Here’s a thought…
“Old age is no joke, but it can feel like one.”
TAD TOMPKINS
News Brief | Next year an ambulance ride in Spokane may be more than 5 times higher
||| FROM SPOKESMAN REVIEW ||| Patients who used an ambulance in the city of Spokane, for instance, will pay a base fee of $5,275 starting June 1 plus $52.49 per mile. That compares to $975 for a ride plus $23.45 per mile they paid in 2021. “We have so many
Larsen releases statement on Trump’s tariff executive order
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement after President Trump issued an executive order dropping some agriculture products from its reciprocal tariffs: “The President is once again trying to fix a problem he created, but
News Brief | A Florida report: Economy, food, and fishing
||| FROM SUBSTACK.COM ||| “We don’t have Canadians coming anymore,” said a Sarasota restaurateur. Her lunches and ambiance haven’t changed. Her politics have completely reversed. “Trump killed my business,” she said. Others mention the issue of healthcare and cite the policy of no vaccination for measles prevention. Other businesses in
No Place Like Loam | Winter Garden: What my grandfather’s war garden still teaches me
||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM by ALEX TAMAYA-WOLF ||| Before dawn the wind comes down off Turtleback like it’s got something personal against me. I step out anyway, half-awake, basketless, breath fogging into the dark. The winter beds are holding steady--barely--but enough to get me through the day: Forellenschluss with
Is this imposter syndrome?
||| FROM ISLAND STEWARDS ||| Looking at the population of San Juan County, it’s easy to wonder how such a tiny place—just 0.000212% of the world’s population—expects to make even the smallest dent in the challenges around us. Our demographic reality is clear: we are aging, our working-age population is
Make your voice heard | Council to hold public hearing on the 2025 Comp Plan update
Council will hold a public hearing on November 25 to accept public comments before formally adopting the updates to the Comp Plan. ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County is updating its Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) as part of its 2025 Growth Management Act Periodic Update. Throughout
Guest Opinion | The future of democracy in the United States
An historical perspective ||| FROM DAVID KOBRIN ||| In a representative democracy, it is the people themselves who determine who their leaders will be. This is done through majority rule in open and fair elections. If elections are tainted by restricting voting rights, or by falsifying results, then the purpose
News Brief | WA and Alaska halibut fishing crews see troubling signs
||| FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES ||| The fishing has become a lot tougher, and, last year, a fall fishing trip in the Bering Sea was an outright disaster. Halibut now appear to be at, or near, their lowest point of the past century. In 1973, an average 16-year-old halibut weighed
News Brief | How snowy could it be this winter?
||| FROM WASHINGTON POST ||| No, the colors of the woolly bear caterpillar you saw in your backyard this fall can’t tell you if it’s going to be a snowy winter. The ingredients needed to generate blockbuster snowstorms or persistently snowy winters — freezing air and moisture — are linking
Here’s what’s happening at Orcas Senior Center
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Mindful Tranquility Julia first discovered Buddhism while photographing nomadic families in Nepal, where she was struck by their spiritual richness and generosity. Back in the U.S., she studied Buddhist teachings, immersed herself in Dharma talks, and later worked at Spirit Rock
WA State age- and dementia-friendly survey
||| FROM DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES ||| Washington state is taking meaningful steps to become more age- and dementia-friendly — and we need your help to ensure every voice is heard. DSHS is partnering with the Department of Health and Health Care Authority to gather input from older
Midnight Mutterings | The right to be fat
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE BATES ||| I have been reading a bit about Kate Manne, an Australian-born, Cornell philosophy professor, who, among her published books, writes about ‘fat phobia.’ and the prejudice against people who are ‘overweight,’ especially women. Instead of my trying to repeat what she says, you
Sheriff’s Report | November 5 – 11, 2025
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 25-007666 Malicious Mischief 14:08:06 11/05/25 A Lopez Deputy responded to a report of vandalized outdoor property at a local church. The vandalizer was captured on video, identified, and arrested for Malicious Mischief 3rd Degree. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6 25-007696 Burglary
ICE wants Washington tribes to detain immigrants for them
||| FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES ||| As the Trump administration searches for more space to detain immigrants, it is approaching Washington tribes to see if they will participate. The Nisqually Tribal Council said in a statement Friday evening it learned that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been talking to
EDC invites input from islanders on health insurance
||| FROM VICTORIA COMPTON for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ||| The EDC invites San Juan County business owners, workers, and residents to participate in a survey regarding proposed changes to Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance marketplace tax credits (set to expire at the end of this year), as well as
Coming together for food access + GiveOrcas ahead
||| FROM LINDSAY JENNINGS for ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ||| Over the past two weeks, we were able to mobilize resources to mitigate local impacts of the Government Shutdown, ensuring that Orcas residents who did not receive their SNAP benefits had the ability to purchase food for their families. Community
