Local decisions. Public records. Your community.
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A 6-foot beautiful but broken sea star ravaged by wasting disease. A contour map overlaid with poetic riffs on geologic time. Photographs of neon rectangles illuminating a dense forest to highlight the effects of forest fire. A jewel box installation of a kelp forest. An everyday business suit crafted from a silver emergency wildfire shelter.
In honor of the sacrifices of veterans and their families, Western welcomes Veterans and dependents to participate in all free events throughout the week of Nov. 9-13.
Published activity records dated 2026-10-18 include 27 Bellingham Police entries.
Published activity records dated 2026-10-17 include 33 Bellingham Police entries.
Milo Palmer just began his fourth year at Western composing and playing bass, guitar, and piano. You can catch him performing serious music and hear his line-fudging compositions in the Concert Hall with the Composers of Western – “COW” as it’s known at WWU.
Western Washington University’s Sustainability Pathways program, now in its seventh year, welcomed its largest cohort yet for summer 2026: 22 undergraduates working with 20 organizations, agencies and non-profits in the Methow and Okanogan valleys on projects focused on the environment, health and well-being, social equity and economic vitality.
BELLINGHAM, WASH., Oct. 16, 2026 — Western Washington University and PeaceHealth have reached a purchase-and-sale agreement for the former St. Luke’s Hospital site and related parcels. The agreement reflects a shared commitment to advancing health education, supporting student well-being and planning for future regional healthcare needs.
Published activity records dated 2026-10-16 include 43 Bellingham Police entries.
Notice of Traffic Revision and Possible Delays: Monday, October 19th, 2026
Admin Services Posted on October 16, 2026 | Last Updated on October 16, 2026
Western Washington University’s Board of Trustees met on campus Oct.15-16.
We’re excited to share that Bellingham’s first mitigation bank is on track to open in February or March 2027. The Bellingham Mitigation Bank will improve water quality, reduce flooding, and support fish and wildlife, all while providing a more efficient, consistent way for development projects to meet environmental requirements.
We know “budget season” isn’t the most thrilling phrase—but it does lay the groundwork for the services, programs, and investments our community relies on. These sessions help ensure we’re allocating resources responsibly and transparently, with thoughtful discussion along the way.
Two areas in Whatcom County, including Bellingham’s downtown and waterfront, were recently selected for a competitive, national designation as Opportunity Zones for a second time. These zones benefit from a federal tax incentive that’s designed to attract private investment in low-income communities. The program allows eligible investors to defer and reduce their capital gains taxes when they invest capital gains in a business or property in an Opportunity Zone. Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Washington selections Oct. 8. Learn more, including how Bellingham has benefited from this designation in the past, on our Opportunity Zones page .
Join us at Rock Hill Park next Thursday, Oct. 22, at 4:30 p.m. for a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the park’s new upper and lower playgrounds. These long-awaited improvements have been in the works since 2024, and we’re excited to finally open them for play. You’ll have a chance to meet Parks & Recreation Director Nicole Oliver, learn about the park’s history and the project, and connect with neighbors. Visit our event calendar for more details. See you there!
Plan for possible delays and changing traffic conditions along the Roeder Avenue Bridge between Central Avenue and C Street from Oct. 19–30 as we repair the bridge approach. The sidewalk will remain open and bike lanes will merge with vehicle traffic. During a routine inspection, we discovered minor erosion at the base of the bridge caused by tidal changes in the Whatcom Waterway. This work will help protect the bridge’s foundation and keep it strong and reliable for years to come.
Whether your kids are in it for the tricks or the treats, our Parks & Recreation team has a Halloween event for you. Preschool – 2 nd -grade kids will love Boo at Bloedel, while anyone ages 6 and up can appreciate Spooktacular at Woodstock Farm with Gabriel’s Arts Kids. For a truly unique way to pick your carving pumpkin, head to Arne Hanna Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon for a floating pumpkin patch (kids 6 and under must be accompanied by an adult).
6 separate stories from this newsletter.
The air you breathe when you step out your front door can sometimes be different than the air a few blocks away or across town. But how different? For the first time in Washington’s history, Ecology will be able to answer that in greater detail, thanks to a new study funded by the Climate Commitment Act (CCA). This winter, a fleet of specialized air monitoring vehicles will hit the streets in over 20 overburdened communities and participating Tribal Nations as part of a one-time, year-long High Resolution Mobile Monitoring study.
Published activity records dated 2026-10-15 include 45 Bellingham Police entries.
SOUTH WHATCOM FIRE AUTHORITY
This fall, the College of the Environment welcomes Assistant Professor Kate Hayes, who specializes in forest systems, wildfire and climate change.
Public Hearing - Zoning Moratorium - Battery Energy Storage Systems
If you have an immediate family member walking in December Commencement, we would like to offer you the opportunity to present their diploma at their scheduled commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026 (see the ceremony dates/times and corresponding colleges on the Ceremony Schedule page).
Our December Commencement ceremonies will take place on Saturday, Dec. 12.
SOUTH WHATCOM FIRE AUTHORITY
Published activity records dated 2026-10-14 include 46 Bellingham Police entries.
Permit applicants are being targeted with fraudulent permit invoices asking for the amount of the invoice to be paid by a wire transfer.
City of Blaine News Posted on October 13, 2026
It’s one of those exquisite Pacific Northwest July mornings when the sky is clear, and the promise of ripening berries lightly scents the crisp air. Western Washington University students Finley Bell and Aaron Dubbels hike a narrowing trail into Olsen Creek State Forest, east of Lake Whatcom, accompanied by a soundtrack of birdsong and bootfall.
Western Washington University has hired Samara Taber as chief of staff to the provost, bringing more than a decade of senior higher education leadership experience to the university’s Academic Affairs Division.
Published activity records dated 2026-10-13 include 32 Bellingham Police entries.
WWU's Professor of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Sheryl Bernardo-Hinesley, Associate Professor of Linguistics R. Mata and Master in Teaching student Dana Gravseth presented their research at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest in Towson, Maryland.
Hilary Schwandt is a Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies public health professor who specializes in reproductive health. Most recently, her work has taken her to Mongolia, where Schwandt said medical tests and cultural attitudes are obstacles to abortion access.
Northwest Washington is a place of unique abundance. Salmon and orcas move through the Salish Sea, one of North America’s largest estuaries, billions of birds pass through along the Pacific Flyway, and our mature forests store carbon as well as almost anywhere on Earth. The same land and water supports agriculture, working forests, and four of the state’s five oil refineries. An expanding population, rising sea levels, flooding, and wildfire smoke—all in a changing climate—add further complexity to choices about how and where to grow.
Spring 2026 Industrial Design alum Kylea Assayag-Nodine was recognized as one of the top undergraduate students in the nation for work she completed during her senior year at Western.
The former Department of Finance and Marketing opened academic year 2026-27 restructured as the Department of Marketing and the Department of Finance. The two disciplines have always been distinct, but each has grown substantially since they were paired up in a split from Finance, Marketing and Decision Sciences in 2002.
Most people are familiar with multi-factor authentication (MFA): after entering a password, you're asked to approve a sign-in or enter a code. MFA remains one of the most effective ways to protect accounts, but the next step in account security is already here: passkeys.
Published activity records dated 2026-10-12 include 53 Bellingham Police entries.
The original article was published from 10/12/2026 12:00:00 PM to 10/14/2026 1:00:00 PM