Bellingham Scoop: Bellingham Lands $630K EV Grant

Today's Weather: Partly sunny with a high near 70 degrees, a calm westerly breeze picking up in the afternoon. Tonight turns mostly cloudy with a low around 51. A gorgeous start to May. Full forecast at the National Weather Service.

Happy Friday, Bellingham. It is May 1 and spring is officially running the show. Big news out of City Hall today, a heads-up for Ferndale drivers tomorrow, and a proper send-off for someone who gave three decades to keeping Whatcom County safe. Let's get into it.

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City News

Bellingham Lands $630,000 Grant to Launch EV Carshare Co-op for Low-Income Residents

Bellingham received a $630,000 Transportation Emission Reduction Grant from Puget Sound Energy to launch a pilot electric vehicle carshare cooperative for low-income residents. The co-op is aimed at bringing EV access within reach for households who stand to benefit most from lower transportation costs but have not had a practical path to an electric vehicle.

City Council also approved a cooperative agreement with Lummi Nation, the Nooksack Indian Tribe, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for fish passage restoration. Partners will inventory barriers in local waterways and build an implementation plan together. Full details here.

Heads Up, Drivers

Ferndale: Expect One-Way Traffic Saturday Morning for Community Clean-Up Day

One-Way Restrictions Downtown Ferndale: Saturday, May 2, 7am to 1pm

Heads up if you are driving through downtown Ferndale on Saturday. The city is restricting 4th Avenue south of Main Street and Alder Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue to one-way travel from 7am to 1pm on Saturday, May 2.

The restriction is for the Ferndale Downtown Association's Annual Community Clean-Up Day. Read the traffic notice here, or check ferndaledowntown.com for the full event details.

Civic

Candidate Filing Week Opens May 4 in Whatcom County: Here Is How to Run for Office

Filing Opens Monday, May 4 at 8am

Thinking about running for local office? Candidate Filing Week opens Monday, May 4 and closes Friday, May 8, 2026. You can file a Declaration of Candidacy online at voter.votewa.gov/CandidateFiling starting at 8am Monday, or head in person to 311 Grand Ave Suite 103 in Bellingham. Mail, email, and fax are also accepted options.

The Candidate Filing Guide is available at whatcomcounty.us/CandidateResources. More information here.

Schools

Bellingham School District Sets the Record Straight on Bond History and Past Elections

District Responds to Misinformation About Bond Funds

The Bellingham School District issued a statement this week addressing what it called misinformation circulating about two past bond measures. On the 2006 bond: funds originally set aside for seismic retrofitting at the District Office were redirected in 2011 to rebuild Birchwood Elementary, following citizen input. On the 2013 bond: the project list came out of a Facilities Planning Task Force, a citizen-led process from 2012.

The district says all records are publicly available. Read the full statement at bellinghamschools.org.

Local Research

WWU Graduate Student Develops Methods to Detect Toxic Chemicals in Food and the Environment

WWU Chemistry Student Tackles Food Safety and Contamination Detection

A chemistry graduate student at Western Washington University is building new methods to detect toxic chemicals in fruits, vegetables, and the broader environment. Tosin Ogunrinola, who came to WWU from Nigeria, is working to improve sensitivity for low-level contaminants, with potential applications in food safety and environmental monitoring.

The research connects directly to Whatcom County's agricultural and industrial landscape. Read more about the project here.

Feel Good Friday

Whatcom County Sheriff's Office Honors Jason Gum After a 30-Year Law Enforcement Career

Thirty years. That is how long Jason Gum served in law enforcement before retiring this week as Chief Criminal Deputy of the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.

Gum started as a corrections deputy at Skagit County in January 1996, transitioned to Mount Vernon PD in 1997, spent three years with DHS, and joined WCSO in September 2007. Over nearly two decades there, he worked his way from patrol deputy to neighborhood deputy, investigator, detective, patrol sergeant, chief inspector, and finally Chief Criminal Deputy.

The Sheriff's Office marked April 30 as his final day with a celebration of his career. A lot of institutional knowledge and service wrapped up this week. Congratulations, Jason. Read the full tribute here.

Upcoming Week

The Upcoming Week

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