When I first began my work as the Lopez Island Fire Chief July 1, 2008, I was challenged to improve communications for our first responders and thereby improve public safety for all.
Last year people in our community were desperate for housing. Now a full year has passed. Has anything changed?
Waking up at 3 a.m. is not unusual for me. Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are a recurring part of my life as a survivor of domestic sex trafficking in my childhood and my young adult life.
For thousands of years we mostly upright humans have prayed to it, started wars over it, killed people in it and with it, built fancy huts to be close to it and tried to figure out ways to get out of it or get more of it.
Keaton Farris should not have died.
At age 25, he should be hanging out with his friends on Lopez Island or in Coupeville. He should be teasing his sisters or traveling the world.
The reservation system was created because the demand for car space on peak sailings vastly exceeded the supply, causing congestion and long waits. The reservation system helps spread demand to off-peak sailings, which should allow more cars to be transported.
Our family move to Orcas in the early 1990s began with missing the ferry. We arrived in Anacortes, waited two hours for the boat, only to see it come, load and go.
We’ve been hearing mixed reviews on the new ferry reservation system. Some love the convenience of ensuring a spot on the ferries and say that travel is being spread out more evenly. Others are seeing a downturn in summer business from those unable to get a reservation.
They glisten across the night sky and symbolize Independence Day.
But they are also dangerous when handled by amateurs.
Did you know that today there are 21-36 million people enslaved around our modern world? Did you know that means there are more slaves today than there ever were before? Did you know that human trafficking, only one of many forms of slavery, affects 2.4 million people worldwide each year?
As we navigate our first summer with the ferry reservation system, social media is rife with complaints about how it’s faring. But what we’re taking away from that discussion is something entirely unrelated: islanders are spending quite a bit of time and money on the mainland.
Q: Sadly, my wife Margaret, age 81, has dementia. Our doctor has her on medications that work extremely well to keep her more alert – she plays scrabble several times a week, enjoys her favorite TV programs and will interject a comment occasionally.
Living with a mental illness can be a deeply private, painful experience. It is difficult to talk about or know how to get help. And for the family members of an ill person, the emotions range from sadness to anger to guilt.
We think it’s the responsibility of state Legislature to fully fund K-12 public education.
The love we are given by our mothers can set the course for the rest of our lives. Whether it is something as easy as baking cheesecake or understanding the importance of loyalty, our readers shared some of the lessons they have learned from their mother.
In my eighth grade class, we had an assignment to do a study of one of our world’s problems. I chose to research the problem of energy-wasting light bulbs.
None of us gets old overnight. We don’t go from, say, age 60 to age 80 in a day. There are years in between and steps we need to take while we’re healthy that will allow us to age with grace. The first rule: live in the right house.
We couldn’t be more proud to feature a very special section within this week’s paper: the Viking Voice.
The Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office recently reported that nearly half of the 15 salmon populations listed under the federal Endangered Species Act are increasing.
Having recently fought and won a war against a government that had repressed dissent, arrested colonists without warrants and incarcerated them without trial, the authors of our Constitution were determined to ensure that citizens of our newly invented nation would have the liberty to express any view, even to a powerful government.
If you’re having trouble making sense of the many facts, figures, moving parts and the overall financial state of the union at Orcas Power and Light Cooperative, you’re not alone.
When we received an email alert last Friday that the ferries to Orcas were full until the 8:55 p.m., we knew it signaled something significant: the start of the tourist season. And those high traffic numbers will continue with the Shakespeare Festival starting this week.
Wouldn’t it be swell if you could forget about all those complicated issues of the day, ignore the campaigns of this candidate or that one, and just remain steadfastly unconcerned and uninformed about any upcoming election or about what direction would be best for your ballot to be cast?
Be warned. Some of us, particularly small electricity users, might be in for an electrifying shock treatment. Electricity prices are going up to the point where some may no longer be able to afford it.
It is with a heavy heart that we write about Fire Chief Kevin O’Brien’s leaving Orcas Fire and Rescue for a chief position in Lake Stevens.
My grandmother is vicious to my father, her son. He has heart problems, so I’m afraid for his health. She’s 85 and can’t live alone anymore. He tried taking care of her at home, but she complained constantly.
I was intrigued to read the Islands’ Sounder recent story about the sheriff’s survey. My immediate reaction was that surely those on Orcas Island who gave poor marks to the police were NOT just referencing the incident on San Juan last Christmas.
We’ve seen the positive side of the internet: connecting friends and family, sharing knowledge of the world around us, doing business from afar, spreading social awareness – the list goes on.
On Jan. 1 at 3 a.m. the Shaw Island Fire Department requested assistance with a structure fire on Shaw Island. Four OIFR firefighters responded with a WASP fire engine and a water tender truck.
Dr. Gottman, with input from the members of the OMF board, Orcas Island Fire and Rescue, and others, has developed a rigorous survey that she hopes will be completed by everyone on the island.
Eastsound is the hub of activity for retail, dining, foot traffic, community events, parades and more on the island.
The news last week that Orcas Power and Light Co-op and Rock Island have joined forces to deliver Internet services to islanders in San Juan County is the latest in a long chain of thoughtful decisions and deliberate action on the part of the OPALCO leadership.
I once consulted with a company to evaluate the health of people over 80 who had applied for long-term care insurance. The goal: to ensure they were healthy enough not to use their insurance benefits right away.
Be afraid, but don’t be too afraid, and above all – be prepared.
That is essentially the message that Brendan Cowan of the San Juan County’s Department of Emergency Management wants to get out to island residents.
Yes we live on an island. Many of us moved here for the temperate climates. The founding American pioneers came here to escape the grueling snowstorms and freezing temperatures in the east and the extra inches of rainfall on the mainland.
Working in the newspaper business, you grow accustomed to churning out tales on the daily.
Reporter Samantha Pak, from one of our sister papers, the Redmond Reporter, wrote the following piece. We thought it was too good not to share.
After four decades working in the aging field, I’ve discovered something interesting: we each get “old” at our own unique pace. This is different from any other time in our lives.
That the local orca whale population, known as southern resident killer whales, is in dire trouble is not in dispute, even as recent widespread press reports have focused on the positive news of the birth of J-50, a new calf in J-pod (J, K and L pods together make up the endangered southern resident orca).
On Dec. 1, 8 p.m., Orcas Island firefighters responded to reports of a large fire with dark smoke in the area of Mt. Woolard.
