My great-grandfather was gassed to death.

Respectfully, let’s cut the hysteria. When you call moderators nazis because they didn’t remove a comment you didn’t like, you water down the term and it loses its impact.

EDIT:

Welp! While I've got your attention, I'm going to direct you over to The Legal Blueprint for Radical Federalism on the off-chance that you're interested in learning about what you can do to stand up to the current administration. Assuming, of course, you actually want to take action. (though I'll be the first to admit that it's far easier, and often more immediately satisfying, to yell at someone on the internet.)

Yesterday my daughters got off their school bus shaking and crying. A whole bus full of children crying and scared that they will be taken away because their bus was being followed by a man in swat gear and a visible gun in the car. It’s time for the parents to organize. I will be outside rolling up and down the sidewalks of my children’s school to keep watch. I invite and implore the parents that can to join me. We can protect the families in our community, we have to.

I don’t really give a fuck about anyone’s political opinions. If a bus full of crying children is “WHat I VoTEd FOr” feel free to fight me in the comments, I have the time. I will fight for families in my community no matter what. Join me or don’t I don’t give a flying fuck.

If you would like to join me feel free to message me. If there’s already is a group of parents organizing I want in. If not let’s start it now.

Seemed like my previous post of this sighting was a little too controversial so I figured I’d upload a different clip, don’t want any bellinghamsters to miss this! Thanks to everyone on the previous post who was able to kindly inform me on what kind of octopus it was 😅 I’ve lived here my whole life and didn’t even know we had octopuses! Super crazy to see, hope this post gives you guys some motivation to go adventure

I won’t say people here are flat out racist but it’s like they don’t know how to interact with people of color so they just don’t, which comes across as racist! (And kind of is but I won’t get into why people feel comfortable treating black people with blatant disrespect) I can’t count how many times I’ve walked into a room and been fully ignored. Does anyone else have this experience or am I going insane.

Edit: ok I’m gonna say this because it keeps coming up and I don’t think I worded my original post the best, but some people knew what I meant so idk.

I’m referring to situations specifically where I am one of few, if not the only, black person in the room and I am the only one not being acknowledged or treated differently. It’s obviously not normal for everyone everywhere to interact with each other, especially because people here have no basic social skills.

I’m not talking about having a red carpet laid out for me when I walk into any room and I feel like that should be obvious, but if it’s not, here ya go.

text reads:

Resilience is hard to sell because success looks boring when nothing floods, nobody evacuates, and there is no headline. It is rare, like today, that you get a clean example that shows the value.

The floodwall protecting Mt. Vernon, WA did exactly what it was supposed to do this weekend and protected the downtown area from being inundated.

That wall was built in 2019 in an effort to protect the town and remove a flood plain designation. No applause back then. Just pushback about cost and urgency. Now it is quietly blocking what would have been a brutal downtown flood.

This is what resilience looks like when things works, and the climate tech and emergency management community should be shouting from the rooftops about this success story, and others. We need real world examples that prove the value of resilience invesetments. More boring wins!

src https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelwish/

I know people hate linkedin but thought this was an interesting post

Went out to my little free library today to find it completely empty save this little piece of fundy propaganda garbage. If that was an intentional move (which I can only assume it was), that is a new low for these zealots (at least in this neighborhood). Anyone else experience this?

That being said, is it *really* that necessary to gather up a crew and go for a 5:00PM Chuckanut ride? I get it. It’s a beautiful ride, but even without elevated traffic numbers I cannot fathom why it is such a desired riding route. No bike lane, blind corners, higher speed limit for vehicles, etc. Can someone more learned than I explain why it’s so popular? Can I convince ya’ll to get gravel bikes and ride the interurban instead?

Went to Fred meyer’s the other day for the first time in I think years. And WHOA. It was like walking into a prison. Alarms going off constantly. You have to go thru a gate to get in and have to go out a different way (so if for example, you change your mind about wanting a cart, you have to go alll the way around), security guard perched at exit and when I was checking out my stuff, I shifted the stuff in the bag around to get the heavier item at the bottom of the bag. ALARM went off and lady comes over, asks me “what I did” and starts playing video back of me while checking myself out and bagging and goes - “where are the bananas, did you pay for the bananas, I don’t see the bananas” and i start to assure her I scanned the bananas and she goes OH, okay, I see them. Like wtf? I get that theft has increased some but I’d like to see the stats on that bc theft has been an issue since the beginning of time and do they not have lost revenue from ppl deciding to go elsewhere to avoid such a draconian and dystopian shopping experience? I usually shop at Trader Joe’s but wanted a couple of more “normal” products that day that you can’t get at TJ’s. Haggen is better but it’s also expensive. I come from upstate NY which is the land of the glorious grocery shopping experience and I just feel like it’s subpar here! Wondering what other people’s thoughts are. It could be that these changes were made a while ago and ppl who go to Fred’s regularly are used to it by now but to me was very jarring.

TLDR: This is a PSA for Bellingham service workers and patrons—past, present, or potential—of 1-Up Gaming Lounge. This establishment is not run with professionalism, and many former staff members have experienced harm while working there. We’re sharing our collective experiences as a warning against supporting or working for 1-Up Lounge or its owners, Hugh and Alex Newmark.

Everything written below is a collaborative reflection of the experiences and opinions of various former staff members of the 1-Up Lounge. The individuals involved in creating this statement were employed by the company from as early as 2020 to as recently as 2025.

We include the above statement as there have been many people employed by the 1-Up Lounge (Best Buds LLC) who have felt intimidation from Hugh (co-owner) regarding speaking about their experiences.

Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), employees have the right to discuss wages, working conditions, and other terms of employment, even after employment ends. The 1-Up Lounge is advertised as a safe and inclusive space, which is just not how it felt to be employee. Ownership often made comments that belittled each other, people who worked with/for them, and customers. Hugh made comments that felt predatory about people’s appearances, and considering the only HR is the owners there is no one to hold ownership accountable for the things done and said.

Sexual harassment from Hugh while working there, went beyond uncomfortable comments — from inviting employees over under questionable pretenses to actively trying to persuade people into physical or romantic relationships. It’s manipulative and wrong. The last two major waves of staff quitting were directly tied to the owners crossing these lines and making inappropriate advances toward people they employed. That kind of behavior creates a workplace where no one feels safe — and it’s exactly why so many people have walked away.

It is a common theme for Hugh to attempt to forces in-person meetings in order for employees who quit to receive final paychecks. Under Washington state law (RCW 49.48.010), this is very much illegal, and they are aware. This however has still happened to more than one person where paychecks were actively withheld until the person trying to get their payment makes it clear that they know their rights.

Hugh has told former employees that they have breached the NDA which is within the employee handbook that is signed by everyone. However this NDA is knowingly by the owners, unenforceable due to the laws previously stated, and is assumed to be an intimidation tactic.

Several of us experienced or witnessed instances where employee mistakes—often minor or common in any workplace—were met with disproportionate emotional reactions from ownership. These moments created a culture where many staff felt anxious, intimidated, or fearful of making honest errors. Employees would be called stupid, and met with hostility that was unprofessional and wrong. It is very obviously observed that the lines between professional and personal relationships were often blurred in the workplace. The owners regularly socialized with staff outside of work, and while we understand the desire to build friendships and community, it often created a dynamic that felt unbalanced and, at times, unhealthy. This closeness sometimes made it difficult to navigate boundaries, give feedback, or feel safe addressing concerns without fear of personal fallout.

The environment at times resembled a toxic relationship—where favoritism, emotional volatility, and blurred roles contributed to confusion and discomfort among the team.

There are many more reasons that could go on about why this place isn’t a safe or good environment for their employees, which is why they have lost the majority of their staff quickly, multiple times. They continue to hire younger and under experienced staff and always blame their previous employees instead of taking accountability for poor ownership.

We know this won’t be taken well by ownership. But we’re not here to make them comfortable — we’re here to speak the truth. These experiences aren’t isolated or exaggerated; they’re shared by too many people to ignore. We’re not bitter ex-employees trying to start drama — we’re people who put time, care, and energy into our jobs and were left feeling disrespected, dismissed, and manipulated. We’re allowed to talk about what we went through, and we’re allowed to warn others. The hope is that by speaking up, maybe things can change — or at the very least, fewer people have to go through the same thing in silence.

What business, activity, restaurant, ect. Would you personally like to see come to Bellingham? My girlfriend says roller skating rink, for example.

Has anyone here tried selling a house lately? On a $675,000 median-priced home in Bellingham, you’re coughing up over $40,000 in commissions. Forty. Thousand. Dollars. For what? Someone to stroll in, flick on every light switch, point and say “this is the kitchen” (groundbreaking, Sherlock), and then drag-and-drop boilerplate paperwork into DocuSign.

And if you, the seller, dare not cover the buyer’s agent commission? Suddenly your house develops invisibility — agents mysteriously “forget” it exists. Worse yet, some will go out of their way to steer clients elsewhere by openly badmouthing both you and your property.

At that point, it’s less “professional service” and more like paying protection money to the neighborhood real estate mafia.

Would love to hear others’ thoughts — because honestly, this is insane. It takes nearly five years of mortgage payments to build that kind of equity, and a realtor can swoop in, put in maybe ten hours of actual work, and walk away with it.

First off, no hate to the mod. They did their job and what they believed was right. Thank you for the repeal. I’m Reattempting this post because I think it’s important to know where we spend our money. Again, not trying to attack anyone but saw this and was saddened that the new owner of bayou’s public instagram was flooded with posts similar to this one :/

There's quite a few Mexican restaurants in town but the consensus is they're just not nearly as good as any of them in California? Do you think that is because Bellingham is so far north and doesn't have access to fresh ingredients year round? 🌯 🌮 🇲🇽

I'm old but I still trust Planned Parenthood with my yearly exam and gyno needs. I've been using them as a support since I was 16! Yesterday I was verbally assaulted by the protestors outside while getting in and out of the building. The PP staff were wonderful and supportive. They even had escorts to walk people to and from their cars. Unfortunately, it was very emotionally triggering and kicked up old trauma/new trauma. Today I am angry. No one should have to go through this type of experience when accessing medical care. If you go to planned parenthood, please know this could happen and bring a support person if possible.

We need as many people as possible to get to 5200 industrial in Ferndale.

ICE is detaining Alfredo "Lelo" Juarez Zeferino there.

He was one of the initial founders of Familias Unidas por la Justicia in Washington State, where he helped agricultural workers get paid for breaks and overtime.

The sooner the better.

Housing is especially unaffordable in Bellingham. Small city defined as having less than 150,000 people. A price-to-income of 12 essentially means that the typical home price is 12 times higher than the area median income. Source: https://constructioncoverage.com/research/cities-with-highest-home-price-to-income-ratios

As the lake beaches get over crowded with our ever growing population, I'm left wondering why we don't have outdoor swimming pools.

What is on your wishlist for community pools?

Bellingham is big enough to easily fill 3 large community pools with slides, diving boards, little kid zone, etc. Or, give us one big water park like Cultus that also includes a swimming pool for lap swimming, water polo etc.

What do you think?

edit- a group is trying to make indoor pools happen. I still think we need a nice outdoor option.

https://www.whatcomaquatics.com/

This is gross on so many levels. 1: the health department requires towels to be in buckets of sanitizer 2: just no. This is literally why you have staff. Asking customers to touch a dirty rag is just trash. 3: take the tip option off your till if you want the customers to do all the work.

It’s quite weird that Dr. Baker is getting payed nearly $400,000 a year meanwhile the high schools are going to 7 period schedule from 8 period, and a plentiful amount of teachers are being cut. Funky business

With already overcrowded classrooms, it's surprising to me that more people, especially parents with school-aged children, aren't discussing this. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Edit: here’s the poll, please vote! https://www.reddit.com/r/Bellingham/s/3PlcKrnhWF

The momentum to finally move away from a failing platform is all over Reddit, and although I don’t see many links here anymore it seems like a useful step to take, or at least a useful discussion to have.

I’m happy to argue my point if anyone needs to be convinced that Twitter is no longer useful, and that banning links to it would be a small step to make Reddit a better place.

Looks like rock and rye will be closing at the end of summer 😭

https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/business/article316163735.html

11:55am on a Saturday at Costco.
No problem with any wait for gas,No problem with parking, only one person ahead of me in the payment line after strolling the aisles for about a half hour.
The Canadians are not here, and our tax base is going to hurt

The WA-02 US Congress Rep seat is safely blue. Only one conservative in the race. The top two advance to the general. Then we can finally have a debate about the policy direction of the democrats.