Here’s a thought…
“The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.”
ROBERT LYND
WSF Weekly Report | Electrification; public meetings; gender-neutral USCG titles; Issaquah now resides aboard Issaquah
||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| A message from Steve I often get asked a variation of this question: Why are we spending so much money on electrification instead of fixing existing problems? This is a fair question. The reality is, we must build 16 new ferries
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.
Washington lawmaker proposes regulations for grocery self-checkout machines
House Bill 1739 would put requirements on when and how self-checkout stands could be used in grocery stores, including a limit of 15 items. Grocery clerks support the regulations, citing safety and workload concerns, while grocery stores believe they have a handle on things. ||| FROM ALBERT JAMES for OLYMPIA
Washington State Ferries answers concerns about staffing issues, sailing cancellations to KOMO-TV
||| FROM KOMO-TV NEWS ||| Wednesday morning, Washington State Ferries (WSF) started with a crew shortage issue that initially canceled all sailings after 7:15 a.m. on the Port Townsend-Coupeville route - just hours before the first of two community engagement meetings being held by WSF. The system, however, did find
Letter to Editor | When will lights go out?
||| FROM TOM OWENS ||| San Juan County is literally at the end of the road for our electric energy supplies. Our connection to mainland energy resources is aging and our peak loads are approaching the point where the failure of one cable could put us in the dark. We
Letter to Editor | Public Works moves forward with $1.2 million (and growing) storage yard on Shaw despite community resistance
||| FROM LYNN BAHRYCH, J.D., PhD. ||| San Juan County Public Works moves forward with $1.2 million (and growing) storage yard on Shaw Island despite community resistance. Once every seven years, the twelve miles of county road on Shaw Island is chip-sealed. In the past, it has been successfully accomplished
Guest Opinion | OPALCO has rung the bell
||| FROM BILL APPEL ||| Foster Hildreth, CEO of OPALCO, Vince Dauciunas, chair of its board, and Jay Kimball, consultant, appeared before our County Council in a work session on February 10, 2025, and alerted the Council of the need to act now to avert economic loss and injury to
Newly released PBS documentary features local scientist
||| FROM CONOR AGNEW for THE WHALE MUSEUM ||| A newly released PBS documentary follows the work of a team of Antarctic researchers, including The Whale Museum’s Research Director Jessica Farrer. “Expedition Killer Whale” documents the study of the most sophisticated hunting strategy in the animal kingdom – killer whales
Jury Duty February 18-21? You’re excused
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| JURY DUTY: FEBRUARY 18-21, 2025 For the jury period beginning Tuesday, February 18th through Friday February 21st, all jurors are now excused.
Land Bank Updates | Agricultural leases approved on SJI & two future public hearings set
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| During [yesterday's ] meeting, Council spent time with Conservation Land Bank staff reviewing agricultural leases and setting public hearings to consider the conveyance of a conservation easement and the sale of a portion of the Frazer Homestead to the National Park Service. Approval
Orcas Center seeks a new Executive Director
||| FROM BETHANY MARIE for ORCAS CENTER ||| After six successful years, Dimitri Stankevich is moving on to be the Director of Administration and Finance at Orcas Island Fire and Rescue. We are deeply grateful to Dimitri for his time leading Orcas Center through COVID and beyond, and we now
Cold weather advisory still in effect
||| NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Seattle WA 557 AM PST Wed Feb 12 2025 San Juan County-Western Whatcom County- Including the cities of Friday Harbor and Bellingham 557 AM PST Wed Feb 12 2025 ...COLD WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST
LWVSJ Observer Corps | County Council February 11, 2025
||| FROM NECIA QUAST for LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ||| During public access a citizen spoke in favor of the Land Bank lease of Beaverton Valley Marsh property to the grange. Two citizens were frustrated by the building code and permitting process for owner/builders, saying DCD staff referred them to the website,
Larsen to host telephone town hall on Saturday, February 15 at 1 pm PT
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF REP. RICK LARSEN ||| On Saturday, February 15, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) will host a live telephone town hall to provide an update on his work to fight back against the Republican Rip-Off and answer constituents’ questions. Attendees are invited to tune in to a live stream at larsen.house.gov/live or
Grieving B.C. southern resident orca mom no longer carrying dead calf’s body
The killer whale's 'grief procession' lasted at least 11 days ||| FROM TOFINO-UCLUELET WESTERLY NEWS ||| A mother killer whale's 'grief procession' for her dead newborn calf has come to an end. Observed swimming with other members of J pod on Feb. 8 in the Haro Strait, the southern resident orca
‘Ash Smash’ pop-up in February showcases wood firing on Orcas Island
||| FROM SHARON HO for ASH SMASH POP-UP ||| As it often does on Orcas Island, a casual exchange—in this case, a shared curiosity in the ancient method of wood firing—grew organically into a series of exploratory meetings. Before long, nine local artists were pooling resources and time over two
