Mark Reimers
Tribune reporter

  LYNDEN — Superintendent of the Lynden School District Rick Thompson has been hired for a three-year contract with the San Juan Island School District.
  Effective July 1, Thompson will leave Lynden, following a five-year stint which began in the role of director of curriculum and assessment. In September 2008, Thompson was appointed to replace outgoing superintendent Dennis Carlson. He was then given a one-year contract for the current school year.

Tim Newcomb
Tribune assistant editor

Speed skaters prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympics at the new Richmond Olympic Oval outside of Vancouver, B.C. The Olympics kick off on Feb. 12 and run 16
days. Turn to page A3 for more information. — Lynden Tribune | COURTESY OF VANCOUVER 2010

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Crossing the border and driving to Vancouver, B.C., for the Feb. 12-28 Winter Olympics may not be a major feat, but landing a parking place might be, competing with an extra 400,000 visitors, or so.

  LYNDEN — The Northwest Washington Fair is building a new equestrian arena that will be completed in time for this year’s fair and draw more horse shows to Lynden.
  Construction of the 40,890-square-foot arena has begun and will be completed by mid-July, fair manager Jim Baron said. The $1.4 million facility will be located just west of the fair’s current horse arena. Huizenga Brothers Construction of Lynden is the general contractor.

  LYNDEN — The Washington Department of Transportation announced proudly that it would open the new Guide Meridian Road bridge over the Nooksack River one day and then cancelled that plan the very next day.
  An announcement last Tuesday, Jan. 26, said that the bridge would open Thursday morning, Jan. 28, 15 days before the self-imposed deadline of the Feb. 12 Vancouver, B.C., Winter Olympics.

Calvin Bratt
Tribune editor

  LYNDEN — A land sale is in the works, although not finalized, to allow for the construction of a new frozen foods warehouse in west Lynden in time for the local 2010 berry harvest.
  The need of Versacold Cascade Inc. for a new building came up at the Jan. 19 Lynden City Council meeting. Then in the days following, the proposed location off West Main Street changed slightly in order to facilitate a “very tight” time schedule for the project to happen, said Dan Shuler, plant manager.

Tim Newcomb
Tribune assistant editor

A seal bowl owned by the Lynden Pioneer Museum sold at an auction that netted the museum more than $700,000 from Native American artifacts once part of the Berthusen Collection.

LYNDEN — Historical items are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them. And for the Lynden Pioneer Museum, that translates to an additional $703,000 in an endowment to offset its operational deficit.

Tim Newcomb
Tribune assistant editor

  WHATCOM — Make no mistake. January 2010 is about as warm as it gets in January in north Whatcom County.
  With just a few days left in the month, this January is on track to be one of the four warmest January months in local history at least since records were kept, starting in 1931.
  As recorded by Roderic Perry at a National Weather System station in Clearbrook northeast of Lynden, this month’s high temperatures have averaged 49.2 degrees, as of Monday’s high.

Tim Newcomb
Tribune assistant editor

  LYNDEN — It isn’t every day that new bridges over major rivers are opened to the public.
  Thursday will be one of those rare days.
  The new 685-ton steel through-truss bridge, the first of its kind in the county in 40 years, will open for traffic sometime Thursday morning, according to Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson Dustin Terpening.

Mark Reimers
Tribune reporter

  LYNDEN — A 17-year-old male from Lynden pleaded not guilty in Whatcom County Juvenile Court on Wednesday, Jan. 20, after he was arrested this month in connection with the death last August of a 16-year-old Custer youth.
  The four charges leveled against the teen are controlled substance homicide, second-degree manslaughter and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance, according to documents filed on Jan. 13 by deputy prosecutor David Freeman.

Caleb Breakey
Tribune reporter

Mike Leland, right, receives a load of contributions for a container that is being fllled in Lynden for Haiti earthquake victims. Leland’s New Generation Ministries was already focused on helping vulnerable children in Haiti. — Lynden Tribune | COURTESY PHOTO

WHATCOM — All eyes are on Haiti. Water and food are scare. The food available has skyrocketed in price. The streets of Port-Au-Prince are dangerous to walk because of gangs and desperate people.