Thanks to the cooperation of the Land Bank and the San Juan Preservation Trust we now have a beautiful new and historic public land to explore. On September 26th, National Public Lands Day, 5 years of negotiations and planning came to fruition when the 285-acre Zylstra Lake Preserve on San Juan Island officially opened part  Continue Reading

We believe it is important to set the record straight on recent exchanges between some of the San Juan EMS volunteers and the Board of Public Hospital District No. 1. Following the PHD board’s restructuring of the administration of both the PHD and EMS, a number of volunteers from San Juan EMS met to share  Continue Reading

By Marie-Luz Villa MD AGSF, Main Operations Manager, Hospice of San Juan San Juan County, being relatively tiny in the eyes of Medicare, receives insurance-funded hospice care under the umbrella of Hospice of the Northwest (HNW), which is based in Skagit County. Although both San Juan Island and Lopez Island have all-volunteer hospice organizations to  Continue Reading

By San Juan County One new positive COVID-19 test result has been reported in San Juan County, for an Orcas Island resident who is a close household contact of the Orcas resident reported as positive on Oct. 26. This is the 36th case reported in San Juan County. Given the close household proximity of the  Continue Reading

By FHFF As in each of the last seven years, the Friday Harbor Film Festival is delighted to honor filmmakers who have done outstanding work on projects screened during the festival. We are very pleased to present the following awards this year: Local Hero Award, two Laszlo Pal Emerging Filmmaker Awards, and Audience Choice Awards  Continue Reading

The Port of Friday Harbor will host an online meeting at noon, today, Wednesday, Oct. 28 on Zoom. View the agenda and how to log into the meeting here. Commissioners will discuss possibly raising fees at Shipyard Cove over time. They will also discuss lease agreements with Saltwater Farm and Island Air, and possibly approve  Continue Reading

The next San Juan County Public Hospital District No. 1 regular board meeting is at 5:30 p.m., today, Wednesday, Oct. 28. This meeting is fully online due to COVID-19, and members of the public may join by dialing 509-473-0276 and entering 279 885 068#. Note that the phone number has changed from previous board meetings.  Continue Reading

By Chuck Dalldorf, Public Information Officer, San Juan Island Fire and Rescue  San Juan Island Fire and Rescue along with the San Juan Island Firefighter Association will host a special, safe, social distanced family Halloween event from 2-6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020, at John O. Linde Community Park, 565 Carter Ave. in Friday Harbor.  Continue Reading

By San Juan Community Theatre For two weeks only, at sjctheatre.org, you can see a special concert by Pearl Django. Regulars on the San Juan Community Theatre stage, Pearl Django filmed a concert for SJCT that will be streamed on our website from Nov. 12- 29. With a performance history spanning more than 26 years,  Continue Reading

By San Juan Island School District On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the San Juan Island School District Board of Directors will hold a regular school board meeting at 5 p.m. as a Zoom meeting. Click here to join the webinar.

By San Juan County Two new positive COVID-19 test results have been reported in San Juan County; one for an Orcas Island resident, and one for a resident of San Juan Island. Both cases appear to have come from off-island contact with infected individuals. These are the 34th and 35th cases in San Juan County.  Continue Reading

By San Juan Community Theatre Melodious Notes Over the Harbor is ecstatic to be able to present a virtual concert for San Juan Community Theatre’s 2020-21 Snapshot Season. Watch the concert here. This concert will feature musicians who live in Friday Harbor: Elizabeth Schaltenbrand-piano, Hanneke Klein-Robbenhaar-violin, Sasha von Dassow-cello and Sue Collado-clarinet. Each musician is  Continue Reading

By WSU Extension Learn to be a better home gardener and steward of the environment this winter with Washington State University San Juan County Extension’s new online Home Horticulture Training program. Training focuses on a wide range of horticulture topics taught online by WSU faculty, staff, Master Gardeners and other regional experts on Saturday mornings  Continue Reading

By San Juan Community Theatre Until public health regulations allow audiences to enter theatres again, San Juan Community Theatre is going all-digital with some exciting new programming that will be filmed and distributed for free. Films will be available here on our website.

Town of Friday Harbor to Double Regular Match By Town of Friday Harbor All donations made in November to the Town of Friday Harbor’s Life Ring utility assistance fund will be forwarded to the Friday Harbor Food Bank. The town will match community donations up to a total of $2,000. This is twice the match  Continue Reading

By Island Rec Check out the following basketball options for kids. Youth Basketball Camp The focus of this league is development and improvement of individual and team skills. Think skills, drills and scrimmages. Previous team experience is not required. Participants practice once per week beginning the week of Nov. 2. Volunteer coaches and referees are  Continue Reading

Below is an interview that Janet Thomas of San Juan Island did with Mike Cohen of San Juan Island. For more information on the interview, visit www.ecopsych.com/janetinterview.html. By Janet Thomas, San Juan Island Mike Cohen has decades of educational experience with his Project Nature Connect work. He is also a widely experienced musician. Due to  Continue Reading

By Washington State Department of Health The Washington State Department of Health continues to make progress with our COVID-19 vaccine distribution planning efforts. Today we posted our interim vaccine distribution plan. Now, as one component of a larger engagement strategy, the department is seeking additional feedback to help us understand the best ways to equitably distribute the  Continue Reading

By San Juan County The most efficient way to submit building applications to San Juan County is online at sanjuanco.com/opc. You can also use the dropbox at the entrance to the courthouse to submit forms and payments for burn permits, land use, building, right of way, water availability, birth and death certificates, and septic designs  Continue Reading

By Merri Ann Simonson, Coldwell Banker San Juan Islands The third-quarter results for San Juan Island and San Juan County were consistent with the first quarter results; very robust. The second quarter was in COVID shock but that gave way to a strong third quarter. Per the NWMLS, the dollar volume year-to-date on San Juan  Continue Reading

By Kathryn Clary, RN, BSN, CHPN, Hospice of the Northwest, San Juan Island Currently, the only Medicare-based hospice in our county is Hospice of the Northwest. Two years ago this hospice was listed as the No. 1 hospice agency in the United States. HNW provides medical hospice services no matter one’s ability to pay. Medicare  Continue Reading

By Washington State Ferries Website Customers will notice that Washington State Ferries’ website has a new look. Not only does it look better, but it is now easier to navigate. Check out the changes at www.wsdotferries.com. If you have questions or need help finding information on the website, contact our customer call center at 206-464-6400  Continue Reading