It's Started!

Just a few moments ago, fireworks could be heard on the Southside. Cannot tell where they are coming from, but since it's June 30th, they are obviously illegal!  Hope someone is close enough to phone in a report of noise to 911 and compose a follow-up E-Mail to the Chiefs of Police and the Fire Department, to members of City Council and Mayor Linville. Later . . .

Reporting Fireworks Violations

It's vital that violations be reported and documented. As I have advised recently, legal fireworks - those that do not leave the ground and that "pop" rather than "boom" - are allowed only on the 4th of July and at New Years. However, any disturbing noise caused by fireworks is illegal every day of the year!  So this year, call 911 and report the noise but not the fireworks!. You'll need to provide an exact location - an address is best! Once you've made the call, follow-up with an E-Mail to the Bellingham Police Chief (Todd Ramsay <tramsay@cob.org>) and Bellingham Fire Chief (Bill Boyd <bboyd@cob.org ) and "cc'd" to City Council (<ccmail@cob.org>) and the Mayor (Kelli Linville <klinville@cob.org>).  This E-Mail must reference your call to 911 including the data you supplied.  The purpose of this two-part approach is to assure that the Bellingham police department, fire department, City Council and the Mayor have been informed accurately as to what is actually taking place "fireworks-wise" in our City.   Later . . .

6/30 Downtown Farmers' Market Report

We managed to "dodge" the showers today at the Market. With the help of a new volunteer, three of us gathered just over 6-dozen new petition signatures. As with last week, interest seems to be increasing due to sporadic fireworks around the City and recent publicity.

We'll be at the Fairhaven Farmers' Market next Wednesday afternoon and back at the downtown Farmers' Market next Saturday. If you are a registered voter, live within the City and support the idea of getting Bellingham Initiative 2012-01 on the November general election ballot as Proposition No. 1, please stop by our table and sign a petition. THANKS! Later . . .

6/27 Fairhaven Farmers' Market Report

Weather was  bright and sunny Wednesday afternoon, bringing out significant crowds.  In just under four hours of tabling, two of us gathered over fifty (50) petition signatures. We'll be at the downtown Farmers' Market today and back to Fairhaven next Wednesday, the 4th. Later . . .

Setting the Record Straight

On 6/18, a post on this site entitled "A Few Things To Consider" included some inaccurate information regarding Bellingham's current fireworks ordinance (BMC 10.24-130 - Fireworks Prohibited). This ordinance does, in fact, include a penalty:  Paragraph K of BMC 10-24-130 states:  "Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor". The earlier posting has been corrected and the purpose of this posting is to set the record straight. Sorry for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this may have caused. Later . . .

An Old Letter-to-the-Editor

The link below will take you to a Herald letter-to-the-editor of a couple of weeks ago.  This lady is not a supporter of what we are about.  However, a review of the letter and the comments to it are very interesting.  Most, IMHO, are without merit, but it's good to try to understand what we are up against.  And it would appear that several folks - "FormerBellinghamster", "BellinghamOwl", "Pragmatic", "ek1" and "WORST_EVER_43" - do undertand what we are about.  Hope they've signed a petition.  Here's the link:  

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/06/07/2549893/sees-no-need-for-further-bellingham.html.  Later . . .

Sunday Editorial

There's a great editorial in today's Herald. Check it out at

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/06/24/2569861/bellingham-petition-seeks-to-limit.html.  You might follow the comments, many of which are really without merit.  It would appear, however, that "Fireworks_Guy","ticktock" and "Cantharellus" agree with what we are about.  Later . . .