Here’s a thought…
“There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.”
ALFRED KORZYBSKI
County to test vote counting equipment in July
Testing will take place on July 7, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County’s Elections Office will be holding a “Logic and Accuracy” test of ballot tabulating equipment used for the County’s August 4, 2026, Primary election. The test is scheduled for July
Larsen introduces bipartisan legislation to support Point Roberts and pene-exclave communities
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) joined Representative Pete Stauber (MN-08) to introduce the Ensuring Exclave Communities are Listened to and their Voices are Examined (EXCLAVE) Act. “People in Point Roberts must cross the U.S.-Canada border to go to work, attend school, receive medical care and access veterinary services,” said Rep. Larsen. “These residents deserve to be heard when new regulations will impact their
June 24 Council meeting live stream experiencing technical difficulties
The meeting is still accessible to anyone attending in person. ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| Today’s 9:00am San Juan County Council Special meeting is experiencing technical difficulties with the live-stream feature. The team is working to troubleshoot the issue. The meeting is still accessible to those attending in
Orcas Health Care District board to meet tomorrow
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND HEALTH CARE DISTRICT ||| The Orcas Island Health Care District will hold a regularly scheduled board meeting on Wednesday, June 24th from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room at the Orcas Island Library, 500 Rose Street, Eastsound. The Board Meeting Public Packet is available below. To join
Have a garden question? Ask an Orcas Master Gardener
Wednesday June 24th at the Market Garden Nursery ||| FROM JULIA TURNEY for ORCAS MASTER GARDENERS ||| Do you have a question about your soil, have a problem with your fruit tree, or are thinking about starting a garden? Is something bugging your plants, or you are curious about identifying
Resource Center seeks volunteers for financial literacy programs
||| FROM ORCAS COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER ||| The Orcas Community Resource Center is recruiting volunteers for its upcoming season of Financial Literacy programming, inviting community members to help fellow islanders build skills, confidence, and stability around money. This fall marks the return of Orcas Money Smart, the Resource Center’s flagship
Orcas Fire seeks to fill immediate commissioner vacancy
||| FROM CHAD KIMPLE for ORCAS ISLAND FIRE & RESCUE ||| The Board of Fire Commissioners of San Juan County Fire Protection District No. 2 is immediately seeking candidates to fill the unexpired term for Seat #5. The seat must be filled within 90 days; however, the Board desires to
Community called to action after European Green Crab detected on Orcas
||| FROM JESS NEWLEY for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS ||| A European green crab molt was recently discovered at Crescent Beach by Amy Sprenger’s middle school science class. The finding marks another important detection in ongoing efforts to monitor for the highly invasive species in the San Juan Islands.
I’m Not the Church Lady | Time for hammacking
When there’s no way out, can I stop trying to leave? ||| I'M NOT THE CHURCH LADY from ROSIE KUHN ||| Whether I chose it or not, life presents me with passages I cannot bypass. I’m again in the midst of a purging, flushing, detox moment. The ache and anguish
The Island Gardener, June 2026
||| FROM ROBIN SULLIVAN for ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| There is something wonderfully comforting about looking back through the history of our Garden Tour and Garden Faire and realizing that, despite the passing years and changing times, the heart of it all has remained beautifully the same. I was
Salish Sea Early Music Festival returns on June 30
||| FROM JEFFREY COHAN for SALISH SEA EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL ||| Baroque in Transition: The Treble Viol is the final 2026 Salish Sea Early Music Festival performance, to feature treble viol player Annalisa Pappano, baroque guitarist William Simms, and Jeffrey Cohan on baroque and renaissance flutes. The concert, presented in
News Brief | A tiny solar panel could change America
||| FROM NEW YORK TIMES ||| It’s not so easy to harvest the sunshine if you live in America. But that might be changing soon in more than half the country. A technology — known as plug-in, balcony or garden solar — is already enormously popular in Germany, in part
UPDATED | Art Show opening on Friday, July 3 | “The Ones That Made It”
Note date change ||| FROM MARJORIE TAYLOR for ORCAS CENTER VISUAL ARTS COMMITTEE ||| The Visual Arts Committee of Orcas Center announces the opening of “The Ones That Made It,” a curated show of wood-fired ceramics by local artists Michael Rozzi, Mathew Haeuser, Yuriko, Sam and Ayame Bullock, Sharon Ho,
The Snake and the Whale screening, finale to Orca Action Month on June 26
||| FROM FRIDAY HARBOR FILM FESTIVAL ||| On Friday, June 26 at 7 PM Friday Harbor Film Festival presents The Snake and the Whale at the San Juan Island Library in Friday Harbor and the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts on Lopez Island. Following the film, audiences at
Celebrate this July weekend concert at Village Green
||| FROM CINDY CARTER ||| Start off your 4th of July Weekend on Thursday at the Eastsound Village Green by listening to a concert as violinist Emy and keyboard/harpist Lisa Carter bring their latest music to the stage at the Village Green along with guitarist Stephen Baker, flute players Kara
Walking tours scheduled for OPAL neighborhoods
||| FROM QASIM ALI DINO for OPAL COMMUNITY LAND TRUST ||| OPAL Community Land Trust invites community members to lace up their walking shoes and join longtime OPAL homeowner, storyteller – and current OPAL Board President – Rusty Diggs for a guided tour of OPAL neighborhoods this summer. The
