Tim Newcomb
Tribune assistant editor

Fanny Van Ry and Barb Camfferman, both of Lynden, volunteer at Project Hope's Hope Chest second-hand clothing store on Front Street on Monday.

LYNDEN -- Project Hope is about more than just food.

Calvin Bratt
Tribune editor

  BELLINGHAM -- The two boys responsible for starting the June 9 Delft Square fire in Lynden have also been charged with the vandalism of about a dozen city vehicles a month earlier.
  The boys, now both age 14, have made initial appearances in Whatcom County Juvenile Court before commissioner Thomas Verge, who also saw them in the previous case. One boy who was 13 had his birthday Saturday.

Tim Newcomb
Tribune assistant editor

  GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- The focus is now on rehabilitation for Nate Louws, son of Lynden Mayor Jack Louws, following 25 days in a coma at a Great Falls, Mont., hospital.
  Louws, 22, who was in a traffic accident Oct. 11, had been in intensive care at the hospital until being moved to a rehabilitation center last week. He will likely return to Lynden with his parents in the next few days to continue outpatient rehabilitation.

Mark Reimers
Tribune reporter

  BELLINGHAM -- Peace-Health and St. Joseph Hospital are still forming a full response, but say they will not allow their doctors to prescribe lethal injections, in response to Initiative 1000 that passed Nov. 4 allowing physician-aided suicide in Washington.
  Bridget Carney, PeaceHealth systems director of ethics in Bellevue, said the new Washington law has passed with relatively little discussion compared to the similar Oregon law passed 14 years ago, which means many doctors and health organizations haven’t had a chance to outline their policies in response.

Tim Newcomb
Tribune assistant editor

Jim Grennell, executive director, wheels out a cart of food to one family of the 1,200 clients who are helped by the Project Hope food bank of Lynden. Other services, such as clothing and home heating assistance, also are offered. The demand on food banks has generally increased as the national economy worsens.

WHATCOM -- The goal is to raise $10,000 to be given right here in our communities to fight hunger and help the less fortunate.

Calvin Bratt
Tribune editor

  LYNDEN -- Not a scrap of food gets wasted at the Project Hope food bank. That's more important than ever in these challenging economic times.
  Before 8 a.m. every weekday morning, lead volunteer Alvin Bajema makes his rounds of Lynden's grocery stores and loads into his pickup truck the food items that can no longer be sold to the general public.

Tim Newcomb
Tribune assistant editor

Five girders were laid in as the foundation to an approach bridge on the south side of the Nooksack River as part of the Guide Meridian widening project.

LYNDEN -- In the midst of a steady rain, construction crews installed five concrete and steel girders as part of an approach bridge for the Guide Meridian Road widening near here on Friday.

Calvin Bratt
Tribune editor

  WHATCOM – The county appears headed for a reversal of district-only voting for County Council members, in one surprise twist of the 2008 general election Tuesday.
  Otherwise, the Democratic tide that lifted Barack Obama to the presidency also carried Christine Gregoire to a second term as Washington governor and passed a physician-assisted suicide measure in the 2008 general election on Tuesday.

Calvin Bratt
Tribune editor

  LYNDEN – The City Council moved Lynden further along toward larger retail stores Monday, directing the planning department to look into high or no limits on store size.
  There was unanimity that the current 65,000-square-foot cap should be raised. As to how high, some councilors said that it should be at least 200,000. Safeway is now the town’s largest store at 59,000.

Calvin Bratt
Tribune editor

Bernie Koops, right, and Pete Zuidmeer get their heads together and recall old stories of the Lynden Christian Grade School of the 1930s. Zuidmeer
was on the school's first competitive baseball team, which Koops coached. Koops spoke Saturday night to help kick off a $2.4 million fundraiser for Lynden Christian High School athletic upgrades.

LYNDEN – The man who first organized Lynden Christian School athletics 70 years ago was back in town Saturday to headline a campaign for new facilities.