Here’s a thought…
“The competition between Nature and the economy is deep and broad.
In the short term, the economy usually wins. In the long term …?”
BILL APPEL
Guest Opinion | Covenant-smuvadent – the deforestation of Decatur Island
||| FROM SHANNON WELINSKE ||| It’s a funny thing about islands. They tend to stay put. The trees stay put, too—quiet, hardworking citizens who ask for nothing except a little rain and the chance to
Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens to visit Orcas Garden Club
||| FROM PERRI GIBBONS for ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| Please join the Orcas Island Garden Club on Wednesday, October 21,2026 as we welcome Barb Faville, from Meerkerk Gardens to learn all things rhododendron. Meerkerk
Larsen | I will not let them stick you with the bill for data centers
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| Data centers are expanding across the country, including here in the Pacific Northwest. This growth carries real consequences for our communities. Data centers require enormous
CWR provides update on J31 with deceased calf
||| FROM THE CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH TEAM ||| Our team is saddened to report that Southern Resident killer whale J31 has been observed with a deceased newborn calf. CWR researcher Mark Malleson encountered J31
Enter OPALCO’s co-op member photo contest or grand prize giveaway
October is National Co-op Month ||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE ||| Every year in October, cooperatives around the nation celebrate National Cooperative Month. OPALCO, San Juan County’s local not-for-profit cooperative
Washington lawmakers, colleagues demand transparency after U.S. Forest Service coordinates with ICE on public lands
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), Emily Randall (D, WA-06), Kim Schrier, M.D. (D, WA-08), Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01), Jared Huffman (D, CA-02),
Islands’ Oil Spill Association utilizes eyes in the sky
||| FROM BILL SYMES and ELAINA THOMPSON || Wednesday morning, September 16, was glorious in Deer Harbor: bright sunshine glinting on the water, color from early-turning leaves, light breeze out of the north, pleasant temperatures.
Burn permits now local on Orcas Island
||| FROM BEN LUNA for ORCAS ISLAND FIRE & RESCUE ||| Orcas Island Fire and Rescue (OIFR) will begin issuing burn permits for Orcas Island. Permits will be available starting October 12, 2026, if weather
Guest Opinion | Permanent, until inconvenient
||| FROM ALAN MIZUTA ||| OPALCO bought land with a recorded Native Growth Area covenant and open-space protections intended to preserve a wildlife corridor. Its solar project conflicted with those restrictions. San Juan County has
Forester’s Notes | Times are tough
||| FROM KEVIN W. ZOBRIST, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FORESTRY PROFESSOR ||| The excellent adventure of the Extension Forestry Program has become a bit of a bogus journey of late. We have been hit with significant
News Brief | Kelvin wave may bring sustained high sea levels on WA coast
||| FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES ||| Expected to hit California in days, lifting sea levels by a half-foot or more and lingering for months a giant pulse of warm water, known as a Kelvin wave,
Joint statement of Governor Bob Ferguson and Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller on west coast oil pipeline
||| FROM WASHINGTON GOVERNOR BOB FERGUSON ||| OLYMPIA — Governor Bob Ferguson and Washington Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller offer the folllowing joint statement regarding the Oct. 1 decision by the Canadian Major Projects
All San Juan County beaches closed to recreational shellfish harvesting
Due to high levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poison, all beaches are closed until further notice ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| As of Wednesday, September 30, 2026, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH)
Our first wind advisory of the season
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| Wind Advisory Tue 2:00 AM - Tue 2:00 PM WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT TUESDAY WHAT South wind 20 to 30 mph
CWR encounter with Biggs Killer Whales
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Full Encounter Report ObservBegin: 07:48 AM ObservEnd: 08:40 AM Vessel: Mike 1 Staff: Mark Malleson Other Observers: Gary Sutton, Tasli Shaw, Mollie Alexandra Pods: Bigg's killer whales IDsEncountered:
