Nosin' Around for News

The new Birch Bay Cafe and Bistro will open in about a month in the building we know and love as the “Blue Fish.” This according to Mr. Yoon, the proprietor, who I met Wednesday evening. He was working hard and sweating from cleaning the place up but smiling as he pointed to the liquor license application on the door.

But the picture is bleak at the Beach House that many are wistfully calling Stefanie's again. I'm hearing that, if new management doesn't appear soon, the season will be lost. A former employee explained that when Wynstra folded the leasing company pulled out all the equipment and that will take time to replace.

Down the drive, the CJ Wijns space was purchased by 'Grand Bay' condo owners who are advertising for an operator. There, too, nothing is left – including that nice furniture.

Word is the golf course is an impossible situation because the high cost of water to keep the grass alive could never be covered by green fees.

Turning to the beach, we understand Birch Bay and Blaine have been separated in a petition by ReSources to require participation in stormwater permit requirements. There was consideration that Blaine does not have enough population to be included but that, we understand, has been resolved. This is a WIN for the folks who run the Blaine city government – Dept. of Ecology pressure will enhance their stature of having the 97^th worst polluted body of water in the state.

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New Precinct Map

This map shows the new precinct alignment; you should have received a card from the Auditor that states which precinct you are now in. We've circled all those that relate to Birch Bay. Parts of some are outside the existing Urban Growth Area. Because we are “county,” the precinct delineation process made no effort to fit the new lines into the UGA as was done with cities. The Birch Bay Community Council will want to deal with this when the growth plan is reviewed.

Comments are encouraged.

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How to address your Congressman

At the February OFA convention in Everett, Congressman Rick Larsen was asked how to communicate with him.

Write me directly; I tell my staff to pay more attention to an e-mail from an individual constituent than to one forwarded by 500 people, is the gist of what he said.

In a remarkably thoughtful talk, Larsen went on to discuss the importance of the contest for the refigured Congressional District 1 seat as one of three Washington Democrats need to win to take back the House.

“Having run against John Koster twice and beaten him twice, I don't think he's a good fit for that new district,” said the Congressman. (Observers suggest that Koster, a Snohomish County commissioner and a Tea Party favorite, is more right wing than most voters in the southern end of the district.)

In what seemed more reality than a prediction, Larsen said the field of Democrat candidates for District 1 – are there now five or six? – needs to be narrowed by the filing deadline of May 18. He recently endorsed Suzan DelBenne.

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