Here’s a thought…
“The politician wants men to know how to die courageously; the poet wants men to live courageously.”
SALVATORE QUASIMODO
Get your WA State Boating Education Card with on-line USCG Auxiliary boating safety classes
Last class offered by us this year! ||| FROM U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY ||| Bellingham, Wash. – The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Bellingham and San Juan Islands Flotilla is offering an opportunity for boaters to take an online, Washington State Basic Boater Education Course. The course for anyone wishing to
Island Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine receives Center of Excellence Award
Award acknowledges exceptional success in multiple wound healing benchmarks ||| FROM LAURA MORONEY for ISLAND HEALTH ||| Island Health is honored to announce Island Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine is a recipient of RestorixHealth’s highest achievement, the Wound Center of Excellence Award. Recipients of this prestigious award meet or exceed national
Join our Orcas Island Food Bank team as an AmeriCorps service member
||| FROM RICK RHOADS for ORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK ||| • One full-time, 10.5-month position still open • $3352 per month, health insurance, food assistance, childcare assistance • $6,495 education award Please forward this to someone who may be interested. The Orcas Island Food Bank (OIFB) currently has an opening
Letter to Editor | I find the Fire Department union’s stance revolting
||| FROM GREG AYERS ||| Does Local 3911 IAFF union really represent all its OIFR members? Based on what I heard on Monday during the public comment period, I strongly believe the answer is an emphatic NO. Mr. Danny Weibling, the union president, stated very clearly that if the levy
As the Paradigm Shifts | There’s plenty I can do—regardless of the outcome
||| AS THE PARADIGM SHIFTS by ROSIE KUHN ||| No one wants to talk about what it’s like being them—especially when we feel powerless, helpless and hopeless. My client, Miranda, said to me the other day, “It overwhelms me to think about climate change. I just want to put my
Sheriff’s Report | August 9 – 15, 2023
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9 23-006353 Property Damage, Non Vandalism 10:22:36 08/09/23 A Deputy on Orcas struck a mailbox while backing. Some owners of the mailbox were notified and the Deputy fixed the mailbox stand which received minimal damage. 23-006354 Fraud 10:32:42 08/09/23 An
US CDC tracks new lineage of virus that causes COVID
||| FROM REUTERS ||| U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that it was tracking a new, highly mutated lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19. The lineage is named BA.2.86, and has been detected in the United States, Denmark and Israel, the CDC said in a
Miami Seaquarium announces death of beloved orca Lolita
||| FROM WSVN, KEY BISCAYNE, FLORIDA ||| Lolita, the beloved orca who has spent over 50 years at the Miami Seaquarium, has died. The killer whale, also known as Toki, died following a battle with a suspected renal condition, according to a social media post from Miami Seaquarium on Friday
Wildfire smoke being forecast in San Juan County
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| Smoke from wildfires in British Columbia and Eastern Washington is predicted to make its way to Western Washington this weekend, based on forecasted overnight shifts in wind patterns. San Juan County’s Health & Community Services Department urges residents to take precautions to protect
Molt Search | Your chance to defend marine waters against a sneaky invader
||| FROM ELISE COPE for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS ||| Calling all nature enthusiasts, community scientists, volunteers, and beachgoers! Help combat the growing concern and spread of a destructive menace to the islands and Salish Sea: the European green crab. Labeled one of the world’s worst invasive species by the Washington
Orcas Fire Commissioners to hold regular meeting Monday
||| FROM KAT BARNARD for ORCAS FIRE COMMISSION ||| The Board of Fire Commissioners invites you to the Regular Meeting, Monday, August 21st at 3pm at the Eastsound Firehall or on Zoom (link in the attachments). Please see the attached agenda and board packet 2023-08-21 Agenda for the previous meeting minutes,
San Juan County to begin road striping in September
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County’s Public Works Department is announcing its annual summer road striping schedule beginning on Monday, September 11 and lasting approximately several weeks. Pavement markings, including centerlines, shoulder markings, arrows, and more, are critical features of any safe and effective roadway, and it
WSF Weekly Report | Tours, Ramel visits Orcas, contract awarded for hybrid-electric conversion
||| FROM NICOLE MCINTOSH for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| Tour gives youth a chance to explore our ferry Wenatchee We hosted 16 members of the Youth Maritime Collaborative for a tour aboard Wenatchee Friday afternoon, continuing our efforts to anchor down in the local youth community. The group visited the ferry’s pilothouse and engine room
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.
Fire District Stability Group forming, looks for members
||| FROM KATE HANSEN, BRIAN EHRMANTRAUT, RANDY GAYLORD, TONI KNUDSON, FIRE COMMISSION CANDIDATES ||| In light of the resounding defeat of the August Levy for Orcas Fire and Rescue, the four challengers for the Commission are looking for citizens to explore and evaluate options. The four challengers for seats on
Whale Museum summer lecture series: Reducing vessel impacts on southern resident orca
||| FROM TATE THOMSON for THE WHALE MUSEUM ||| Join us on September 14 at 7 p.m. for a virtual lecture presented by Julie Watson. FREE and open to the public. The critically endangered Southern Resident Orca (also known as Southern Resident Killer Whales or SRKW) population stands at just
