Here’s a thought…
“Before we work on artificial intelligence, why don’t we do something about natural stupidity?”
READER BOARD
Stand.earth hails stunning new ICCT ship dumping report as a wake up call to U.S., Canada
Oceans face a massive fossil fuel combustion wastewater problem from ships, and world leaders must act now to stop further pollution ||| FROM STAND.EARTH ||| Unceded Coast Salish Territories (VANCOUVER, BC) and Traditional Lummi and Nooksack Lands (BELLINGHAM, WA) — Around the world, oceans and coastal communities face major threats from
Rep. Lekanoff: Legislative session has ended, but work still goes on
||| FROM REP. DEBRA LEKANOFF ||| Join us for the 40th LD Virtual Town Hall on May 6! Before I update you on the 2021 session and dive in to highlights of our final budgets, I want to invite you to join Sen. Liz Lovelett, Rep. Alex Ramel and me on
West Sound Posse has been cleaning up around their side of the island for years
||| FROM WEST SOUND POSSE ||| Several years ago, when the Great Islands Clean Up began, our neighborhood community responded by forming the West Sound Posse. We are now 30+ members strong, made up of regular folks, like artists, I.T. specialists, musicians, a speech pathologist, physicians, a real estate agent,
WSF weekly update includes saga of a fire aboard the Wenatchee
||| FROM PATTY RUBSTELLO for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| Wenatchee engine room fire Thankfully, no one was hurt when an engine on Wenatchee caught fire last Thursday while the vessel was conducting sea trials with no passengers aboard. The crew, who are well-trained for emergency situations including firefighting, contained and extinguished the fire.
Missing something? Say like maybe, perhaps, a dock?
||| BY LIN MCNULTY, theORCASONIAN EDITOR ||| Tethered on a beach in West Sound is a dock. Not an unusual sight -- beach, water, dock. But this dock has been rescued after floating by in the West Sound vicinity of Clam Harbor. The dock is described as about 10x30 and
Midnight Mutterings | A (?) murder of crows
||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE BATES ||| Recently, still taking a break from voter suppression, I threatened to tell one or two crow stories and now here is the first. Would love to hear your crow stories or any story at all that can fit in the confines of a
Sheriff’s Report | April 21 – 27, 2021
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21 21-003225 Controlled Substance Problem 10:07:24 04/21/21 A County Parks employee brought found property to the Sheriff's office in Friday Harbor. The property was found three weeks prior at a park. A Deputy received the property and placed it into
Weekly San Juan County COVID case update
||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ||| Note: Current positive case numbers are available online at the County Case Data Dashboard. As indicated on that page, these numbers are only updated after case confirmation is complete, usually daily. It is possible that other information sources in community
State Health Dept. recap of recent COVID-19 news and updates
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| Newest numbers. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported a total of 372,262 confirmed cases as of 11:59 p.m. on April 28. There have been 5,487 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. For the most recent tally of cases by county, demographics, and more, visit
Coffelt Farm CART report now available for viewing, comments
||| FROM TANJA WILLIAMSON for SAN JUAN COUNTY LAND BANK ||| San Juan County Land Bank has received the requested Conservation Agriculture Resource Team’s (CART) Coffelt Farm Report, a review, analysis, and recommendations for agriculture at the SJC Land Bank’s Coffelt Farm Preserve on Orcas Island. The SJC Land Bank
Senior Center selected to participate in GiveOrcas drive
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Orcas Senior Center (OSC) was selected to participate in the 2021 OICF GiveOrcas fundraising campaign, May 3-17. With your help OSC will raise $19,000 and contribute up to $6,000 in matching funds so that isolated seniors can receive “check-in” phone calls
‘Occam’s Razor’ | Our island, our world through the eyes, pen of S.C. Watson
Welcome to our weekly feature, Occam's Razor, from local artist S.C. Watson.
WA state vaccine allocation strategy moving to provider need-based approach
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is adjusting the way COVID-19 vaccines are allocated in an effort to quickly and equitably reach more people statewide and get vaccine where it’s needed most. Until recently, DOH used a pro-rata approach for allocations,
Grants for venues, restaurants, childcare, plus PPP & EIDL updates from our local EDC
||| FROM SAN JUAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ||| RESTAURANT GRANT REGISTRATION BEGINS TOMORROW! Register for an account starting April 30th at 6a PST, OR check your Square or Toast account for more information. You can register here: restaurants.sba.gov. More info is available here: sba.gov/restaurants After registering and to apply, visit: application
Biden’s jobs plan historic funding levels put Washington on path to accomplish broadband goals
Going big on broadband ||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ||| As the United States rebuilds its way out of a pandemic that crushed sectors of the economy and exposed deep-rooted inequities in the workplace and within communities of color, President Joe Biden unveiled his American Jobs Plan that includes $100 billion
OCS Junior has been awarded an Airhawks scholarship
||| FROM BOB WAUNCH and REBECCA CARTER for AIRHAWKS FLYING CLUB ||| The Airhawks Flying Club, a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization based in Eastsound, is proud to announce the awarding of a $4,000 Flight Training Scholarship to Diego Rivera, a student at Orcas Christian School. Diego will begin his training this
