur- loughs without having to take the request all the way up the bureaucratic chain to the executive.

Department heads must be consulted to make sure the voluntary unpaid leave harm the depart- needs, Kremen said. Goens added that there are other criteria, such as that the furlough create another cost for the county, nor can it affect an employ- benefit eligibility. Goens said the voluntary program seems to help and also can be convenient for some employees. For example, some of her newer employees, she said, have much vacation time but wanted to take a trip and could afford a week off without pay. definitely start looking at it more closely as a mechanism (to save Goens said, adding advertised it at the beginning of the year and have been men- tioning it more at staff meetings.

But Kremen also is trying to be positive about the sit- uation, saying that What- com County is doing better than many of the 39 counties. we have our chal- lenges ahead of us, but I think going to get through this downturn with less hardship than most counties in the he said. looking at it as the glass is half full, rather than half major goal is to ensure that nobody gets laid off. That appear to be happening, at least so far. we can pull out (of the sluggish economy) within the next year, gonna get out of this thing without any major he said.

that, talking about pink slips. the last thing I want to Reach Sam Taylor at sam.taylor@bellingham herald.com or call 715-2263. Read his Politics Blog at The BellinghamHerald.com/blogs. Voluntary furlough program created to ease budget woes County staff taking unpaid leave Whatcom Family YMCA 1256 N. State Street Bellingham, WA 98225 360-733-8630 whatcomymca.org YOGA AT THE YMCA New! Partner Yoga and The Art of Inversion Sessions start in April Register now to reserve your spot PETER JENSEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD budget trou- bles are fostering collabora- tion among the fire chiefs to save an important service that is expensive but not frequently used the technical rescue team.

The 12-member team is staffed by the Bellingham Fire Department and is able to rescue people trapped at high angles, in confined spaces, in trenches and in collapsed structures, Chief Bill Boyd said. Boyd said the team fields fewer than a dozen calls annually but is available countywide. Yet, Boyd said it costs the department $120,000 each year to pay for training and equipment. When the city tasked Boyd to find places in his budget to cut, he said he opted to cut this service. It is slated to stop operating June 1.

The team consists of fire- fighters and if the team stops operating they would return to their primary focus of fighting fires and providing medical aid, Assistant Chief Andy Day said. Boyd said he made his decision to focus the department on its core serv- ices of fire, emergency med- ical services and emergency management. At a meeting of the What- com County Fire Association in February, Boyd presented his problem to his fellow chiefs and they voted to form a committee to find a way to fund the service. sustain that program without outside funding Boyd said. not a cheap pro- gram.

With that said, an extremely important pro- Bill McLaughlin, chief of Whatcom County Fire Dis- trict No. 4, said the June cutoff date is pushing the committee to act quickly. really want to push ahead as quickly as possible to fill that rescue team McLaughlin said. One proposal the com- mittee is considering is to have the Bellingham Fire Department continue to staff the team and pay for a portion of its costs, and other fire districts and Fire chiefs seek to save program City cuts rescue service funding GROWING STRONG Annual Fairhaven Plant Sale has been drawing customers for 21 years Penny VanBuren checks an informational tag on a lavender plant Saturday, March 28, during a rainy Fairhaven Plant Sale. It was the 21st year for the sale, which benefits Fairhaven Neighbors and the Center for Local Self- Reliance.

Josie Liming The Bellingham Herald PETER JENSEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD A 13-year-old bore- dom disrupted Whatcom police and aid response early Saturday morning, March 28, after he called 911 pretending to be a woman who had been assaulted a boyfriend. The boy called 911 from a cell phone about 1:30 a.m. Saturday pretending to be the woman. He said he had been assaulted and was in a bedroom hiding from a boyfriend armed with a handgun, said Sgt. Larry Flynn of the Whatcom County Office.

Dispatchers called back, and the boy reported that he had been shot and gave an address on East Pole Road, Flynn said. Flynn said that every available deputy, Everson police, a Belling- ham police K-9 unit and medics responded to that address, which turned out to be an empty field. Flynn said police then located the address where the call originated from and found the boy. He admitted giving the false report and had destroyed the cell phone to keep police from finding him, Flynn said. really have a good reason other than he was Flynn said.

Flynn said police explained the conse- quences of his actions to him and his parents, and will forward their report to the Whatcom County Pros- Office to have charges filed. Reach Peter Jensen at 715- 2264 or at peter.jensen Phony assault report disrupts aid response boredom leads to false 911 call, county police say See NAMES, B4 See RESCUE, B4.