OPALCO is Prepared for Wildfire Prevention – Are You?

Safety is the primary objective at the core of everything OPALCO does. OPALCO continues to use an aggressive Right-of-Way Program (tree and brush trimming along power lines) and the latest technologies to reduce flammable material and mitigate fire risk. The long-term investment is key to the safety of our island communities. As the dramatic effects of climate change become increasingly apparent, San Juan County will be particularly vulnerable to drought conditions and wildfire safety will be even more critical for our remote communities.

OPALCO’s transmission and distribution system allows OPALCO staff to operate and monitor the system in real-time and respond quickly to any power issues and get the power up and running when there is a fault in the line. For example, if a limb hits a power line the system is able to “repair itself” and reboot after the limb has fallen off the line.

During wildfire season, we turn this feature off which means the system is less likely to cause dry limbs to catch fire. There is also a sophisticated automated system monitoring our high voltage overhead lines that can detect flammable items in proximity to the transmission lines and shut off power when and if one does makes contact. Continue Reading

Laurie I Wangenheim Brown

Loretta (Laurie) Irene Wangenheim-Brown from Friday Harbor Washington passed away on September 6, 2020. Laurie was born on February 11, 1942 and was immediately adopted by Bob and Helen Jones. Growing up surrounded by a loving family and all kinds of farm animals in Riverside Washington began a life-long love of nature and exploring.

Laurie graduated as Class Valedictorian from Omak High School in 1960. While in High School Laurie was selected to be the Omak Stampede Queen due to both her good looks and excellent horse showmanship. In addition, she was also a member of the local dance band, playing the Saxophone. Upon Graduation, Laurie spent the next two years attending the University of Washington. It was there that she met and married her first husband and moved to San Francisco.

While living there, she gave birth to her daughter Tracee. The family’s travels then took them to Los Angeles California and while in Los Angeles, Laurie had the opportunity to work in Hollywood at Glen Glenn Sound Company. She always referred to that job, working with Hollywood movie stars, as one of her favorite experiences. In Los Angeles, Laurie continued to pursue her adventures. There were many opportunities for boating, sailing, scuba diving, trips to Catalina and lots of horseback riding. Laurie also volunteered her time for Sea Turtle Rescue. A service that would take her to visit many different countries over the years. Continue Reading

Reminder that the San Juan County Small Business Relief Grant programapplication deadline is this Sunday, 9/20/20.

Please start your application early. The application requires documentation that your business and expenses meet requirements. This grant is provided by San Juan County and administered by the EDC (a nonprofit); however, the funds come from the federal government through the CARES Act.

We are here to assist you and answer your questions during standard business hours! Befuddled by Word or PDFs? Unsure about your eligibility? If you’re confused after looking at our about page or the application form, call us: 360-378-2906. We’re here to help.

San Juan County voters have been receiving postcards from the U.S. Postal Service encouraging voters to “plan ahead” for the November 3 General Election. Unfortunately, two of the recommendations included in the postcards are not relevant to Washington voters.

One of the recommendations is to request your ballot at least 15 days before Election Day. This step is not necessary, as all registered Washington voters will be mailed a ballot at least 18 days prior to the election. In San Juan County, ballots are scheduled to be mailed October 13.

The second irrelevant recommendation is to affix first class postage to ballot return envelopes. Starting last year, ballot return envelopes in Washington State have included prepaid postage. No stamps are required.

One good recommendation on the postcards is to mail your ballot at least 7 days before Election Day. If you plan to mail your ballot, mailing earlier helps to ensure that it will be received and processed in a timely manner.

Alternatively, use one of the County’s new ballot drop boxes to ensure secure handling of your ballot. The drop boxes are located in front of the courthouse on San Juan Island; at the north end of the Senior Center parking lot on Orcas Island; and next to the main Fire Station on Fisherman Bay Road on Lopez Island. The Lopez box will be moving to the left side of the fire station this year, to allow voters to drop ballots off from their vehicles. Continue Reading

Lisa Buckton – Contributed photo

San Juan Island Library announced today that it has welcomed its new Assistant Director and Adult Services Manager, Lisa Buckton. Lisa moved to San Juan Island from Vermont and holds over ten years of librarian experience across Vermont and New York State.

In the last five years, Lisa co-created and hosted Vermont’s first-ever teen literary festival, Teen Lit Mob, as well as brought national-level programming, including Exploring Human Origins, a month-long traveling Smithsonian exhibit, and Nasa @ My Library, a two-year nationally funded grant, to the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, VT.

Most recently, as the former Director at the Jericho Town Library, she oversaw the redesign of its intergenerational programming space, as well as expanded its youth and young adult areas in collaboration with community organizations and artists. She holds an MLIS from the University at Buffalo and an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Continue Reading

Smokey Sky on the Island – Nancy DeVaux photo

Its wildfire season in the west and air quality is bad. Everyone, but especially those of us with compromising health issues are recommended to stay indoors with windows closed and avoid breathing the particulates in the smokey air as much as possible. You can check current air quality on the website Purple Air.

In my house even with doors and windows closed I can smell the wildfire smoke. It irritates my eyes. Luckily, I found some relief heeding the advice of my friend, Dr. Orna Izakson. Dr. Orna is a naturopathic doctor, registered herbalist, and online educator living in what is now ground zero for wildfire smoke, Portland, Oregon.

Simmering Fir and Bay Leaf – Peggy Sue McRae photo

One of the best things about Orna’s advice is that I could apply it using just what I have around the house, herbal steams and hot showers. A pot of water simmering on the stove with cedar and rosemary not only helped to clear my indoor air but also made my home smell fantastic.  In her YouTube video, Wildfire Smoke + No Air Filter? Do This, Orna explains that using steam to clear particulate from the air applies the same principal we are now so familiar with in social distancing.

When you exhale, you breathe out tiny droplets. We stand six feet apart so that these droplets, should they contain the Covid-19 virus, will be weighed down by the liquid they are encased in and be pulled by gravity to the ground before they reach us.

Dr. Orna explains…“But in wildfire season with all of this smoke we can use some of those same ideas of basic physics to our advantage” You may notice that after taking a hot shower you breathe a little easier. “The mist from the shower basically pulls whatever particles are in the air, grabs them and drops them to the ground.  So this is what we want to do”.

A pot of steaming herbs and conifers uses the same principal. The herbs may have detoxifying qualities, but as Dr. Orna says, “bottom line is, it will work even without herbs”. It is the steam that brings the particulate to the ground. That said, today I’ve got some fir and bay leaf simmering. It does smell good. Be well.

Link to: Purple Air to check air quality.
Link to: Dr. Orna Izakson’s You Tube Channel

Canoe Island French Camp is celebrating the erection of a greenhouse to complement their recently established garden. This project was made possible thanks to generous donations from community members as well as support from the San Juan Island Community Foundation.

The frame for the structure was constructed entirely with wood milled on Canoe Island from cedar trees they felled and dried on site. From start to finish, this project was a successful exercise in sustainability and a manifestation of CIFC’s desire to build environmentally responsible structures. The camp is very proud of this greenhouse and especially proud that support from the community made it a reality.

“Despite the tough circumstances that CIFC faced this year, our organization has found joy and strength this summer in using our resources like our talented staff to improve our organization and dream big for the coming year. This summer has been a period of reflection and growth and these past six months have heightened our enthusiasm for our mission of education and service.”

Margaret Schafer
Camp Director
Canoe Island French Camp

Woman wears a mask outside on a smokey day

Deanna from PeaceHealth shares this informative article from their blog with some steps you can take to protect your health when the air quality is poor…

When wildfires create smoky conditions, it’s important to take extra steps to protect your health. Wildfire smoke can irritate your eyes, nose, throat and lungs. It can make it hard to breathe and cause you to cough or wheeze.

Children, pregnant women and people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or heart disease especially need to reduce their exposure to wildfire smoke.

Continue reading here: How to protect your health

The Town of Friday Harbor is adjusting its policies relating to utility billing and collection in response to Governor Jay Inslee’s Recovery Plan for the State of Washington. We ask you to call the Town as soon as possible if you are having difficulties making payments on your Town utility bill. Staff can walk you through options for assistance and, if necessary, establish a payment plan.

We want our residents and customers to have reliable and accurate information about assistance that may be available as we all get through the pandemic. As of August 1, 2020, the Governor has restricted utility providers from disconnecting services because of non-payment and barred late fees for those that have fallen behind on payments. Currently, these directives will be in place until the termination of the Governor’s emergency directive or October 15, 2020, whichever occurs first.

As written, the law would require all back-due payments to be made on October 16, 2020. That said, the Town is aware that everyone’s recovery may stretch longer. While Friday Harbor also needs revenue to continue providing water, sewer and refuse services, the Town is generally in a better position to be delayed on receiving payments. Continue Reading

FREEZER BURNED: Tales of Interior Alaska is a regular column on the San Juan Update written by Steve Ulvi…

Charley River Alaska – Contributed photo

(Author’s note: This campfire story is mostly fiction in terms of characters and events. Historic, ecological and political themes will always be sculpted factually. The wonders of the subarctic natural world are as I understand them and need no embellishment. I hope that you can find some entertainment in a wider stylistic spectrum of Interior Alaska short stories).

Three brightly colored tents huddled under the grey-green spruce canopy where Crescent Creek and Charley River waters mixed in a bottle-green pool.   The summer light rose well before anyone stirred. Ravens roosting in the thick spruce boughs, hiding from Great Horned Owls hunting the night hours, noisily began their capers. The three rafters had slept fitfully after the adrenaline dump of turning away the confused young brown bear the evening before.

Butch shook a wooden match from a film canister, lit it under his thumbnail like the farm boy that he was, to touch small branches tented over birch bark in the fire ring. A gas single burner on the sand hissed urgently under a blackened pot of water. To the uniformed ranger hunched over the small fire the sky downriver appeared gauzy while the morning light had an orange tint. The sun scattered diamonds on the rippling water coursing by. Butch’s callused hands warmed as he squinted up at jittering red squirrels busily cutting spruce cones to bounce on the needled forest floor. He was reminded that the glorious hustle of autumn was nearing for him, too.

Low voices preceded the rustling of a tent and nylon un-zippering emergence of a tanned younger man pulling on rubber boots and making his way over to the underbrush to relieve himself. Returning to the water’s edge Jake nodded to Butch with a subdued “mornin’ boss” and stooped to drink dipped river water. At well over six feet, his knees were nearly at his ears as he squatted down. “Soon we’ll filter all our water, Jake. Unless you like the notion of ‘beaver fever’? Where’s you cup, I’m pourin’.” Continue Reading

Merri Ann Simonson shares another episode in her video series and says,

Local San Juan fishing derbies, they are the best!

The October Fish For Teeth clinic will be at half capacity and only host patients in urgent need of care. – Contributed photo

Islanders, unable to afford dental care, can receive it for free thanks to the local nonprofit Fish For Teeth on Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Mullis Community Center on San Juan Island. Due to health precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinic will host half of the number of patients usually scheduled. Patients must be in need of urgent care, and no regular dental cleanings will be scheduled at this clinic.

Fish For Teeth sponsors a mobile dental van for two-day clinics on San Juan Island, three times a year. Patients are seen by appointment only. Pick up applications at the San Juan Island Family Resource Center or the county health department, or download them at www.fishforteeth.com. Submit applications to the San Juan County Health Department on Rhone Street. Volunteers, not the county health department employees, determine scheduling a week before the clinic based on severity and space.

To raise funds for the van, Fish for Teeth volunteers usually sell fish tacos on the Friday of the clinics held in January, October and May.

Matt Marinkovich, a San Juan Island commercial fisherman, formed Fish For Teeth in 2007, after noticing a community need for affordable dental care. Fish For Teeth receives no federal funding and relies solely on donations, which are tax-deductible. For more information, visit www.fishforteeth.com or contact [email protected].

Tara Mesalik Macmahon – Contributed photo

Open Country Press is proud to announce the winner of the 2020 Open Country Chapbook Contest. Khaty Xiong chose Barefoot Up the Mountain by Tara Mesalik MacMahon of Friday Harbor, Washington.

Tara Mesalik MacMahon, a graduate of Pomona College and Harvard Business School, is an emerging poet. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Rhino, Red Hen Press’s “New Moons” Anthology, Nimrod International Journal, Dogwood a Journal of Poetry and Prose, Duende, Cold Mountain Review, Cathexis Northwest Press, Passager, among others.

Honors include: Finalist for the 2019 Dogwood Poetry Prize, Nimrod’s 2019 Francine Ringold Award for New Writers and the 2017 Patricia Dobler Poetry Prize. Additionally, Tara and her brother Mark have co-authored a children’s chapter book, “The Closet of Dreams,” forthcoming in 2021 (Lanier Press). She resides in the beautiful San Juan Islands with her husband Paul and their rescue dog Hector.

Flu shots are now available at Eventide Health. It’s important to get yours early this year. We will be hosting a few flu clinics this year and carrying on the tradition of San Juan Healthcare and offering the service as public health to the community.

We will also be participating in joint flu clinics with the San Juan County Health Department and Peace Health for drive-through flu clinics to be hosted at the Fairgrounds. All of these dates will be announced soon.

This year we’re also working at business/organization levels and will be providing flu shots for all 150 Valmark employees. We’ll be providing the shots for firefighters as we’ve been asked to perform their physical/evals this year.

Please call our office to get yours scheduled starting Monday the 14th.

William F. House, MD
Eventide Health
San Juan Island
Friday Harbor, Washington

Due to fire danger and stretched resources, San Juan County is extending the current burn ban to prohibit all outdoor fires (including charcoal), effective immediately and until further notice. 

This change is prompted by several factors. Hot and dry weather has made conditions ripe for ignition and fast fire spread, and forecasts predict more of the same. Multiple local brush fires broke out over the weekend, underscoring the danger. Large fires in progress across the state have depleted all but local firefighting resources.

“Escaped outdoor fires are a leading cause of wildland fires, prevention of these situations is of paramount importance and eliminating burning achieves this goal.” Stated Fire Marshal R.J. Myers

While outdoor fires are to blame for many dangerous brush fires, there are other causes as well – the situation is serious, and we really need everyone’s help limiting all ignition sources. Dispose of smoking materials properly. Secure trailer chains to prevent sparks. Defer mowing until conditions improve. And be cautions with tall grass and hot exhaust.

San Juan County Master Gardeners welcome keynote speaker Robin Haglund to the Annual Gardening Workshop Series.

Robin’s presentation, Growing a Year-Round Hummingbird Habitat Garden, guides you through crafting and maintaining a gorgeous year-round garden that provides habitat for our resident hummingbirds. You will learn the vital elements needed for food and nesting, while enjoying the visual qualities of a garden that looks great, even in the dead of winter. Learn how to use native and non-native plants in your northwest landscape to support these little birds and provide a habitat where they will thrive.

And a bonus: Robin will share day-by-day images of her experience following a nesting hummingbird from nest building to baby fledglings.

Robin is a Seattle-based garden coach and award-winning garden designer.

She is the founder of Garden Mentors, and has a passion for empowering individuals to cultivate sustainable, organically focused, native-inspired, and often edible spaces. Robin inspires people to foster a deeper connection to the natural world. She has appeared internationally on her award-winning garden design episode of  HGTV’s Landscaper’s Challenge, and she is featured in multiple episodes of  PBS’ Growing a Greener World . Continue Reading