Dear Edi­tor, On Feb­ru­ary 8, 2022, the com­mu­ni­ty of San Juan Island will be asked to vote to renew a local prop­er­ty tax. The Edu­ca­tion­al Pro­grams and Oper­a­tions Levy funds our local pub­lic schools, 100% of which stays in our com­mu­ni­ty, sup­port­ing our stu­dents in pro­grams not fund­ed by the state. This levy is renewed every  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the mail­bag this after­noon we find this let­ter to you from J. Michael Edwards… The PHD #1 Again ‘Miss­ing the Boat’ In their press release of Nov. 24, 2021 the PHD #1 stat­ed: “On Novem­ber 2, 2021, res­i­dents vot­ed for San Juan Island EMS to remain under the juris­dic­tion of San Juan Coun­ty Pub­lic Hos­pi­tal  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the SJ Update mail­bag this morn­ing there is this let­ter to you from Vic­to­ria Comp­ton… Dear Island Neigh­bors, Thank you infi­nite­ly for your words of encour­age­ment, your advice, and for shar­ing your thoughts about our island’s Port dur­ing my cam­paign. I was so proud and hum­bled to be able to car­ry your hopes for  Con­tin­ue Reading

In today’s mail­bag, Bon­nie Sliger shares this with you… My name is Bon­nie Sliger and I am run­ning for a posi­tion on the Mullis Cen­ter Dis­trict Com­mit­tee.  If you are 60 and over or are dis­abled, and live in the San Juan Dis­trict, please be sure to vote Novem­ber 8th thru 11th at the Mullis Cen­ter  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the SJ Update mail­bag today we have this let­ter from Alice Deane… Please be sure to vote in the very impor­tant upcom­ing elec­tion for Dis­trict Com­mit­tee mem­bers of the Mullis Senior Cen­ter. The true and cor­rect infor­ma­tion on what has become a very con­tentious elec­tion can be found at the Mullis Cen­ter web­site www.mulliscenter.org The  Con­tin­ue Reading

Below are links to let­ters regard­ing var­i­ous items on the upcom­ing elec­tion. Let­ters are shown in the order received and this page will con­tin­ue to be updat­ed as more let­ters come in. Let­ters for and against SJC Pub­lic Hos­pi­tal Dis­trict No. 1 Propo­si­tion No. 1 Autho­riz­ing Reg­u­lar Prop­er­ty Tax Levy: Ali­son Lon­g­ley Lee Stur­di­vant War­ren Apple­ton MD, JD Dean­na Osborn  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the SJ Update Mail­bag this morn­ing we have this let­ter from Frank Pen­well… Dear Islanders, Mullis Cen­ter elec­tion issues of 2021 are impor­tant. Issues: Senior Vot­ing rights.  The cur­rent Board end­ed vot­ing rights, and it took a 2‑year law­suit to force that Board to hold elec­tions.  WHY? Ques­tions sur­round­ing finances.  The cur­rent Board has  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the Update mail­bag this morn­ing we have this let­ter from San Juan Coun­ty Coun­cil mem­ber Cindy Wolf… Hel­lo Edi­tor, Cen­sus num­bers are in and the pro­posed redis­trict­ing maps are out. You can see them at https://www.redistricting.wa.gov/commissioner-proposed-maps. In my opin­ion, the strongest move we can make this week for the future of our fer­ry sys­tem is  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the SJ Update mail­bag today we have this let­ter from Susan Grout… Edi­tor: A num­ber of us are very con­cerned about a seri­ous prob­lem on our island. There is a crit­i­cal short­age of trained home health care­givers. In order to rem­e­dy this sit­u­a­tion, which could affect all of us at some point, we urge you  Con­tin­ue Reading

  The EDC invites island busi­ness own­ers, work­ers and res­i­dents to par­tic­i­pate in a sur­vey regard­ing Wash­ing­ton State Fer­ries ser­vice dis­rup­tions this past sum­mer.  Islanders are invit­ed to par­tic­i­pate in the sur­vey here:  https://forms.gle/uzXU6vy3tujUyuSR9 Anec­do­tal infor­ma­tion and data derived from the sur­vey will be used to bet­ter under­stand eco­nom­ic and oth­er impacts from fer­ry ser­vice  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the SJ Update Mail­bag today we have this let­ter from the SJC Repub­li­can Par­ty Chair, Daniel Schwartz… State­ment on Vac­cine Man­dates San Juan Coun­ty Repub­li­can Par­tyThe Repub­li­can Par­ty is not anti-vac­cine:  it is for the right of a free and informed cit­i­zen­ry to make its own health choices.Never in our 245-year his­to­ry have fed­er­al,  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the mail­bag this morn­ing we have this let­ter from Sasha von Das­sow… To the Edi­tor: 9/11/21 At 6 am on the 20th anniver­sary of 9/11 we in the San Juan Islands are at a stand­still because a few folks work­ing in the state fer­ry sys­tem decid­ed to stage a sick out in protest of  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the SJ Update Mail­bag this morn­ing we have this let­ter from Dr. Mark Fishout… The sum­mer of 1940 saw the Bat­tle of Britain, the aer­i­al con­flict between the Roy­al Air Force and the Ger­man Luft­waffe, reach its apex. When in this speech Churchill stat­ed ‘Nev­er in the field of human con­flict was so much  Con­tin­ue Reading

You can see let­ters from indi­vid­u­als at the links below. As more let­ters come in, this list will be updat­ed so be sure to check back. Let­ters are post­ed in the order received in sup­port of: Ryan Palma­teer Win­nie Adams and Bob Gam­ble Steve Ulvi and Lynette Roberts Christo­pher Min­ney Cindy Wolf Win­nie Adams and Bob Gam­ble  Con­tin­ue Reading

In the mail­bag this morn­ing we find this let­ter from Anna Maria de Fre­itas… As I lis­ten to the rain bounce off my sky light and feel the fall chill set­tle in the air, I know that the days of out­door din­ing for me and my restau­rant indus­try col­leagues are quick­ly com­ing to an end.  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