By Stephanie Buffum, coordinator, San Juan Islands Stop-over Many thanks to over 300 islanders, students, and community leaders who attended May 10-11 House of Tears Carvers’ totem pole blessings on San Juan Island/Whelalq, Shaw Island/Sqemenen, Orcas Island/Swalex and Lopez Island/Swaletch. Lummi Nation members from the House of Tears Carvers Se Sealth (Jewell Praying Wolf James),  Continue Reading

By Angela Anderson, executive director, and Keith Wentworth, board president, San Juan Preservation Trust San Juan Preservation Trust’s 42nd annual meeting will be held 5-6:15 p.m., Thursday, May 20. We are excited to share our past year’s accomplishments in pursuit of our mission to conserve island land, care for the land under our protection, and  Continue Reading

From Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office The Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office has named Olympia resident and long-time environmental advocate Tara Galuska to coordinate the state’s orca recovery efforts. As orca recovery coordinator, Galuska will be working with partners to help implement recommendations of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force and tracking  Continue Reading

From the Islands’ Oil Spill Association The Islands’ Oil Spill Association is hosting a free training for local oil spill response volunteers. Anyone interested in becoming an IOSA volunteer is welcome to attend, in addition to existing members of the team. The training will be 8:45 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Saturday, May 22 in Friday Harbor. Space  Continue Reading

From the San Juan Island Sculpture Park Join us from 8-10 a.m. Wednesday, May 19 to watch for our fine feathered friends at the San Juan Island Sculpture Park located next to Roche Harbor Resort. The event occurs every third Wednesday of the month through September. Last month, attendees spotted more than 28 bird species.  Phil  Continue Reading

A Sunflower Star is Born By Jason Hodin, senior research scientist, Friday Harbor Labs.  Among the world’s hundreds of types of known starfish (or seastars as I’ll call them), our Pacific coast sunflower stars are true record breakers. They are the largest seastar in the world, with an arm-tip-to-arm-tip “wingspan” of more than two feet  Continue Reading

Officials Say Indoor Masking Protects Unvaccinated Children   From San Juan County The Center for Disease Control has recently released new guidance on wearing masks for fully vaccinated individuals. That announcement has been followed by the governor’s decision to more or less match the CDC guidance. Fully vaccinated means two weeks past your final shot.  Continue Reading

From San Juan County Sheriff’s Office Over the last few weeks, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office has been getting increasingly more reports of dead deer that show no real signs of trauma but have foaming mouths. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife now believes the cause of the deaths is Adenovirus Hemorrhagic Disease. AHD  Continue Reading

From San Juan County Since the last update on Friday, May, total cases in San Juan County have increased from 179 to 180. There are four close contacts of positive cases currently in active quarantine. There is one new case on San Juan Island since the last update. This new case is a close contact  Continue Reading

From San Juan County Sheriff’s Office   On April 28, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office investigated a report of a hidden camera located in the bedroom of a Friday Harbor residence.   The landlord Ryan H. Bennett was charged with residential burglary with sexual motivation and voyeurism.   Future court dates were set and  Continue Reading