The Orcas Airport is embarking on a major reconstruction project scheduled for next year. We will have a public meeting about the project on Thursday, Dec 12 at 5 p.m.
Almost every 90 seconds, a person in the U.S. is injured in a drunk driving crash and one in three people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lifetime. An average drunk driver has gotten behind the wheel 80 times before his/her first arrest.
By the strike of midnight on Saturday, November 30 when the campaign officially ended, the Farm to Cafeteria “Edible Eats and Education” crowd-funder on indiegogo.com reached its matching goal of $11,000.
It’s the time of year for lighting candles on a cold winter night, breaking bread with loved ones and remembering what we are thankful for. Our readers offered the following gems of gratitude.
We are over the worst of it now, and we need to focus on the future. There was a fair amount of anger and frustration expressed by islanders at CenturyLink’s public forum last week. There are very real health and safety concerns as well as economic consequences when our communications are interrupted.
Watching our friends and family grow mustaches is entertaining and fun, but there is a serious reason for “Movember”: raising awareness about men’s health. We urge men to take a look at the following information and take action.
The cost of maintaining the effective emergency response system we have on Orcas Island is a significant challenge.
San Juan EMS Chief Jim Cole's statement flies in the face of the reality in the Sounder’s story “Airlift Northwest cuts ties with Island Air Ambulance” that ran last week.
Last year, a majority of San Juan County’s citizens voted to make some important updates to our county charter. Specifically, we voted to create a full-time, three-member county council that was elected county-wide.
As yellow and red leaves litter our streets and decorations of orange and black hang in windows, one can’t ignore that Halloween is coming.
She wore red lipstick and her neck was often adorned with a colorful scarf. She was an artist who painted watercolors with scenes of vibrant bouquets and shorelines of calm waters.
Recently, there have been some questions about audit results of our 2010-2011 OASIS program. For clarity I offer this timeline of events, the results, and how the OISD has responded.
It seems to be human nature to complain more than compliment, and our county gets its fair share of grievances.
An annual flu vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu and the flu-related complications that could lead to hospitalization and even death. Health experts across the country recommend that everyone six months and older get a flu vaccine.
I’ve woken up with them in the palm of my hand. They’ve clung to the inside of my sweater, crawling up through the neck. I’ve wrapped myself in a towel, only to look in the foggy mirror and see a huge black shape making its way across the cloth.
A handful of the businesses and restaurants in Eastsound were closed on Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend. The result: frustrated tourists and long lines out the door of the few restaurants that were open.
I work for the government, which gives me a warped view of the world. I forget that not everyone knows obscure stuff like how levies work, or that sales tax is comprised of lots of little parts.
I have had the great privilege in recent weeks to work in close quarters with the long-time operators of the Orcas Transfer Station, Ronni Silva and Robert Hammermeister.
The mornings come so reliably – a cup of coffee, familiar faces and the daily sifting of emails. At the Sounder we write, we read, we juggle to be fair and ethical and still remain sensitive to our neighbors.
The smell of fall is in the air, and for parents, it’s a busy time of buying back-to-school supplies and gearing up for early morning sports practice. As our children prepare for a year of learning inside and outside the classroom, we urge parents to talk with their kids about tolerance.
Washington state women who are served by the more than 50 public hospital districts in the state will continue to have the assurance they can exercise their legal reproductive rights.
In my first few weeks as the honorary mayor of Eastsound, I have been a proud puppy when I see what a great community we have here.
We like to consider our communities open and welcoming of diversity – but does that sentiment disappear when it’s part of Eastsound’s landscape?
Horse competitions. Carnival rides. Corn dogs. Rabbit races.
Outdoor concerts, bustling farmers’ markets, busy hiking trails, limited parking spaces, long overload lines.
In the wake of three suspicious fires in Olga, it’s clear there is an arsonist in our midst. Instead of being overwhelmed by panic, let’s stay calm and be proactive.
Albert Einstein famously quipped, “How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will.” When I first set foot on Orcas Island in 1981, I believed I got a taste of such a place.
Change can be a time of sadness and exuberance, as we bid farewell to one chapter and open up another.
Doug Bechtel’s staging of Nora and Delia Ephron’s play “Love, Loss and What I Wore,” at the Grange is proof once again of his unerring eye for casting.
While invasive weed populations are expanding at an almost exponential rate across North America, annually costing the US economy billions of dollars, we in the San Juans have been more fortunate.
The thing about Alan is that he would be horrified to know I am starting a sentence that begins, “The thing about Alan Lichter.”
The roads in San Juan County can be dangerous. Some are narrow, winding and parallel to sharp drop-offs with cold, deep water below.
The week of June 23 started off with a council and Department Head (both elected and appointed) workshop on Tuesday, June 25.
The Islands’ Sounder is proud to be your newspaper. We’ve been the voice of our community since 1964.
The Honorary Mayor of Eastsound race – an annual fundraiser sponsored by and benefiting Children’s House – concludes on Saturday, July 6.
We spend so much time thinking about the future – what could happen, what we’d like to have happen – that it’s easy to overlook the rich history of those who came before us.
Taking a bus out to the westside of San Juan may sound a little counter intuitive to a local, but then again, it is the greener way.
OPALCO has made a major shift in its approach to bringing high speed broadband to most island locations.
Happiness eluded me for many years. I knew where it was hiding, but it felt like a treasure lying beneath a rock I could not lift.
I know it may come as a surprise to some, but our legislature was unable to complete its work within the 105 day limit of the “long session.”
