With last week’s revelation that the Lummi Nation is forcing the Lummi Island Ferry to move its dock off Gooseberry Point, it’s become clear - no matter which way you slice it - ferry service to the 1,000 people living on the island is set to cost far more than it has in the past.

But who pays?

Many residents of the island have long insisted that the county providing ferry service to the island is on par with the county providing roads to, say, Sumas.

The new potential for millions more in ferry service costs ups the ante because the bill will likely be passed on to all county taxpayers, and it’s doubtful the county will be able to come up with the additional cash from its existing coffers.

Are you ready for a tax increase to subsidize life on Lummi Island for its 1000 residents?

Here’s my proposal, just to make it fair: 1. The county should determine how much it would cost to pave a road to Lummi Island if it were not separated from the mainland by water. 2. The county should subsidize ferry service to Lummi Island only to the dollar total that hypothetical paving project would cost. 3. The rest of the money should come from either island residents, grants, donations… wherever they can find the funds.

It’s true that a one-time subsidy of this amount likely wouldn’t even total what the county spends every year on the current ferry service, but why should I be funding the transportation needs of a small group of people?

Perhaps I’m cruel, but living on Lummi Island is a privilege, and not a right, just as much as living in the Edgemoor neighborhood isn’t a right.

I don’t live in Edgemoor because I can’t afford it… but should I demand that the county cover what I can’t?

On tonight’s show, caller Jerome from Mt. Vernon had a lot of good points about why Glenn Beck should not get his own day in that city, and should not get the ‘key to the city’ (whatever actual significance that has, I don’t know).

Listen to the show here:

http://www.kgmi.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4041918

My point was that if a city has a hometown boy that is as successful as Beck, they should be allowed to honor him, even if some people don’t like him. And a lot of people don’t like Glenn Beck. They hate Glenn Beck (which poses a question about hatred, but I won’t address that here).

But Jerome said he didn’t care whether Beck’s haters were on the left or the right, he said anyone that controversial shouldn’t be given the key to the city.

I brought up Howard Stern (and later, I also mentioned sports figures like Roger Clemens and Pete Rose). Many people are offended by Stern, just like many are offended by Beck. Should Stern’s hometown declare a ‘Howard Stern Day’ to honor his success? Should he be given the key to his city?

Jerome said no, and I appreciate his consistency. For him to say yes would be hypocritical.

But what about all this alleged damage to the city of Mt. Vernon. Jerome said people around the country plan to boycott the city’s businesses, even the famous tulip festival, over this apparent endorsement of Beck’s so-called hateful views. He said the city didn’t want or need this kind of attention.

Do you really believe the city of Mt. Vernon will suffer over declaring a ‘Glenn Beck Day’? Personally, I doubt it. Like they say, ‘No press is bad press’ (think about it).

Furthermore, who is responsible for any negative press for the city over this event? Certainly not Glenn Beck or those who organized the event. The negativity arose from people who decided to make a big issue out of something that’s really not a big deal.

If it weren’t for people freaking out about it, hardly anyone would know.  It was a little local story that hardly anyone beyond Whatcom and Skagit counties would really care about until people began to protest it.

I’m all for Bellingham being a ‘Sanctuary City’… that is, if it’s a sanctuary that offers me protection from parking tickets. I got one yesterday, after I parked for 2 minutes to jump out and snap a photo. When I returned, there were not one, but TWO ‘meter maid’ little 3-wheel scooter-cars zooming away from the area. LAME.

But, in all seriousness, am I missing something on this sanctuary city issue? Since when do certain cities choose to disregard certain laws — federal-level laws — as they see fit? What if Bellingham became a ’sanctuary city’ for pot smokers? Shouldn’t it be illegal for a city to say it won’t enforce the laws of the land?

Furthermore, the Bellingham City Council would never, NEVER hold a “Public Discussion” on a conservative-generated issue. With even more certainty, I can say the current city council would never, NEVER EVER approve a resolution that supported a conservative viewpoint (let’s say, for instance, one that encouraged business in the community).

Read what the local Republicans have to say here: http://www.whatcomgop.com/

Now, so you can be informed, go read what the other side is saying: http://www.sanctuary-city.org/

I trust you’ll see, upon visiting their site, how little sense this whole idea makes.

Remember all the controversy over an environment-killing and neighborhood-destroying co-gen facility at BP Cherry Point?

Remember the brouhaha over the SE-2 proposal that would have undoubtedly sent many to their graves by spewing thick clouds of acrid toxins into the local airshed?

I remember, and yesterday I learned something about Whatcom County (I pride myself in knowing what’s going on around here).

I found out that the evil, greedy power companies have been running a similar power generation facility near Birch Bay - SINCE 1974!!!

I’m guessing most of you, like myself, never knew a twin-turbine, natural gas-fired, 74-megawatt power plant existed there.

In fact, that’s probably the last thing you’re thinking about on those nice summer days when you bring the kids out to Birch Bay for a big picnic and bonfire.

It really calls into question the over-the-top rhetoric we’ve heard around here for years, every time a power plant is proposed. Just as people seem to be ignorant of where their food comes from, a lot of people also seem to be unable to make the connection between power plants and their daily lives. People don’t realize where electricity comes from.

I’m all for incentives to reduce power consumption and the pollution it unfortunately takes to produce power. But we’ve got to be realistic about where power comes from, and how much we rely on it.

Now that I know that know about PSE’s Whitehorn Facility near Birch Bay, I’ve got to ask: how many people are really bothered by the power plant in our ‘backyard’?

How much horrible environmental destruction has been wrought by the sinister turbines running near Whatcom County’s shores?

And, to reference the scare tactics of the NO SE2 people in the late ’90s, exactly how many people have died because of the generation facility’s emissions?

The bottom line is, no one has died. Birch Bay is still gorgeous. And very few local residents even realize there’s a power plant that’s been there for 35 years.

For those who have been asking — there’s some ‘good’ news for you.

My town is changing. The fact that the Lynden City Council is even considering allowing alcohol sales on Sunday is rather amazing to me. 

For my entire life, Sundays have been - for lack of a better term - sacred in Lynden, with local laws enforcing a weekly Prohibition of sorts, and local residents enforcing a different code, blocking Sunday lawn mowing, Sunday shopping and a variety of other evils that Lynden’s lesser residents often practice to the chagrin of their more traditional neighbors.

Obviously, I’m being a bit sarcastic toward what’s sometimes an overbearing contingent of people that some consider to be Lynden’s moral police. But is the issue moral, or even religious, as many contend?

A lot of Lyndenites cite faith-based Sabbath teachings to support Lynden’s block on Sunday alcohol, and (in years past) it’s opposition to large retail establishments that refuse to close on Sunday. But its not about religion, or at least shouldn’t be, in my mind.

Bellinghamsters routinely mock Lynden’s conservative approach to Sunday business, yet a growing group of Bellingham residents cry foul at any proposal for a ‘big box’ store. Their liberal views and general aversion to religion keep them from seeing they’re actually on the same page with the conservative Lyndenites hoping to preserve their town’s unique character.

The arguments have the same starting point. Both the Bellingham Anti-Big Box crowd and the Lynden ‘Keep Sunday Sacred’ group like their town the way it is - or was - and want to keep it that way.

My points:

1. The Bellingham Anti-Big Box people who mock Lynden’s ‘religious’ opposition to Sunday activities are hypocrites.

2. The Lynden ‘Conservative’ Anti-Sunday Business people are hypocrites as well. Often aligned with a conservative Republican value system, they have no idea how far they stray from the ‘keep government out of my life’ way of thinking when they support government control over when people can open their stores or sell certain things.

At the end of the day, I’m torn. I want to keep Lynden the way it is: small, hopefully friendly, and particularly quiet on Sundays. I even empathize with the ‘liberal’ Bellinghamsters who want to keep their town’s unique character, and allow small, locally-owned business to flourish.

But, I don’t necessarily feel right about allowing government to control which days people do business. My conservative roots say that’s unfair, and that government should keep its paws off businesses, especially small local businesses.

Both Lynden and Bellingham should consider two questions: if we enact laws restricting business, will this send customers elsewhere and hurt the local economy? Similarly, if we don’t restrict business and compromise our town’s character, will we ultimately ruin the unique town that customers came to enjoy in the first place?