Here’s a thought…
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers.”
THOMAS PYNCHON
Over 3,000 popular magazines now available for download through Orcas Island Public LIbrary
||| FROM HOLLY KING for ORCAS ISLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY ||| Orcas Island Public LIbrary is pleased to announce that over 3,000 popular magazines are now available to download and read on any device 24/7. Users with a library card can read digital magazines alongside ebooks and audiobooks on Libby, the
Washington State Department of Health provides next-generation genome sequencing of new COVID-19 strains
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| OLYMPIA -- The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has increased its capacity to identify new strains of COVID-19 using next-generation genome sequencing equipment. The goal is to test several thousand specimens a month at the Public Health Lab in Shoreline, WA. Sequencing
Change is coming to Orcas Family Health Center
||| FROM THE STAFF OF ORCAS FAMILY HEALTH CENTER ||| After 17 years of providing care to patients on Orcas Island, Orcas Family Health Center will be shutting our doors at the end of March 2021 and moving to the Orcas Medical Center building as part of the new Island
Lisa Bergman will give great composers a makeover in upcoming livestream event
Tuesday, March 16, 7:00 p.m. PDT ||| FROM LINDA SLONE for ORCAS ISLAND CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL ||| On Tuesday, March 16, at 7 p.m. (Pacific Time), join Gracie Award winning on-air radio announcer, pianist, and humorist Lisa Bergman as she brings her lively Great Composers Get a Makeover to Orcas
County Board and Advisory Committee Vacancies and Positions
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| The County Council is searching for San Juan County citizens to fill current and upcoming vacancies on various boards and commissions. Additional information about each committee is available on the County's website at: http://sanjuanco.com/641/Board-Committee-Vacancies. Persons interested in serving on a board or advisory
Second public hearing on vacation rental moratorium now scheduled
||| FROM ISLAND STEWARDS ||| San Juan County (SJC) Council will be continuing an online public hearing on Tuesday, March 9 to discuss whether the moratorium on the issuance of Vacation Rental Permits should be maintained or abandoned. ACTION ITEMS Read the updated announcement regarding this hearing by the Vacation Rental
Health Care Board Zoom meeting tonight, 5 p.m.
||| FROM ANNE PRESSON for ORCAS ISLAND HEALTHCARE DISTRICT ||| The materials for the March 2, 2021 Regular meeting of the OIHCD Board of Commissioners are now posted. You can access the Board Packet HERE. This will be a virtual meeting starting at 5 pm on Tuesday. Details to join
Editorial | Historic ties between pandemics, extremism
||| BY LIN MCNULTY, EDITOR ||| If, like me, you are, to put it mildly, puzzled, alarmed, or even frightened by recent societal divisions, you may find some insight in this recent CBSN conversation with Arie Kruglanski, a distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, to discuss the
WA Supreme Court declares drug possession statute unconstitutional
Gaylord urges prompt action by Legislature ||| FROM RANDALL GAYLORD, SAN JUAN COUNTY PROSECUTOR ||| On Thursday Feb. 25, 2021 a narrow majority of the Washington Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a state statute making it unlawful to possess controlled substances upending a 50 year-old statute and tens of thousands of
Joy of Movement T’ai Chi series returns to Senior Center via ZOOM
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Many of you may remember Joan Roulac teaching T’ai Chi Chih classes at the Orcas Senior Center for 11 years starting in 2003. Joan is excited for the opportunity to offer T’ai Chi Chih classes again to Orcas by Zoom! Joan
COVID-19 prevention efforts remain critical despite declining trends
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| OLYMPIA – Today the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) released the latest statewide situation report on COVID-19. Report findings include: While trends in cases, hospitalizations and deaths are largely continuing to decline, some concerning signs remain. In particular, the state is detecting increasing numbers of cases of
Can a conservative Idaho Republican bring sockeyes back to the Salmon River?
||| FROM POST ALLEY ||| Reprint at request of reader. We were lifting cups in a lodge at Redfish Lake, beneath 10,000-foot summits of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, talking about thousands of sockeye salmon that once swam 900 miles up the Columbia, Snake, and Salmon Rivers to spawn. Tough to believe,
Larsen votes to protect public lands, rivers in Washington state, nationwide
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF REP. RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) voted for a comprehensive wilderness and public lands protection bill which includes Representative Derek Kilmer’s legislation to designate more than 126,000 acres of public land as wilderness and nearly 460 miles of rivers and
WSF now knows the best times to sail, publishes new travel guide
||| FROM WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| Customers can now check out WSF’s updated Best Times to Travel guides for every route from now through Saturday, May 8. The new online interface allows customers to more easily navigate and view guides for multiple routes to better plan their travel arrangements. The safety
New community classes upcoming from Island Hospital
||| FROM RACHEL LAMBERT for ISLAND HOSPITAL ||| Island Hospital offers free Medicare class Learn more about your Medicare options at a free class on Monday, March 8, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Traditional coverage, supplements, advantage plans, prescription drug coverage, enrollment information and Medicare fraud protection will be covered.
Department of Health launches weekly SARS-CoV-2 sequencing and variant report
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| OLYMPIA -- The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) announces that it will begin publishing a weekly SARS-CoV-2 sequencing and variant report today. The report summarizes genome sequencing coverage of Washington SARS-CoV-2 specimens from multiple laboratories across the US and our state. The goal
