Hailed as a victory for orcas, Whatcom County Superior Court revised a project application from the Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery to install a 300,000-barrel crude oil storage tank and an 80,000-barrel floating storage tank for fuel oil in a tank farm within the refinery at Cherry Point.

The decision could require the Phillip’s 66 refinery to provide additional details about the purpose and specifics of the proposed storage facility.

In early 2019, the Phillips 66 Refinery applied…

Jesus Guillén was born in 1926 in Texas. As a child, his father moved the family to Mexico for several years, where the festivals, culture and art of the Tarascan people made a lasting impression upon him—as evidenced by his painting of a flamboyant warrior, “Guerrero Aguila,” currently showing as part of “The Work of Jesus Guillén: An Artistic Legacy of Love and Courage” at the Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner.

The oil painting is Guillén’s most extravagant work in the…

Anyone who’s ever attended an Academy Awards screening at the Pickford Film Center knows Bellingham audiences don’t mess around when it comes to celebrating cinema.

Pre-pandemic, patrons filled the seats of the independent movie theater on Bay Street even on nights when dressy attire wasn’t encouraged, content with perfectly popped popcorn, a beverage close at hand and a quality flick. But when the annual awards ceremony recognizing cinematic achievements rolled around and they had…

The results of a Google keyword search for “watch Academy Award movies” are full of invitations to stream and watch online using various paid-subscription platforms. In past years, the Oscars—a celebration of stories that are considered exceptional, at least by the 8,469 eligible Oscar voters—were accessible to anyone who could afford the price of a movie ticket. Experiencing the Oscar-nominated films this year requires paid subscriptions to several streaming platforms, as well as…

When the Lowest Pair performs at the Mount Baker Theatre on Thurs., April 29, it probably won’t resemble the Violent Femmes concert I attended at the historic venue years and years ago—but I’m OK with that.

At the latter show, audience members packed the 1,500-seat theater to the rafters, sang along loudly to the group’s well-known anthems of dissent, and crowded into the aisles to dance even as well-meaning ushers attempted to get them back into their seats. The event was rowdy and…

Americans are a wasteful bunch. Even rabid recyclers come up short in certain areas. Some ignore their leftover Trader Joe’s pork dumplings hanging out in the back of the fridge until they’re too far gone to save—thus adding to the 42 million tons of food that gets thrown away in the United States each year—and others occasionally order takeout that comes in styrofoam containers despite being fully aware that the non-biodegradable pollutant takes as many as 500 years to decompose.…