In the Oct. 2016 Print Edition

Fall is here, and with it comes the start of fall festivals, harvest fairs and craft shows. The leaves are turning colors and there is a crispness to the air which many welcome after the sweltering summer we’ve had. That’s the good news.

Hopefully, fall continues to bring the rain we so desperately need.  The weather this year has wreaked economic havoc on this region—indeed, the whole country.  The water ban imposed by the town, necessary though it is, creates ripples in the nursery and gardening industry—people think twice about planting mums if they are not going to be able to water them.  In the big picture, drinking water is a whole lot more important than outdoor plantings, but that doesn’t help the families of those businesses who have been negatively affected.

Fruit farms have are also having a challenging harvest.  Peach trees budded too early because of an unseasonably warm spell, so when the frost naturally followed,  all of those buds were killed.  So there were few or no peaches for New England farmers this year. Obviously, the drought has also hurt them—our favorite farm for honey crisp apples lost approximately 75% of its crop, for example. These factors and other climate-related issues are effecting the Bellingham, New England, U.S. and world economy as a whole.

Anyway, feel free to browse through the highlighted articles from the print edition below, or scroll down to the newspaper icon, which will bring up a PDF file of the complete October 2016 print edition for you to check out in your spare time. Thank you for supporting Bellingham Bulletin advertisers, which in turn, supports the Bellingham Bulletin. Happy reading!