Here’s a thought…
“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and the government when it deserves it.”
MARK TWAIN
After more than 30 years, one of our key life savers signs off the air
||| BY LIN MCNULTY, theORCASONIAN EDITOR ||| The job of 911 Dispatcher can be a rewarding career choice, both for self and for the community served. In large metropolitan areas, the career expectancy of a dispatcher, however, largely due to the stress, is only six years. Saturday, February 19, 2022,
What’s new at Island Primary Care?
||| FROM ISLAND PRIMARY CARE ||| Robert Wilson, M.D. We are excited to announce the arrival of our new provider, Robert Wilson, MD on March 7. Dr. Wilson is a regionally-based board certified family medicine physician. He has over 25 years of primary care and urgent care experience
Interisland travel for next few days may take you through Anacortes
||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| Interisland service in the San Juan Islands will be suspended Thursday and Friday due to crewing shortages that will take the #4 Sealth out of service both days. Customers needing to travel between islands on Thursday and Friday should give themselves extra travel time and
Planning Commission “overly” cautious in justifying vacation rental cap?
||| BY MATTHEW GILBERT, theORCASONIAN OP-ED REPORTER ||| On February 19, the SJC Planning Commission finalized its “findings of fact” to support its recommendation that there be a countywide cap on vacation rentals of 650 for a period of five years. New permits would be issued by lottery, with the
No interisland for remainder of day
Be sure to make note of their solution if you are scheduled for a cancelled sailing ||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES || Interisland service on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route is suspended for the remainder of the day due to a shortage of available crew taking the #4 Sealth out
Fundraiser auction for Jennifer + Sebastian Posada is now live
||| FROM CAITLIN LECK ||| We are very pleased to announce that Jen and Seb’s fundraiser auction is live! Open for the next two weeks, the auction features an incredible array of beautiful offerings. All proceeds will go toward defraying medical costs to help Jen and Seb in their extremely
Partnership improves acute care on Orcas
Improved working relationship between primary care and Orcas Island Fire and Rescue ||| FROM TOM EVERSOLE, ORCAS ISLAND HEALTH CARE DISTRICT INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT ||| For the past year members of both the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) of Orcas Island Fire and Rescue (OIFR) and the Island Primary Care-Orcas (IPC-O) clinic
Protecting your biggest assets – EDC offers Homestead Exemption workshop
||| FROM GAIL SCHNEE for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ||| The San Juan County Economic Development Council (EDC) and attorney Mary Schmitt will present a workshop on the New Homestead Exemption Monday, February 28, 2022, at 12 noon via Zoom. The Homestead Statute was amended last year in response to the
Sign up now for this free oil spill response training
||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for ISLANDS' OIL SPILL ASSOCIATION ||| The Islands’ Oil Spill Association (IOSA) is offering free oil spill response training for interested islanders in March, April, and May. Sessions will be held on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan Island. IOSA is non-profit, volunteer-based oil spill response program
Latest statewide COVID numbers
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| Statewide Response Updates Newest numbers. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 1,409,253 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 17.* There have been 11,615 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. Data notes *Effective Jan. 24, 2022, DOH updates the COVID-19
Poetry | A Black History Month tribute
||| POSTED AT REQUEST OF ORCASONIAN READER ||| Major Jackson Let Me Begin Again Major Jackson Let me begin again as a quiet thought in the shape of a shell slowly examined by a brown child on a beach at dawn straining to see their future. Let me
Health Care District needs to fill commissioner position due to upcoming vacancy
||| FROM TOM EVERSOLE for ORCAS ISLAND HEALTH CARE DISTRICT ||| At the February 15 meeting of the Orcas Island Health Care District, Commissioner Richard Fralick announced that he will resign Position # 1 effective March 16, 2022. Commissioners will appoint an interim Commissioner to fill the position until the
Reminder: Fire Commissioners meet tonight via Zoom
||| 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
Ticks widespread in the islands, Kwiaht study finds
||| FROM RUSSEL BARSH for KWIAHT ||| An exploratory study by the nonprofit conservation laboratory Kwiaht has discovered that ticks are widespread in the San Juan Islands, but not yet a significant threat to human health or wildlife. Funded in part by the San Juan Island Community Foundation, the 10-month
Funhouse story of the month: Meet Ashanti
||| FROM EMILIE GINCIG for FUNHOUSE COMMONS ||| Ashanti started working at The Funhouse just as COVID hit. At that time we were pivoting from our Afterschool programming to helping elementary school kids with remote schooling. She’s been with us every step of the way and now is an integral
Black History Month poetry by a local poet
||| FROM DAVID KOBRIN ||| And Ain’t I A Woman by David Kobrin (Former slave Sojourner Truth speaks at the Women’s Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio 1851) Standing there her arm, worked muscle a bonnet that speaks the field an apparition to white ladies rising to speak to that hall
