By Town of Friday Harbor Friday Harbor business owners are once again encouraged to apply to the Town of Friday Harbor for assistance with business rent and mortgage payments to be awarded through the Friday Harbor Business Rent Relief Grant II Program. Grant awards of $500 to $2,000 per business will be funded with monies  Continue Reading

By San Juan County Government One new positive COVID-19 case has been attributed to San Juan County, which brings the total number of cases in San Juan County to date to 33. This new case was reported in a part-time resident of a non-ferry served island. The initial case investigation is complete. No close contacts  Continue Reading

By Barbara Marrett, San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau As many local restaurants are losing their outside seating options due to inclement weather, they received good news from Governor Jay Inslee’s office last week. Table occupancy has been expanded from allowing five individuals from the same household per table, to six individuals per table who may  Continue Reading

With the energy world changing dramatically, OPALCO leadership invited San Juan County Council candidates to state their positions on key issues affecting the co-op members. Climate change, carbon legislation and the transition to renewable power are all affecting energy for the region. OPALCO has a plan to meet these new challenges but OPALCO will need  Continue Reading

Watch recordings of online forums featuring candidates that will be on San Juan County ballots this November. Below are links to the recordings of the League of Women Voters of the San Juans forums held from Oct. 6-8. To view the recordings, click each link, register and enter each forum’s unique passcode.

Priorities Differ on Governance, Economy, Environment   Four San Juan County Council candidates set themselves apart by offering different experiences, visions and priorities to voters in their responses to a new candidate questionnaire. Community Rights San Juan Islands, Friends of the San Juans and the Madrona Institute put together a list of six questions for  Continue Reading

San Juan County Treasurer Rhonda Pederson would like to remind taxpayers that the second installment of property taxes will be due Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. Typically, the second installment is due Oct. 31. However, because the statutory due date falls over the weekend, payments will be considered timely if postmarked or dropped off by Nov.  Continue Reading

The San Juan County Lodging Tax Committee is not requesting lodging tax funding proposals this year. The pandemic has severely reduced lodging tax revenue, and funds are not sufficient for new tourism-related projects in the coming year. However, available funds will be distributed to the recurring entities: theaters, museums and San Juan County parks. Also,  Continue Reading

Asiah Gonzalez, a dental therapist, shares her views on the advantages of dental therapy. Growing up on the Swinomish reservation, I never imagined that I could have a career in medicine. I tried hard in school, but I never saw dentists or doctors who looked like the people I grew up with. That all changed  Continue Reading

San Juan County has extended its Small Business Relief Grant program that launched on Sept. 1, 2020, to assist for-profit businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, and opened eligibility to more organizations. Awards will range up to $5,000 for eligible San Juan County businesses to help them to remain open, retain jobs, and comply with  Continue Reading

The San Juan County Council discussed applications received for the 2020 Home Fund affordable housing project on Tuesday, Sept. 29. The council approved Home Fund grants and funding commitments to five projects totaling $1,782,734. These funds will contribute to the construction of 59 total new affordable housing units, and the preservation of another 19 affordable  Continue Reading

The Port of Friday Harbor will host a Special Meeting at noon, Oct 7 via Zoom. View the agenda and meeting access information here. The meeting will discuss designs for the marine technical center to be located at Jensen’s Boatyard, as well as information on the Salt-Water Farms site plan.

From 2-3 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 6, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) will host a live virtual discussion via Facebook Live on resources available to Northwest Washington’s students, teachers and families for the 2020-21 school year. Click here to view the live stream. This event is open to the public. The discussion will highlight resources available to  Continue Reading

SHIBA Medicare open enrollment presentation will take place online on Wednesday, October 7 at 1:00 pm. Like our previous presentations, we will have our trained SHIBA volunteer, Pegi Groundwater, from Orcas Island leading the Medicare presentation on October 7. Information regarding the presentation is listed below: Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15 – December  Continue Reading

Dear FROG Supporters, The Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) is conducting a new survey. Even if you haven’t ridden the ferries over the past few months, your thoughts and feedback are critical to this research. We are looking to gather input regarding how your ferry needs may have changed this year, WSF’s COVID-19 response, your  Continue Reading

The County Council is searching for San Juan County citizens to fill current and upcoming vacancies on various boards and commissions. Additional information about each committee is available on the County’s website at: http://sanjuanco.com/641/Board-Committee-Vacancies. Persons interested in serving on a board or advisory committee should fill out an Advisory Committee Application or Contact the Council  Continue Reading

The Assessor’s Office mailed the 2020 Change of Value Notices on October 1, 2020. The notices show market value as of January 1, 2020 based on sales between January 1, 2019 and April 30, 2020. The new values do not reflect much impact from the pandemic because the cutoff for the sales analysis was April  Continue Reading

County Council Candidates Youth Forum on October 12, 2020 The Environmental Systems class at Spring Street International School will be holding a Youth Forum on October 12th from 1-2pm. They will ask the County Council candidates from Orcas and San Juan Islands questions about the environment and climate change. All are welcome to join this  Continue Reading

Residential and Commercial burn permits go on sale October 5. Fall is here and the time has come for burn permits to go on sale. Please follow this link to purchase a burn permit through our online portal. Burn permits issued at this time will be valid until the end of May 2021. A reminder  Continue Reading

Vote counting equipment testing October 14 at 11:00 a.m. A “Logic and Accuracy” test of ballot tabulating equipment used in San Juan County for the November 3, General election is scheduled for October 14, at 11:00 a.m. The test works by tallying the results of a prepared set of ballots to see if the results  Continue Reading

SJC Auditor Milene Henley and Elections Supervisor Camolyn Armstrong share this information about the election… Interest is high in this year’s general election. As a result, San Juan County Elections staff have been receiving a record number of questions. Below are some of the questions asked most frequently, with the answers. How many registered voters  Continue Reading

In the SJ Update mail bag this morning we have this letter from Justin Paulsen… If 2020 has highlighted nothing else within our country it is that political division has seeped into every function of our society. As our current generation navigates social, health and economic waters which have never before been explored, one factor  Continue Reading