By San Juan County San Juan County has been directed by the Washington Office of the Secretary of State to recount Orcas East Precinct votes in the race for Governor of Washington State. This direction comes following a request for a recount from a political party representative. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to RCW 42.30,  Continue Reading

By Town of Friday Harbor The Town of Friday Harbor thanks the community for supporting the local food bank with their generous contributions to the Harbor Life Ring program this November. Town utility customer donations of $3,010 were matched with a $2,000 grant from the town for a total donation of $5,010 to the Friday  Continue Reading

By EDC The San Juan County Economic Development Council is resuming regular programming with the return of our Business Recovery Zoom Meetings, now called Business Recovery Workshops. This bi-weekly workshop, in a Zoom environment, will give business owners the opportunity to speak with professionals on a wide variety of topics related to the continuing economic  Continue Reading

By San Juan County Since the last update on Friday, Nov. 25, total cases in San Juan County have increased from 63 to 66. Two of these new cases are on San Juan Island, the other is on Lopez Island. Current positive case numbers are available online at the San Juan County Case count page.  Continue Reading

By San Juan County Starting Jan. 1, a new Washington state vital records law and rules go into effect. This will change the ordering requirements for birth and death certificates. The changes include: For increased security of personal information, only individuals with specific relationships to the person on the record being requested can receive a  Continue Reading

Vehicle drivers may not be aware of a recent law that allows bicyclists to treat a stop sign as a yield sign in some instances – and may be cynically assuming that the cyclists they see are breaking the law. The so-called “Idaho stop” (also known as the “safety stop”) became law in Washington State  Continue Reading

By Brendan Cowan, Director, Department of Emergency Management As part of an ongoing effort to increase community preparedness and self-sufficiency in the islands, the Department of Emergency Management has created a new online guide at www.islandsready.org. This tool is designed to be simple, easy to navigate and smartphone friendly. With specific sections for seniors and  Continue Reading

‘Little Bit’ Receives First Dog Tag Of The New Year By San Juan County The dog licensing season has begun! It was difficult to name just one celebrity dog this year, with so many of our canine companions providing much-needed support for their owners and friends. The honor went to Little Bit, an 8-year-old mixed  Continue Reading

By Town of Friday Harbor Traffic will be disrupted from 7 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 1 while the Town of Friday Harbor crew and contractor install water and sewer mains across Mullis Street near Bakery San Juan and the Friday Harbor Food Co-op. “Local access on Mullis Street from Market Street to 775 Mullis Street  Continue Reading

By the EDC Last week, Gov. Jay Inslee announced an additional $70 million for business grants, and $50 million of that is for a new round of Working Washington business grants. The remainder will go toward funding all qualified businesses that applied in earlier rounds of our resiliency grant program. Businesses who applied for the  Continue Reading

By the San Juan County Agricultural Resources Committee The San Juan County Agricultural Resources Committee was able to respond to the challenges of 2020 with creativity, resilience and collaboration. The coordinator and volunteers on this committee worked hard to address the ongoing policy and outreach work of the ARC, the emergent challenge of COVID-19, and  Continue Reading

Store-Provided Bags Will Cost 8 Cents By Mark Ingman, San Juan County Solid Waste Program Coordinator On March 25, Governor Inslee signed Bill ESSB 5323, also known as the Washington Plastic Bag Ban into law. This means that starting Jan. 1, 2021, retailers and restaurants throughout the state will be prohibited from providing single-use plastic  Continue Reading

By San Juan County Courts On Friday, Nov. 20, San Juan County Superior and District Courts entered emergency orders postponing all jury trials until after Jan. 15, 2021, due to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. San Juan County has experienced a resurgence of COVID-19 cases since late October when COVID transmission rates began dramatically increasing across  Continue Reading

By San Juan County Since the last update on Friday, Nov. 20, total cases in San Juan County have increased from 59 to 63. Two of these new cases are on San Juan Island, the other two are on Orcas Island. Current positive case numbers are available online at the San Juan County Case Count  Continue Reading

By State of Washington Recreation and Conservation Office Recreation and conservation lands managed by local, state and federal governments in Washington state can now be viewed easily online in a new mapping application. The Public Lands Inventory web app displays more than 18.8 million acres of public lands used for recreation or wildlife habitat in  Continue Reading

Higher Tax Assessments Don’t Always Lead To Paying More Taxes By Merri Ann Simonson, Managing Broker, Coldwell Banker San Juan Islands Inc All of us island property owners received our tax assessment notices from San Juan County recently. As real estate agents, we have been fielding many questions about the statements and new assessments. As  Continue Reading

By Rep. Larsen’s Office Rep. Rick Larsen, Chair of the House Aviation Subcommittee, released the below statement on the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to unground the Boeing 737 MAX: “The FAA’s decision to unground the 737 MAX is good news for us in the Pacific Northwest. The decision provides some certainty to the aerospace jobs  Continue Reading

By San Juan County Since the last update on Monday, Nov. 16, the total cases in San Juan County have increased from 56 to 59. Two of these new cases are on Orcas Island and the other is on San Juan Island. Orcas Island There are a total of three positive cases being actively monitored  Continue Reading

By San Juan County From the beginning of the COVD-19 crisis, an effective and safe vaccine has been seen as the ultimate solution for ending the disruption and impacts of the pandemic. As we head into our ninth month, numerous vaccine development efforts are underway, with many giving us reason for optimism. The intent of  Continue Reading

By Rep. Rick Larsen’s Office Reps. Rick Larsen (WA-02), Chair of the House Aviation Subcommittee, Garret Graves (LA-06), the Subcommittee’s Ranking Member, and Sharice Davids (KS-03), the Subcommittee’s Vice Chair, introduced a bipartisan resolution designating the week of Nov. 16 – 22, 2020, as National Drone Safety Awareness Week. Founded by the Federal Aviation Administration  Continue Reading

Seven New Cases On Orcas, No New Hospitalization in County By San Juan County Orcas Island Since the last update, seven new cases have been identified on Orcas Island. This brings the total number of cases in San Juan County to 56. All of these new cases are tied to a nine-case cluster on Orcas  Continue Reading

Most Restrictions Start Nov. 16; For Restaurants, Nov. 18 By Washington’s Governor’s Office On Sunday, Nov. 15, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a four-week statewide set of restrictions in response to the recent rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus in Washington and across the country. The new restrictions come as Washington sees consistent increasing daily case  Continue Reading