Here’s a thought…
“Deep breath. Deep breath. The air is free. You can take as many as you want.”
BUDDHIST MONK
Auditor updates search for Voters’ Pamphlet “con” writers
Updated ||| FROM MILENE HENLEY, SAN JUAN COUNTY AUDITOR ||| The San Juan County Auditor is seeking volunteers to write opposing arguments to ballot measures in the November 2021 General Election. The arguments will be published in print and online versions of the Voters’ Pamphlet. Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District
Health & Community Services office to be closed Friday Aug. 6
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County Health & Community Services staff will be unavailable on Friday August 6, as we will be attending an All Staff Meeting. Staff will be available again on Monday August 9. The Department drop box outside the Courthouse is
Statewide COVID updates from Health Department
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| Newest numbers. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 439,141 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 2. There have been 6,136 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. For the most recent tally of cases by county, demographics, and more,
Will an insightful outreach and education approach help bring back the Southern Resident orcas?
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Lots of people have lots of great ideas. But only a few turn their perceptive concepts into reality. The visionary-to-reality folks are the ones to follow. The Center for Whale Research’s Founder and Senior Scientist, Ken Balcomb, is one of these. Opening the
Port Commission calls special meeting for commissioner roundtable
||| FROM JEANNIE SHARPE for PORT OF ORCAS ||| SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA August 9, 2021 12:30 P.M. Topic: Special Meeting Commissioner Roundtable Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87403339708?pwd=UHN1YmRRTXRiZ1FNVFM1STZsZHpudz09 Meeting ID: 874 0333 9708 Passcode: 385867 One tap mobile +12532158782,,87403339708#,,,,*385867# US (Tacoma) Dial by your location +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting
Delta variant drives sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations
Officials urge vaccination immediately to combat the variant’s spread OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is concerned about a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations being seen across the state due to the spread of the delta variant. Over the past four days, an average of 1,500 new
Ability to fuel up at Orcas Airport is back
||| FROM JEANNIE SHARPE for ORCAS ISLAND AIRPORT ||| Great News! The airport is back up and running with a new credit card terminal. We currently have 1000 gallon to sell, and we get a truckload on Friday morning August 6, 2021. Thank you for all your patience.
COVID case cluster investigation underway on Orcas
||| FROM KYRA KINNAMAN for SAN JUAN COUNTY HEALTH & COMMUNITY SERVICES ||| Since Friday’s Weekly Case Update, San Juan County has confirmed four new positive COVID-19 cases. This brings the total number of cases in San Juan County to 201. Three of these new cases are on Orcas Island.
PeaceHealth will require all caregivers to be COVID-19 vaccinated by month’s end
Unvaccinated caregivers with qualifying medical exemptions subject to heightened masking, distancing, and regular testing protocols ||| FROM PEACEHEALTH COMMUNICATIONS ||| August 3, 2021– VANCOUVER, Wash. – PeaceHealth announced that starting August 31, 2021, all caregivers will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit a qualifying medical exemption. Unvaccinated
Auditor seeks “con” writers for voters’ pamphlet statements
This post has been updated. ||| FROM MILENE HENLEY, SAN JUAN COUNTY AUDITOR ||| The San Juan County Auditor is seeking volunteers to write opposing arguments to ballot measures in the November 2021 General Election. The arguments will be published in print and online versions of the Voters’ Pamphlet. Lopez
Letter to Editor | Is it time to face reality? Or is it too late?
||| FROM MICHAEL JOHNSON ||| S.C. Watson illustration paid for by MJ and friends. Coming out of the year 2020, a year marked by the pandemic, now allows us to reflect upon where we, as a county are headed, and ask ourselves, "where do we want to end
Letter to Editor | But WSF just told us a smaller boat wouldn’t happen
||| FROM BOB DISTLER ||| For those of us looking forward to the rest of the summer, an alarming situation has come to my attention: The WSF reservation system indicates that the 90-car Sealth will replace the 144-car Yakima in the San Juans beginning on Monday, 16 August and running through the end of
OICMF presents 24th season: Coming to you, wherever you are
Let the music play! ||| FROM ANITA ORNE for ORCAS ISLAND CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL ||| The performers are arriving, rehearsals are starting, and opening night is this Friday, August 6. Wherever you are, you can stream this year’s Festival, free, beginning with our Welcome Back! concert on Saturday, August 7, and concluding on Closing
Letter to Editor | A proposal to tailor tourism to fit our county
||| FROM BILL APPEL ||| I propose that tourism be better tailored to match our culture and ecology with a new generation of participating tourist facilities that are operated in a manner that attracts possibly fewer but thoughtful, ecologically oriented visitors in celebration and support of what our islands offer.
Time to dedicate our new Playground-on-the-Green, with thanks to many
Playground-on-the-Green Dedication, 12 Noon, Sat, Aug 14, Eastsound Village Green ||| FROM ALICE HIBBERD for SJC PARKS & FAIR ||| The Playground-on-the-Green, the product of Orcas Island imagination, energy, and funding, and constructed by Orcas artists Chuck Greening and Zackarya Leck, will be dedicated to resident and visiting children on
Still no fuel currently available at Orcas Airport
FROM JEANNIE SHARPE for PORT OF ORCAS ||| Still no good news on fuel availability at the Orcas airport. I was just told that the replacement cellphone program part was not shipped last week, when I called for the tracking number. They have promised me that the new part will
