Here’s a thought…
“America is and always has been an argument — it’s an experiment.”
DAVID W. BLIGHT
Soon joining Medicare? Get the scoop on how to do it
||| FROM PEGI GROUNDWATER for SHIBA ||| Are you joining Medicare sometime in 2022? If so, there’s a lot of new information for you to understand. Medicare has its own vocabulary and rules. There are deadlines you need to meet and penalties (some lasting a lifetime) for not doing things
Orcas Senior Center seeks home maintenance, repair pilot program coordinator
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Orcas Senior Center is recruiting for a part-time independent contractor to coordinate its Home Maintenance & Repair (HM&R) pilot program. The HM&R Coordinator will be responsible for receiving maintenance and repair requests, facilitating agreements with contractors, and assuring that work is
Land Bank will hold monthly meeting on Jan. 21
||| FROM TANJA WILLIAMSON for SJC LAND BANK ||| The San Juan County Conservation Land Bank Commission will hold its monthly meeting on January 21, 2022 from 8:30 – 11:10 a.m. The public is invited to attend. Click HERE to download the agenda (includes ZOOM link) and meeting materials. To
State issues emergency order due to globally-damaging green crab invasion
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE ||| Gov. Jay Inslee today issued an emergency order to address the exponential increase in the European green crab population within the Lummi Nation’s Sea Pond and outer coast areas. The European green crab is a globally-damaging invasive species that, if they become permanently
Fiber arts highlighted at SJIMA Artists’ Register Show
||| FROM DIANE MARTINDALE for SAN JUAN ISLANDS MUSEUM OF ART ||| Fiber arts (aka textile arts) have been a diverse and dynamic method of artmaking and storytelling for centuries. The San Juan Islands are home to many skilled fiber artists and their work is increasingly becoming a part of
“ART UNLOCKED” show at Orcas Center postponed until Spring
||| FROM KATHY YOUNGREN for ORCAS CENTER VISUAL ARTS COMMITTEE ||| Due to the COVID related closures of many events at Orcas Center, the Visual Arts Committee is postponing the “ART UNLOCKED” show until a later date, in early Spring. Artists, please use this gift of extra time to finish
School board spotlight | Ayn Gailey
January is School Board Appreciation Month ||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT ||| Ayn Gailey (left) with husband Samuel and daughter Gray. Ayn moved to the island in 2016 with her husband, novelist Samuel Gailey and their daughter, Gray, who is president of her junior class as OISD
Latest statewide COVID response updates
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| Newest numbers. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 971,422 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 17. There have been 10,230 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. For the most recent number of cases by county, demographics, and more, visit
Unvaccinated islander is first COVID-19 related death in SJC
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| A San Juan County resident has recently died, and the cause of death has been attributed to COVID-19. This was an unvaccinated islander who recently contracted COVID, was hospitalized and unfortunately passed away due to the illness. This is the first recorded COVID-19
Place your order for free at-home COVID-19 tests
||| FROM PEGI GROUNDWATER ||| Residential households in the U.S. can order one set of 4 free at-home tests from USPS.com. Here’s what you need to know about your order: Limit of one order per residential address One order includes 4 individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests Orders will ship free
Master Gardener’s spring plant sale on hiatus for this year
||| FROM DIANNE MACONDRAY for MASTER GARDENERS ||| It was hard to conduct our plant sale online the past two years while observing COVID protocol, so we have decided to take a year off, hoping that by 2023 we will be able to have an in-person sale. We know there
CWR encounter #2 for 2022 | J Pod in Swanson Channel
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| After receiving a report of a large group of whales heading south off Moresby Island, Katie, Kelley, and Dave met at Snug Harbor and left in the boat at 1102. Since the report was an hour and a half old by the time
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
