Which do you want first, the good news or the not-as-stellar, but-still-not-horrible news?

Hedging bets that people are eager for positive postings during these dark days of the pandemic, I’ll start with the former and ease my way into the latter.

For fans of the legendary blues and roots musician Taj Mahal, a recently announced trio of concerts taking place this month will feature the likes of Fantastic Negrito (pictured), Phantom Blues Band, Jon Cleary, and a number of Taj’s…

First, a warning: If you are a high school senior or parent of a high school senior currently awaiting news of college acceptances, do not read Who Gets In and Why: a Year Inside College Admissions by Jeffrey Selingo. Parents of younger teens—this book is for you, although it is well-researched, fascinating and of interest to anyone who is curious about the sorry state of higher education admissions and how we got there.

Selingo begins his book with the acknowledgement that the high…

Let me tell you the story of Governors Point.

This beguiling forested peninsula extends out into the Salish Sea between Pleasant Bay and Larrabee State Park’s Wildcat Cove along the Chuckanut Coast. Although it’s located only a scant two miles south of Bellingham’s city limits, the point is a place apart, a rugged and beautiful reminder of days gone by, lushly canopied with cedar and fir and sensuous madrone.

The shoreline is like a surrealist sculpture, sandstone carved into…

On March 26, 2000, a crew from Access Hollywood was on site at the Mount Baker Theatre to attend the venue’s live screening of the 72nd Academy Awards. So was I.

Hilary Swank—a former Sehome High School student who’d impressed Bellingham Theatre Guild audiences before moving to Los Angeles to seek stardom—had been nominated for the Best Actress award for her transformative role in the 1999 movie Boys Don’t Cry, and the fame-focused television programmers were on hand to interview…

Alfred Currier and Anne Schreivogl of Anacortes are among Skagit Valley’s cultural treasures. The creative pair work in similar media, although Anne prefers acrylic and Al, oil paint. Both work in bright colors, creating cheerful compositions and natural scenes, and each keeps to a personal, strongly marked style. The couple keeps studios in their beautiful home in Anacortes and travel to paint “plein air” in the western United States, Mexico, and southern Europe.

For Currier, “Art has…

Throughout the pandemic, Bellingham’s Boundary Bay Brewery has proven itself to be lightning-quick when it comes to adapting to the changing times.

In fact, it was around this date last year that the longtime brewery and restaurant made its first real pivot of 2020 by hosting a safety-conscious St. Patrick’s Day Drive-Thru in the alley behind their Railroad Avenue headquarters. The world may have suddenly gone topsy-turvy, but that wasn’t about to stop owner Ed Bennett and general…