Here are the top local news stories that ran in The Bellingham Herald last week.
FERNDALE MAN DIES IN AFGHANISTAN HELICOPTER CRASH
A U.S. Marine from Ferndale was among six Marines killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, military authorities announced Jan. 21.
Capt. Daniel B. Bartle died in a Jan. 19, crash in the Helmand province. He was 27.
Bartle, who graduated as a valedictorian from Ferndale High School in 2002, had been decorated with two Air Medals and a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, among other awards. This was his second deployment to Afghanistan.
BELLINGHAM ANTI-COAL INITIATIVE LAUNCHED
More than 200 supporters showed up as local activists launched their "Coal-Free Bellingham" campaign for a citizen initiative to outlaw coal trains through a city ordinance Thursday, Jan. 26.
The ordinance would prohibit any transport of coal through Bellingham by train or other means.
Initiative backers plan to ask the City Council to pass the anti-coal ordinance before the petition drive begins in the next few weeks.
Opponents of the ordinance described it as an attempt to derail the environmental review process for the proposed coal and cargo terminal at Cherry Point.
$1 MILLION BAIL SET FOR LYNDEN SHOOTING SUSPECT
Bail was set at $1 million Tuesday, Jan. 24, for a man who police suspect was involved in the shooting death of 22-year-old Jesse Winchester last November.
Andrew Medina, 31, was booked into Whatcom County Jail Monday for investigation of second-degree murder, drug possession and rendering criminal assistance, and he had his first appearance in court Tuesday.
Winchester was shot to death Nov. 22 at a house in Lynden in what police have called a drug deal gone bad. Medina showed up at the house with brothers Salvador and Oscar Rodriguez, and he likely was in the home when Winchester was shot. The brothers and Medina were driven to the house by Ashley Fischer, who has already pleaded not guilty to the same charges as Medina.
BURST PIPE DAMAGES MERIDIAN SCHOOL
It will cost more than $100,000 to repair a building at Meridian Middle School damaged when a water pipe burst last weekend.
An insurance adjuster said that the damage was in excess of $100,000.
The pipe burst in the building's ceiling as a result the previous week's frigid temperatures. The damage was discovered about 6:55 a.m. Monday, Jan. 23.
The water caused extensive damage to the ceiling, walls and carpets of four classrooms in the building, which was not the school's main building. School officials found at least three inches of standing water in damaged areas.
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