On Friday nights, parents sit on the bleachers of the Orcas Middle School Gym watching their children laugh as they glide across the floor. Some parents, like islander Marlace Hughes, remember putting skates on at the same gym years ago.
A petition seeking to make San Juan County free of genetically modified organisms has hit the streets.
The Orcas Island Mt. Baker Road and Trail Improvement project has its wheels on the ground and is preparing for lift-off.
The design is almost complete and Public Works is waiting for environmental permitting from various organizations including Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Ecology and San Juan County. The last item on Public Works’ list is finalizing the right-of-way purchase.
To deal with the dangers of falling trees, Rob Fimbel with the Washington State Parks’ Stewardship Program has proposed a plan to patch cut and thin three areas of the park, which include the surrounding areas of the Environmental Learning Center, the primitive campground and the upper part of the north end campground. The areas are high priority because of the year-round and seasonal living quarters by the ELC and the overnight guests at the campgrounds.
During the council meeting on Feb. 7, council chairwoman Patty Miller, Orcas East, said there is no update to the solid waste after Tuesday’s meeting, but that there is a “concept” for dividing the property into areas, which includes setting aside a portion of the site for continuing the Exchange and possibly accommodating expansion, but there is significant due diligence that needs to be completed before any more specifics can be determined.
Each island tends to have a signature when it comes to traffic sign damage.
On Lopez, vandalism involves bullet holes, but on San Juan the inclination is simply to pull signs out of the ground and leave them on the side of the road. On all three islands, San Juan County Public Works has had to clean signs shot with paintball guns.
The majority of San Juan county residents have never seen a snowy owl in their neighborhood, but as more of these birds are spotted in the region, it may be possible to see white wings gliding through the air.
Snowy owls have been spotted throughout Washington and other states this fall, said Barb Jensen, president of the San Juan Islands Audubon Society.
Beau Borrero observed the feeding and sheltering of hungry strangers amidst the cold and rain. He stood witness to police pepper spraying and striking faces with clubs, and the twisting and contorting of limbs that he can only describe as torture. Borrero also watched ordinary people from all walks of life with signs held high above their heads, their slogans reverberating throughout the country.
Have you got your flu shot? Well, you now might want to consider not only immunizing your child from whooping cough, but getting a booster shot for yourself as well.
The San Juan County Health Department recently reported an outbreak of nine cases of pertussis, also known as “whooping cough” on San Juan Island.
It was the length of one football field. Now it’s two. That’s how close any ship, boat or vessel —…
