Away From The Kristi Noem Team:
Skagit County Public Health on 5/27/25
“…the Skagit County Drug Enforcement Unit is concerned with fentanyl powder supply in the region having high variability/potency and believe this trend will continue.”
“In Skagit County, most overdose deaths now involve fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, and often unknowingly mixed in with other substances.”
“The intent of this message is to provide situational awareness to providers and people who use drugs. Please get the word out on this OD spike alert! Share this information with your colleagues, staff, other service providers in your network, and the people you serve.”
“Carry Naloxone
Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids.
• Skagit County Public Health offers free naloxone to people in the community, including Skagit-based street outreach programs, housing and shelter programs, and community behavioral health agencies.”
In The News
Unusual spike in Mount Vernon overdoses has local agencies concerned
KIRO 7 News Staff
May 29, 2025
Real newspeople may ask:
Did cartels respond to Kristi Noem’s March 20, 2025 public affairs event by moving more product into local communities?
Have drug addicts in local communities had any difficulty in finding their cartel product of choice since Kristi Noem launched her public affairs crackdown on March 20, 2025?
Have opioid lawsuits played any role in improving the situation?
How do cartels react to opioid lawsuits?
Are passports/enhanced/REAL IDs effective in keeping cartel drugs out of the US?
Standard driver’s licenses have not been accepted at the border since 2009.
Over in Island County
Has the Island County Homeland Security-funded patrol boat been involved in any arrest or seizure related in any way to the US/Canada border?
Newspeople remain silent.
Whidbey Homeland Security Grant Money- Newspeople Remain Silent
The Oak Bay Starfish take:
We are monitoring mixed messages from various levels of government Re: cartel product inside the US.
We are seeing that newspeople avoid asking questions related to Homeland Security funding and performance in the Puget Sound area.
2025 – Public Affairs Crackdown Begins
March 20, 2025
Public Affairs efforts commence – the word goes out.
Cartels have been placed on notice.
Secretary of Homeland Security delivers no nonsense statements in the March 20, 2025 video posted below.
Cartels have been designated as terrorists.
Homeland Security Vision of Success
Promotional events crafted and controlled by public affairs professionals, staged with major drug hauls, patrol boats, helicopters, etc.
The big campaign features top level team leaders thanking each other.
Well done.
Announcing the number of DOD ground units, US Navy and US Coast Guard vessels sent towards the US/Mexico border demonstrates a sense of commitment.
Another US Destroyer Deployed To Secure Southern Border
By Peter Aitken – Newsweek
Also From The Kristi Noem Team:
April 9, 2025
Pam Bondi thanks the US Coast Guard for preventing cartel product from arriving in the US:
April 9, 2025 – Public Affairs On The Job Again:
“…all the drugs off the streets…”
High levels of confidence in this businesslike event. Unfortunately, questions from the press were not picked up in the audio below.
The claim:
At 5:00 in the video above, the FBI director clams that various federal agencies will “…get all the drugs off the streets…”
“Almost 45,00 pounds of pure, uncut cocaine were seized and 3,800 pounds of marijuana, Bondi said.”
Seattle – May 30, 2025
Sorry, no time for newspeople to ask:
What sort of drugs were involved here?
What part of the Drug War is working? What part is failing?
Newspeople remain silent.
Elimination Of Local News Reader Comments
Elimination of reader comments works against the idea of paying for an online subscription.
Years ago, I lived in several different small town areas. Places like Kingston, Port Hadlock and north of Penn Cove.
These areas had small, local newspapers and those papers featured active, online comment sections. Paying for a newspaper subscription was OK with me. There were basic rules for commenting, but it did not seem to matter what name people went by. I never cared.
I used to love the comment sections.
Local papers have stripped away all comments from past articles, and removed the opportunity to post comments to new articles.
Various newspapers in the Puget Sound area have gone with this trend.
Suppressing comments, getting away from asking questions related to public policy and telling us they need more support in the form of grant money, subscription and advertising sales, etc.
Got it.
Love to see newspeople out asking questions.
What we get now is sort of a press release style of news reporting where a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.
Newspeople post this statement as is. A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.
JFK speaks about the role of the press in a free society:
Port Angeles
We will see success when Homeland Security leaders admit that massing US Border Patrol agents at the southern edge of the Strait of Juan de Fuca more than a decade ago never did create any shortage of cartel product anywhere in the Puget Sound area.
We will see success when newspeople ask:
Were Clallam County drug overdose death numbers higher before the US Dept. of Homeland Security was established (2002) or are the numbers higher with a $51.6 billion (every 12 months) US Dept. of Homeland Security in place? This giant federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US. More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?
After a Port Angeles CBP buildup that took place more than a decade ago, is there any follow up made by the press to inform the public on whatever results have been achieved?
Port Angeles Homeland Security Spending Spree
Port Angeles – 2024
With a significant Homeland Security/CBP/Border Patrol presence at Port Angeles:
“Clallam County has one of the highest per capita rates of drug overdoses in the state…”
Related:
$51.6 billion (every 12 months) US Dept. of Homeland Security
Drug War Show Business & The Puget Sound Area
Port Angeles Homeland Security Spending Spree
After a Port Angeles CBP buildup that took place more than a decade ago, is there any follow up made by the press to inform the public on whatever results have been achieved?
Sound Publishing And Black Press Media
Image at top of page:
South entrance- Port Townsend Ship Canal
An old photo I took. Symbol of a significant Homeland Security/CBP/Border Patrol presence at Port Angeles that came together more than a decade ago.
Have Port Angeles based Homeland Security/CBP units been able to create any shortage of cartel product/fentanyl in the Puget Sound area?
Has any newsperson ever asked questions on this?