Here’s a thought…
“I am so convinced of the advantages of looking at mankind instead of reading about them, and of the bitter effects of staying at home with all the narrow prejudices of an islander, that I think there should be a law amongst us to set our young men abroad for a term among the few allies our wars have left us.”
LORD BYRON
Guest Opinion | Fire Commissioner breaks down reasons to support levy
||| FROM ELISABETH BRITT ||| A bond ensures accountability, long-term funding for critical equipment, and respects the community’s history of rejecting permanent levies. As commissioners for Orcas Island Fire & Rescue, we are responsible for ensuring that the district has the reliable equipment and facilities needed to protect lives and property.
Ferry Alert | Vehicle reservations for the winter season open Oct 28 at 10am
||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| Reminder: Vehicle reservations for the winter 2025 schedule (Dec. 28, 2025, through March 21, 2026) will be available tomorrow at 10 a.m. To ensure a smooth and fair experience during this high-demand period, we will also continue using a virtual waiting room during the
Island Stewards | As the veil thins, before the snow flies
||| If our previous dispatch was about noticing what’s straining, this one’s about celebrating what’s sustaining! The tides keep shifting, the plans keep unfolding, yet the spirit of these islands endures—resilient, adapting, and alive. Fall rains bring a quieter kind of work: the kind that happens around tables, in kitchens,
Commercial burn permits open Oct. 27 in San Juan County
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| Effective today, October 27, 2025, Commercial Burn Permits are open in San Juan County. Commercial burns include yard debris and vegetation in piles greater than 10 feet in diameter. Commercial burns are typically conducted by contractors to reduce the amount of waste created
No Place Like Loam | Less sugar, more soul: Making maple syrup at home in the Pacific Northwest
How to tap a bigleaf maple, boil down rain into sugar, and taste what the Northwest keeps to itself. ||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM by ALEX TAMAYA-WOLF ||| My daughter was getting bored with our usual forest walks--too much Latin, not enough adventure and wonder. So I asked, “Do you
Cold Weather? | 10 banned books you want to read
||| FROM REAL SIMPLE ||| Books are essential. Storytelling allows us to fill in the gaps of history, gain new perspectives, and orient ourselves and our place in the universe. Ironically, the power of books is affirmed by the recent efforts to suppress them. In 2023, the number of book
Letter to Editor | Arctic Pie Surprise
||| FROM DAN GOTTLIEB ||| Arctic Pie Surprise Prep time: 4.7 billion yearsCook time: 260 yearsTotal time: 4,700,000,260 years Ingredients: Oil companies (see our cartel recipe) Mining companies (yup, here too) Adulterated media outlets (ditto) One heaping cup of various corporate support entities with lobbyists–available under most slimy rocks Graft Two
News Brief | Critically endangered North Atlantic right whale making a comeback
||| FROM SCIENCE ALERT ||| It's not yet time to take our foot off the gas, conservation-wise. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY SCIENCE ALERT Researchers at the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium have shared that in 2024, the population increased by just over 2 percent compared to 2023. Read full article
Watercolor, drumming, needlework at Orcas Senior Center
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Experience the Joy of Drumming! Discover the joy of drumming with the Spirit of Drumming Group at Orcas Senior Center Thursdays at 1:30 p.m.! This beginner-friendly group focuses on exploring the elements of drumming. There’s no cost to participate—just bring a
News Brief | New underwater technology could give scientists a direct line to orcas
||| FROM KING-TV ||| "There are fiber optic cables everywhere, that's why we get internet. But we can basically use the same fiber for monitoring marine mammals." ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY KING-TV If successful, it could transform the thousands of miles of fiber-optic infrastructure already crisscrossing Puget Sound and oceans worldwide
Orcas Center fall fundraiser | Beatles, Burgers and Brew
||| FROM COLLEEN SMITH SUMMERS for ORCAS CENTER ||| Before the last two Saturday performances of Magical Mystery Tour — Nov. 15 and 22 — join Orcas Center for a “Beatles, Burgers, and Brew” dinner fundraiser. For $49, you will enjoy a meal by the Lower Tavern, beverage and a
Last call for Leadership SJI applicants
||| FROM GRETCHEN KRAMPF for LEADERSHIP SAN JUAN ISLANDS ||| Leadership San Juan Islands (LSJI) Class XVII begins on Friday, November 7 and runs through April 2026. We have fourteen (14) outstanding participants from Lopez, Shaw, Orcas and San Juan Islands. We do have room for 2-3 more members, if
News Brief | Alaska receives disaster help from Western Washington
||| FROM KING-TV SEATTLE ||| The remnants of a typhoon slammed into western Alaska last week, leaving thousands with nowhere to live. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY KING-TV SEATTLE Back in Alaska, people are expected to be displaced for up to a year and a half. The message from western Washington: we're
Wind Advisory in effect thru 5am Sunday
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Seattle WA 1105 AM PDT Sat Oct 25 2025 San Juan County-Foothills and Valleys of the North Cascades- Foothills and Valleys of Snohomish and Northern King Counties- Foothills and Valleys of Central King County-Foothills and Valleys of
LWVSJ Observer Corps | County Council October 21, 2025
||| FROM NECIA QUAST for LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ||| The Council appointed DCD Director Seb Jones as the certifying officer for HUD Environmental documents. During public comment Friends of the San Juans proposed steps to reduce flood risk and to monitor seater intrusion into the aquifer to the Climate
As the Paradigm Shifts | To be or not to be woo-woo
What’s been dismissed as “woo-woo” is actually the threshold ||| AS THE PARADIGM SHIFTS by ROSIE KUHN ||| What’s long been waved off as “woo-woo” is, in truth, the threshold humanity is crossing right now—where old paradigms of science, religion, and politics—all focused on materialism, give way to direct personal
