Here’s a thought…
“Old age is no joke, but it can feel like one.”
TAD TOMPKINS
Guest Opinion | Help stop this abuse of power in San Juan County
||| FROM VICKI LEIMBACK ||| On Tuesday, May 17, there is a hearing to remove Steve Smith as a planning commissioner. The accuser has not presented any evidence. Concerned islanders, including past & current county officials, have spent hours reviewing and comparing the accusations to the video records and concluded
Deadline approaches for GiveOrcas campaign
||| FROM MEGAN NEAL for ORCAS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ||| The Orcas Island Community Foundation’s Annual Spring GiveOrcas campaign is going strong! It was a record-breaking year on many fronts and this community has stepped up to meet the needs. In just 11 days, over 600 donors have shown up and
County receives $3.4 million in American Rescue Plan investments
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| SAN JUAN COUNTY, WA. – San Juan County Council is announcing $3.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) investments to support pandemic recovery efforts in public health, infrastructure updates, and emergency preparedness. Since receiving the first allocation of ARPA funds in May of
COVID case numbers are on the rise locally
||| FROM KYRA JAHANFAR for SJC HEALTH & COMMUNITY SERVICES ||| Over the previous 5 weeks leading up to last week’s update there were 115 new cases. Since the update last Friday May 5, there have been 100 new confirmed or probable cases in San Juan County. Current case count
Up close and miserable: This is what COVID looks like
||| BY LIN MCNULTY, theORCASONIAN EDITOR ||| Being double vaxxed and boosted didn't spare Orcas Islander Bethany Marie from contracting and experiencing a miserable COVID bout. Yet, she was willing to share with our readers what that looks like and tell us what it feels like. Good wishes, of course,
‘Still Now’ performance at Orcas Center promises to be powerful
||| FROM BETHANY MARIE for ORCAS CENTER ||| Theatre at Orcas Center returns to Center Stage May 19 – 28 with a compelling new play, “Still Now,” written by Katie Bender and directed by Pepper Binkley. Still Now follows Annie (played by Chelsea Sherman), who has a reckoning with her
WSF weekly report with forewarning about high tides next week
||| FROM PATTY RUBSTELLO for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| Mukilteo/Clinton route moves to restored service stage of restoration process Monday, May 16 I’m pleased to report that our Mukilteo/Clinton route will move to two-boat restored service (Stage 4) in our Service Restoration Plan starting Monday, May 16. This week’s Plan Progress Report shows the
‘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.
Letter to Editor | Thanks for supporting my Senior Project
||| FROM UMA MCMURRAY ||| A big THANK YOU to everyone who came out and donated and supported my Senior Project Donation Drive the weekend of April 30. We received several tables worth of good items! A beautiful dollhouse, tambourines, drum sets and bongos, cat leashes, craft paper, hand shovels,
Healthcare career training being offered by EDC and Cornerstone
||| FROM MARTI MCCONNELL for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ||| Those seeking to enter health care careers, obtain side income while helping their neighbors, or boost personal care business are invited to get free Home Care Aide (HCA)EDC_TradesTrainingInitiative_March2022 training through a program offered by the Economic Development Council (EDC) in partnership
EDC partners with Seafarers Worldwide, EDASC to offer maritime workshop
||| FROM MARTI MCCONNELL for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF SAN JUAN COUNTY ||| In an effort to address the nationwide demand for a skilled maritime workforce, Seafarers Worldwide Career Training is partnering with the Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County (EDASC) and the EDC of San Juan County to offer
Prune Alley construction activities to continue tomorrow (Friday)
||| FROM COLIN HUNTAMER for SJC PUBLIC WORKS ||| Onsite construction actives on Prune Alley are expected to continue tomorrow (Friday May 13). Onsite construction activities will cease throughout the weekend, resuming again on Monday May 16. Please continue to adhere to all posted traffic control devices and instructions from
Master Gardeners to be available rest of season on 3rd Wednesdays for your questions
||| FROM DIANNE MACONDRAY for MASTER GARDENERS OF SAN JUAN COUNTY ||| What a spring - like none other! Now with flowers blooming and so much green we have hope for warmer days and a successful gardening season. But, sometimes our gardens betray our hard work and we find ourselves
National performing arts non-profit Turning the Wheel returns to Orcas
||| FROM SUZANNE PALMER for TURNING THE WHEEL PRODUCTIONS||| WHAT: Unique, week-long expressive arts programming & performances with Orcas youth & teachers WHEN: Fall, 2022 WHERE: Salmonberry School, Funhouse Commons, Old Fellows Hall, Children’s House, Orcas Island Christian School, and other locations. HOW TO SUPPORT: https://oicf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?grant_id=21286 Turning the Wheel has
EDC launches tech accelerator training initiative with first course in HTML, CSS, JavaScript
||| FROM VICTORIA COMPTON for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ||| The San Juan County Economic Development Council (EDC), in an effort to train local workers into high-wage, skilled tech jobs, has launched a Tech Accelerator Training Initiative to serve island youth, unemployed and underemployed workers, and business owners needing technological assistance
Tomato soup on the waterfront
||| FROM RUSSEL BARSH for KWIAHT ||| An exceptionally large, dense orange algal bloom developed in Crescent Beach and Fishing Bay beginning Monday May 9 following several weeks of sporadic rainfall and a few days of warmer sunshine over the island. The culprit, as usual, is Noctiluca scintillans (“scintillating night
