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
Guest Opinion | When did questioning behavior at OIFR become personal?
||| FROM AMANDA MONTAGUE ||| I feel compelled to respond as a former OIFR Commissioner and someone who cares deeply about the Department to the "Firehouse Foundations" piece written by Mia Kartiganer and the comments that followed her post. Through my tenure as a Commissioner from 2016-2020, I was honored
UPDATED! Candidate for Congress Jason Call to visit Orcas and San Juan Islands
Jason Call will be on Orcas Island this coming Tuesday [new time at 1:15 p.m] at the Village Green ||| FROM DAVID TURNOY, CHAIR, SAN JUAN COUNTY DEMOCRATS ||| Progressive candidate for Congress Jason Call. There has been a fair amount of interest expressed locally in progressive candidate
Lopezian author’s new novel featuring orca now available
Time is running out for the iconic killer whales of Pacific coast ||| FROM GENE HELFMAN ||| Orca families have been decimated by humanity's greed and folly, their food supply wiped out, their infants dying from starvation and tainted mother's milk. In a new novel from Lopez islander Gene Helfman,
In Memoriam | Andrea Hendrick
||| FROM WENDY HENDRICK HIESTER ||| Andrea Hendrick Andrea Hendrick passed away peacefully at home on Orcas Island on June 10, 2021. Andrea was raised on the East Coast and went to art school at Syracuse University and George Washington University. She married Hugh Hendrick. Andrea and Hugh
Sun Days on Orcas | Inspiration
||| SUN DAYS ON ORCAS by EDEE KULPER ||| Even after living on Orcas Island for almost a decade, I’m still not accustomed to one very all-encompassing aspect of life here… Constant rain naturally drives people indoors. Especially kids. This isn’t coming from someone who is easily discouraged by dreary
Letter to Editor | Check out this presentation on Ranked Choice Voting
||| FROM SHARON ABREU ||| I encourage you to tune into FairVote Washington's NW Chapter's one-hour online presentation on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) happening on Jan. 27 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. I've been a supporter of RCV since I first learned about it back in 2004. I realized at that time
Soroptimists now accepting applications for women’s educational and training awards
||| FROM HEATHER SPAULDING for SOROPTIMIST FRIDAY HARBOR ||| Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor is now accepting applications for its women’s educational and training awards, to be given in the Spring of 2022. Two types of awards are available for women residing in San Juan County, each with differing eligibility
Throughout history, pandemics allowed geniuses to flourish
Centuries ago, the plague forced people into quarantine for years. Isaac Newton and Galileo used the time to revolutionize the world. ||| FROM BIG THINK ||| As we begin a new year — and a third year enshrouded in the COVID-19 pandemic — tempers are running short and frustration is mounting. A
Hey, we had a Tsunami Advisory this morning
||| FROM DAVE HALLORAN for DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ||| Good morning, in the news today is a volcanic eruption near the Tonga Islands. The Tsunami Warning center (tsunami.gov) has issued an Advisory for the outer coast of WA and the coast along the Strait of Juan De Fuca. The
OIFR reports on last week’s Cascade Way structure fire
||| FROM KIM KIMPLE for ORCAS FIRE & RESCUE ||| Orcas Island Fire and Rescue responded to reports of a fully involved house fire in the 100-block of Cascade Way on Sunday, January 9 at 11:55 a.m. The fire was called in by multiple individuals in the area who noticed
Join in on this Jens Kruse book talk at Orcas Library
||| FROM CAROL DAPOGNY for ORCAS ISLAND LIBRARY ||| Please join the Orcas Island Library for a Book Talk with Jens Kruse on Wednesday, January 19 at 6 p.m. by Zoom meeting. In Observations from Orcas Island, author Jens Kruse – born in Hamburg, Germany in 1949, citizen of the
Governor announces steps to alleviate hospital staffing crises
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE ||| With COVID-19 cases rising due to the transmissibility of the Omicron variant, hospitals are seeing a dramatic increase in COVID hospitalizations. The healthcare staffing shortages have led hospitals to be at or over their capacity to treat patients. Gov. Jay Inslee
Sheriff’s Report | January 5 – 11, 2022
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5 22-000098 Trespassing 11:57:09 01/05/22 A San Juan Deputy responded to a request to trespass an individual from a local business. A trespass notice letter was completed and signed by the employee. The involved party had already left and will
Until further notice, no Provisions (Cafe) at Anacortes terminal
||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| The Provisions Cafe at the Anacortes terminal is closing until further notice. Vending machines are available at the terminal and on board the vessels. Updates will occur when more information is available.
Recap of recent COVID-19 news and updates from WA DOH
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| Statewide Response Updates Newest numbers. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 901,887 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 12. There have been 10,143 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. For the most recent number of cases by county, demographics,
Emergency order on non-urgent health care services issued by governor
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE ||| Gov. Jay Inslee [yesterday] issued an emergency order to temporarily restrict non-urgent health care services, procedures and surgeries that are performed in hospitals as part of a package of measures taken to address the current COVID-related state of crisis in hospitals. The
