Alabama Hill Report: January 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

About the Alabama Hill Report

I created this blog as part of an ongoing hyper-local news assignment, which focuses on the Alabama Hill Neighborhood of Bellingham, Washington.

I will periodically update this site with news stories and blog posts pertaining to the neighborhood, as well as the greater Bellingham community.

I hope this site can serve as a good source of information for residents of the neighborhood and I am always open to feedback, so please feel free to give me your input.

Alabama Hill Report Blog- Rental Units

If you have found yourself living in a rental unit that is not in safe condition, you have a couple of options under Washington State Renters' Rights (landlord-tenancy policy).

According to the policy, which can be found here, you as a renter have several options in a poor living situation.

Landlords must make certain repairs within 24 hours of receipt of the tenant's written complaint. Those repairs include restoring hear, water, or fixing a "condition that is imminently hazardous to life." Landlords also have 24 hours to restore electricity, hot/cold water, and 72 hours to repair major plumbing fixtures and appliances that they have provided.

If you have written a complaint, and your landlord has broken this agreement by not fixing the problem or by taking too long to fix the problem, you may: terminate your lease or rental agreement with written notice to your landlord, make limited repairs on your own and deduct the cost from your rent (again, with written notice to your landlord ahead of time), or you may initiate litigation or arbitration.

Bellingham has several arbitration and mediation options.

The Whatcom Dispute REsolution Center is a non-profit organization that provides mediation services to Whatcom County residents. Their fees for mediation are on a sliding scale, and they won't turn away anyone who can't pay for the service. Their site can be found here.

Bellingham Mediation is another mediation option for residents in Whatcom and Skagit Counties. The practice is run by Sheri Russell, J.D. and the sessions cost $240 per hour, divided equally between the parties involved. That site can be found here.

Alabama Hill Report Blog

According to the one-call website, call811.com, “April 2011 will once again be National Safe Digging Month.”

Common Ground Alliance stakeholders are encouraged to host events in their communities to promote the use of the one-call service and to help promote outdoor projects.

The site provides sample promotional materials that can be used to create and advertise for an event in your own community.

One suggestion for stakeholders is to host an Arbor Day event to promote planting trees with the use of the one-call system.

You can find the links to the promotional materials here.

Alabama Hill Report Blog

WISE Fair February 5, School District Online Survey

The Whatcom Independent Schools & Educators (WISE) will be hosting an informational fair for parents and students on Saturday, February 5, 2011 in The Leopold Ballroom at 1224 Cornwall, Ave. in Bellingham, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Here is a google map of the location:

View Larger Map

Parents and students are invited to go to the fair and check out what options are available for K-12^th grades in the area’s private and independent schools.

Also, many of the schools at the fair will be hosting open houses at their schools on Saturday, February 12, 2011 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

More info is available at WISE’s Facebook page here.

For those interested in contributing their input on schedule changes within the Bellingham Public School District for the 2011-2012 school year, the district’s online survey can be found here.

The survey references the observations discussed in Dr. Baker’s fairly brief 6-page “Entry Plan Report,” which can be found here.

I would recommend reading Dr. Baker’s report before taking the survey, although the issues are explained fairly well in the survey if you only have a few minutes and still want to contribute your opinion.

Alabama Street

Monday, January 31, 2011

About the Alabama Hill Report