Here’s a thought…
“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.”
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Sun Days on Orcas | When a girl says …
||| SUN DAYS ON ORCAS by EDEE KULPER ||| Teenage (and college) guys, when a girl says she just wants to be friends, take her up on it. If she’s anything like I was, she’s not yet comfortable articulating the details behind that statement. Perhaps some girls say it to
Fire Commissioners holding regular public meeting on Tuesday
||| FROM KIM KIMPLE for ORCAS FIRE COMMISSION ||| The Board of Fire Commissioners will be holding a regular public meeting on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. online via Zoom. (Note: the meeting is being held one day late this month due to the holiday.) Meeting access information
Library is hosting a digital book club
||| FROM CAROL DAPOGNY for ORCAS ISLAND LIBRARY ||| Orcas Library announces, #TogetherWeRead, a digital book club connecting readers to the same ebook & audiobook at the same time with no waitlists or holds, Feb. 7-21! The featured title is The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade. Borrow the featured title
Adopted 2022-2023 County budget now online for viewing
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County’s adopted 2022-2023 budget is now online for viewing. The Preliminary Budget Book has been updated to include the adopted budget, with budget tables and detail pages updated with data through the end of 2021. The budget is accessible to
Meet Dave Zoeller, our new OI Health Care District Commissioner
||| FROM DAVE ZOELLER for ORCAS HEALTH DISTRICT ||| OIHCD's new Commissioner, Dave Zoeller As surprising as it is even to me, I have lived on Orcas Island for nearly 50 years. Still, I’m not a native Washingtonian. I grew up in the Hoosier heartland and graduated from
Need a Washington State boating education card?
Sign up for on-line U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary boating safety classes ||| FROM CHUCK DALLDORF for US COAST GUARD AUXILIARY ||| Bellingham, Wash. – The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Bellingham and San Juan Islands Flotilla is offering four opportunities this year for boaters to take an on-line Washington State Basic
Department of Health launches science contest for high school students
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health’s (DOH) Washington Tracking Network (WTN) is launching the inaugural Washington Tracking Network Youth Science Contest. The WTN Youth Science Contest provides an opportunity for high school students across Washington to develop their science and communication skills while
Sheriff’s Report | February 9 – 15, 2022
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9 22-000897 Citizen Dispute 11:06:47 02/09/22 A Deputy on San Juan Island was dispatched to a citizen dispute. A report was completed. 22-000898 Suspicious Person/Circumstance 11:27:21 02/09/22 A Lopez Island Deputy investigated a suspicious vehicle- a large U Haul truck
Some infant powdered formula has been recalled due to possible bacterial contamination
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| OLYMPIA – Abbott Nutrition announced late on Thursday, February 17, that it is voluntarily recalling infant powdered formula produced at their Sturgis facility in Michigan. This includes Similac, Alimentum, and EleCare brand formula. The recall comes after four consumer complaints about infant illnesses related
Newest WA state COVID data
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| Newest numbers. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 1,410,499 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 15.* There have been 11,522 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. Data notes *Effective Jan. 24, 2022, DOH updates the COVID-19 data dashboard on
Occam’s Razor | Our island, our world through the eyes, pen of S.C. Watson
||| OCCAM'S RAZOR by S. C. WATSON |||
Lekanoff: Supporting students & parents, ADUs, WA silenced no more, & small biz flex fund
Happy Fantastic Friday! ||| FROM THE OFFICE OF REP. DEBRA LEKANOFF ||| We're Two-Thirds of the Way Through Session This past Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. marked a major deadline in our 60-day legislative session – house of origin cutoff, the time by which all non-budget bills must be passed from
COVID case count continues its communal climb
||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ||| Since the last update on Friday February 11, there have been 63 new confirmed or probable cases in San Juan County. Current case count is now 1175. This is about equal to last week’s case volume, with cases remaining stubbornly
WSF Weekly Report | Federal funding discussions underway, our spring has been postponed
||| FROM PATTY RUBSTELLO for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| OT Secretary Roger Millar joins Sen. Murray to discuss federal funding for ferries WSDOT Secretary Roger Millar talks to Sen. Patty Murray about our pandemic response, how we’re using American Rescue Plan funding and our ferry electrification initiatives. Washington State
In Memoriam | Lili Catherine Hein
||| FROM ARTHUR DE HAAN ||| Lili Catherine Hein of Orcas Island, due to cancer. She was 50. Lili Catherine Hein was born in Taipei, Taiwan on Mother's Day, May 11 in 1971. From age one, she grew up in Poulsbo, Washington, also living some of her adolescent
It’s a fine time to make your Finnie award nominations
May the forest be with you ||| FROM AMY NESLER for STEWARDSHIP NETWORK FOR SAN JUANS ||| Islanders are known for creative resilience and care for the environment. It’s that time of year again…when we recognize those Jedi Master individuals, educators, and businesses who have created or maintained a commitment
