From the editor’s desk: We're getting our feet wet this week on the waterfront. Not our waterfront, per se. But a number of others, looking toward what Bellingham's might become.
Friday marks the debut of "Sea Change," a multipart Cascadia Daily News enterprise series prompted by a fresh civic focus on our city's central waterfront.
That semi-blank slate was created by the official breakup last year between the Port of Bellingham and its previously contracted Irish development firm, Harcourt. The latter's fleeing of the crime scene left prime waterfront property, much of it controlled by the Port of Bellingham, to some degree back in play, with new planning efforts also being invigorated by what soon will be a broader-based Port Commission.
Last month, we sent reporter Annie Todd and photojournalist Santiago Ochoa out on the road, making stops at waterfronts in Everett, Port Townsend and Grays Harbor to bring home stories and images about how those locales reimagined, then reshaped, their own waterfronts. (Sorry about the weather, you two.) Over several days, our team did quick-but-deep dives into who drove those processes, what worked and what didn't, and how well initial plans have panned out today.
Visual journalist Santiago Ochoa and reporter Annie Todd on assignment in March for "Sea change."
Each of those locations, Todd notes in her introduction, shares similarities with Bellingham: They're all deep-water ports with cargo capacity. Each has a history of timber, fishing and mills. And the local populations and port structures are similar to ours here in Whatcom County.
Don't miss part one this Friday. A sneak peek from Todd: "No port is perfect; each has unique challenges." But each also offers important lessons for our own readers and leaders.
There's precedent
I'm proud of this sort of enterprise work from our staff, leaving our own region to mine ideas from other cities and towns facing similar civic problems. Sea Change was inspired, to some degree, by a CDN examination in November 2024 of regional indoor-recreation facilities. I think those stories, written by Charlotte Alden and photographed by Finn Wendt, helped set the table for ongoing discussions here about plans for a new Bellingham Civic Athletic Complex. We hope local leaders get the message that it's not always necessary to completely reinvent the wheel.
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Ep 3: The glamour of local government
Do residents get anything out of local government meetings? The short answer — yes. Meetings that are typically deemed mundane or boring are among the best ways to stay up to date on what local officials are doing. In this episode of “On Background,” CDN reporters Julia Tellman and Annie Todd discuss the role of a local journalist when it comes to covering city council, county council and port meetings.
This week's (highly unscientific) poll
As noted above, Whatcom County folks get a partial reset, at least, for what might happen on Bellingham's largely still-vacant central waterfront.
The question: Which of the following would you most like to see added there? (Click on answer to see results.)
What I’m reading
Washington State Standard: "Top credit rating agency puts Washington on notice," by Jerry Cornfield. Yes, that's our Washington.
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The Conversation: "Three reasons Donald Trump won't pull the US out of Nato," by Paul Whitely, University of Essex. This tracks, but hasn't he effectively already done so?
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Sony Legacy: "Tony Bennett, MTV Unplugged," vinyl, great get from Record Store Day. You'll be boppin'.
Ep 4: For the people who care about health care
Cascadia Daily News has the only journalist covering public health and health care systems full time in NW Washington. In this episode of “On Background,” CDN’s Owen Racer talks about the challenges and surprises of covering public health and health care in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Owen’s reporting is supported by Report for America. Listeners who want to support Owen’s coverage can make a tax-deductible donation at cascadiadaily.com/donate.
Ron Judd has been CDN’s executive editor since its founding in mid-2021, following a three-decade career as a reporter and columnist at The Seattle Times. His columns appear in CDN’s online and print editions on Fridays. Email: [email protected].
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