The spirit of giving is alive and well on Orcas Island.
My adult daughter recently came to stay with me and my husband. She was badly injured when a pickup truck struck her while she was crossing the street several years ago. One of the greatest challenges she faces daily is hypersensitivity to light and to sound due to a brain injury. Just imagine that you can't go into a store, restaurant, library, bank or any building where there are bright, particularly fluorescent, lights and music playing overhead. If your brain is functioning properly, you probably don't even notice the bright lights and music. I know I didn't before.
I want to make the community aware of important upcoming San Juan County Council events related to the Eastsound Subarea Plan.
We cannot believe how fortunate we are to live in such a caring community!! We want to thank you….so many, who have given clothing, food and other things to us since our house burned to the ground on Sunday night. And really first of all, we thank our wonderful volunteer Fire Department who were able to save the garage and the studio. We have also had so many messages of love and concern, and offers of guest houses etc. we are just amazed. Currently we are staying at a neighbor's guest house and are doing quite well. My reminder to all of you is MAKE SURE your smoke alarms are working and you have good escape routes.
The Orcas Grange parking lot has Lights! Thanks to Greg Ayers, Kate Hansen, Larry Coddington , Doug Bechtel, Tony Lee, Pete Moe, Kevin Loomis for technical support, Jerry Masters of Valley Supply for the bases and to Sea Island Sand and Gravel who provided discounts on the concrete. With your donations for gravel and leveling the area completed by volunteer Ed LeCocq, it will be a finished project!
When the Orcas Island Community Foundation asked me to be part of a special project, I immediately said yes. I had a cursory understanding of what it would entail, but it wasn't until our first meeting that it really clicked.
Wind, rain and a drop in temperature. Autumn announced its arrival in no uncertain terms.
As organizers of the new lecture and seminar series Orcas Currents, we are heartened by and deeply grateful for the tremendous response it has received. During its first full year, we presented eight events that attracted a total audience of well over a thousand participants — including the young, elderly, and young at heart. This encouraging response bears out our intent to keep events free of charge, open to all interested parties.
I strongly disagree with the journalistic choice you made to publish the victim's statement in the Oct. 31 front page story entitled "Teacher charged with sexual misconduct."
Editor's note: In no way does the Sounder condone the following judgment on the court case involving an Orcas High School teacher (Teacher charged with sexual misconduct, 11/3/15). But we are obligated to publish letters from the community unless they are slanderous to a named private party. This type of victim-blaming is widespread and can be seen in similar cases across the country. Fair and accurate reporting includes protecting the victims of sexual crimes.
While driving from Eastsound to Olga in the dreary, gray, rainy weather, I noticed many vehicles did not have on their headlights. They were difficult to see as the weather "grayed-out" color, etc.
We would like to thank the community for its participation in this year's Odd Fellows Wood Raffle. We had are best year ever and all the money raised will go to our Scholarship Fund and our Community Giving Fund.
Thank you to everyone who attended, the participants and the businesses that supported the first annual Trashion Fashion Show: Island Market, Darvill's, Cottage Gift Shop, Kay's Antiques, Rainbow Services, Chamber of Commerce, Orcas Recycling, Orcas Issues and Islands' Sounder (thank you to Meredith Griffith for a wonderful write up).
Walking into school last week after regular hours, I was met with the sounds of kids’ laughter and excited chattering.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and an anonymous client of Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Services of the San Juan Islands wrote the following piece.
We need the law to declare that money is not speech, that corporations are not people, that all political contributions must be publicly disclosed and that our federal, state and local governments have the right and ability to regulate political spending.
Recently, a contingent of San Juan Islanders joined three hundred fishermen, Native Americans, farmers, orca activists, business owners and conservationists to advocate breaching four federal dams on the lower Snake River in Southeast Washington.
Why do we write crime stories? Do we want to sensationalize violence in an effort to sell more papers? We are a small knit community – should we really hear about the harsh realities of life?
Every 9 seconds in the United States, a woman is assaulted or beaten.
The housing crisis has been a well-documented nightmare for islanders.
I am a lifelong Orcas Island native, born here in 1985.
Although San Juan County residents voted 68 percent to legalize the use and sale of marijuana to adults back in 2012, the actual implementation of I-502 has been rocky.
Driving on our rural roads has unique dangers – like deer waiting to leap in front of you and bicycle riders weaving into traffic.
An EMS cost recovery program has been working successfully for the Lopez and San Juan Island districts for the past five years.
This labor day weekend the “Stand Up Men” of San Juan Island Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services (DVSAS) is partnering with the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office to raise awareness and safety on our island.
The Islands’ Sounder, Journal of the San Juans and the Islands’ Weekly welcome new circulation manager Bridget Wright.
According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, when the first person expressed juice from a succulent leaf to apply to a wound, it was being practiced.
The earthquake that will devastate Seattle and will destroy the coast of the Pacific Northwest could strike now or in 50 years ... or maybe 600 years.
The Orcas School renovation will be done by the end of August, and after we got a sneak peak last week, we can tell you that it is positively stunning.
It’s one of the most dreaded pieces of mail you can get: a jury summons. With a grimace, you think of what that little postcard means – time off work, rearranging appointments and having to take the ferry to Friday Harbor.
Orcas Islanders love their beautiful public library as a center of equal access to information for all learners and a welcoming place for reflection, work or gathering with others.
I would like to personally thank the many people who work tirelessly, behind the scenes, to make the County Fair the huge success it is.
These are principles that we stand by. Every day as stories are published we are ready to defend them if need be.
With advice and the necessary materials needed gifted from Paul at Island Hardware and a couple of new friends he met on the island, Rhys and Carson, Jacob has made the necessary repairs.
One hundred and fifteen people attended this first community brainstorming session put on by Islands Climate Resilience
A day after the OPALCO board approved an emergency 10 percent increase in our electric rates, effective at the start of this month, its management issued a press release announcing the “Temporary Revenue Recovery Add-On.” In it, General Manager Foster Hildreth “explained” that the emergency increase was needed because “Members have not been paying their full share” of OPALCO’s costs.
The Oxford English Dictionary announced in June that approximately 500 words have been added to its dictionary.
Traveling to Australia – and living there for a year – was the best time I’ve had in my life.
The people from all over the world, the weather, the beaches and the work culture all added to an experience that is hard to put into words. What I can articulate is that international travel, particularly independent from family, was eye-opening, rewarding and leaves you wanting more.