Archive for May, 2012
By Zoe Fraley
Everson Police and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, with help from a Customs and Border Protection helicopter, are attempting to bring in a man with warrants who is believed to be at a house east of Highway 9 and south of E. Badger Road. No details were available about the man but Undersheriff Jeff Parks said information would be released once the man was arrested.
By Ralph Schwartz
Update: The hospital has confirmed the number — 17 births on Wednesday, May 23. The post below has been changed to reflect this.
We heard from St Joseph hospital’s public relations office that the Childbirth Center brought 17 babies into the world on Wednesday, May 23.
Seventeen babies (10 boys, seven girls) is a one-day record for the center, which on a typical day delivers five babies, hospital spokeswoman Amy Cloud said.
We have a three-day weekend coming up, so it’s probably worth noting that an estimator-of-conception calculator at the hospital pegs these 17 conceptions at Labor Day weekend 2011.
By Caleb Hutton
A man suspected of beating a teen with brass knuckles earlier this month was arrested on assault charges Wednesday, May 24.
Another suspect remains at large.
Jacob Steven Humphrey, 21, was trailing a car with a 19-year-old passenger inside about 10:30 p.m. May 2 on James Tree Lane, off of Birch Bay-Lynden Road, said Whatcom County Undersheriff Jeff Parks.
When the teen got dropped off, Humphrey and another man, 20, jumped out of their car and attacked him, Parks said. The victim said he got hit with brass knuckles.
Humphrey was booked into jail Wednesday afternoon on investigation of second-degree assault. He had marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in his car when he was arrested, according to the Blaine Police Department.
The name of the other suspect has not been released.
Heroin is “involved in this scenario,” Parks said, but exactly how is unclear. A few of the people involved told deputies they had stopped using the drug long before the assault.
By Caleb Hutton
FERNDALE — A teen accused of swinging a hunting knife at a 14-year-old boy before poking him in the chest with the blade was arrested Wednesday afternoon, May 23.
Darcy James Glenman, 18, was arguing with the boy outside about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday near the Ferndale Boys & Girls Club, in the 2000 block of Cherry Street, said Ferndale Police Lt. Matt Huffman.
Glenman thought the boy had stolen marijuana, so he pulled out a hunting knife and swung at him two or three times, Huffman said.
When police spoke to the boy, he had a “little, tiny” mark on his chest from when Glenman had “poked” him with the knife, Huffman said. He had apparently pressed the blade against the boy, but didn’t actually break the skin.
Police contacted Glenman the following afternoon. He was booked into Whatcom County Jail on investigation of second-degree assault. The knife wasn’t recovered.
Glenman had an extensive record in juvenile court, including guilty pleas for fourth-degree assault and possession of a dangerous weapon.
In 2010, an off-duty police officer spotted him waving a butterfly knife and a switchblade at the corner of Vista Drive and Washington Street.
By Zoe Fraley
Eldridge Avenue was closed on either side of Lynn Street this morning after a man with a medical emergency crashed into a telephone pole at about 8 a.m. The pole was severed from its base and leaning precariously over the road. Drivers had been calling police about the man because they believed he may have been drunk, but tests on scene found that his blood sugar was very low and there was no alcohol in his system, according to the Bellingham Police Department. The man was being treated for a diabetic emergency.
By Caleb Hutton
Via scanner traffic:
12:40 p.m.: Six people passing beverages around (caller thinks it’s beer) in a northbound vehicle on Interstate 5.
2:13 p.m.: Drunk man being a nuisance at kids’ event put on by the city at the Fairhaven Village Green.
2:14 p.m.: “Just so you know,” officer says over radio, “you have most of the local bandits in the Everson bar.”
2:55 p.m.: Western Washington University Police looking for 11-year-old boy who didn’t meet up on campus as planned. Didn’t hear resolution.
4:02 p.m.: At least six calls about 1.5-foot-by-1.5-foot fire on I-5. “This was about the size of a cooking pot,” firefighter says.
5:05 p.m.: Couple walking in Whatcom Falls Park, near St. Clair Street, heard six shots fired. Boyfriend is in the military and said it sounded like a .22-caliber gun. Police canvassed the area and talked to “a lot” of people. A couple bikers were the only ones who said they’re heard some popping noises.
5:18 p.m.: Transient sleeping under a “blue blankie” near the Community Food Co-op, 1220 N. Forest Street.
5:19 p.m.: Motorcycle fire on side of I-5 near Sunset Drive (milepost 255).
6 p.m.-ish: Diabetic 43-year-old man vomiting blood. Unexplained facial swelling, bleeding from the face. Taken to St. Joseph hospital by ambulance.
Also at 6 p.m.-ish: Man tells employee at Bellingham business, “Do you really want gunfire in here today?” Last seen running toward Peoples Bank. Not sure which Peoples Bank.
7:38 p.m.: “Female rolling around” on the roadside of Lakeway Drive, near I-5.
Plus a couple of drunk in public citations at Maritime Heritage Park. And a few fires, almost all of them extremely small, scattered around the county.
By Caleb Hutton
Via scanner traffic:
7 p.m.-ish: Man seen urinating outside near Bellingham Towers, 119 N. Commercial Street. Then he crossed the street to go watch “Cinderella” at the Mount Baker Theatre.
8 p.m.-ish: Hit and run in an alley behind Tokyo House, 1222 N. Garden Street. Parked car got hit.
8:50 p.m.: Man heard neighbor firing 30 to 50 large-caliber rounds fired in 3100 block of Brown Road, west of Ferndale.
9 p.m.: Five boys spotted spray painting graffiti in a bathroom in Roosevelt Park. At least two got caught. One of them is 12 years old.
“There’s painting on the wall and these two have paint on their fingers,” officer says over radio.
9:25 p.m.: Gray four-door sedan with broken-out windows parked at dentist’s office on Meridian Street. One person in the sedan. “No one’s supposed to be there,” dispatcher said, so the caller wants the occupant moved along.
By Ralph Schwartz
St. Joseph hospital just sent word that visitors with whooping cough symptoms won’t be allowed near infants and may be asked to leave the hospital, no matter what department they’re visiting.
Here’s a brief (unedited) story I wrote for tomorrow’s Herald:
BELLINGHAM — People showing symptoms of whooping cough are not allowed in the pediatric unit or childbirth center at St. Joseph hospital for as long as the disease is spreading at an epidemic level.
People are advised stay away from all parts of the hospital if they have symptoms of the disease, also known as pertussis, or have been in contact with people who are infected. Visitors who have a runny nose or persistent cough may be asked to leave the hospital, according to a statement from St. Joseph released Friday, May 18.
The restriction is intended to protect infants, who are at highest risk of contracting the disease. Even infants who are vaccinated aren’t fully protected until after six months. The frequency of deaths from pertussis is much greater for infants than any other age group.
The state Department of Health reported 1,484 cases of whooping cough this year as of May 12, compared to 134 over the same period last year. Whatcom County has had 111 cases so far this year and has the third highest incidence rate in the state.
By Ralph Schwartz
Among the more unwelcome features of summer in Washington state are West Nile virus and the mosquitoes that carry it.
The state Department of Health said today it wants to hear about dead birds. West Nile virus is often fatal to birds, and clusters of dead birds could signal an area of West Nile outbreak and increased risk to humans.
Many people who contract West Nile virus don’t get sick. Others complain of headache and mild fever. But the disease can be fatal. One death was reported in the state in 2009, among 38 confirmed human cases.
West Nile virus outbreaks are unpredictable. Last year, the state didn’t find a single case, whether in person, bird or horse.
Dead bird reporting season is May through November. Some of the birds typically afflicted by West Nile are crows, jays and hawks.
Report dead birds online here.
For more information on West Nile, click here. This Health Department web page includes tips for keeping mosquitoes away.
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