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
2025 vacation rental (VR) certification cycle Is now open
||| FROMM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| If you operate a vacation rental, it’s time to certify your compliance with County code to maintain your permit through the end of 2026. The 2025 vacation rental
Guest Opinion | Fire Commissioner breaks down reasons to support levy
||| FROM ELISABETH BRITT ||| A bond ensures accountability, long-term funding for critical equipment, and respects the community’s history of rejecting permanent levies. As commissioners for Orcas Island Fire & Rescue, we are responsible for ensuring
Ferry Alert | Vehicle reservations for the winter season open Oct 28 at 10am
||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| Reminder: Vehicle reservations for the winter 2025 schedule (Dec. 28, 2025, through March 21, 2026) will be available tomorrow at 10 a.m. To ensure a smooth and fair experience
Island Stewards | As the veil thins, before the snow flies
||| If our previous dispatch was about noticing what’s straining, this one’s about celebrating what’s sustaining! The tides keep shifting, the plans keep unfolding, yet the spirit of these islands endures—resilient, adapting, and alive. Fall
Commercial burn permits open Oct. 27 in San Juan County
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| Effective today, October 27, 2025, Commercial Burn Permits are open in San Juan County. Commercial burns include yard debris and vegetation in piles greater than 10 feet in
No Place Like Loam | Less sugar, more soul: Making maple syrup at home in the Pacific Northwest
How to tap a bigleaf maple, boil down rain into sugar, and taste what the Northwest keeps to itself. ||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM by ALEX TAMAYA-WOLF ||| My daughter was getting bored with our
Cold Weather? | 10 banned books you want to read
||| FROM REAL SIMPLE ||| Books are essential. Storytelling allows us to fill in the gaps of history, gain new perspectives, and orient ourselves and our place in the universe. Ironically, the power of books
Letter to Editor | Arctic Pie Surprise
||| FROM DAN GOTTLIEB ||| Arctic Pie Surprise Prep time: 4.7 billion yearsCook time: 260 yearsTotal time: 4,700,000,260 years Ingredients: Oil companies (see our cartel recipe) Mining companies (yup, here too) Adulterated media outlets (ditto) One
News Brief | Critically endangered North Atlantic right whale making a comeback
||| FROM SCIENCE ALERT ||| It's not yet time to take our foot off the gas, conservation-wise. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY SCIENCE ALERT Researchers at the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium have shared that in 2024,
Watercolor, drumming, needlework at Orcas Senior Center
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Experience the Joy of Drumming! Discover the joy of drumming with the Spirit of Drumming Group at Orcas Senior Center Thursdays at 1:30 p.m.! This beginner-friendly
News Brief | New underwater technology could give scientists a direct line to orcas
||| FROM KING-TV ||| "There are fiber optic cables everywhere, that's why we get internet. But we can basically use the same fiber for monitoring marine mammals." ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY KING-TV If successful, it could
Orcas Center fall fundraiser | Beatles, Burgers and Brew
||| FROM COLLEEN SMITH SUMMERS for ORCAS CENTER ||| Before the last two Saturday performances of Magical Mystery Tour — Nov. 15 and 22 — join Orcas Center for a “Beatles, Burgers, and Brew” dinner
Last call for Leadership SJI applicants
||| FROM GRETCHEN KRAMPF for LEADERSHIP SAN JUAN ISLANDS ||| Leadership San Juan Islands (LSJI) Class XVII begins on Friday, November 7 and runs through April 2026. We have fourteen (14) outstanding participants from Lopez,
News Brief | Alaska receives disaster help from Western Washington
||| FROM KING-TV SEATTLE ||| The remnants of a typhoon slammed into western Alaska last week, leaving thousands with nowhere to live. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY KING-TV SEATTLE Back in Alaska, people are expected to be
Wind Advisory in effect thru 5am Sunday
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Seattle WA 1105 AM PDT Sat Oct 25 2025 San Juan County-Foothills and Valleys of the North Cascades- Foothills and Valleys of
LWVSJ Observer Corps | County Council October 21, 2025
||| FROM NECIA QUAST for LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ||| The Council appointed DCD Director Seb Jones as the certifying officer for HUD Environmental documents. During public comment Friends of the San Juans proposed steps
