THE GRISTLE P.04 + FUZZ BUZZ P.07 + ACME FARMS + KITCHEN P.19 c a s c a d i a REPORTING FROM THE HEART OF CASCADIA WHATCOM*SKAGIT*SURROUNDING AREAS 06-23-2021 • ISSUE: 25 • V.16 SUMMER NIGHT READING VISION Chart your Cinema own path al fresco P.08 P.14 A LIVE LINEUP Break out the day planner P.12 ESSENCE of BELLINGHAM A year in pictures P.10 SPRING FLING Shelter in place with FishBoy P.09 THISWEEK Contact Cascadia Weekly: 360.647.8200 mail TOC LETTERS STAFF Advertising 19 Sales Manager: Calvin Schoneck FOOD ext 1 sales@ cascadiaweekly.com 15 Editorial Editor & Publisher: B-BOARD It’s never been easier to play the lottery—especially if Tim Johnson you’re already vaccinated. Most Tuesdays through July 13, ext 3 Washington Lottery’s “Shot of a Lifetime” will award sizable editor@ 14 cash prizes to vaccinated adults 18 and older who are in the cascadiaweekly.com DOH vaccine database. If you’ve gotten your first shot and FILM are a Washington state resident, you could win the grand Arts & Entertainment prize of $1,000,000. If you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, Editor: Amy Kepferle there’s still time to get in on the action. ext 2 12 calendar@ cascadiaweekly.com MUSIC Contributing Editor: Carey Ross 10 music@ cascadiaweekly.com ART Production 8 Art Director: Jesse Kinsman WORDS Views & News jesse@ 02: Mailbag kinsmancreative.com 6 04: Gristle and Rhodes Design: Bill Kamphausen 06: Last week’s news bill@ CURRENTS 07: Fuzz Buzz, Index kamphausendesign.com Advertising Design: 4 Roman Komarov Arts & Life roman@ VIEWS 08: Summer Reading cascadiaweekly.com Send all advertising materials to SEPARATION OF POWERS City Hall officials overstepped their executive 10: Essence of B’ham [email protected] 2 2 AND THE COURT branch authority by conducting an investiga- 12: A live lineup Judge Debra Lev is completely in the right in tion into the grievances of court employees. It is MAIL MAIL Distribution the current controversy. The mayor and the City outrageous that the city officials are now pub- 14: Night visions Distribution Manager: Attorney are completely off base. licizing the report of their one-sided “investiga- Erik Burge distribution@ Separation of powers is a fundamental and vital tion” after a Skagit County Superior Court Judge Rear End cascadiaweekly.com principle. It is what distinguishes America from granted an injunction effectively directing them 06.23.21 15: Free Will, Advice Goddess Whatcom: Erik Burge, autocracies. It is what prevented President Trump to cease and desist. Stephanie Simms .16 16: Crossword from coercing judges to rule in his favor. And it Other entities exist that can review and ad- 25 # Skagit: Linda Brown, must now override City Hall’s attempt to control dress employee grievances. There is no legiti- 17: Slowpoke, Sudoku Barb Murdoch the operation of Bellingham Municipal Court. mate reason for the mayor or the City Attorney to 18: Biz Briefs Letters No defendant can be confident of fair treatment take on this role. Contrary to the mayor’s public 19: Acme Farms + Kitchen SEND LETTERS TO LETTERS@ in court if the judge is subservient to the prosecu- statements, the court is not a department under CASCADIAWEEKLY.COM tor. This is just as true at the city level as it is in the mayor’s control and Judge Lev is not a subor- federal, state and county government. Judge Lev dinate employee. THE GRISTLE P.04 + FUZZ BUZZ P.07 + ACME FARMS + KITCHEN P.19 c a s c a d i a REPORTING FROM THE HEART OF CASCADIA WHATCOM*SKAGIT*SURROUNDING AREAS hears and decides cases prosecuted by the City At- We all have reason to be grateful for the in- 06-23-2021 • ISSUE: 25 • V.16 CASCADIA WEEKLY torney. She must feel free to rule against the city dependence of America’s courts. We should be SUMMER NIGHT READING VISION Chart your Cinema own path al fresco 2 ©2021 CASCADIA WEEKLY (ISSN 1931-3292) is published each Wednesday by P.08 P.14 when the city does not have the law on its side. grateful to Judge Lev for upholding that prin- A LIVE LINEUP Cascadia Newspaper Company LLC. Direct all correspondence to: Cascadia Break out the day planner P.12 Judge Lev’s ability to rule impartially is threat- ciple in Bellingham. Weekly PO Box 2833 Bellingham WA 98227-2833 | Phone/Fax: 360.647.8200 [email protected] ened if City Hall can tell her how to conduct daily —Mary Kay Becker, Bellingham Though Cascadia Weekly is distributed free, please take just one copy. Cascadia Weekly may be distributed only by authorized distributors. Any person removing operations and who to hire and fire. That is why ESSENCE of BELLINGHAM papers in bulk from our distribution points risks prosecution A year in pictures P.10 SUBMISSIONS: Cascadia Weekly welcomes freelance submissions. Send material state law gives a presiding judge such as Judge Lev DARKENING THE DAYLIGHTING SPRING FLING Shelter in place to either the News Editor or A&E Editor. Manuscripts will be returned if you with FishBoy P.09 unambiguous and non-delegable authority over the Upstream of Padden Creek, billions of Wash- include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. To be considered for calendar list- ings, notice of events must be received in writing no later than noon Wednesday COVER: “Kayaking” working conditions of court personnel. It would be ington state and Whatcom County taxpayers’ the week prior to publication. Photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by stamped, self-addressed envelope. photo by Brennan unthinkable for the governor to lock the Supreme dollars are at work creating safe passage and Drew. The image was Court’s staff out of the Temple of Justice in Olympia salmon restoration for endangered species to one of more than 430 or compel them to cooperate with an investigation. travel and spawn. Downstream, less than a quar- submissions to the 16th annual “Essence It is hard to understand why any competent lawyer ter mile (behind the Bellingham Tennis Club), of Bellingham” contest. would believe the law is different in Bellingham. bulldozers are bringing in fill to shore up a dan- gerously steep slope an unprecedented 75 This destruction is now. We can’t wait feet from this same endangered salmon for tomorrow to fix this devastating land stream, where $2 million townhomes have grab and developer-run corruption that been permitted to be built. completely decimates our natural environ- Greenways did not purchase these par- ment and ruins the quality of life we say cels of land when it had the opportunity we love about this beautiful land. because, according to their board and city Who is willing to stand up? What are officials, “The land was unbuildable and the effective actionable steps to take— wasn’t in danger of being developed due especially when citing COB’s code viola- to its dangerously steep slope, poor soil tions back to them doesn’t change any- comprised of fill, and its close proximity thing? Come check it out in the alley 19 to Padden Creek (an endangered species between Donovan and 8th streets. It is a salmon stream).” disaster in the making. FOOD The parcels are situated on a wildlife cor- —Drue Robinson, Wendy Scherrer, Bellingham ridor, directly above the salmon stream. No SEPA study was conducted. The project (ac- TO SERVE AND PROTECT 15 cording to “rules”) was exempt from such a We have all heard too many accounts study. But City of Bellingham Planners did of uncalled-for police violence in our B-BOARD permit these million-dollar townhomes. country, but that is only part of the More than 100 letters and comments were story. Earlier in June, I was seated on a sent in opposing the project. To this day, stool at a beer garden in Bellingham, at 14 COB planners have never given rationale as a table near the door, watching a ball- FILM to why they allowed a minimal 75-foot set- game and enjoying a German beer, when back (unlike the 100- to 150-foot setback to a man came in and stood close to me. 12 which all other neighbors are held). But his body language was strange, and It’s amazingly devastating what happens so I sent a meaningful glance toward MUSIC when a municipality is fearful of being sued one of the guys working that afternoon, by developers. Beautiful cities like Belling- with my look asking him to check this 10 ham become ruined. Endangered salmon out, which he did. Then all three of the streams (into which taxpayers and state/ guys working there were requesting this ART federal agencies dump millions of dollars) person to leave and he wouldn’t, so they 8 are ruined. Even though city planners as- told him they were getting the cops, and We’ve Got That sured us all that a critical and exacting eye duly called for help. WORDS would be overseeing this project, I’ve not When police officers arrived, however, seen many city officials about. And bull- they did not act in a threatening manner. 6 dozers have not found hardpan on which They tried to get the disturbed person RED RIVER to build these two 35-foot-high massive to understand and comply with their or- CLUBHOUSE buildings over the salmon stream. The bull- der to leave the premises, but even as it CURRENTS dozers uncovered only fill (old car bodies, became evident that although he could Triple-decker with turkey, cheddar, applewood smoked 4 loose soil, etc.).