Here’s a thought…
“Old age is no joke, but it can feel like one.”
TAD TOMPKINS
A rare alignment of planets is about to take place in the sky
||| FROM SCIENCE ALERT ||| A very rare treat is about to grace Earth's night skies. On the evening of 28 February 2025, all seven of the other planets in the Solar System will appear in the night sky at the same time, with Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars all lining up in a
Southern Resident orcas face uncertain future despite groundbreaking research efforts
||| FROM KOMO TV ||| It’s a race against the clock for scientists and researchers to learn more about two Southern Resident whale calves and their mothers. One calf, J61, was only a few days old when she died in December. Researchers spotted her mother, J35, also named Tahlequah, carrying her
Barcelona uses its tourist tax to tackle the effects of climate change
||| FROM CBS NEWS ||| After wide scale anti-tourism protests over the summer, Barcelona is trying to turn a negative into a positive by spending some of the money raised from the city's tax on visitors to tackle issues caused by climate change. Barcelona is one of the most visited cities
La Niña has officially arrived. Here’s what that means for western Washington
||| FROM KOMO NEWS ||| After months and months of anticipation, we have officially entered the La Niña climate pattern we've been waiting for. La Niña is the opposing end of the spectrum from El Nino, an oscillation between cooler and warmer than normal waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean
Port Commissioners special meeting
||| FROM CHIP LONG for PORT OF ORCAS ||| The Port of Orcas Board of Commissioners will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, January 13 at 5:00 p.m. online via Zoom and in-person at the airport terminal. Access information as well as the Agenda can be found at portoforcas.com.
2025 Marine Naturalist Training Program Opens Registration
||| FROM CONOR AGNEW for THE WHALE MUSEUM ||| The Whale Museum has opened registration for the 2025 spring and summer sessions of the Marine Naturalist Training Program! This hybrid program is an intensive multi-day overview of the natural history of the San Juan Islands and Salish Sea, and leaves
It’s tick time again
||| FROM RUSSEL BARSH for KWIAHT ||| Native Blacklegged Ticks are questing again; in fact, they began their search for fresh hosts in the islands nearly a month earlier this year, presumably due to this winter’s unseasonably mild weather. The islands’ conservation biology laboratory, Kwiaht, is calling on islanders to
Midnight Mutterings | The right to rewrite
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE.BATES ||| We all learned in school that history is written by the winners. We have our own recent experience of that sad fact. After the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol, it was called a riot, an insurrection and many other unflattering terms.
The one-page calendar that changes how you view the year
||| FROM BIG THINK ||| Key Takeaways Most of us need to refer to a calendar quite frequently to know what calendar date (day, month, year) corresponds to which day of the week. But rather than having to change your calendar every month, this one-page calendar works for the entire
Sheriff’s Report | January 1 – 7, 2025
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1 25-000010 Citizen Dispute 12:01:40 01/01/25 Lopez Deputies responded to a welfare check. An adult child took their parent's vehicle for a ride without asking for permission. The situation resolved itself without Deputy interference, as they returned home a short
Ferguson may delay converting ferries to electric power
||| FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES ||| CLINTON, WHIDBEY ISLAND — Describing the Washington State Ferries system as “in crisis,” Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson said he may postpone the ongoing work to convert the fleet’s largest ferries to electric power. “That is something I’m very interested in,” he told a group of
Health experts rally for ‘call to arms’ to protect children from toxic chemicals
In new paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, leading researchers to propose action to protect kids ||| FROM THE GUARDIAN ||| Children are suffering and dying from diseases that emerging scientific research has linked to chemical exposures, findings that require urgent revamping of laws around the world, according
OICF | A New Beginning
||| FROM LINDSAY JENNINGS for ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ||| I wish I could say it’s been a great start to the year and fill this message with only joy and excitement. Hard to do when so many are suffering from recent bouts of violence in our country and throughout
‘The Santa Anas’ by Joan Didion
||| BY JOAN DIDION ||| There is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension. What it means is that tonight a Santa Ana will begin to blow, a hot wind from the northeast whining down through the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes, blowing
WSF Weekly Report | 61,000 passengers in one day
||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| A message from Steve Yesterday, I joined Governor-elect Ferguson, Senate Transportation Committee Chair Marko Liias, House Transportation Committee (HTC) Chair Jake Fey, and HTC members Representatives Dave Paul and Greg Nance, for focused conversations on WSF’s service. We attended a meeting
Occam’s Razor | Our island, our world through the eyes, pen of S.C. Watson
Welcome to our weekly feature, Occam's Razor, from local artist S.C. Watson.
