The thrill I got from opening an email with a subject line of “September Events from Whatcom County Library System” was real. It had been months since I’d received a wordy roundup from the always-accommodating WCLS staff, and even though the press release arrived in the middle of the month, its subject matter extended into the fall.

While libraries throughout Whatcom County remain closed to the public, WCLS Executive Director Christine Perkins points out that hasn’t halted their…

During last year’s Whatcom Artist Studio Tour, my perennial plus-one and I spent a blue-sky Sunday afternoon popping our heads into a number of studios in Bellingham’s Sunnyland neighborhood and surrounding environs. We got a close look at the creative spaces of a number of painters, woodworkers, sculptors and glass artists, and ended our day of art appreciation with pints on the patio at Kulshan Brewery. It was a perfect introduction to fall.

While we won’t be able to exactly…

If Dan Liden were to make a current captain’s log for the Snow Goose, the missive relating to the management and operation of the vessel would likely have something to do with the fact that the 65-foot marine science education, research and charter boat is in need of some serious repairs.

In an effort to save the 47-year-old watercraft that since 1995 has doubled as a floating classroom every fall and spring for as many as 1,500 local students, Captain Liden has started a GoFundMe…

“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.”—Ruth Bader Ginsburg

She was a tiny lady in a lace collar, and yet she was a giant. Tough as nails, brilliant jurist, the unlikeliest pop culture phenomenon, hero to so many.

I’m talking, of course, about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

We all knew she was in frail health—as if the word “frail” could ever be used in conjunction with her…

I don’t get out much these days.

I suppose that’s true of most of us when we compare our lives in the BT (Before Times) with our lives now. Before COVID-19, I was a world-champion errand-runner, loved nothing more than eating all of my meals out and was known to spend whole days wandering around downtown Bellingham, popping in and out of my favorite businesses.

As a social creature, such activity was necessary to feed my endless curiosity and ensure my robust mental health.…