The Bellingham Herald from Bellingham, Washington • A2

WHATCOM TheBellinghamHerald.com/localnews Contact: Debbie Townsend, 715-2280, debbie.townsend@bellinghamherald.com A2 Wednesday February 10, 2010 JARED PABEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BELLINGHAM Please add land to our urban growth area in 2010. the message from City Council members to county leaders, who will decide in March whether to consider adding land north and southeast of the city. The County Council will decide whether to an application from Caitac USA to add 582 acres north of the city and an application by County Council member Sam Crawford to add 545 acres in the Yew Street Road area, in the Lake Padden watershed. Adding the acres would allow the city to annex them, opening them up for urban development. The City Council on Mon- day, Feb.

8, voted 7-0 to approve a resolution asking the county to refrain from changing the growth area until the city finishes updat- ing its comprehensive plan. Under state law, the city must update the plan, which charts the next two decades of growth, by Dec. 1, 2011. Mayor Dan Pike also sup- ported the request to keep the city as it is. think something like this should be done lightly or in an ad hoc Pike told the council on Monday.

not in the interest of the Pike said he expect the data that comes out of the comprehensive plan update process to sup- port adding growth area, either. He said he told new County Council member Bill Knutzen recently that if the county forced the land on the city, it would result in a very public disagreement. Caitac USA wants urban growth area status for its land, which is north of Bellingham to Smith Road on the west side of Guide Merid- ian. That would allow the city to annex it, enabling planned major mixed-use community. legally chal- lenging past County Council decisions that provid- ed the growth area.

Crawford believes the previous County Council erred last year in removing the growth area from the Yew Street Road area. The previous council, as part of a countywide update of growth areas, rezoned the land to allow only one house per 10 acres. Reach Jared Paben at 715-2289 or jared.paben@ bellinghamherald.com. KIE RELYEA THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BELLINGHAM Begin- ning March 1, the cost to drop off residential yard waste at the Clean Green Transfer Station in Belling- ham will double to $4 a load. The Bellingham City Coun- cil finalized the increase on Monday, Feb.

8. The increase will add another $36,000 a year to the solid waste fund. The previous fee of $2 a load, which was adopted on March 1, 2005, no longer brings in enough money to pay for the Clean Green facil- ity, according to city staff. The city runs Clean Green but the county splits the cost with money from the solid waste fund. The solid waste fund pays for management of closed landfills in Whatcom County as well as waste reduction and recycling efforts, includ- ing Clean Green.

mostly funded by money from an excise tax of $8.50 a ton on garbage collected by regulat- ed waste haulers. The county and waste haulers have said that tax dol- lars for the fund have dropped because spending and con- struction have dropped dur- ing the recession meaning less trash to pick up. In response to that, the County Council in December voted to cut $457,940 from the fund. That same month, the City Council asked staff to prepare a resolution to increase the Clean Green fee, which council members approved Feb. 8.

Whatcom County govern- ment manages the fund on behalf of itself as well as cities in the county. Reach Kie Relyea at kie or 715-2234. DAVE GALLAGHER THE BELLINGHAM HERALD With people from all over the world descending on this region for the Winter Olympics, Whatcom County is gearing up to answer questions about this area. Bellingham Whatcom County Tour- ism is planning to add between 20 and 30 extra volunteers and will open a temporary visitor center in a rest area off southbound Interstate 5 near Custer during the Olympics, said Jacqueline Cartier, director of marketing. The organization also is distribut- ing welcome signs to its members to put up in the businesses and will be sending an online survey to gauge how local businesses were affected.

With the extra volunteers, Cartier said they are expecting many of the tourism questions to center on trans- portation and the best ways to get around once people get into British Columbia. As for the volume, traffic through Whatcom County should be similar to a busy summer day, said Loni Rahm, president of Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism. are seeing a steady increase in room bookings, which will translate into more visitors in restaurants and Rahm said. A check on Expedia.com found room availability in 16 Whatcom County hotels for the opening week- end of Feb. 12, though six others appeared to be sold out.

So far it appears the local hotels and restaurants are doing OK when it comes to bookings, with many reser- vations coming from law enforce- ment agencies, said Ken Oplinger, president of Chamber of Commerce Industry. He expects most visitors to be trav- eling through not to Whatcom County to get to the Games. He believes the bigger benefits will come in the following years, when people come back to visit this area. why important to have the resources locally to answer queries from travel- ers in case they want to come back and explore Whatcom County. Oplinger said also noticed more excitement locally.

thing we are seeing is more interest within the Oplinger said. is much more of a buzz about the Games than a few weeks Reach Dave Gallagher at 715-2269 or dave.gallagher@bellinghamherald.com. Visit his business blog online at blogs.bellinghamherald.com/business or get updates on Twitter at twitter.com Sommer Cronck, marketing coordinator at Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism, works on a design for a banner for local businesses welcoming Olympic visitors to the area. Philip A. Dwyer The Bellingham Herald Everson man to challenge Linville SAM TAYLOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Republican Vincent Buys of Everson has announced challenge state Rep.

Kelly Linville, D-Bellingham, for her 42nd District legisla- tive seat. Buys, 30, owns Dutchman Construction and is a gradu- ate of Lynden Christian High School and Bellingham Technical College. He said challenging Linville because of the way in which Democrats in the Legislature have taken on the budget issues. a new year in Olympia, but the situation feels exactly the same as last Buys said in a state- ment. had hoped last year that the Democrats would step up and make a realistic budget that the taxpayers can afford, but they punted Local man makes GOP Senate bid SAM TAYLOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Whatcom County Republi- can Paul Akers will chal- lenge U.S.

Sen. Patty Murray, for her seat this election season. Akers, 49, is owner of FastCap LLC, an internation- al product development company based in Belling- ham. He lives just outside of town, near Toad Lake. Akers did not release news of his campaign.

Instead, it was revealed prior to intention to make it public by Dick Morris, a nationally known conservative political pundit while speaking on Fox News host Sean radio program. Akers is one of seven Republicans so far who will run for the seat. PETER JENSEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD A surgeon who treated a Bellingham man for stab wounds in January 2009 said it was remarkable the man survived long enough to make it to the hospital. Keith VanderGriend, who works at St. Joseph Hospital, treated Richard W.

Miller for wounds to his head, cheek, neck, throat and thigh on Jan. 30, 2009. Miller lost about half his blood in the stabbing. VanderGriend testified before a Whatcom County Superior Court jury on Tues- day, Feb. 9, in the trial of Gregory A.

Todd, charged with attempting to kill Miller. Todd is also charged with first-degree burglary and another attempted-murder charge. Whatcom County Prose- cutor Dave McEachran alleges Todd tried to kill Miller because he have any drugs to sell; attorney said he was acting in self-defense. VanderGriend testified that several of face and cheek wounds included nicked arteries, while two in his thigh missed puncturing a major artery. Miller suffered two punc- ture wounds at the base of his neck that cut deep enough to slice open an artery and a vein near his heart, VanderGriend said.

While these wounds would likely be fatal soon after Miller suffered them, the cuts on his vein and artery were close enough Robber hits Starvin ZOE FRALEY THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BELLINGHAM Belling- ham Police are looking for a man who robbed a Sehome- area convenience store Mon- day afternoon, Feb. 8, and are investigating if con- nected to a similar robbery last week. At 4:45 p.m. Monday, a rob- bery was reported at the Starvin Mini-Mart, 505 32nd said police spokes- man Mark Young. The robber told the clerk he had a gun and got away with cash.

Police describe the man as in his 50s, about 6 feet tall and more than 270 pounds. Though officers arrived three minutes after the call, there was no sign of the rob- ber. They sure if he ran off or got away in a car. This is the second Starvin market robbed within a week; the Meridian loca- tion was robbed Feb. 4.

Anyone with information on either robbery is asked to call Detective Donna Miller at 778-8817. Hearing set on big-box limits JARED PABEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BELLINGHAM City leaders on Thursday, Feb. 11, will discuss options for regulating big-box stores in areas of north Bellingham. The city currently has a limit on new large retail stores, and Mayor Dan Pike has pro- posed relaxing the size cap if stores meet certain condi- tions. The council on Mon- day, Feb.

8, decided it need- ed to sit down at a separate work session to explore which of those conditions it would like to consider for a new law. The planning committee, plus possibly some other council mem- bers, will meet at 11 a.m. in City Council Chambers, 210 Lottie St. The previously scheduled Feb. 22 public hearing on the changes has been canceled.

The city far enough along in developing a pro- posed ordinance to hold a hearing. JARED PABEN THE BELLINGAM HERALD BELLINGHAM The City Council unanimously approved a resolution in support of passing the sales tax increase for Whatcom Transportation Authority bus service. The council held a hear- ing on the resolution on Monday, Feb. 8, before vot- ing 7-0 to approve it. Separately, the group that formed to support pas- sage of the measure, Peo- ple for Whatcom Transit, has raised $22,311, accord- ing to the state Public Dis- closure Commission.

The largest contributor, by far, is the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents many WTA employees. The group formed to oppose the measure, Peo- ple for Progressive Trans- portation, raised any money, according to the PDC. The April 27 ballot meas- ure asks voters whether they want to increase the local sales tax by two- tenths of 1 percent. With- out approval, WTA officials say, the agency will cut bus service. JARED PABEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Highway crews opened the Guide Meridian bridge over the Nooksack River to traffic Tuesday morning, Feb.

9, and state officials say all lanes will be open in time for the opening cere- monies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. The state Department of Transportation opened the new bridge, which is just south of Lynden, but both bridges were restricted to one lane in each direction. When crews finish some minor work, including shoulder work and installing some safety features, open the highway to two lanes in each direction there, said Chris Damitio, DOT project engineer. happen before the opening ceremonies Friday. When crews opened the bridge, they also opened a second smaller bridge carry- ing southbound lanes south of the river.

That bridge crosses an area the Nooksack River sometimes floods during heavy rains. Growth-area limits urged Bellingham council asks county to resist increasing UGA READ THE DOCUMENTS Go to cob.org/web/council.nsf/webmaterials and see the materials for the Feb. 8 meeting. Clean Green fee rises $4 a load for yard waste See TRIAL, A8 Stabbing victim lucky to be alive, doctor testifies Bellingham City Council votes to support bus sales-tax hike Guide bridge over Nooksack River opens Officials hope Games will lure tourists back to Whatcom County Visitor center opens during Winter Olympics is much more of a buzz about the Games than a few weeks Ken Oplinger, president of Chamber of Commerce Industry.