Some Said it couldn’t be done.

A Democrat can’t win Washington state’s 42nd Legislative District, which consists of Whatcom County but carves out the county’s southwest corner, from State Street in south Bellingham to South Fork Valley. No Democrat had won there since Kelli Linville in 2008, and the part of Bellingham that is inside the 42nd shrunk after the 2010 census.

Recent history has shown the conservative rural vote will overwhelm the liberal urban vote in a district…

I love the anticipation of winter—the ski-film fests, the patrol fundraisers, the dusting of snow on ridges. But at this moment, hoping for snow so I can ski powder seems pretty darn trivial. Luckily, something more meaningful is behind that wish.

Mt. Baker Snow School is where powder day perma-grin and “we can make a difference” warm fuzzies intersect. We don’t have control over freezing levels, precipitation amounts or high-pressure systems, but we can effect change in…

We live in a time when all past artistic styles are relevant and flourish. In two Skagit Valley galleries through November, the spirit of 20th century abstraction lives on in the work of the late Joseph Goldberg, of Harrington, Washington, and Amy Carson of La Conner.

Goldberg’s work at i.e. gallery in Edison reveals the joy and sadness of this secretive artist, who was important enough to have been memorialized in a University of Washington monograph, Joseph Goldberg, Jeweled…

Every fall, I wait until the temperatures drop before heading to the Bellingham Farmers Market to purchase locally grown garlic for planting purposes.

After waking up to a light frost last Saturday morning, I knew the time had come, and made my way to the Depot Market Square to suss out the offerings. Once again, the wide variety of produce at Rabbit Fields Farm’s booth won my heart, and I soon secured two-plus pounds of Spanish Roja, a hardneck variety of heirloom garlic I’ve grown…

By the time the 10 semifinalists taking part in the 39th annual Seattle International Comedy Competition make their way to the area for a Sat., Nov. 17 show at the Mount Baker Theatre, they’ll have already shown they have what it takes to rise to the top of the comedic crop.

From the first round of preliminaries that took place Thurs., Nov. 2 at Seattle’s Unexpected Productions until the final show Sun., Nov. 25 at the Comedy Underground, the 32 performers who made the initial cut…

David Bazan has always been a conflicted man.

The Seattle songwriter has made a name for himself by laying his soul bare, detailing his struggles with religion, capitalism, love, booze, existential doubt and his place in the world—among other things. He’s performed this intense public examination for all of his musical life. We first came to know him and his brand of self-confessional angst as the leader of Pedro the Lion, then when he decided to sunset that band in 2006, Bazan went…