Here’s a thought…
“Old age is no joke, but it can feel like one.”
TAD TOMPKINS
‘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.
Heritage Foundation: Ranked Choice Voting is a bad choice
Ranked choice voting is a scheme to disconnect elections from issues and allow candidates with marginal support from voters to win. It obscures true debates and issue-driven dialogs among candidates and eliminates genuine binary choices between two top-tier candidates. It also disenfranchises voters, because ballots that do not include the
Letter to Editor | Call your legislators to remedy this new tax levy
||| FROM DAVID ECKLUND ||| Our property change of value increased 100% for tax year 2023. Many residents incurred the same or higher. Why? Because buyers paid sellers the inflated prices they were asking and of course the sellers accepted-who wouldn't? Washington State mandates that counties can only go back
Food Co-Op again hosts Community Hero Program
||| FROM LEARNER LIMBACH for ORCAS FOOD CO-OP ||| The Community Hero Program is a community giving program facilitated by the Orcas Food Co-op. Co-op shoppers have the opportunity to round up their purchases all month long, with the total donations for the month going to the chosen Community Hero
Food Bank takes down glass shields, puts up open shelves
||| FROM RICK RHOADS for ORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK ||| Shopping at the Orcas Island Food Bank now feels more like shopping at a grocery store, except of course that all items remain free of charge. Customers will notice two big changes: Canned and packaged items are on open shelves.
Hot Topic 60: Autumn Immunizations – What? Why? When? Where? How?
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| Once again, our core message is simple—you should get your influenza and COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s some additional information to help… First off… The COVID-19 bivalent vaccine—what is it and why should I get it? The new bivalent COVID-19 boosters contain two messenger RNA
Join in with OISD to honor our veterans Thursday, November 10, 9:45-10:25
||| FROM LORENA STANKEVICH for OISD ||| The Orcas Island School District is excited to host a K-12 Veterans Day Celebration Assembly, Wednesday, November 9, 9:45-10:25 in the High School Gym. This event is open to parents and our community, please join us.
Letter to Editor | Voting is easy
||| FROM ROBERT WAUNCH ||| Choosing what or who to vote for is really a very easy process. You can either vote along straight party lines the way you always have … or this time ... you can look at the facts and vote for the candidates and issues that
Mind your cracks and crevices: The art of the crevice garden
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| On Wednesday, November 9, 2022 at 10:30 am, the Orcas Island Garden Club presents Paul Spriggs who will discuss Cracks and Crevices: The Art of the Crevice Garden. Paul will share his extensive knowledge of crevice gardens, covering aspects of inspiration, history, design,
Art show coming to Library: In the landscape, far and near
||| FROM PAMELA JENKINS ||| I’ve always enjoyed creating art in some form, starting with the fiber arts. About 20 years ago, I found myself drawn to pastel paintings, perhaps because their soft, visual texture reminded me of working with fibers, but in the form of a painting. As I
FHFF on-demand is now working after cyber attack
||| FROM ELLEN ROBERTS for FRIDAY HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL ||| As some of you are aware, the Eventive on-demand films were inaccessible for most of the day on Monday. Unfortunately, this was a deliberate attack on our Eventive account. Mark Kyle spent most of the day working with Eventive to investigate
Talisk – Instantly enthralling Scottish group plays Orcas Center
||| FROM BETHANY MARIE for ORCAS CENTER ||| Talisk, a ground-breaking, chart-topping, genre-bending, instantly enthralling folk-based group from Scotland comes to Orcas Center on Saturday, November 5. Alongside extensive touring, and appearances at leading festivals across multiple continents, Talisk have stacked up major awards for their explosively energetic, artfully woven
Fire danger level downgraded to LOW
||| FROM CHAD KIMPLE, SAN JUAN COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL ||| Effective Wednesday October 26, 2022, San Juan County, WA fire danger level is downgraded to LOW. This change lifts the burning restriction as outlined in the burn permit conditions. No open burning is allowed when winds are sustained greater than
More road levy frequently asked questions
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County publishes a second round of answers to frequently asked Road Levy questions. November's ballots will include Resolution No. 20-2022 - a proposition to increase the county road levy from $0.56 to $1.00 per $1,000 of assessed value. The $0.44 increase will be
Food Bank expands to meet growing need
||| BY ELLIE WRIGHT, theORCASONIAN INTERN ||| In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed by the United Nations, enshrining the rights and freedoms of all human beings. On that declaration, food was affirmed as a basic human right. Yet still, according to the USDA, over 34 million
Washington students leaving money on the table by forgetting the FAFSA
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE ||| The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opened on Oct. 1. Students nationwide are applying for aid that might support their college education or career training. Many students in Washington state are missing out - the state has the third-lowest
