Bellingham News

April Eaton trains for the Chuckanut Foot Race by running two laps around Lake Padden on Thursday, July 10, 2014, in Bellingham.

Bellingham's Bryce Pennock hits a double against North Olympic during Northwest Washington 11U Tournament play Thursday, July 10, 2014 at Conoco Phillips Sportsplex Baseball Fields in Ferndale.

The excitement of buying pot in a store hadn't lost its luster as Bellingham's second marijuana store opened to a line of about 40 people Thursday, July 10. With a wink to pot culture, 2020 Solutions opened its doors just before 4:20 p.m., and the line of people waiting in the sun steadily grew.

As police noted a quieter but still busy Independence Day in Bellingham - where residential fireworks were banned for the first time - firefighters and medical personnel saw fewer incidents and injuries related to pyrotechnics this year.

Honey Salon, 310 W. Holly St., showcases the art of visual and graphic artist Stevie Chandler during the salon's makeover celebration from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 11, at the Downtown Art Walk.

Public Works will close several streets surrounding the Bellingham Public Library for the Relay for Life of Whatcom County on Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12. Those roads will include Grand Avenue between Gerard Street and Flora Street, Central Avenue between Prospect Street and Flora, North Commercial Street between Flora and Whatcom Creek, ... (more)

Help your children experience the art of creative collaboration with a free drop-in Play Lab from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, July 14, at the Bellingham Public Library, 210 Central Ave. It's an event held once every year families with children 3 and up, said Bethany Hoglund, head of children's services.

But by late evening, not a single gram had been sold. The 1 1/2-pound shipment finally rolled in about 9 p.m., and employees scrambled to get the product counted and ready to sell to the line of customers by 9:20 p.m. They sold almost a pound by midnight, and by Wednesday afternoon were nearly sold out completely, employees said.

Bellingham Bay Fencing Association member Abby Barr, left, fences with Jason Lenz, right, on Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Bellingham, Wash.

Sheila Nickerson, a former poet laureate of Alaska, shares her newest book, "Harnessed to the Pole: Sledge Dogs in Service to American Explorers of the Arctic 1853-1909," at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 10, 2014 at Village Books.

In Western Washington, we like to say that summer doesn't start until after Independence Day.

"We are opening tomorrow at 4:20 p.m. We'll be open 'til midnight. We'll let our customers sleep in," said Aaron Nelson, senior vice president of operations for 2020 Solutions.

The sixth annual Sunnyland Stomp, including the second annual Chicken Race, will take place in Bellingham's Sunnyland neighborhood from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday, July 12, 2014.

Bellingham's Nearly Stellar theater company presents Mark Landon Smith's "An Evening of Culture: Faith County II," continuing the saga of a community theater troupe trying to stage "Romeo and Juliet."

Kevin Nelson, of Bellingham, Wash., holds a sign that reads "Drug War Ends Here," outside Top Shelf Cannabis, Tuesday, July 8, 2014, in Bellingham, Wash.

My blog is about an alternative retirement lifestyle - Full-Time RVing. Here you get to follow my travels and see many of the interesting places and people I encounter along my way.

I take great pride in representing Bellingham in Congress. Not only is it the most beautiful district in the country, it is also where I was born and raised.

A customer who declined to give his name sniffs a strain of recreational marijuana at Top Shelf Cannabis on Tuesday in Bellingham, Wash., during the first half-hour of legal sales in the state.

David Perry Snelling discusses his new mystery, "Without a Clue" - about a former Norwegian policeman and his wife who survived the German occupation of Norway and subsequently move to Camano Island - at 7 p.m. Friday, July 11, 2014 at Village Books, 1200 11th St. in Bellingham.

Bellingham artist Melissa Bishop exhibits her paintings at Buethorn Watercolor Studio, 301 W. Holly St, from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 11, during the monthly Downtown Art Walk, showing through the end of August.