Here’s a thought…
“Neither the evil nor the good in our history determines who we are. It is what we do now. If we do not say something ourselves about this horror, we allow ourselves to be changed.”
TIMOTHY SNYDER
Recap of recent COVID-19 news, updates
||| FROM STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ||| Newest numbers. The Department of Health reported a total of 172,437 confirmed cases as of 11:59 pm on December 2. There have been 2,900 COVID-19 deaths in Washington. For the most recent tally of cases by county, demographics, and more, visit the Department of Health's dashboard and
Village Voices | What are you feeling gratitude for in the midst of these difficult times?
||| BY MINOR LILE, ORCASONIAN REPORTER ||| With the monthly Village Voices series, we aim to take the pulse of the Orcas Island community. Every month we’ll be out and about, asking people to share their point of view on a particular topic. Sometimes the questions will be serious, sometimes
Stop by The Green on Sunday to sign this important anti-discrimination petition
||| FROM DAVID TURNOY ||| Manuel Ellis Two and a half months before George Floyd’s life was cruelly ended by a policeman kneeling on his neck, Tacoma resident Manuel Ellis was killed by a police chokehold. He had been walking home from church, some local police engaged him
More than 1 million users enable WA Notify within first four days
The more people who use exposure notification technology, the more effective it is ||| FROM STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT ||| OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) today announced that in just four days, more than 1,000,000 users activated WA Notify, a simple, anonymous exposure notification tool that uses smartphones
Happy Holidays from the Lions Club
||| FROM ORCAS LIONS CLUB ||| As members of the Orcas Lions Club, we, like everyone else, in this wonderful community, have been immensely affected by this once in a lifetime pandemic! Like many other organizations, we have had to cancel most of our community projects this year because of
Senior Center welcomes Michel Vekved to the team
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| The Orcas Senior Center non-profit is excited to welcome Michel Vekved to our team part-time. As a 20-year resident of Orcas Island, many of you may already know Michel from her work with Friends of the San Juans or Friends of
Orcasional Musings | Something about bigotry
||| ORCASIONAL MUSINGS by STEVE HENIGSON ||| A couple of weeks ago, my friend Kristen Wilson was dismayed by my reference to "the Chinese Disease." She worried that by openly attributing COVID-19 to the Chinese, it would somehow adversely affect her adopted daughter, Paris, who was born in China and
Sheriff’s Report | November 25 – December 1, 2020
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 20-010019 Burglary,NonRes 10:52:33 11/25/20 A Deputy on Orcas Island was dispatched to a business burglary near Eastsound. A report was filed. 20-010020 Trespassing 11:45:25 11/25/20 A Deputy responded to a report of a trespassing at South Beach on San
County Canvassing Board directed to recount Orcas East Precinct votes in Governor race
||| FROM COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICE ||| OFFICIAL NOTICE OF San Juan County Canvassing Board Meetings San Juan County has been directed by the Office of the Secretary of State to recount Orcas East Precinct votes in the race for Governor of Washington State. This direction comes following a request for
Rep. Larsen outlines priorities for next COVID-19 pandemic relief bill
||| FROM REP. RICK LARSEN'S OFFICE ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) urged Congress to address the continued public health crisis and deliver real relief for Washingtonians, families and small businesses. In a letter to House and Senate leadership, Larsen outlined his top priorities for any upcoming
2021 to bring changes to vital records ordering requirements
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY NEWS ||| Important Note: Starting January 1, 2021, a new vital records law and rules go into effect that changes the ordering requirements for birth and death certificates. For increased security of personal information, only individuals with specific relationships to the person on the record being requested can receive a
Weekly COVID roundup shows no new cases on Orcas
||| FROM BRENDAN COWAN for DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ||| Note: Current positive case numbers are available online at the County Case Count Page. 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
Center for Whale Research: Fundamental problem with southern resident killer whales
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Comment to the Agenda Item concerning Commercial Whale Watching Public Hearing at the December 3-5, 2020 WDFW (Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife) Commission Meeting Dear Commissioners: The southern resident killer whales (SRKWs) are top-level marine predators that have evolved a specialized diet
‘Occam’s Razor’ | Our island, our world through the eyes, pen of S.C. Watson
Welcome to our new weekly feature, Occam's Razor, from local artist S.C. Watson.
Working Washington has $50 million in business grants available
||| FROM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL ||| The GRANT APPLICATION PORTAL for Working Washington 3 has just gone live. Please go to the link below and click the "Apply Now" button. http://startup.choosewashingtonstate.com/working-washington-round3/ Who can apply? These grants are prioritized for: Small businesses with annual revenues of $5 million or less in
Thanksgiving weekend WSF ridership down 50% from 2019
||| FROM NICOLE MCINTOSH for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’m thankful to all who followed statewide restrictions to limit travel over Thanksgiving weekend. We had just under 175,000 riders from Wednesday through Sunday. That’s roughly half of the 340,000 people we carried during the same
