Blaine Confidential

The new owner of The Northern Light, Kari Mar, rejected this letter to the editor: Editor , The January 21  letter to the editor  by former Blaine City Councilman Rhyan Lopez thanks our "outstanding city manager" who routinely defamed Water Planning Matters. Lopez then thanks Blaine Police Department for it's "integrity" even as three Blaine police officers, including Chief Rodger Funk, face investigations by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission for violating the   equal protection rights of the mayor's opponents.  Topping off his career on council, Lopez on October 13, presided over the town hall where convicted violent felon David Brudvik threatened to murder four people for holding the city manager, mayor, and chief of police accountable. While Lopez cut off his opponents at the two-minute mark, he gave Brudvik and other friends of the mayor several minutes extra to speak, most notably the Brudvik death threats issued after...

February 10 letter to City of Blaine: To comply with state law,   Blaine must repeal the Urban Mixed Use rezone Ordinance No. 25-3028 , which unlawfully reduced creek setbacks and other protections in violation of the Blaine Critical Areas Ordinance, as well as financially benefitted then planning commissioner Sam Randhawa and his employer,   Freeman Real Estate   (see attached complaint to U.S. Department of Justice).   Randhawa and Freeman should not profit from crime , and the comprehensive plan is invalid until this ordinance is repealed. Blaine must also repeal the June 10, 2024  reduction of parking requirements in the Central Business District   Ordinance No. 24-3014 , and the November 25, 2024  increase in building heights in the Central Business District  text amendment , which were both voted on by then Councilman Mike Hill, who owns numerous commercial properties in the Central Business District, and did not recuse himself as state law ...

February 7 letter to Blaine City Council: "Power corrupts" may be cliche, but it explains how the real estate industry took over Blaine's government.  Relying on the power to control what information the public is allowed to know about--exercising the power of  public records gatekeeper  and advertising contracts with The Northern Light news--Mayor Steward began establishing totalitarian control. With Northern Light reporters Patrick Grubb, Grace McCarthy, and Nolan Baker  covering up official crimes  and defaming her opponents, Steward then marshalled Blaine Police Department against her political opponents, leading to  death threats  and protection orders for her opponents by Whatcom District Court Judge Angela Anderson. Three Blaine police officers, including Chief Rodger Funk, are currently being investigated by the WA Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) for violating the equal protection rights of the  open government  activists ...

Washington State opened the flood gates to environmental devastation when state agencies stopped enforcing environmental laws, shifting that burden to the citizens at their own expense, leaving the environment at the mercy of the real estate industry. Mesmerized by real estate lobbyists in Olympia, legislators are oblivious to the massive damage now being done by the tsunami of wealthy retirees moving here in droves to gated communities.  This illegal pollution of the Salish Sea and its freshwater tributaries is irreversible, and will turbo charge salmon extinction. Whatcom County and the Washington Department of Ecology have ignored the problem.  

Remember Mayor Mary Lou Steward's September 8, 2025 meltdown , accusing Water Planning Matters (WPM) of costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars for public records requests, according to city manager Mike Harmon? Turns out, for the entire year of 2025, there were a total of 157 Public Records Act requests for Blaine documents. This attempt to discredit WPM was in order to interfere with the city council election , in which 1) Harmon attempted to persuade the council to appoint Sarbie Bains to fulfill the remainder of Councilman Mike Hill's term, without allowing any other applicants, and 2) Steward defamed candidate Lewis in retaliation for introducing a code of ethics for Blaine officials. The City of Blaine  public records controversy  did not happen in a vacuum; it happened due to three years of intense attacks by city staff on citizens holding city hall accountable to the Growth Management Act, State Environmental Policy Act, and the Clean Water Act, while the cit...

As   executive director of Salish Current News , Kari Mar noted that her acquisitions of La Conner Community News and The Northern Light are for " charting a new path forward for local news — one grounded in transparency, accountability and community trust." At the same time, Mar says she will retain local news staff at these publications, which is contrary to her mission, as TNL staff (Pat Grubb, Grace McCarthy, and Nolan Baker) all defamed Water Planning Matters and covered up crimes at city hall.