Masked Resistance
We are a year into this pandemic and like most traumatic moments in history, it will soon be boiled down to a single concept in our collective consciousness. In my [...]
Citizen Journalist • Member since Aug 10, 2009
Riley Sweeney, raised in the Pacific Northwest, moved to Bellingham during the Bush years, worked on a cross-section of political campaigns during the Obama years, and then fled to the comfort of public service during the Trump years. Before joining the City of Ferndale as their Communication Officer, he wrote a column with Northwest Citizen and then his own blog, the Political Junkie, where he brought humor, insight and a suspicious amount of pop culture references to Whatcom County political reporting. The archives of that blog are available in the linklog at the bottom of Northwest Citizen. Currently, he lives with his wife Bryna and his two darling children, in the rolling fields of Lynden.
We are a year into this pandemic and like most traumatic moments in history, it will soon be boiled down to a single concept in our collective consciousness. In my [...]
I try to shy away from national politics but with the presidential campaigns beginning to heat up, I wanted to share these thoughts about Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. First, [...]
Ralph Schwartz and Samantha Wohlfeil offered their “Top 10 Whatcom Political Stories” in 2014. Take a gander at their list, they have some good picks. In a sign of [...]
"What a bunch of FANTASTIC choices for the Bellingham Planning Commission. I’ve known both Mike and Iris for many years and trust their judgement completely. I’m so glad [...]
"Adding some more information to this discussion, a group of Black Lives Matters activists have launched “Campaign Zero” that is working to provide actionable policy solutions to the law enforcement [...]
"We aimed for a sample size of 500 - we did 2,000 calls and previous robopoll efforts had netted a 25% response rate, however in the dead of summer, our response rate was [...]
"While I appreciate your points about a small sample size, that is a fair point there, I reject your premise that someone with a bias is unable to conduct a [...]
"Great article, really cuts right to the point.
A perspective from a very old liberal political junkie.
13 comments, most recent 5 hours agoDeeds, not talk, count on Veterans Day
2 comments, most recent 5 hours agoPhasing in of Veterans Administration (VA) health care under the Pact Act has been eliminated. All eligible veterans can enroll in VA health care…NOW!
An off-budget $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), along the lines of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) that operated between 1932-1957, means low-cost loans and no additions to the deficit.
Medicare Advantage is NOT Medicare. Medicare is there to provide health care. Medicare Advantage is a business, there to make money.
1 comment, most recent 2 weeks agoDavid Swanson verifies what Jon Humphrey has said for years: good internet access benefits people, cities, counties, and states.
10 comments, most recent 2 weeks agoOr perhaps tragic farce or farcical tragedy might be more apt descriptors. Pick one, or both.
13 comments, most recent 2 weeks agoAfter nearly 30 years online, and literally being one of the oldest blogs on the internet, Northwest Citizen needs a major programming overhaul. To do so, we need your help.
1 comment, most recent 3 weeks agoThe top 20% of commercial banks in the United States control 95% of our total banking assets. Remember “Too-Big-to-Fail”?
3 comments, most recent 1 month agoThe City has created another useless document ensuring nothing changes and mediocre communication services are protected.
13 comments, most recent 1 month agoWhy a vote for Jason Call for Congress is a good vote for conservatives, liberals, Democrats and Republicans. Yes, an unusual idea.
Heaven forbid our reps should attack the main problem, Medicare Advantage, head on. But no. They must nibble around the edges to give the appearance of doing something.
1 comment, most recent 3 months agoMorally significant double binds force doctors and combat soldiers into identical life and death quandaries, damaging their moral centers. To these two groups we can also add law enforcement officers.
4 comments, most recent 4 months agoIt is time to stop the “Real Steal” from Medicare.
3 comments, most recent 4 months agoEric Hirst gives us a brief and clear explanation of the water adjudication process that is beginning now in Whatcom County
3 comments, most recent 3 months agoAggressive citizen involvement carried the day.
5 comments, most recent 4 months agoBuild-for-profit, incarceration-inspired housing is destroying our souls.
11 comments, most recent 1 month agoThe last of the scrap metal is loaded on the ship and it will be gone from our town.
1 comment, most recent 4 months agoA 54-photo tour of the ruptured pipe area of the Whatcom Creek explosion taken in July 1999.
1 comment, most recent 5 months agoBelow is an audio tape of 911 calls, emergency responders’ radio communications, and local radio coverage from June 10, 1999 when Whatcom Creek exploded in Bellingham
2 comments, most recent 5 months agoWhatcom County’s confusing water rights will be defined by court proceedings beginning now
1 comment, most recent 4 months agoIf not killed-in-action, they are still dying from the effects of their service in Vietnam.
7 comments, most recent 5 months agoThe foam of secrecy hides all.
Local presentations scheduled on a reasonable use framework for water resource management
Broadband-Washing: Greenwashing the Internet
6 comments, most recent 6 months agoPacific Northwest organizers join a global campaign to abolish all nukes and push for a city council resolution to start
4 comments, most recent 6 months agoIf the hospitals are smelling a rat, so should Medicare (Dis)Advantage victims (AKA enrollees).
2 comments, most recent 4 months agoWith such a bank in place, we would likely not be scrambling around and asking Congress for rebuild monies, as we are now with the catastrophic event involving the Francis Scott Key bridge on March 26, 2024.
Port of Bellingham commissioners terminate last 13 years of ABC Recycling lease
5 comments, most recent 7 months agoNo public fiber means we can’t compete with big telecom. EVER.
4 comments, most recent 7 months agoCrappier coverage for us, even more money for insurance companies.
3 comments, most recent 8 months agoWho benefits? Palestinians are being slaughtered. Genocide. Gaza is being leveled.
6 comments, most recent 7 months agoThe Port Commission has decreed that Bellingham’s waterfront will remain a toxic, festering sore
6 comments, most recent 9 months agoWe needed a hook, and we think we found it.
13 comments, most recent 9 months ago"Sweet Jesus,” shrieked the thralls of the Sehomus Republic,as ABC the Yochlowitz,successor to GorgoPacificus the Destroyer,...
3 comments, most recent 10 months agoPeoples Bank proposes to tear down the once popular Zane Burger restaurant to build a branch office.
3 comments, most recent 11 months agoBiden administration is asking the public to report on bogus advertising claims of Medicare Advantage providers.
7 comments, most recent 11 months ago15 new townhouses, out-of-town developer, build-and-run, in south side Happy Valley neighborhood of Bellingham.
2 comments, most recent 11 months agoTuesday, Dec, 5, will be the first time ABC Recycling has agreed to answer the public. Don’t miss this meeting. Here are the issues.
6 comments, most recent 11 months agoThe effect of WWU students on Whatcom County’s rental housing market
5 comments, most recent 11 months agoThere seems to be no barrier to the depths to which scammers will go to steal money from the most vulnerable or deserving.
Merely musing about soldiers.
4 comments, most recent 11 months agoThe city comes through on public wi-fi hotspots
1 comment, most recent 1 year agoAn insider’s view of rental inspections in Bellingham as experienced by a long-time renter.
5 comments, most recent 11 months agoIt is time to stop the injustices that have been propagated over the years.
6 comments, most recent 1 year agoGetting a letter that declares, “An exciting new prescription drug benefit for you!” should activate your BS detector.
7 comments, most recent 10 months agoWho benefits?
3 comments, most recent 11 months agoAt Large position on the Bellngham City Council
Is this a good place to live? Do you feel safe? Can you afford it? Are too many of us living on the streets? Doug Karlberg has some ideas.
Why a Liberal is voting for a Conservative for the Whatcom County Council
14 comments, most recent 1 year ago