Here’s a thought…
“I am so convinced of the advantages of looking at mankind instead of reading about them, and of the bitter effects of staying at home with all the narrow prejudices of an islander, that I think there should be a law amongst us to set our young men abroad for a term among the few allies our wars have left us.”
LORD BYRON
Update on expanded San Juan County vaccine eligibility
||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ||| In a welcome sign of progress, the vaccine registration window on Monday, March 22, had slots available for almost five hours after opening. While the outreach to those who are eligible but not yet vaccinated continues, this decreased demand indicates
State to launch new round of Working Washington small business grants on March 29
Newest grant round focuses on brick-and-mortar businesses most directly impacted by COVID-19 public health measures ||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ||| The Washington State Department of Commerce will open applications for Working Washington Grants: Round 4 on March 29. Business owners can find information about the program and a
Food Co-op Annual Meeting: Expanding the circle of cooperation
Everyone Welcome! Join us online via Zoom Sunday, March 28, 4:00-5:30 p.m. ||| FROM SARAH BENSON for ORCAS FOOD CO-OP ||| Help shape the future of your co-op by participating in breakout group discussions, hear the latest developments with key co-op programs and expansion projects, and learn about plans to
Spring is in the air at SJI Museum of Art
||| FROM DIANE MARTINDALE for SAN JUAN ISLANDS MUSEUM OF ART ||| Put a spring in your step by visiting the expansive exhibit of artists in Friday Harbor. This all-island Artists’ Registry Show gets better and better each year. At the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (SJIMA) you can
Orcas Family Health will open registration tomorrow for first-dose vaccines
200 doses available for all eligible individuals ||| FROM ORCAS FAMILY HEALTH CLINIC ||| Orcas Family Health Center will be opening registration for first dose vaccine appointments on Tuesday, March 23, at 5 PM. The vaccination clinic will be held on Saturday, March 27, at Orcas Center. We have 200
Guest Opinion | OK, Joe, what’s next? Voting rights or jobs and taxes?
||| FROM HEDRICK SMITH, RECLAIM THE AMERICAN DREAM ||| Washington -Joe Biden’s stunning victory on his boldly ambitious $1.9 trillion corona relief package and its striking popularity with voters, including grassroots Republicans, now tempts many Congressional Democrats to think that they can go-it-alone and leave Republicans on the sidelines. But
Letter to Editor | Thank you, Orcas Island, from UW Medicine
||| FROM UW MEDICINE ||| To the Orcas Island Community: UW Medicine extends its sincere thanks to the entire Orcas Island community for your support since the opening of our clinic in September 2017. It has been a tremendous privilege to provide high-quality primary care to Orcas Island residents, and
SJ Makers Guild launching an on-line, countywide Makers Directory
||| FROM SAN JUAN MAKERS GUILD ||| This Spring the San Juan Makers Guild is busy launching the online countywide Makers Directory and is hosting an important interactive Asset Mapping project to help strengthen the Maker Community. There is NO COST to use these tools - we encourage and support
Island Primary Care–Orcas will open its doors on Monday, April 5
||| BY SUSAN MCBAIN, theORCASONIAN REPORTER ||| As of April 5, Orcas Island will have a new practice operating in the medical facility on Deye Lane: Island Primary Care–Orcas, an Island Hospital (IH) clinic. And the practice will have a new phone number, 360- 293-3101, which can already be used
Larsen’s message to Dreamers: You make Northwest Washington stronger
||| FROM REP. RICK LARSEN'S OFFICE ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted for two commonsense, bipartisan bills to secure permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including Dreamers and guestworkers. More than 16,000 Dreamers call Washington state home and contribute over $1 billion annually
Inslee rescinds state travel advisory to align with CDC travel advisory guidance
||| FROM GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE'S OFFICE || Gov. Jay Inslee today rescinded his November 2020 Travel Advisory and is advising Washingtonians and others visiting Washington to comply with the Center for Disease Control’s current COVID-19 travel advisory guidance. On November 13, 2020, due to the increasing incidence of COVID-19 in many states and
EDC Annual Economics Luncheon will feature Milene Henley & stand-up economics comedian
||| FROM VICTORIA COMPTON for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ||| Join the conversation on What’s Next: The Islands Economy at the 11th Annual EDC Economics Luncheon, held online on Wednesday, April 28 from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., featuring economist Yoram Bauman and San Juan County Auditor Milene Henley. This year, participants are
Sign of normality returning? SJC courts to soon resume jury trials; watch your mailbox for a summons
||| FROM MELLISSA DERKSEMA for SAN JUAN COUNTY DISTRICT COURT ||| The San Juan County Superior Court and District Court are once again resuming jury trials, after postponing trials in November of 2020 due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Thanks to transmission rates falling regionally and statewide, and technological
Mobile dental clinics to offer Medicaid and uninsured patients access to dental care on Orcas
||| FROM ERIN O'DELL for ORCASS COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER ||| People in San Juan County who don’t have dental insurance or who are covered by Apple Health (Medicaid) can get free or reduced-cost dental care at upcoming mobile clinics. The public-private partnership making the dental care available includes the North
You will want to listen up! Recording of Island Hospital community briefing is now available
||| FROM ANNE PRESSON for ORCAS ISLAND HEALTH CARE DISTRICT ||| We would like to thank all of the community members who spent part of your Thursday evening learning about the clinic transition. A copy of Island Hospital’s presentation can be found HERE, and the recording is available for viewing
Editorial | Have you noticed something familiar in the air? Relief? Hope?
||| BY LIN MCNULTY, theORCASONIAN EDITOR ||| There's something going on, something afoot, stirrings beneath the surface. Have you felt it? I first felt the unrest shuffling after the result of the 2020 presidential election, although there were plenty of instances when that, too, seemed endangered, that perhaps nothing in
