Editorial | Yikes, wow, phew, and words like that

— by Lin McNulty, Editor —

It was January 21, 2020 that Orcas Issues published our first corona virus story reporting on the first known case in the state. At that point, it was typical for us to post 3 – 5 stories per day. That was a comfortable workload for our small staff.

From then on, until this very day in May, our average number of stories leaped to pushing 20 per day. That’s a significant uptick in workload. And it didn’t help the workload that we reached out to local musicians for their music to keep us sane, and poetry to provide a means to experience emotions. That was something I needed, and figured if I did that perhaps others would, as well. Our musicians have not let us down.

A number of readers have offered us financial support during this crisis, either as purchasing advertising or contributing funds. This has helped tremendously as I try to keep our existing staff compensated. So far, we continue to post new stories every day — and plan to continue now and into the future.

To those who have sent donations, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. You are helping us to keep the lights on. Margie Doyle, previous owner of Orcas Issues, would send donors beautifully handwritten thank you notes, a sign of her thoughtfulness. My handwriting is so bad no one would be able to read what I wrote. Seriously. But that does not diminish our appreciativeness nor your thoughtful generosity.

We’re here and we intend to stay here. We can do this! Thank you all for your support, and read on.