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
It’s time for the Holiday Jammie Jam
||| FROM ANITA ORNE for FLOATING UKULELE JAM ||| It’s December, and the Floating Ukulele Jam is slightly different…still bring your uke, your voice, and maybe a song (holiday or otherwise) to share, but for this one – we wear pajamas! Not sure why, but we do…but grab your favorite
3 days left to give gifts that make an impact in our community
||| FROM KIM WEST ACTKINSON for ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ||| We are more than halfway through the Holiday GiveOrcas campaign and our community has already shown incredible generosity - but there is still more we can accomplish together! Giving through GiveOrcas helps build strong community connections. When you support
Holiday greetings from Garden Club
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| I will begin with the Nice List, knowing that this must be a very long list because gardens and gardeners bring so much joy to so many people! At the top, of course, are our loyal garden heroes: the bees and butterflies, who
Larsen introduces legislation to improve veterans’ access to transportation, health care
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) announced the introduction of the Veterans Access to Transit Act (H.R. 6451), legislation to establish a Department of Transportation (DOT) pilot program to provide veterans with public transportation to Department of Veterans Affairs
Recovery in Community Director receives grant funds
||| FROM MADS HALL for RECOVERY IN COMMUNITY ||| Mads Hall Recovery in Community is happy to announce that Mads Hall, Recovery in Community’s Operations Director, has been selected to receive funds from the Orcas Island Community Foundation’s Leadership, Excellence, Advancement, and Development (LEAD) Grant Program to finish
Update | Improv class for seniors coming to Senior Center
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND PARKS & RECREATION ||| In this Improv Theatre for Seniors class, we will focus on the core tenets of improv: to say “yes!” to the action, to listen closely, to work as a group, to discover organically, and--most importantly--to have fun. Games and group work will
Community Band presents island-favorite Holiday Concert
||| FROM KAREN KEY SPECK for ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY BAND ||| The Orcas Island Community Band favors the number 35. Averaging thirty-five musicians-strong each season, the Orcas Island Community Band is concluding its 35th year as a non-profit, (though the Band can actually trace its roots to 1978!) The Band's
Now, it’s just rain, rain, rain; and then flooding
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Seattle WA 131 AM PST Mon Dec 8 2025 San Juan County-Cascades of Whatcom and Skagit Counties- Cascades of Snohomish and Northern King Counties- Cascades of Southern King County- Cascades of Pierce and Lewis Counties- Foothills and Valleys
Protect What Makes Orcas Island Home: Support the Salish Sea Dome Project
||| FROM AYN GAILEY for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS ||| Friends of the San Juans has joined this year’s OICF GiveOrcas campaign with a project designed to spark wonder, deepen local knowledge, protect the Salish Sea, and empower the next generation of Salish Sea stewards. We’re honored to stand alongside several beloved island nonprofits
CRW logs two encounters with two eco-types
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Two Encounters with Two Eco-Types! Encounter #71 • Bigg's killer whales T36/T36Bs + T137s • November 9, 2025 ObservBegin: 09:16 AM ObservEnd: 09:20 AM Vessel: KCB III Staff: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss Other Observers: Monika Wieland Shields, Jason Shields, Molly Henling, Amanda
No Place Like Loam | The last apple standing, Part 1
||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM by ALEX TAMAYO-WOLF ||| I walk a lot on this island, and this is my favorite time of year to do it. Why? Because walking now is an act of defiance—against the rain that slants sideways, the winds that rake the trees raw, the early
Running on Empty | What copper teaches us about the limits of ‘clean energy’
||| FROM ELISABETH ROBSON ||| We live in a moment when the word renewable has taken on a near-mythic glow. The story goes like this: if we electrify everything—cars, heating, ferries, industry—and generate that electricity locally with solar arrays, tidal machines, batteries, and new grid infrastructure, we can continue our
The Co-op Way | Capital credit checks are in the mail
||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE ||| Just in time for the holiday season, more than $1.2M in capital credit checks are going out to longtime OPALCO members this month, as they do each year. As a co-op, OPALCO does not earn profits. Revenues over and
News Brief | Are Oregon data centers helping to drive an increase in cancer, miscarriages?
||| Some experts believe, that combination is leading to an alarmingly high concentration of nitrates in the drinking water that is driving up cancer and miscarriage rates in the area.
Flood watch posted by National Weather Service through Friday afternoon
||| FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ||| Flood Watch National Weather Service Seattle WA 506 AM PST Sun Dec 7 2025 A series of wet weather systems moving across the region will increase the threat of river flooding early this week. Clallam-Grays Harbor-Island-Jefferson-King-Kitsap-Lewis-Mason- Pierce-San Juan-Skagit-Snohomish-Thurston-Whatcom- Including Fords Prairie, Silverdale, Bremerton, Tumwater,
News Brief | Artificial intelligence technology is ‘changing every sector of society’
||| FROM THE COOL DOWN ||| At its current rate of growth, 26-48.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent will fill the atmosphere, and 731 million to 1.125 billion cubic meters of water will be used up every year. This would be like adding five to 10 million vehicles to
