Nine school- and preschool-aged children have CONFIRMED cases of varicella (chickenpox) on Lopez, Orcas and Shaw islands, with additional possible cases awaiting evaluation from health care providers within the county.  Schools have been alerted of the current outbreak. Parents are encouraged to check their child’s vaccination status and ensure their children are fully immunized against  Continue Reading

San Juan County’s Preliminary Budget for 2019 has been published. With a theme of “Finish What We’ve Started,” the 2019 budget focuses resources on projects and initiatives already underway within the County. The County has enjoyed several years of remarkable growth in sales, lodging and real estate excise taxes, growth that has allowed the County  Continue Reading

San Juan County Treasurer, Rhonda Pederson would like to remind county property owners that the second installment of property taxes and personal property taxes are due October 31st.  Please note that even if you deposit the envelope with your local post office, it may not be postmarked on the same day.  Plan ahead and mail  Continue Reading

  Northwest artist Gareth Curtiss has been selected by the Town of Friday Harbor to complete a life-size bronze sculpture of town founding father Captain Edward D. Warbass. The piece will include Mr. Warbass sitting on a park bench with his dog, Bob, by his side.   The artwork is scheduled for installation on the sidewalk  Continue Reading

The next Department of Community Development (DCD) community workshop will be held on October 18th from 6:00 – 7:30 pm at the fire station at 1011 Mullis Street in Friday Harbor to gather community input on the Comprehensive Plan update.  The public is invited to provide input on policy issues that will guide the County  Continue Reading

San Juan County Health & Community Services Issues Varicella Health Alert A case of varicella, or “chicken pox,” has been confirmed in a school-aged child in the Lopez Island community. San Juan County Health & Community Services has alerted medical providers, and is working closely with the Lopez School District, preschools and families to investigate  Continue Reading

John Geyman announces the publication of his new book: TrumpCare: Lies, Broken Promises, How It Is Failing, and What Should Be Done. He states: “Chaos now reigns in our increasingly fragmented, dysfunctional, and unfair health care system.This book intends to make sense out of the chaos with four goals: 1) to describe what TrumpCare is,  Continue Reading

San Juan County Department of Health and Community Services is working with Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Community Services Division (CSD), Opportunity Council, and the three local Resource Centers to host three Community Listening Forums throughout the county. These forums come as a result of DSHS’s Economic Service Administration’s goal of  Continue Reading

Lopez, WA – [On October 5th] the Bureau of Land Management announced the release of the Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the San Juan Islands National Monument (Monument). This Draft RMP/EIS is available to review at https://go.usa.gov/xRphc and addresses a range of alternatives for the purposes of providing overarching goals and  Continue Reading

A “Logic and Accuracy” test of ballot tabulating equipment used in San Juan County for the November 6, 2018 General is scheduled for October 18 at 11:00 a.m. The test works by tallying the results of a prepared set of ballots to see if the results match the votes cast. The test will take place  Continue Reading

Eligible citizens with a WA driver license or ID can register to vote online: Register to vote by mail, postmarked by Oct 8 by mail; or in-person at registrar’s office, 55 court St. Suite A by Oct 29.   To register to vote or verify your registration click here: My Vote

The League of Women Voters of the San Juans will hold candidate forums prior to the November general election. The forums feature those running for the state legislative district 40 position, as well as candidates for San Juan County Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney and District Court Judge. For state legislative district 40, those running are Debra Lekanoff (Democrat from  Continue Reading

“The message brought by J50, and by J35 and her dead calf a few weeks ago, is that the SRKW are running out of reproductive capacity and extinction of this population is looming, while the humans convene task forces and conference calls that result in nothing, or worse than nothing, diverting attention and resources from  Continue Reading

Here’s a note from Safe Shippers… Proudly, our San Juan County Council Members recently joined their Canadian counterparts, the Islands Trust Council, in calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to abandon the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project, once and for all. As Safe Shippers well know, if approved, this project would increase tanker traffic by 700%  Continue Reading

San Juan County Public Hospital District #1 is pleased to announce that yesterday (9/11/18) it voted unanimously to accept a sales agreement with HWV Property LLC of Friday Harbor, WA, to sell the Inter Island Medical Center (IIMC). The agreed upon price is $875,000 with a 21 day feasibility study. If the sale is canceled  Continue Reading

The recent rains have resulted in San Juan County moving the fire risk level to Moderate. This does not change the status of burning in the county, it is merely a risk level modification that reflects fuel moisture levels rising.  Campfires remain allowed in San Juan County.  Residential burning remains closed until the expected opening  Continue Reading