Here’s a thought…
Guest Opinion | Death by 1000 cuts
||| FROM BOB THOMAS ||| I am the “against” advocate. My intent has been to bring up points that may not have been covered or add to those that have and encourage islanders to investigate
Letter to Editor | Question on Health Care initiative
||| FROM JOHN ERLY ||| You must have received your Voting Ballot today. It made me go to the County Assessor page and see what I am paying to support the "Island Health Care District",
Loyalty to Earth | Loyalty to the natural world
"One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds." -- Aldo Leopold, author of Sand County Almanac ||| LOYALTY TO THE EARTH by ELISABETH ROBSON |||
Vote Yes on the Orcas Health Care District Levy – Proposition 1
||| FROM JUDY SCOTT ||| This month, Orcas Island voters will be asked to approve an increase in the Orcas Island Health Care District levy to support our island’s healthcare system. I urge our community
Letter to Editor | In response to ‘a life diminished’
||| FROM SUZEY FRANK ||| Thank you, Marie. A life diminished indeed! For the past 25 years, right round 2:30pm, I’ve gotten into the pool to teach our Island’s kids to swim. In all of
Guest Opinion | Safeguarding democratic norms in uncertain times
||| FROM DARRELL KIRK ||| As the Trump administration continues to settle into power, many islanders have expressed concerns about America's democratic foundations. Some political scientists have revived discussions of Ernst Fraenkel's concept of the
Letter to Editor | Life diminished
||| FROM MARIE MICHNICH ||| More than a decade ago, when we first came to enjoy the natural beauty of Orcas Island, I discovered a sweet little source of mental and physical well-being. A beautiful
Midnight Mutterings | Olding
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS. by JACKIE BATES ||| Nope: not ‘aging.' There’s enough discussion, advice, and definition arguing about aging. However, for the rare one of us who isn't already hoping to never hear the word
Letter to Editor | Chad Kimple offered Fire Chief position
||| FROM TONI KNUDSON ||| It was decided and announced at a Special Meeting for the Board of Fire Commissioners on March 12, 2025, that Acting Fire Chief Chad Kimple has been offered the position
Guest Opinion | Thinking through this public health levy
||| FROM BOB THOMAS ||| I’m Bob Thomas. We first came to the San Juans when we chartered a sailboat about 26 years ago then again about 16 years ago. We moved here in 2012
Midnight Mutterings | Quaking
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE BATES ||| Having grown up in the Southeast United States and lived in the Northeast and Midwest, US, I knew nothing of Earthquakes. The shaking of the Earth existed only
Guest Opinion | Local news sources are more valuable than ever
||| FROM BILL APPEL ||| There was a time when local sources were the only sources of news when all towns were what today we would call small, where farmers, prospectors, trappers and hunters would
Guest Opinion | My Constitutional Oath remains binding and honored since 1956
||| FROM SAN OLSON, VETERAN||| I was in grade school during WWII, a teenager during Korea and a young adult serving my country in our next war. It is unbelievable that the party of my
Guest Opinion | Men from Mars
The president should try being as kind to America’s friend as he is to Putin ||| FROM MICHAEL RIORDAN ||| I WILL NEVER FORGET my first and only encounter with Trump. It occurred in May
Midnight Mutterings | Report from Bellingham
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE BATES, AKA GRANDCHILDLESS CAT LADY ||| Rose the Cat here. My sister Molly and I have agreed to be guest columnists for Jackie’s regular column. She complains bitterly about how
