Around the island…

Swans on Sportsman Lake Saturday morning...photo by Cyndi Brast

Look around the island – what do you sea (that’s a joke):

• Rob Nou gets sworn in today at 11:30am, if you’d like to drop by the Courthouse and wish him well as the new sheriff….

• Debbie at Roche Harbor says she has signed up the last three spots for the Salmon Classic next month, but you can still get on the waiting list – folks have canceled before…

Paul, on the set (left)...

• Paul at Pablito’s (right) has a new video in which he shows how to make venison tacos – it came out pretty well – check it out here.

• If you’ve been watching the long term weather forecast you’ve probably noticed it’s a little more relaxed to start this week than it was (last week it said next weekend’s storm was gonna get us.) Here’s more about why, and what to expect, from my favorite meteorologist, Cliff Maas.

• The San Juan County Land Bank Commission has selected Tom Cowan from Orcas as its chairperson for the next year.  Also elected were Doug Strandberg as Vice Chair and Jim Skoog will continue as Financial Officer.  Both live on San Juan. The four other members comprising the board are: Lisa Wolford and Lance Evans, Orcas Island; Nancy Greene, Lopez Island, and; Amanda Azous, San Juan Island.

• Catch a movie tomorrow afternoon at 3pm! Laura Jo wanted to remind you & me:

Roy McAllister, is a BIG movie fan.  Once a month he presents “Movies with Roy” at the library.  He introduces the movie, we watch it and then follow up with a short discussion.  Admission is free and so are the cookies!

• Dollars for Scholars is one of the cool things that happens around here – San Juan Island high school kids who put in a certain number of community service hours qualify for help with their first year of school after high school…and that help is always needed.

You can help – this year the “Dining for Dollars” part of the program is running for four straight weeks – the places listed here are all contributing the evening to the DFS program, to help our kids…hope you can go out to eat one of these night! Here’s the schedule:

January 13th
The Bean…all hot drinks all day
Vinny’s…dinner
The Place…..dinner
Haley’s….dinner
Rocky Bay….breakfast and lunch

January 20th
Lime Kiln Cafe…..lunch
Roy’s Deli…..lunch
Jimmy’s Paradise Cafe….dinner & take-out
Roche Harbor….dinner

January 27
Marilyn’s Garden Path…..lunch
Downrigger’s…..dinner
MiCasita…..dinner

February 10th
Vic’s…..lunch & dinner
Coho Restraunt…..dinner

• This year we hit seven billion people on a planet whose resource base is already seriously strained, and in places, seriously overshot…what does it look like? Here’s a start, with pictures from the National Geographic.

Why is this island news? Because we’re all connected, and population increase will affect us…just watch. We’ll be talking about this a lot this year, and for decades to come.

• The New York Times says we’re #2 as a place to visit (out of their top 41….) – here’s what they say in the Pittsburgh paper’s reprint of the same article. See what you think about their take on our island home…

• Peter Ward is coming…here’s an interview with Wired that’ll give you an idea of what’s he’s talking about…and you can see him on Thursday here on the island. Here’s more from the Nature Institute’s Fiona Norris:

Peter Ward

San Juan Nature Institute is proud to announce that the 2011 Arthur Whiteley Lecture Series, held in collaboration with UW Friday Harbor Labs, will begin on January 13 with a lecture by Professor Peter D. Ward, member of the faculty in both the Biology Department and the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at University of Washington.

His title: ‘Sea level, carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide: choose your future poison’ examines threats from global climate change. The lecture will take place in The Commons on the campus of Friday Harbor Labs at 7 p.m. and is free to the public, though donations are appreciated.

Peter Ward is an expert on mass extinctions and the role of extraterrestrial impacts on Earth and uses his insight into past events to predict future changes.  In his recent book, The Flooded Earth, he described what our world will look like in 2050, 2100, and beyond and explains what politicians and policy makers should be doing to alleviate the consequences of the inevitable changes.

He is currently involved in detailed field work in France concentrating on mass extinctions in bivalves and ammonites and, in contrast, researching speciation in living marine animals like Nautilus.

The series continues on January 27 when Emily Carrington will talk about mussels and their tenacious hold on their host. Charley O’Kelly will discuss Biofuels on February 10 and on February 24, Gordon Orians explores the subtle decisions birds make when choosing where to live, what to eat and with whom to mate.

All these lectures will be held at 7 p.m. in The Commons on the UW Friday Harbor Labs Campus.

Here’s Dr. Ward on TED:

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