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🐹 Uncharted Planet 🌎️🌎️

🐹 Uncharted Planet 🌎️🌎️

April 14, 2025

Good morning, Bellingham. This is your Monday update from The Hamster Wheel.

Keep your eyes peeled. Sloths are popping up all over the Ham. 😆 This movement might have legs, and by golly, we all need a little levity these days. It’s like Where's Waldo Bellingham-style.

Have fun, and stay safe out there!

~ Val & Evan

Nature, Community, Sasquatch, UAP

Photos From the Hoods

False Morel Under a Black Cottonwood - 📷 by Holly Roger

Camilla - 📷 by Cliff Knitter

Coprinellus micaceus “Mica cap” - 📷 by Randall S Book

Tag @bellinghamsterwheel on Instagram or reply to this email to get your photos in The Hamster Wheel.

Weather Forecast

Monday: 63°F 🌡️ 47°F | ⛅ Partly Sunny | 🌧️ 0% | 💨 NNW 1 to 6 mph

Tuesday: 60°F 🌡️ 43°F | 🌤️ Mostly Sunny | 🌧️ 0% | 💨 WNW 1 to 6 mph

Moon Phases

Events, Updates & News Around Town

Get off the Hamster Wheel

Student Magazine “The Planet” Celebrated

Western announced last week that student-produced environmental magazine The Planet, has won six regional awards from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence competition for its Fall 2024 Uncharted issue, including Best Ongoing Student Magazine.

📷️ WWU

The student-produced environmental magazine, led (in the Fall of 2024) by Editor-In-Chief Julia Hawkins and faculty advisor Jeff Shaw, also secured five individual awards:

Phoebe Clark, for "Kelp Needs Your Help:" Environment/Science/Climate Reporting
Soren Cooley, for "No Goats, No Glory:" General News Photography
Eleanor Geraghty, for "Losing Steam:" Campus Reporting
Josh Maritz, for "Oh, Deer: Chronic Wasting Disease Comes to Washington:" General News Reporting
India Rahmani, for "Himalayan Blackberry:" Best Podcast, Narrative

If you’ve not bumped into The Plant (it was new to me), it’s a student-funded, student-run publication produced each fall, winter, and spring. The articles are fascinating, covering topics relevant to Washingtonians, but what caught my eye is the use of strikingly beautiful photography throughout the articles. So thoughtfully done. I can’t wait to read through the archive on my next free day. 🙂 The Planet Magazine

In other news…

🏙️ Bellingham City Council meets today, April 14 at 10 am, with the Regular Meeting at 7 pm. The agenda is available online. This public meeting is held at Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall or can be watched online.

🚜 Whatcom County Council meets tomorrow, April 15 at 8:30 am, with the Regular Meeting at 6 pm. The agenda is available online. This public meeting is held in the Council Chambers at the County Courthouse or can be watched via Zoom.

🚢 Port of Bellingham Board of Commissioners meets tomorrow, April 15 at 4 pm. The agenda is available online. This public meeting is held at the Harbor Center or can be watched via the port’s YouTube channel.

Local Business Updates

Haggling With Local Folk

For years, we’ve made it a tradition to find dim sum anytime we’re driving through Richmond BC, so we’re very excited to hear it’s being served right here in Bellingham in the newly opened SOHO Bellingham Asian Kitchen & Bar.

If you’re new to dim sum, think small plates of bite-sized Chinese fair. The menu lists spare ribs, rice rolls, various buns, and bao, alongside Chinese and Thai entrées.

SOHO held its grand opening on April 2nd, and so far, they’re receiving great reviews. You’ll find them on the corner of Holly and Railroad Ave, in the location formerly occupied by K-Pop Chicken & Beer. Shoot us a note if you go, and let us know what you think! 🙂

Food & Drinks

Hamsters Gotta Eat

Tuesday
North Fork Brewery

$30 for a family meal! Enjoy an 18" cheese or pepperoni pizza, a large house salad, and your choice of cheesy sticks, a pitcher of Root Beer, or a homemade cookie.

Test Your Knowledge

Bellingham & Whatcom Trivia

What event in 1859 prompted Bellingham's Capt. George E. Pickett to lead 64 men to San Juan Island in defiance of the British?

The correct answer to the last question: “Fossils found commonly in the sandstones of the Chuckanut Formation are from what period?” was the 50 Million Years Ago.

During the Eocene epoch, approximately 50 million years ago, Whatcom County was part of a subtropical flood plain, characterized by a warm, humid climate. The Chuckanut Formation, a geological structure composed primarily of sandstone, siltstone, and shale, underlies much of Bellingham and contains fossils from this time. The map below, from an educational document produced by the Washington Department of Natural Resources, shows where the formation is exposed in Bellingham.

Sediments deposited by slow-moving streams on a flat coastal plain captured plant remains, such as sycamore and fern leaves, as well as footprints of ancient creatures, including the 7-foot-tall flightless bird Diatryma.

Over millions of years, these sediments were compressed and solidified into the Chuckanut Formation, which was later uplifted and folded by tectonic forces into the present-day hills and mountains, such as Chuckanut Mountain and Sehome Hill. The fossils in this formation, including plant impressions and animal tracks, provide evidence of a once-thriving subtropical ecosystem.

While almost 30 years old, this September 1997 edition of Washington Geology is a great resource to learn more about the Chuckanut Formation.

Performance Arts This Week

Dance of The Hamsters

THEATRE - DANCE - FILM

BAAY Theatre:
Out of the Woods | Fri, Sat 7 pm; Sat, Sun 2 pm

Bellingham Theatre Guild:
Play On! | Thurs, Fri, Sat 7:30 pm; Sun 2 pm

FireHouse Arts & Events Center:
Bellingham Repertory Dance: If Not Now | Fri 7:30 pm; Sat 5:30 pm

iDiOM Theater:
Heroes of the Fourth Turning | Thurs, Fri, Sat 7:30 pm

New Prospect Theatre:
New Play Cafe | Fri, Sat, Sun 7:00 pm

WWU College of Fine and Performing Arts:
Untitled Othello Project | Fri, Sat 7:30 pm; Sat 2pm

COMEDY

Uisce Irish Pub:
Guffawingham | Mon 8:30 pm

Corner Taphouse:
Southside Comedy Hour | Fri 8 pm

PARTICIPATORY DANCE

Bachata : WWU Salsa and Bachata Club @ Viking Union MPR | Mon 7 pm
Tango : Urban Salon Tango @ The Majestic Ballroom | Mon 7 pm
Swing : B’ham Hop @ Hotel Leo Crystal Ballroom | Tues 7 pm
Cuban Salsa : Beginning Cuban Salsa @ Cof& | Tues 6 pm
Cuban Salsa : Intermediate Cuban Salsa @ Cof& | Tues 7:15 pm
Tango : Tango Practica @ The Majestic Ballroom | Wed 6:30 pm
Party : Show Me Your Horns @ Shakedown | Wed 9 pm
Bachata : Bham Bachata @ ‘ONO Kitchen & Bar | Thurs 7:30 pm
Social Partner Dance : Flow Fusion @ Karate Church | Thurs 7 pm
Belly Dance : Baby-Wearing Belly Dance@ Boom Elite Martial Arts | Thurs 9:30 am
Party : Y2K Overdrive @ BlueRoom | Fri 9 pm
Party : Bad Bunny @ Wild Buffalo | Sat 9 pm
Silent Disco : Sunset Silent Disco @ Zuanich Point Park | Sat 7 pm
Belly Dance : Belly Dance Fusion @ Bellingham Senior Center | Sat 10:30 am
Salsa : The Salsa Collective @ The Majestic Ballroom | Sun 5:30 pm

Help Spread The Word

Refer three Bellingham friends to join our newsletter community, and we’ll include a birthday callout to one person you specify on their B’day 🎂. Get your referral link here. Your current referral count is: 0. You’re so close!.

Music & Nightlife

Spinning Into The Night

Monday Games & Trivia
Trivia Night @ Ono Kitchen & Bar | 7 pm
Trivia Night @ Paws for a Beer | 6:15 pm
Trivia Night @ Zeeks Pizza & Fountain Brewing | 7 pm
Trivia Night @ Overflow Taps | 6:30 pm

Tuesday Games & Trivia
Cribbage Tournament @ Kulshan Brewing K2 | 6 pm
Trivia Night @ Corner Taphouse | 7 pm
Trivia Night @ Uisce Irish Pub | 7 pm
Trivia Night @ Thirsty Badger | 7 pm

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Hakuna matata

To All Our Readers

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Have a great Monday!!