Here’s a thought…
“Don’t ask me who’s influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he’s digested, and I’ve been reading all my life.”
GIORGOS SEFERIS
Letter to Editor | I’m choosing not to be an OIFR volunteer
||| FROM NICK NEGULESCU ||| I'm able-bodied and in my mid-40s but I will not be choosing to volunteer with this fire department any time soon, if ever. From my point of view as a
Explore Julia Summers’ captivating photography at Orcas Senior Center
Monday-Friday, 9 am-3 pm (January-February) ||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Visit Orcas Senior Center Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3 pm, to immerse yourself in the stunning photography of Julia
Letter to Editor | A cautionary tale of flying blind and low morale
||| FROM NICK NEGULESCU ||| On December 22, Toby Cooper of the Islands’ Sounder wrote of the December BOFC meeting: Chief Holly VanSchaick included in her report the announcement that three full-time employees — Finance
Locals participate in weekly peace vigil in Eastsound
||| FROM DAVID TURNOY ||| If you have driven through the main intersection in town at Main Street and North Beach Road on Sunday between 11:30 and 12:30, you may have noticed a small group
Lions will be making $14,000 donation to fire department
||| FROM JIM BIDDICK for ORCAS LIONS CLUB ||| The. Orcas Island Lions Club is going to be making a $14,000 donation to OIFR at the next Commissioners meeting on January 2 at 3 p.m.
Join your fellow islanders in New Years Eve candlelight labyrinth walk
Sunday, December 31, 2023, from 3-5 p.m. ||| FROM NANCY AYER for EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL CHURCH ||| This is the 14th year Emmanuel Church has hosted a New Years Eve indoor candlelight labyrinth walk for the
Student Stories: Washington State History as a graduation requirement
||| FROM OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION ||| Do you know what’s noteworthy about Washington state’s high school graduation requirements? It’s Washington state history. From seventh to 12th grade, all students in Washington State are
Native and state leaders push for K-12 schools to fully implement tribal history curriculum
The program is required under a Washington law passed eight years ago but still hasn’t been fully adopted. A pending bill would tighten standards and provide additional support. ||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE STANDARD ||| When
Rising rents are drowning Washington’s smaller cities
Seattle may have the highest rents statewide, but communities such as Walla Walla and Spokane have seen the most drastic losses in affordability. ||| FROM CROSSCUT.COM ||| Over the past two decades, Walla Walla has
Happy New Year
||| FROM HILARY CANTY for ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ||| Looking back on 2023 fills me with gratitude. So many of you supported this community and donated through OICF this past year. We ran three
Early childhood education on Orcas: Work and results of Early Childhood Education Initiative
||| FROM JAMES CONNELL for EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ||| Who Are We? For ten years, preschool educators and board members from our three state-certified preschool programs, county early childhood education staff, education and child development
It’s getting quieter in Puget Sound and easier for orcas to find dinner
||| FROM KUOW.ORG ||| Orca conservation groups are thanking commercial ships and other big vessels for slowing down around endangered southern resident killer whales. They are asking vessels to voluntarily reduce their speeds in a
In major shift, Northwest Tribes — not U.S. officials — will control salmon recovery funds
||| FROM PROPUBLICA.COM ||| When the Biden administration said it had reached a “historic” legal deal with Northwest Indigenous tribes last week to save endangered salmon, no one could agree on what it meant for
Analysis of Northwest, other salmon hatcheries finds nearly all hurt wild salmon populations
More than 200 studies across 40 years revealed large-scale salmon hatchery programs weaken wild salmon diversity and lead to wild population declines ||| FROM OREGON CAPITAL CHRONICLE ||| For much of the last century, fish
Don’t forget to take the Land Bank’s strategic plan survey by January 6
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| Land Bank staff and commissioners are seeking broad community input by hosting a month-long, anonymous survey. Click here to begin the survey or visit the Engage platform: engage.sanjuancountywa.gov/land-bank-strategic-plan. The survey takes
Nominations open for OPALCO board positions
||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE ||| It’s that time of year when OPALCO members step up to run for the Board of Directors. Nominations are now open for the 2024
