Topic: Government

Ten Reasons Why

Written on June 7, 2016 at 5:52 am, by

The Town of Friday Harbor has a vacancy on the Historic Preservation Review Board and here are Ten Reasons Why you should serve: You love old buildings and local history. You live on San Juan Island (bonus points if you live in Friday Harbor)! You understand that preserving historic buildings is the original sustainable “green” building  Continue Reading

Town Seeks Grant Proposals

Written on June 1, 2016 at 5:44 am, by

Town seeks proposals for allocation of Lodging Tax grant funds to promote 2017 tourism The Town of Friday Harbor’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) is accepting applications for grants to fund tourism promotion. The promotions must be for events and activities specifically intended to promote tourism within the Town in 2017.   Preference will be given  Continue Reading

San Juan County Parks Drone Policy In Effect

Written on May 29, 2016 at 5:34 am, by

San Juan County has adopted an Unmanned Aircraft System (“drone”) policy for County parks and the fairgrounds. Beginning on February 2, 2016, the launching, landing, or operating of unmanned aircraft systems from or on all San Juan County Parks & Fairgrounds property is prohibited, unless authorized by special permit issued by the Parks & Fair  Continue Reading

Footprint Review

Written on May 28, 2016 at 10:30 am, by

The County invites you to play along and contribute to the accuracy of their maps… For hundreds of years, humans have used maps for navigating to new worlds, charting unknown locations and recording histories. Today, the county uses building footprints in maps for dispatching emergency responders, planning land use designations, appraising property values and designing  Continue Reading

How Are We Doing?

Written on May 28, 2016 at 10:29 am, by

A quarterly review of County Finances by County Auditor F. Milene Henley First quarter 2016 If you’ve ever wanted to be a plumber, now’s the time. Judging from the number of radio ads I’ve heard recently for plumbers, HVAC technicians, and other tradesmen, business is booming. That’s good news, and it’s evident in retail sales  Continue Reading

From the Mailbag…

Written on May 26, 2016 at 5:37 am, by

Michelle Loftus writes in to share this news with you… Judah Finney Elected as Delegate to National Republican Convention Judah Finney, San Juan County Republican State Committee Man, was elected as an Alternate Delegate to the National Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio this upcoming July. Judah, raised on San Juan Island, has represented San County  Continue Reading

Goodbye Rachel!

Written on May 24, 2016 at 5:46 am, by

On Monday morning the County Council recognized Rachel Dietzman, County Engineer, upon the occasion of her retirement.

From the Update Mailbag

Written on May 18, 2016 at 5:37 am, by

Let’s see what’s in the ol’ Update mailbag today – here’s a letter from Judah Finney… This goes out to those Republican voters who were going to vote for Ted Cruz in the upcoming Primary, but are now thinking that, since he suspended his campaign, your vote is meaningless. So you’re just going to let  Continue Reading

FAC Public Forum

Written on May 17, 2016 at 5:42 am, by

The San Juan County Ferry Advisory Committee will be holding a public forum on Monday May 23, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm in the County Council meeting room at 55 Second St, Friday Harbor. The FAC is a volunteer committee appointed by the county council to provide a liaison with Washington State Ferries, and provide  Continue Reading

County Auditor of the Year

Written on May 16, 2016 at 5:40 am, by

Just heard some good news from the County… Congratulations to San Juan County Auditor Milene Henley, who received the honor of “County Auditor of the Year” at the Washington State Association of County Auditors annual meeting. Milene was presented with this prestigious award by Secretary of State Kim Wyman. Congratulations Milene!

County Adds Electric Vehicles to Fleet

Written on May 13, 2016 at 5:55 am, by

San Juan County Council approved funding for the purchase of 2 new electric vehicles and charging stations at its May 10th regular meeting. The purchase is part of a concerted County effort to replace older gas or diesel powered vehicles in its fleet with new electric technology. “We purchased 2 electric utility vehicles for our  Continue Reading

Letter from Diane Martindale

Written on May 11, 2016 at 5:37 am, by

Dear Editor, You may be perplexed over what Washington’s May 24 Democratic Presidential Primary means, especially if you participated in the March 26 Democratic precinct caucuses. But I encourage you to vote! The media will report the results of the Washington State Republican primary on May 24, as they use the primary results to assign delegates  Continue Reading

Voting the Presidential Primary

Written on May 10, 2016 at 5:43 am, by

This is the fifth in a series of articles about elections in Washington State by San Juan County Auditor F. Milene Henley. The County Auditor administers elections and voter registration in the County. Ballots for Washington’s May 24 Presidential Primary will arrive in your mailbox soon. The Presidential Primary is different from every other Washington  Continue Reading

Rachel Dietzman to Retire

Written on May 9, 2016 at 5:55 am, by

Rachel Dietzman will retire June 3 after 9-1/2 years at County Public Works (five as County Engineer). She worked in the private sector before joining Public Works, and says at that time she “thought government work would be easy. I imagined the job would give me an opportunity for research and training and learning skills  Continue Reading

Clearest Drinking Water

Written on May 9, 2016 at 5:50 am, by

>> Update – the time has been moved up to 11:00 for this award presentation << Town to receive Department of Health award for top water quality in the state The Town of Friday Harbor is receiving top honors for providing some of the clearest drinking water in the state for three consecutive years. The  Continue Reading

$19 million in Economic Benefits

Written on May 6, 2016 at 5:45 am, by

Tourism to San Juan Island National Historical Park creates Over $19 million in Economic Benefits Report shows visitor spending supports 198 jobs in local economy A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 258,668 visitors to San Juan Island National Historical Park (NHP) in 2015 spent $14,811,700 in communities near the park. That spending  Continue Reading