Blaine council honors sectional champions and swears in three new officers

Mayor Sanders opened the April 20 Blaine City Council meeting by recognizing the city’s girls and boys 7A sectional basketball champions and inviting coaches and senior captains to speak.

Coach Alex Walls, who identified himself as the head girls varsity coach, summarized a successful season, saying, "These ladies did something really cool this year, something we haven't done in the last...17 years," and reported a 22–10 record and sixth place in the state. Senior captain Marley Jansen thanked the community: "We just wanna quickly thank the whole town and all of our families for supporting us." Rosie Rakowski, another senior captain, added, "We truly couldn't have done it and had a successful season without this community." Head boys coach Bernie Ward described a similar turnabout for the boys program and senior captain Kaye Nils said playoff crowds were essentially sold out.

After the team recognitions, the council held a swearing‑in ceremony for three new Blaine Police Department officers. Chief (Blaine Police Department) introduced Braden Olmstead, Thomas Shields and Jackie Grohan and urged them to treat the oath as more than formality. "Officer Olmstead, officer Shields, and officer Grohan, I implore you to not look at tonight as a formality," the chief said, emphasizing the responsibilities of the badge and the department’s standards. Each officer recited the oath and received a badge; the council invited members, family and staff for a group photo and announced a reception to follow.

Councilmember Robertson used the occasion to single out members of the K‑9 team who were present, saying they had placed highly at regional training and asking the council to acknowledge handlers and canines for their work.

The meeting then moved on to the evening’s regular agenda items.