WSU Extension is hiring an office manager for San Juan County to provide administrative and fiscal support for the organization’s county programs. Learn more in the Island Jobs section of the San Juan Update.

The San Juan County EDC shares news about the next course in their Trades Training Initiative.

The Economic Development Council of San Juan County will offer an Introduction to Welding course as part of their Trades Training Initiative. This course is open to participants from San Juan County, ages 18 and over, who plan to use welding skills for paying work.

The upcoming course will provide an overview of basic welding concepts and techniques, tools, and shop safety. Students will gain hands-on experience in mig, tig, and stick welding. Additional training and certification support may be available to those who complete this course.

The course will be held over three Tuesdays — Nov. 29, Dec. 6, Dec. 13 — from 6-8 p.m. in Friday Harbor. The course is free except for a $50 registration fee, which includes all welding materials, as well as a dedicated helmet and gloves. Space is limited.

Visit the EDC website for information or to apply. For questions, contact the EDC Trades Training Coordinator Marti McConnell at 360-378-2906, or [email protected].

A good time was had by everyone who attended the children’s tea time event at Brickworks this past Sunday. The party was hosted by Island Rec and featured tea, snacks, a dress-up photo booth, story time, and dancing.

It’s only two weeks and a day until Thanksgiving, which means it’s time to place your holiday orders with San Juan Bakery. In addition to their regular products, they’re offering a wide selection of holiday pies, including pumpkin, maple pecan, apple, apple crumble, mixed berry, and peach streusel. On the bread side, choose from sourdough rolls, multi-grain rolls, Giovanni rolls, and challah pull-aparts with seven rolls to a round.

Call the Bakery at 360-378-5810 to order.

Photo credit: Sam Paul-Barrette

The Friday Harbor High School boys soccer team will start their journey toward a state title on Friday at noon at Sedro-Woolley High School. The top-seeded Wolverines will take on eighth-seeded Puget Sound Adventist. The winner of Friday’s game moves on to the semi-final round of the tournament, which takes place Friday, Nov. 18 at Renton Memorial Stadium.

This male quail keeps a lookout while the rest of the covey feeds on seeds along the trail.

After months of inspired campaigning, vigorous debate, and so many letters to the editor, the Nov. 8 general election in San Juan County heads toward its conclusion.

With roughly 89 percent of the vote counted, San Juan County appears poised to elect a new Sheriff, with Eric Peter leading incumbent Ron Krebs by just under three percentage points — 51.2 percent to 48.5 percent. Peter leads by 196 votes with an estimated 950 ballots left to be counted.

The other races on the ballot reflect a desire to retain the current state of affairs.

The San Juan Island Library District proposition to issue $12 million in bonds to pay the capital costs of acquiring, constructing, furnishing and equipping a new building in Friday Harbor will fail, with 59 percent of voters rejecting the measure.

The County’s road levy lid lift proposition — which would add an estimated 44 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value above the rate for 2023 for the purpose of maintaining roads and marine facilities, repairing storm damage, and enhancing roads for pedestrians and cyclists — will also fail, with 56 percent of voters saying no.

All four County Charter amendment propositions on the ballot are likely headed for rejection as well.

Proposition 1, which would establish a new Public Advocate position for the County, was rejected by 65 percent of voters.

Proposition 2, which calls for several provisions related to the County’s Charter Review Commission, is the closest contest, with 51 percent of voters opting against it. 176 votes separate the two sides.

Proposition 3, which would put ranked-choice voting into effect in San Juan County if the Washington Legislature passes a law permitting the process, received 57 percent of the no vote.

Proposition 4, which would amend Title 6 of the County Charter to reduce the number of qualified signatures required for San Juan County initiatives and referendum petitions from 15 percent to eight percent of the votes cast in the county in the last election for Governor, was roundly defeated, with 67 percent of voters rejecting the measure.

Incumbents at all levels of state and federal government — Debra Lekanoff and Alex Ramel in Legislative District 40, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, U.S. Representative for Congressional District 2 Rick Larsen, and U.S Senator Patty Murray — are currently leading their respective races.

Contributed photo

Kwiaht, a nonprofit conservation biology laboratory in the San Juan Islands, is asking for help from islanders to identify sick marine birds.

Eastsound on Orcas Island has been the epicenter of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu — HPAI — over the past few months. The virus probably arrived earlier this year with migrating Canada geese, and spread to some of the birds that mingled with and scavenged on carcasses of infected geese. Several cases among Canada geese have also been confirmed on San Juan Island.

Researchers are now concerned that resident marine birds such as gulls could become a reservoir for the virus in the islands.

HPAI has a complicated history that intertwines with the history of influenza in humans, and has indeed been driven by human activity — large scale poultry production — as well as the global migratory patterns of birds, which parallel the global travel of humans that facilitated the COVID-19 pandemic.

The H5N1 virus, found in Chinese domestic geese in 1996, quickly jumped to wild birds including migratory ducks, geese, gulls and terns; and by 2005 had spread throughout Asia and began to appear in wild European birds. North America was unaffected until 2015, when a subtype — H5N8 — was discovered in southern British Columbia poultry, most likely from contacts with waterfowl migrating from northeast Asia. H5N8 soon appeared in waterfowl and raptors in Washington State, then eastward throughout the U.S. and Canada. Millions of domestic birds were euthanized in an effort to stem this HPAI epidemic. By the end of 2016, the virus had disappeared from domestic and wild North American bird populations.

H5N1 persisted in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, however, and appeared in December 2021 in domestic geese and gulls in Newfoundland. By February 2022, HPAI was killing vultures in Florida, and by April was causing widespread mortality of wild and domestic birds in the Midwest and northern Plains. August saw the first confirmed HPAI deaths of geese on Orcas Island.

The current HPAI epidemic has affected more than 50 wild bird species so far, with the greatest impact on waterfowl, marine birds, and birds that are predators and scavengers of infected birds such as eagles, falcons, owls, vultures and crows. Here in the San Juan Islands, shoreline scavengers such as gulls are at particular risk, and it is possible that they could become a reservoir that re-infects other wild birds for years to come.

Kwiaht researchers are collaborating with state wildlife biologists to learn about how HPAI may be spreading — or hiding — in island marine bird populations. If you see a gull or other marine bird that is dead or dying without any visible wounds or obvious injuries, send a message to [email protected] with a brief description of the location, the type of bird, and when you found it. A researcher will contact you with instructions for what to do next. Birds that have been dead for just a day or two are best for collecting virus samples. They also present the greatest risk to scavengers.

HPAI causes severe respiratory distress in birds — labored breathing, foaming, staggering and death within 24 hours. There is no cure, although vaccines are in development. If you see an injured bird, for example with a broken leg or wing, be sure to call Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at 360-378-5000. But avoid handling dead birds, especially waterfowl, marine birds, raptors or scavengers, to minimize the risk of spreading HPAI to other birds, pets, or people.

Previous outbreaks of HPAI have been linked to fewer than 500 human deaths worldwide, but the virus can infect other mammals and potentially evolve into strains that are more contagious to humans. While the risk to humans from the current epidemic in birds is uncertain, it is likely greater than zero.

A cold morning at the Land Bank’s Beaverton Marsh Preserve

The San Juan County Conservation Land Bank is hosting a county-wide public meeting from 5:30-7:30 p.m. tomorrow over Zoom. The meeting will start with a brief acquisition update from Director Lincoln Bormann, with the rest of the time set aside for questions from the public.

Contributed photo

San Juan Island Library shares news about an upcoming musical performance.

Get ready to wiggle, bounce, and enjoy the delightful sounds of The Harmonica Pocket, a kid-friendly musical experience visiting from Port Townsend. The performance takes place this Saturday, Nov. 12 at Brickworks starting at 11 a.m.

This free event is sponsored by the San Juan Island Library as part of its youth services to families, and in support of programming for intergenerational participation and shared community engagement.

No prior registration is required to attend — come drop by and enjoy the entertainment. Refreshments will be served, courtesy of funding through the Friends of the San Juan Island Library.

Learn more about The Harmonica Pocket on their website. For questions about the event, contact Melina Lagios at 360-378-2798 or [email protected].

San Juan Islanders will determine the fate of the Library District bond, the County road levy increase, the Sheriff’s race, and four County charter propositions today as mail-in voting for the Nov. 8 general election concludes.

As of 5 p.m. on Nov. 7, 45.5 percent of the 14,628 eligible voters in San Juan County have returned their ballot — only the 14th-highest return rate among Washington’s 39 counties.

Remaining ballots must be submitted by 8 p.m. tonight. In-person drop-off is available at the County Elections Office at 55 Second St., or across the street from the Elections Office at the ballot drop-box in front of the County Courthouse.

Returning ballots by mail requires no postage, but they must be postmarked with a Nov. 8 date. The last scheduled mail collection at the post office in Friday Harbor is 3 p.m.

The Elections Office will release preliminary results some time after 8 p.m. tonight. They will periodically update the results as additional ballots are counted. Election certification occurs on Nov. 29.