Week of Dec. 18, 2024: Birds, unwarranted protester attention and earworms

Editor,

Watching birds from the shores of Bellingham Bay and nearby Salish Sea beaches in Whatcom County is a magical experience. I love seeing majestic bald eagles and osprey dive for fish, while graceful herons stand still in the shallows. Flocks of Western Sandpipers flutter along the shore, and cormorants and gulls glide overhead.

Sadly, climate change poses significant threats to our coastal communities. With projections of rising sea levels significantly affecting areas such as Lummi Island, Point Roberts, Bellingham Bay and other places nearby, and with the increased frequency of extreme weather events, our local infrastructure, ecosystems and livelihoods are at risk. The notable decline in our local marine bird populations is a dire warning.

Community engagement is vital as we face these mounting challenges. That’s why the North Cascades Audubon Society is partnering with our statewide organization, Audubon of Washington, on a new initiative called Audubon Around the Sound. This call to action seeks to bring people from across our community together to take steps to protect the Salish Sea and its coastal habitats. 

Addressing Coastal Resilience is not just about protecting our environment; it’s about safeguarding our economy and quality of life. By taking proactive steps now, we will invest in our current treasured resources and allow future generations to continue to enjoy the beauty and resources of our region, even in the face of climate change.

We urge you to reach out to your local officials and elected representatives to ensure they acknowledge the urgency of this need and commit to making environmental policies and land use decisions that enhance the coastal resiliency of the Salish Sea.

Jamie Huson, president

North Cascades Audubon Society

Editor,

Why are you reporting the disruption of Congressman Larsen’s town hall meeting by the pro-Palestinian groups?

You gave them exactly what they want … attention.

Jane Ringe

Lynden

Editor,

While I love reading the Cascadia Daily, I find that one thing may be missing. Bellingham and the county have so many events and activities that provide a wonderful array of entertainment. The lifestyle person does a good job of describing some of them. But there are many more we may not know about. For example, there was an Elvis impersonator at the Firehouse last week and I would have wanted to attend if I had known about it.

May I suggest a monthly calendar of all entertainment events printed in the paper at the beginning of the month. This could include concerts, plays, live music, happenings at WWU, readings at Village Books and holiday special events. I feel many people in the community would really enjoy having this information at their fingertips.

Thank you for your consideration.

Carola Anderson

Bellingham

Editor,

As I was looking at the articles in the CDN as I always do, I noticed two letters to the editor that made me feel encouraged that Bellingham will not be forever lost as long as we have thought-provoking community members such as these two in the online paper. I believe that we will be able to bring back the kindness and thoughtfulness that I have always appreciated about this city. I know that it may seem as if it isn’t all of our responsibilities to make sure that there is housing affordability, but it is, in the sense that it affects all of us in some way, whether now or 10 years from now.

I think that Kerri Burnside has great points in the letter that was written and also online (CDN, Dec. 11, 2024). It is a way to make sure that we are all able to be part of the community, without sacrificing our monthly expenses for our housing, food and so on. I hope you plan on running for city council, Kerri, because you definitely have my vote.

Thank you.

Kristy Dura

Bellingham

Editor,

Besides the Mickey Mouse doll made in China costing a week’s pay, people who have been to Disneyland leave with earworms. The most contagious are arguably “It’s a Small World” and “Yo Ho, Yo Ho It’s a Pirate’s Life for Me.”

On my personal song annoyance meter, “Small World” pegs it at about a 10, and “Pirates” somewhere around a 2–3. (Yes I’m a pirates guy, thus my personal Disneyland earworm sports a peg leg, eye patch and a parrot.)

I ventured into the shopping mall today. There, the management was full on into the Christmas spirit flinging Christmas tunes into the air space. The usual ’50s and ’60s-style Christmas tunes that they always play. Unfortunately, as I left, having forgotten my earworm PPE, one had wriggled into my brain, registering somewhere on my annoyance meter at about an 8-plus.

Ever the “lemons to lemonade guy,” I had an “ah ha” moment at the time though. I realized that earworms are the solution to unvexing the vexing problem of dealing with the homeless camps.

If I were mayor for a day, I’d call on the Public Works Department to assist. No doubt, they’d be grumpy from being distracted from their usual days’ work of surprising us with their newest best way of screwing up our road system, to a more productive use of their time.

The new task would be to surround the camps with loudspeakers and blast out Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” 24 hours a day.

Problem solved.

Bob Morton

Bellingham

Editor,

Weather modification is just a conspiracy theory, right? If you believe that, I encourage you to search NOAA Libraries, click Collections, click Weather and Climate, click Weather Modification Project Reports. There you will find 1,059 entries.

It’s a good read that includes projects in at least nine western states. They range from anti-hail devices that send a shock wave upward and outward to a 1-mile radius, to land and aerial dispersal of chemicals into our air. Aerial dispersal includes ejectable and burn-in-place pyrotechnics from aircraft. 

Oops, there goes the chemtrails conspiracy. It is actually a fact, to some degree anyway. What chemicals, you ask? Well, the most common is silver iodide. You can read if or how much is used in each weather modification project. A quick look at the Material Safety Data Sheet shows us that this chemical is fairly hazardous to humans. “Do not get in eyes, on skin, or on clothing.” Also, “Avoid ingestion and inhalation” are phrases used. Also in the MSDS is the warning — “Very toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects.”

But hey, we’re only spraying it into our air, so what could possibly go wrong? In Washington state, weather modification projects need to be permitted through the Department of Ecology. They have assured me that they have issued no permits since the 1980s. UW conducted a weather modification project in California in the recent past though. The topic of weather modification is a rabbit hole you may not want to fall into. You might be better off not knowing, maybe.

Mark A. White

Port Angeles

Letters to the Editor are published online Wednesdays; a selection is published in print Fridays. Send to letters@cascadiadaily.com by 10 a.m. Tuesdays. Rules: Maximum 250 words, be civil, have a point and make it clearly. Preference is given to letters about local subjects. CDN reserves the right to reject letters or edit for length, clarity, grammar and style, or removal of personal attacks or offensive content. Letters must include an address/phone number to verify the writer's identity (not for publication).