Christian Schraegle (he/him)
Age: 34
City: Bellingham
Lived here for: About 13 years
Originally from: Freudenstadt, Germany
Notable: Personal trainer at Iron Mountain Strength & Conditioning in Bellingham
What is your approach to personal training?
My main approach to personal training is to make sure that people have the best understanding of resistance training and of their bodies to make more informed decisions for themselves. So I do like to educate my people as best as I can, so they can have a better understanding of why we’re doing something, the different parameters in which we can work in. Because it turns out it’s not a super specific scientific thing. There can be a lot of different ways to approach something, and I often find that that can help people who may be a little bit more intimidated, reserved, maybe had experiences in the past where they may be fearful of movement.
Everything is very unique to that individual. … People have different needs at different times, progress at different rates, all that kind of stuff.
You talked about helping people through fears about movement. I would imagine that a big component of personal training is helping people through that psychological aspect. Can you tell me about that?
[If] someone comes in very fearful, very hesitant, then I gotta make sure to really dose things correctly and kind of meet them where they’re at. Because if I do too much, then that could mean that they stop training.
It can be a very fragile thing. One thing that I generally like to do with someone like that is give them as much control as possible. You know, it’s like, ‘Do you want to do this? We can do something else. Should we stay at this weight?’ Stuff like that — just kind of give them time to live and experience that, ‘I did this, and I’m OK. My symptoms aren’t getting worse. Yeah, I might feel some soreness.’
Over time, as people experience that more, the confidence grows, and that’s really cool to see when people can … not be as fearful of movement. It’s fantastic.
I heard you have a particular focus on older clients. Is that the case? And can you tell me about why that is?
I mean, I work with anybody, but I definitely do like to work with seniors. A lot, actually. I’ve had some previous experience in that field. When I moved to Bellingham, I got about four years’ experience in the dementia care realm. So there was some familiarity there, and I think weight training can have a profound positive impact on our seniors.
[That] really inspired me to work with them, especially if there are … fears, maybe there are hesitations, maybe there are like, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t be lifting heavy because I’ll hurt myself’ type of thoughts. Well, let’s turn that around. Let’s see if we can work through that and overcome that. And yeah, it’s been really cool to see some turnarounds as seniors have started weightlifting. It’s really cool. Makes it all worth it.
“Faces in the Crowd” is published online and in print Fridays. Have a suggestion for a “Faces in the Crowd” subject? Email us at newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
Sophia Gates covers rural Whatcom and Skagit counties. She is a Washington State Murrow Fellow whose work is underwritten by taxpayers and available outside CDN's paywall. Reach her at sophiagates@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 131.
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Bellingham Mayor Mark Asmundson was in his yard early on a Tuesday morning in September 2001 when a neighbor told him to go turn on his television immediately. Watching the second plane crash into a tower in New York City in real time was like seeing an apocalyptic movie or horror film. He felt stunned disbelief and a jarring sense of cognitive dissonance, he said in an interview a quarter-century later.
When he arrived at city hall, Asmundson convened the department heads and public safety officers to determine whether the city “needed to be looking over our shoulder.” The city was in communication with the FBI to understand the extent of the attacks and whether the West Coast was at risk.
“We very quickly realized that no, that wasn’t the situation,” he said. “So we could think more about how to convey a message to our community. A horrific event has occurred, the consequences of which we don’t know yet, but we don’t need to be afraid, so how do we demonstrate grief about the people directly involved?”
Eventually, the world would come to learn that terrorists associated with al-Qaida, an Islamist extremist group, had hijacked four commercial airplanes and intentionally flown two of them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, while passengers and crew members on the fourth plane forced the hijacker to crash into a field in Pennsylvania.
The 9/11 attacks were the single largest loss of life from a foreign attack on American soil and caused the deaths of almost 3,000 people, including hundreds of emergency responders who rushed to the aid of those trapped in the Twin Towers. Thousands more have died in the intervening years from cancer and other illnesses attributed to 9/11.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen took office only nine months before the attack. As a fresh-faced 36-year-old in Congress, he did not expect to get the crash course on terrorism, Afghanistan, al-Qaida, military response and foreign policy that followed. Plus, the district he was newly representing felt vulnerable, Larsen said, with the Canada-U.S. border, naval bases, four refineries and a Boeing facility.
“I tell people now that when you run for office, you get to pick the issues you run on, and when you serve, the issues pick you,” he said in an interview this week.
In Washington, D.C., Capitol Hill was evacuated and the nascent email and cellular networks were overloaded, so Larsen and his aides went to his chief of staff’s house to call family members from a landline.
Larsen flew back to Seattle only days later, on one of the first flights out of Washington, D.C., after planes were grounded for several days. Passengers on his flight cheered and applauded when the plane landed safely.
About 90 miles north, Bellingham and Whatcom County officials had organized a memorial event at Civic Field and thousands gathered to recognize the victims.
“People here were very thoughtful, very sober and somber, and genuinely patriotic,” Asmundson said. “We all had kind of a hollow feeling after the Civic Field event. I think everyone assumed there would be consequences, but I’m not sure we imagined what they would be.”
Days after the attack, President George W. Bush called for American Muslims to be treated with respect, in the face of numerous incidents of harassment and hate crimes around the country.
In Whatcom County, that antipathy toward religious and ethnic minorities reared its head almost immediately. Members of the county’s Sikh population were afraid they would be targeted even though they weren’t Muslim. Their fear was justified.
Satpal Sidhu, now the county executive, did not hold office in 2001, but he was a leader in the Sikh community. He remembers that on the afternoon of 9/11, a truckload of high schoolers attempted to egg the Sikh temple outside of Lynden.
“People with turbans are very visible,” Sidhu said in an interview with Cascadia Daily News. “Ignorant people think anyone with a turban is Osama bin Laden’s first cousin.”
Sidhu alerted the sheriff’s office and the Bellingham Herald to the incident, and the next day, hundreds of people brought flowers to the temple.
“It was quite an assurance from the larger community to come support a small minority community and show solidarity,” Sidhu recalled.
Within weeks, the Whatcom County Council and then-County Executive Pete Kremen had passed a joint resolution denouncing hate crimes against Arabic and Islamic Americans. Sidhu helped form a committee of people with different religious backgrounds, including Sikh, Jewish, Latter-day Saints, Hindu, Muslim and Catholic. The group visited high schools and colleges to answer student questions and offered cultural sensitivity training to law enforcement officers.
“That was my first experience of being involved with the community at large,” Sidhu said. “It was a great symbol of unity and community.”
While Washington state was not imperiled, Larsen still saw the ghost of 9/11 in his district. After international border regulations tightened in the wake of the attacks, in early 2002 Larsen visited Point Roberts and rode a school bus through Canada with elementary school students heading to Blaine. He then spent half a day working alongside border agents to learn more about operations at the Peace Arch.
“You get to stop long enough to grieve, then you get back to it and figure it out, ‘What are we going to do as a country to deal with this?’ And then history will write the books on it,” Larsen said.
Asmundson was in office two years earlier when a catastrophe hit much closer to home: The Olympic Pipe Line explosion on June 10, 1999 set fire to Whatcom Creek, killed three and could have devastated downtown Bellingham.
“That was immediate, it was in our town, I knew the families of the three boys who died. It was so in our face,” he remembered.
While the scope and severity of the two disasters were very different, Asmundson does see some parallels. Both had national policy implications — the pipeline explosion resulted in new regulations and oversight for the pipeline industry — and both taught him that the duty of a civic leader is to try and reduce the likelihood of future risks while offering reassurances to one’s community.
However, where Asmundson feels the community forged positive change as a result of the pipeline tragedy, he believes 9/11 ushered in a new era that has reshaped the world in mostly negative ways.
“We’re not perfect, but we are a proud nation and we will stand together as one in recognition and protection of our freedoms,” Asmundson said. “What’s most disappointing is that intention has been perverted by craven political interests that manipulate people and utilize ‘otherness.’ The very freedoms we were talking about standing together to support have been undermined by what I call ‘faux patriotism.’”
Larsen was more circumspect in his reflection about 9/11.
“I think 9/11 did change the way the U.S. sees the world, and changes how the world sees the United States. And I would have liked us to have held on to that goodwill a little longer than we did,” he said.
But, Larsen noted, Americans tend to be resilient: “I have always held that if we do things more right than wrong, we would still look to the rest of the world like a country that they maybe don’t want to copy, but they certainly want to be with.”
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 107.
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Both directions of State Route 546/East Badger Road near Lynden will close for four nights, beginning Sunday, Sept. 13, as crews make pavement repairs.
A 4 1/2-mile stretch of eastbound and westbound State Route 546 will close at 8 p.m. each night and reopen by 6 a.m. the following morning in the following sections:
- Sunday night, Sept. 13: Between Van Buren Road and State Route 9/Nooksack Road (mileposts 7 to 8)
- Monday night, Sept. 14: Between Northwood Road and Trapline Road (mileposts 3 to 6)
- Tuesday night, Sept. 15: Between Northwood Road and Trapline Road (mileposts 3 to 6)
- Wednesday night, Sept. 16: Between Trapline Road and Van Buren Road (mileposts 6 to 7)
Signed detour routes will be available for each closed section of State Route 546, but motorists should plan for delays. Accommodations will be made for residents to access their properties along closed sections of the road. Freight traffic using eastbound State Route 546 should consider using southbound State Route 9 during the nightly closures.
“Our maintenance team will use the full closures to grind away damaged sections of SR 546 along the centerline and within the eastbound and westbound lanes and make repairs with a fresh layer of asphalt,” Washington State Department of Transportation said in a Thursday, Sept. 10 news release. “This will help create a smoother ride and prolong the service life of the highway.”
The work is weather-dependent and may be rescheduled.
]]>1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, 210 Lottie St., Bellingham, or online
The council will consider an ordinance prohibiting the preparation, distribution and sale of kratom products.
Whatcom County Council
9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept 15, 311 Grand Ave., Bellingham, or online
Council will discuss in the morning and vote in the evening on three ordinances consolidating the 23-hour crisis relief center fund and accounting into the work of the Justice Project.
Whatcom County Council
1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept 15, 311 Grand Ave., Bellingham, or online
Council will discuss the use and potential regulation of kratom with staff from Health and Community Services.
Whatcom County Council
1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, 311 Grand Ave., Bellingham, or online
Council will receive a presentation from the Whatcom County Sheriff.
Skagit Board of County Commissioners
1:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon, or online
The board will hold a public hearing on revisions to the 2026–31 Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program.
Port of Bellingham Board of Commissioners
4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, 1801 Roeder Ave., Bellingham, or online
Port Commissioners will vote to authorize an $18 million broadband grant agreement.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMENT
City of Anacortes Wastewater Treatment Plant Draft Permit. Deadline: Sept. 15
The Washington State Department of Ecology is seeking comment on the development of the City of Anacortes WWTP permit, which includes new conditions necessary to regulate the discharge of nutrients from the plant to the Guemes Channel in Puget Sound. Find the draft permit online.
Battery Energy Storage Systems Scoping Document. Deadline: Oct. 1
The Washington State Department of Ecology is seeking public input to help determine what to study in the Battery Energy Storage System Facilities Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. Find the scoping document online.
Whatcom Council of Governments Regional and Metropolitan Transportation Plan. Survey online
WCOG is beginning the next five-year update of the regional transportation plan through 2050. Answer a short questionnaire at wcog.org/rtp2050 to inform the planning process.
Bellingham Downtown Forward 2026 Pulse Survey. Deadline: ongoing
The City of Bellingham is taking feedback on changes to the downtown core since March 2025. Survey online.
Weekly Watchdog is published online Thursdays and in print Fridays. To submit a meeting for consideration, email newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
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A Whatcom County judge sentenced a former Whatcom County employee to 90 days in jail for four counts of domestic violence, including a felony charge.
Mark Raaka, 57, was on paid leave from his health department job for 17 months while facing two charges of second-degree assault against his former wife. On Thursday he pleaded guilty to third- and fourth-degree domestic violence assault, computer trespassing and violation of a court order.
Raaka held his ex-wife’s airway closed after throwing her against a wall hard enough to leave a hole in the drywall, bruising her. He then approached her with a butcher knife. Raaka, an ex-paramedic, has knowledge of human airway anatomy, court documents state, and he held his ex-wife’s airway closed in a purposeful manner while watching her struggle to breathe.
“Tell (Raaka) that strangling someone matters. That bruises matter,” his ex-wife Rhiannon Raaka said in a victim impact statement before Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Slattery. “Tell him that these things do not become less serious because years have passed, because he has credentials, because he has held respected positions, or because this is the first time the criminal justice system has made a conviction.”
Raaka served multiple roles for Whatcom County Health and Community Services dating back to 2017. The county put Raaka on leave on May 6, 2024. About two weeks after Cascadia Daily News published an investigation in September 2025, the county sent Raaka a notice indicating its “preliminary intent to terminate employment.” He was terminated nearly five weeks after CDN’s story into the $102,523 salary he was collecting on leave.
The case against Raaka was originally filed in March 2024; a jury trial was delayed more than a dozen times. Raaka’s public defender, MaryKate Trainor, said Thursday that the case took so long to resolve because it was originally overcharged and that the state repeatedly told her the case couldn’t be negotiated because of “heavy media attention.”
Ultimately, the parties negotiated two assault charges in the second degree down to assaults in the third and fourth degree. The computer trespassing charges stem from 2024, when Lynden police found probable cause to arrest Raaka for violating a domestic violence no-contact order and for trespassing on his ex-wife’s computer.
“Nothing this court does today can fix this. I don’t expect it to. There is no number of months in jail that can drive away the nightmares or tell my body I’m safe now. There is no sentence that returns childhood and innocence,” Rhiannon said in court, referring to their children.
Rhiannon asked for a 10-year protection order but judge Slattery imposed the recommended five years.
Through his attorney, Raaka requested no jail time citing the importance of retaining his new employment in the Seattle area to continue being able to financially support his children and their medical bills. In imposing the 90-day sentence, Judge Slattery allowed for work release.
Judge Slattery said she was imposing the 90-day sentence, in part, because of the “high-risk lethality” of the instances of strangulation outlined by Rhiannon as well as an alleged, yearslong patten of “coercive control.”
Domestic violence behavior is “a learned behavior, not something that is a mental illness, not something that is genetic, and it has to be unlearned through a lot of work,” Slattery said.
History of violence
In 2022, Raaka and his ex-wife both filed petitions for domestic violence protection orders against one another. Raaka’s was denied and his ex-wife’s was approved, court records show. The two separated in 2022 and had their divorce finalized by a judge in 2025.
Raaka and his ex-wife repeatedly accused each other of physical, verbal and emotional abuse, according to more than a decade of court documents and police reports stretching across multiple counties. The thorough documentation of their relationship by multiple law enforcement agencies depicts a strained marriage involving two shared children.
In a June 2024 report, Whatcom County’s Sheriff’s Office indicated it had probable cause to arrest Raaka’s ex-wife for domestic violence against Raaka. The prosecutor’s office asked to review the case before her arrest. Conversations between the sheriff’s office and prosecutor’s office show they were grappling with how to handle dueling narratives in which two parties are alleged to be both suspects and victims. Rhiannon ultimately was never arrested.
Under questioning by the Lynden Police Department in 2024, Raaka said he was arrested in 2013 for a domestic violence incident, which Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office records confirm. Whatcom County was not aware of this arrest before hiring Raaka in 2017 and later learned of it through a third-party investigation by Ogletree Deakins that concluded nearly three months into Raaka’s paid leave in August 2024, a county spokesperson previously told CDN.
The 90-day sentence begins on Sept. 28 at the latest.
Owen Racer is a Report for America corps member who covers healthcare and public health in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Reach him at owenracer@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 101. Learn more and donate at cascadiadaily.com/rfa.
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An Everson woman is suing Whatcom County in federal court, alleging jail staff was improperly trained in suicide prevention at the time her son died while in custody three years ago.
Elaine Barness filed the wrongful death and negligence lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at the end of August. Not only is she suing former Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo and former corrections chief deputy Wendy Jones, she is also suing Compass Health, which provided third-party care for inmates in the jail, for negligence.
Barness alleges her son Robert, 36, who had diagnoses of autism, Tourette’s syndrome and schizophrenia, was in the middle of a mental health crisis on June 24, 2023, when he assaulted a family friend, according to the lawsuit. Prosecutors charged Robert Barness with second-degree assault, even though his family asked that charges not be filed.
From the time of his incarceration to when he died on Sept. 19, Robert Barness’ mental health declined and the jail did not have adequate capacity for sufficient medical screening, according to the lawsuit. He was briefly housed on a floor with more staff to monitor his actions, but then he was moved because there was “no ongoing mental health reason.”
Robert Barness also complained of auditory and visual hallucinations, but also reported they had resolved. But staff noticed he failed to take psychiatric medication, and five days before his death, he was acting “erratic and hyperactive,” according to the lawsuit.
Prior to his death, Robert Barness harmed himself with glass from his eyeglasses and was found to be banging his feet against the door. He was moved back to a floor with better staffing for observation, but staff failed to check on him for six hours after a deputy saw him “banging on the door to his cell.”
During a medication check, a jail nurse saw Robert Barness with noticeable swelling and bruising on his skull, but did not immediately check on him. Twenty minutes after the check, staff arrived to do a mental health check on him, but found him unresponsive.
Robert Barness was transferred to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, where he was declared brain dead the next day.
In the lawsuit, Elaine Barness’ lawyers noted prior to her son’s death, five other people in custody had died of suicide. They allege the county failed to train jail employees on suicide prevention or “change its policies, customs, or established practices to prevent these suicides.”
During investigations, the jail allegedly found staff had acted properly and within county guidelines.
“Had Whatcom County officials had an adequate policy in place to review previous incidents of in-custody deaths, accommodations could have been made that would have kept Robert safe and alive,” according to the lawsuit.
Washington state has struggled in recent years to monitor county jails and review in-custody deaths. Last year, a bill meant to establish a state council to review jail practices failed during the Legislative session, according to The Seattle Times. Since 2021, at least 71 people have died in county jails across the state.
In the lawsuit, Elaine Barness also alleges the jail required a $5 fee from all inmates for sick calls, creating an environment where those in custody may be disinclined to request medical care.
She is requesting a jury trial and to be awarded financial damages to her son’s estate if the county is found liable for his death.
Whatcom County said it had no comment about the pending lawsuit.
Compass Health said in a statement Thursday that it was seeking to be dismissed from the lawsuit since its behavioral health contracting services with the jail ended in 2021.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
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Friday, Sept. 11
Football
Meridian at Cascade Christian, 7 p.m.
Lynden Christian at Vancouver College, 7 p.m.
Meadowdale at Blaine, 7 p.m.
Okanogan at Nooksack Valley, 7 p.m.
Mount Baker at North Kitsap, 7 p.m.
Sehome at Archbishop Murphy, 7 p.m.
Sultan at Bellingham, 7 p.m.
Lynden at Lakewood, 7 p.m.
Arlington at Sedro-Woolley, 7 p.m.
Ferndale at Edmonds-Woodway, 8 p.m.
Boys tennis
Burlington-Edison at Sedro-Woolley, 3:30 p.m.
Oak Harbor at Lynden, 4 p.m.
Lakewood at Bellingham, 4 p.m.
Anacortes at Mount Vernon, 4 p.m.
Ferndale at Sehome, 4:30 p.m.
WCC
Volleyball vs. Walla Walla, 11 a.m.
Volleyball vs. Pierce College, 2 p.m.
Recreation
Wild Things: September at Whatcom Falls Park, 9:30 a.m.
Naturalist Hike: Edible & Medicinal Plants, 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 12
Volleyball
Anacortes, Ferndale, Mount Vernon at Gulls Nest Tournament at Everett High, 9 a.m.
Girls soccer
Lynden at Burlington-Edison, 12 p.m.
Sehome at Squalicum, 12 p.m.
Friday Harbor at Meridian, 1 p.m.
Lakewood at Bellingham, 1 p.m.
Anacortes at Sultan, 2 p.m.
Cross country
Local schools at GearUp Northwest XC Preview at Civic Stadium, 10 a.m.
WWU
Volleyball vs. Central Washington, 7 p.m.
WCC
Volleyball vs. Chemeketa, 11:30 a.m.
Women’s soccer at Skagit Valley, 12 p.m.
Men’s soccer at Skagit Valley, 2:15 p.m.
Recreation
Intro to Bike Touring: San Juan Islands, 8 a.m.
14th Annual Run with the Chums at BP Highlands, 8:30 a.m.
MTB 101: Intro to Mountain Biking, 11 a.m.
StoryWalk at Taylor Dock, all day
StoryWalk at Little Squalicum Pier, all day
Community Hike: Sugarloaf Sunset, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 13
WWU
Women’s soccer vs. No. 12 Colorado School of Mines, 11 a.m.
Men’s soccer at Regis in Denver, Colorado, 1:30 p.m. local
Recreation
Mount Baker Hill Climb, starts at Snowater Road, 8 a.m.
Monday, Sept. 14
Volleyball
Nooksack Valley at Oak Harbor, 7 p.m.
Squalicum at Sultan, 7 p.m.
Blaine at Mount Vernon, 7 p.m.
Marysville-Pilchuck at Sedro-Woolley, 7 p.m.
Boys tennis
Mount Vernon at Burlington-Edison, 3:30 p.m.
Bellingham at Ferndale, 4 p.m.
Sehome at Oak Harbor, 4 p.m.
Lynden at Anacortes, 4 p.m.
Sedro-Woolley at Squalicum, 4 p.m.
Recreation
Radical Ripper After-School Program, 4:15 p.m.
Transition Demo Day Hot Flash Ride at Galbraith Mountain, 5:30 p.m.
Greater Bellingham Running Club’s Weekly Trail Run, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Volleyball
Lynden at Bellingham, 7 p.m.
Burlington-Edison at Anacortes, 7 p.m.
Lakewood at Sehome, 7 p.m.
Girls soccer
Anacortes at Burlington-Edison, 6 p.m.
Mount Vernon at Blaine, 7 p.m.
Lynden at Bellingham, 7 p.m.
Sehome at Lakewood, 7 p.m.
Oak Harbor at Nooksack Valley, 7 p.m.
Lynden Christian at Ferndale, 7 p.m.
Sultan at Squalicum, 7 p.m.
Arlington at Sedro-Woolley, 7:30 p.m.
Girls swim and dive
Sehome at Mount Vernon, 3 p.m.
Oak Harbor at Ferndale, 3:30 p.m.
Burlington-Edison at Squalicum, 3:30 p.m.
Lynden at Sedro-Woolley, 7 p.m.
Recreation
Otters Den Outdoor After-School Program, 2:30 p.m.
Fairhaven Runners All-Paces Tuesday Run, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Volleyball
Lynden Christian at Oak Harbor, 7 p.m.
Mount Vernon at Mount Baker, 7 p.m.
Blaine at La Conner, 7 p.m.
Boys tennis
Oak Harbor at Burlington-Edison, 3:30 p.m.
Lakewood at Sedro-Woolley, 3:30 p.m.
Sehome at Lynden, 4 p.m.
Bellingham at Mount Vernon, 4 p.m.
Ferndale at Squalicum, 4 p.m.
Cross country
Anacortes, Meridian, Sultan at Mount Vernon, 3:45 p.m.
Sehome and Squalicum at Bellingham, 4 p.m.
Lynden and Mount Baker at Ferndale, 4 p.m.
Burlington-Edison, Oak Harbor, Lakewood at Sedro-Woolley, 4 p.m.
Lynden Christian and Nooksack Valley at Blaine, 4 p.m.
WWU
Men’s soccer at St. Edward’s in Austin, Texas, 7 p.m. local
Recreation
MTB 102: Mountain Biking Foundations & Progression, 5 p.m.
El Sueñito Running Club, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 17
Volleyball
Nooksack Valley at Cedar Park Christian, 6:30 p.m.
Ferndale at Lynden Christian, 7 p.m.
Oak Harbor at Meridian, 7 p.m.
Lynden at Sultan, 7 p.m.
Sehome at Bellingham, 7 p.m.
Anacortes at Lakewood, 7 p.m.
Burlington-Edison at Squalicum, 7 p.m.
Girls soccer
Sultan at Lynden, 4:30 p.m.
Squalicum at Burlington-Edison, 6 p.m.
Lynden Christian at Oak Harbor, 7 p.m.
Mariner at Meridian, 7 p.m.
Lakewood at Anacortes, 7 p.m.
Bellingham at Sehome, 7 p.m.
Blaine at Ferndale, 7 p.m.
Mount Vernon at Arlington, 7:30 p.m.
Nooksack Valley at Sedro-Woolley, 7:30 p.m.
Girls swim and dive
Squalicum at Lynden, 3:30 p.m.
Oak Harbor at Sehome, 3:30 p.m.
WWU
Women’s soccer vs. Northwest Nazarene, 7 p.m.
Recreation
September Senior Stroll in Anacortes, 10 a.m.
Friday, Sept. 18
Football
Lummi at Northwest Christian, 6 p.m.
Lynden Christian at Bellevue, 7 p.m.
Nooksack Valley at King’s, 7 p.m.
Mount Baker at Kamiak, 7 p.m.
Archbishop Murphy at Anacortes, 7 p.m.
Bellingham at Lakewood, 7 p.m.
Burlington-Edison at Squalicum, 7 p.m.
Sehome at Sultan, 7 p.m.
Lynden at Ferndale, 7 p.m.
Mount Vernon at Shorewood, 7 p.m.
Sedro-Woolley at Snohomish, 7 p.m.
Boys tennis
Ferndale at Oak Harbor, 4 p.m.
Sedro-Woolley at Mount Vernon, 4 p.m.
2A Northwest Conference doubles tournament at Sehome, 4 p.m.
WWU
Men’s soccer at Dallas Baptist in Dallas, Texas, 7 p.m. local
Volleyball at Simon Fraser, 7 p.m.
Recreation
Wild Things: September at Whatcom Falls Park, 9:30 a.m.
Wonder Walks: September at Whatcom Falls Park, 11:30 a.m.
Deep Woods & Open Water: A Sensory Forest Gathering at Lake Whatcom Park, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 19
Football
Blaine at Bellevue Christian, 1 p.m.
Volleyball
Orcas Island at Blaine, 2 p.m.
Girls soccer
Friday Harbor at Mount Baker, 12 p.m.
Meridian at Oak Harbor, 1 p.m.
Boys tennis
2A Northwest Conference doubles tournament at Sehome, 10 a.m.
WWU
Softball vs. Team 35 Intrasquad, 12 p.m.
Women’s soccer vs. Central Washington, 7 p.m.
Recreation
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention “Out of the Darkness Walk” at Bellingham High, 9 a.m.
MTB 203: Roll-Downs & Drops Skills Clinic, 10 a.m.
Art in Nature: Leaf Printmaking in Anacortes, 10 a.m.
International Coastal Cleanup Day at Cherry Point, 11 a.m.
Sunday, Sept. 20
Recreation
Bellingham Bay Marathon at Depot Market Square, 6:45 a.m.
September Family Hike: Trees at Heart Lake, 10 a.m.
CDN’s sports calendar is published online Thursdays and in print Fridays. To submit an event for consideration, email nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com. News Producer Eric Trent compiled the featured listings.
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Sehome vs. Bellingham
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17
Where: Bellingham High
Sehome opened its season with a dominant nonconference victory against Meridian. The Mariners placed fourth in the 2A state tournament last fall and returned a majority of their players.
Sehome is led by its core of five juniors on the roster. Sehome’s juniors include outside hitter Radier Rosellison, liberos Hadley Crovo and Jillian Parfet, setter Taylor Turrell and middle hitter Brooklyn Flamer.
Sehome has a balanced attack that makes it tough for opponents to handle. The Mariners also have two seniors leading the squad, outside hitter Paige Flory and libero Jacquelyn Hurley. Across town, Bellingham lost its opening nonconference match to Sedro-Woolley 3-1.
The Bayhawks had a slow start in the first couple of sets, but showed signs of potentially being a dangerous team in the future. Bellingham is a younger squad that is looking to find its identity. Once the Bayhawks find its best lineup and defensive mentality, they are going to be a fun team to watch.
Bellingham is led by senior Bailey Burge, who was described as a strong leader for the squad by head coach Krimson Rector. Sehome is favored in this matchup, but Bellingham is ready to make it a battle.
Nick’s Prediction: Sehome 3-1
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports editor; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
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When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke out at Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum early this year to warn “middle powers” of the danger of domination by great powers, many observers reacted with surprise. Puzzlement grew in August when Carney walked away from trade talks with the United States. Now Carney has moved forward with counter-tariffs in a mounting trade war with President Trump.
How could the leader of Canada, a country so exposed to potential American retribution, openly defy Trump? Why would Canada, of all American allies, take such a risk when others in Europe and Asia chose a path of flattery and appeasement?
The head-scratching reveals a failure to understand alliance dynamics in both North America and Europe. A combination of distance and familiarity enables Canadians to perceive America more clearly than we do ourselves. This is less true of Europeans, who often fail to see the weakness that underlies America’s apparent strength. As for Americans, we hardly try to understand our allies at all.
I have lived next door to Canada since birth, visiting often, and deepening my maple leaf ties when I married a dual U.S.-Canadian national in 1983 and moved to Bellingham in 2015. My professional career was spent in Europe, working on the transatlantic alliance for more than three decades. Taken together, a lifetime living near the best of all possible neighbors and analyzing our alliances from the inside drove me to explore how alliance relationships actually work.
Professionally, I follow Europe most closely. Dave Keating, an acute observer of transatlantic relations, recently published “The Owned Continent: How to Free Europe from American Military, Economic and Cultural Dependence.” The book describes how the U.S. came to tighten its grip on Europe over the past 30 years. Superficially, at least, Canada would seem even more “owned” than Europe militarily, economically and culturally. Yet Canada has pushed back against the Trump regime and the U.S. much harder than our European allies. Why is that?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, where I worked for six years, is a key part of our broader alliance with Europe and Canada. What is true of NATO is also true of the broader alliance relationships between America, Canada and Europe. Although solidarity is essential to successful alliances, there is always an underlying bargain at work. In the case of Canada and our European allies, that transactional logic involves benefits but also a latent American threat. It is just not the same threat in both cases.
For Europe, the threat is abandonment. Present even during the Cold War, it became the driving dynamic in NATO after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The United States utilized the threat of abandonment to induce our allies to support misguided policies intended to serve American rather than European interests: in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terror. The threat was generally unspoken but highly effective. I know; working this dynamic was my job for 20 years in NATO and European capitals.
For Canada, the main American threat is domination. Our northern neighbor has always been our strongest ally and closest partner in economic, security and cultural terms. The intensity of this partnership with the United States, including elements of economic and security integration, is a latent threat to Canadian sovereignty. Over the course of decades, however, the benefits seemed to outweigh the potential risks for Canada, and to be appreciated by both sides.
The Trump regime activated threats that had been dormant at the core of our alliances with Europe and Canada. In response, European leaders scraped and bowed to ameliorate the threat of abandonment. Carney and Canada pushed back to ameliorate the threat of domination. The dynamic, so far, is quite different but makes sense for each.
But the picture may be changing. Canadian and European approaches may be growing more alike.
In Davos, Carney called on middle powers to band together in order to defend themselves against the predation of great powers (including the United States). Canada has gone to work on that project, with some success, reaching important cooperation agreements with Europe, India, China and others. Europe and European countries have hesitated until now, keen to avoid antagonizing Washington, D.C.
They fear abandonment. Recently, however, it is becoming clear that the greatest threat to Europe is domination, whether by Russia or — more likely now — America. As the Trump regime seeks to bully Europe on tech regulation, the green agenda, freedom of speech and other issues related to sovereignty, Europeans can sense what it means to be, in Keating’s words, “The Owned Continent.”
A trade war has begun that will cause damage to both sides. But reason and right are on one side: Canada’s. This is a time for cool nerves and strategic patience. Canada has identified the problem and begun implementing a rational response. Middle powers can and should band together to protect themselves from the predation of great powers. It is taking Europeans longer to come to grips with the new reality, but Carney’s warning is beginning to sink in.
The sooner it does, the better it will be for Canada, Europe and the world. Including Bellingham and America.
John M. Koenig, a retired U.S. ambassador, teaches at the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies and writes the Substack blog “Terminal Velocity.” He lives in Bellingham.
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COCOA’S PICKS
Ready, Set, Explore!: Larch Madness
7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17
Backcountry Essentials, 1417 N. State St., Bellingham
The first time I heard the term “larch madness,” I assumed folks were talking about a historic psychological malady, like the dancing plague of 1518. I was obviously wrong: In Whatcom County, “larch madness” refers to that brief period wherein the North Cascades’ larch trees turn an otherworldly golden. The phenomenon is best observed from late September through early October; but only if you know where to look.
On that note, the final installment of the North Cascades Institutes’ Ready, Set, Explore! series should be educational for newcomers and seasoned leaf peepers alike. Head to Backcountry Essentials on Sept. 17 to learn which hikes are best for larch sightings, when to go, what to expect, plus other tips for “chasing the PNW’s favorite tree.” Attendance is free, though registration through EventBrite is strongly encouraged. Info: backcountryessentials.net.
Bellingham Veg Fest
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20
Barkley Village Green, 2219 Rimland Drive, Bellingham
I have a lifelong egg allergy, which makes a lot of food off limits. Tragically, I also love food; even if buying a pastry without checking its ingredients could be considered evidence of a death wish.
Bellingham Veg Fest, however, is one of few food-centric events I don’t have to read labels or interrogate anyone about potential allergens. The annual event brings together a number of inclusive businesses and nonprofits; what’s more, every food item for sale is made without animal products. This is a comfort to multiple demographics: vegetarians, vegans, people with food allergies, and weirdos like me (aka people who have allergies and rarely eat meat).
Per its website, VegFest “compassion for all humans and non-humans, commitment to the health and sustainability of our planet, and support for our local vegan and vegan-friendly small business and nonprofits.” Vendors this year include Sammies Vegan, El Fuego Hot Sauce and Juicy J’s Smoked Burgers; check @bellinghamvegfest to view more participants. Info: bellinghamvegfest.org.
YarnFall 2026
Friday–Sunday, Sept. 18–20
Apple Yarns, 1405 Fraser St., Bellingham
Is it sacrilegious to admit I’m excited for summer’s end? July and August are devoted to outdoor adventures, but come September, I can’t help but look forward to slower, cozier weekends. As soon as the temperature drops below 65 degrees, you can catch me laboring over a pot of homemade veggie stock, or curled under a blanket on a Saturday morning. As if that weren’t tempting enough, I also get to break out my (ever-growing) collection of knitwear.
Want to celebrate the “start of knitting season” with other local crafters? Apple Yarns is celebrating its annual YarnFall event (aka 19th anniversary) from Sept. 18–20 this year. Those who go can look forward to exclusive anniversary yarn, free patterns, giveaways and prizes, and even a fall sweater challenge. Perhaps most importantly, YarnFall is an excuse to spend an early-autumn weekend in community with other crafters. Info: appleyarns.com.
Taste of Ferndale
5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18
Downtown Ferndale
As the second-largest city in Whatcom County, Ferndale is on quite the growth trajectory, and its local businesses and art scene seem to be following suit. Taste of Ferndale — aka a walking tour of “light bites and local arts” — is an easy way to learn about what Bellingham’s northern neighbor has to offer, both on the cultural and culinary fronts.
The walking tour is $20 and includes seven stops in downtown Ferndale, each one featuring snacks and art exhibitions from local creatives. Host businesses include FrinGe Brewing, Sophia Grace Gallery and It’s About Time Cultural Arts Center, whereas Where’s The Food, Leader Block Trattoria, Salumi, Anjali Bakery and others will provide the snacks. Participants will receive a physical map upon picking up their wristband at participating locations. Info: business.ferndalewa.com.
‘My Hero Academia’
3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20
Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St., Bellingham
Over my years writing about A&E, I’ve covered a range of Mount Baker Theatre events: Broadway musicals, comedy, concerts and the occasional visit from personalities like David Sedaris and Ira Glass. Anime is one genre I didn’t expect to add to that list; but as I’ve learned, MBT is full of surprises.
For those out of the loop, “My Hero Academia” is a popular television series based on a manga (graphic novel) of the same title. Set in a realm where otherworldly powers are commonplace, it follows a seemingly ordinary boy on his quest to become the ultimate superhero.
Of course, MBT isn’t simply screening episodes of “My Hero Academia.” Rather, they’re bringing in a 15-piece band to perform Yuki Hayashi’s score, while also screening memorable visuals from the anime itself. The performance promises to be a “fully immersive journey that puts fans in the heart of the action,” though I have a hunch you needn’t be an anime fan to enjoy it. Info: mountbakertheatre.com.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
The following is a selection of events submitted by CDN readers. Click here to add yours.
For questions, ideas and feedback, email cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com.
Before heading out to attend in-person happenings, check with individual venues to make sure the event is still taking place as scheduled.
The A-List appears weekly. To submit an event for consideration, email calendar@cascadiadaily.com.
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.
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