Notice of Public Hearing on Road Vacation – Cattle Point on San Juan Island

Notice is hereby given that the San Juan County Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing on a proposal by San Juan County to vacate a portion of the existing Cattle Point Road from approximately MP 7.35 to approximately MP 8.55. This road segment was deeded to San Juan County in 1964 by AFN 58497, 59188, 59189, 59190, 59191 & 59192.

The western portion of the proposed road vacation is located in the NPS’s San Juan Island National Historical Park and the eastern portion is located within the DNR’s Cattle Point National Recreation and Conservation Area.

The entire segment of Cattle Point Road proposed to be vacated is located in Government Lots 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, & the Southwest Quarter of the Northeast Quarter, all in Section 7 and Government Lot 6 of Section 8; all of the above are found in Township 34 North, Range 2 West, Willamette Meridian.

San Juan County Code 18.60.090.C.5. requires that the Planning Commission review the proposed road vacation for consistency with the goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan and make a recommendation to the County Council. The Planning Commission will hold a hearing to take testimony on the proposal beginning at or after 8:45, April 18, 2014 in the County Council Chambers, 55 Second Street, Friday Harbor. Interested parties are encouraged to attend and provide comment.

For more information contact Shannon Wilbur at 370-0500, [email protected]. Prior to the hearing written comments should be submitted to Lynda Guernsey at [email protected] or CD&P, PO Box 947, Friday Harbor, WA, 98250.

Jacquelyn over at The Studio announces a class they’ll be offering soon…

Just thought I would drop you a line to let you know that Jennifer and I will be teaching an Introduction to Pilates 6 week session at The Studio. Since our opening in December, we have received many questions about what is Pilates? what does it work? and how will my body benefit? This session is great for those new to Pilates to begin to learn the fundamentals. Below is our flyer. We were hoping you could share so people do not miss this wonderful opportunity to become introduced to the Pilates method.
Thank you,
Jacquelyn Reiff

6-week Session
Tuesdays & Thursdays at 5:15pm beginning April 15th

Join us at The Studio for a fun six-week session that will introduce you to the principles of Pilates. This session is great for beginners & will prepare you for many classes at The Studio, which are all based on the fundamentals of Pilates. You will be challenged to work deeply, improve your posture, core strength, balance, flexibility and form.

The session is $120 plus tax and space is limited to 12 participants. Please call 378-0150 to inquire about the session to reserve a spot or register online at www.TheStudioSJI.com. Click on enrollments to sign up today!

The Battlefield Band – Click for larger image – John Slavin photo

Friday Harbor’s favorite Scottish friends and their “Forward with Scotland’s Past” motto return to San Juan Community Theatre on Friday, April 4—their 15th island visit since the early 1990s. And this time, Battlefield Band will share more of how they work their musical magic.

A free workshop for all ages will be held in the Whittier Theatre at 4 p.m.; band members will lead a discussion about Scottish music and instruments, and local musicians are invited to play. Then at 7:30 p.m., the Scots take the stage to showcase their unique fusion of ancient and modern traditional music and song.

Founded by a group of friends in 1969 and named after the ‘Battlefield’ area of Glasgow, the band has been touring and performing throughout the world ever since. The band’s most recent album, Room Enough For All, illustrates once again that they are among the most relevant contemporary composers and interpreters of Celtic music today. They were recently nominated for an Independent Music Award for the album’s opening track, “Bagpipe Music,” in the “World Traditional Song” category.

Battlefield Band’s appearance at SJCT was made possible through support from the Western States Arts Foundation (WESTAF) and National Endowment for the Arts.
The Business Partners for Battlefield Band are Cask & Schooner Public House and Restaurant and Goddulanglie, Lawyers/Advisors. Concert tickets are $29 each. The SJCT box office is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. www.sjctheatre.org or 378-3210.

Spill map graphic – Click for larger version

To keep up with the ongoing story of the drift card drops that took place on the 25th anniversary of the nasty spill that we do not ever want in our waters…

Listen to the Free Speech Radio News report at this link.

See the locator map for those cards already found and reported (keep checking back in as more cards are being found)/

Remember, as the cards say, “THIS COULD BE OIL”

Dropping the Drift Cards – Click for larger image – Verite Features photo

Website: Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, FRIENDS of the San Juans

The crack of the bat, the pop of a mitt, the Umpire calling “YOU’RE OUT!” – Summer Softball is just around the corner.

Register your team now for the Island Rec adult co-ed softball league. This slow pitch league plays games on Tuesdays, June – August. Register your team by April 17, $433. Mandatory Captains Meeting April 24 at 5:30pm in the Island Rec Office.

New teams are always welcome. Ages 16 & up. For more information or registration call 378-4953 or visit www.islandrec.org.

Calling all vendors for the Spring Flea Market at the San Juan County Fairgrounds! The market will be held on Saturday, April 26th.

This is an opportunity for vendors of all types including: food vendors, crafters and artists, community organizations looking to fundraise, and family and friends cleaning house.

The Fairgrounds Flea Markets are always fun community events full of unexpected treasures. Vendors can obtain applications from the fair office or via email at:
info [@] sjcfair [.] org

Dewey is this week’s Pet of the Week

Dewey is a perfect gentleman in every way. He’s about 3-years old and has the sweetest disposition ever. Dewey is declawed on his front paws. Sadly, he is a classic example of what happens when people choose to have a cat declawed. Dewey is very shy and withdrawn at first like the vast majority of declawed cats, who have had their defense system taken away.

Once he has had a chance to get to know and trust you, he will melt your heart with his gentle, affectionate manner. He will need to be an indoor-only cat, naturally. Dewey is just looking for a safe, loving home to call his own. Perhaps yours?

Staff Note: Aside from rendering a cat helpless against predators, declawing is extremely painful and often permanently debilitating. It can and often does lead to behavior disorders and a number of other health issues in cats. For more information visit: www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/declawing.html.

Editor’s Note – Apologies, but commenting is closed on this post.

San Juan County Health and Community Services Issues Measles Health Alert

A San Juan Island adult has been diagnosed with a confirmed case of measles. The dates this person was contagious are from March 21, 2014 to March 29, 2014.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory viral disease that spreads easily when the infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. You can catch measles just by being in a room where a person with measles has been. The virus remains in the air up to two hours even after that person is gone. All persons who are exposed to the virus and have not been immunized against measles will most likely get the disease. The symptoms of measles will be present 7-21 days after exposure. Symptoms are high fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, and a rash of tiny, red spots that starts at the head and spreads to the rest of the body. Measles is especially dangerous for children under 12 months of age, pregnant women, and immunocompromised persons.

The best protection against measles is the MMR vaccine, usually administered to children at 12-15 months old and at 4-6 years old. To be considered immune, a person should have two documented doses of the MMR vaccine. Most adults born before 1957 had measles and are considered to be immune. Adults born in and after 1957 should have had at least one dose of MMR or have evidence of immunity.

You may have been exposed to measles if you were at the following locations:

• The Bean Cafe
  • March 23 from 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm (new information)
• Cask and Schooner on:
  • March 21 from 3:45 pm until 12 midnight
  • March 22 from 3:45 pm to 1:15 am
  • March 23 from 4:00 pm to 12 midnight
  • March 24 from 2:45 pm to 12 midnight
• China Pearl ( upstairs bar only) on:
  • March 22 from 11:30 pm until 3 am
• King’s Market on:
  • March 24 from 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm

If you were at any of the above locations on the mentioned dates, and either don’t have or are unsure if you have immunity, please contact your health care provider or the San Juan County Health Department at 378-4474. The San Juan County Health Department will be available to address any concerns or answer any questions.

For more information on measles, please go to this link (PDF)

Are you on the FROG ? It’s the Ferry Rider’s Opinion Group and it’s one way you can make your voice heard with regards to ferry service. If you’re not and you would like to be, check  out this invitation that came to the Update email box, and  sign up now at the link included so you’ll be ready when they send out the upcoming survey…

In a couple of weeks, we will be sending you and 16,500 other members of the Ferry Riders Opinion Group (FROG) a link to a new survey that will cover issues related to WSF service performance.

The more people we hear from, the more impact your collective voice will have on decision making at the state level. We need to get as many people involved as possible and could use your help. If you know of any ferry riders, or people interested in ferry issues, who might want to participate in upcoming FROG surveys, please pass this email along to them.

All they need to do to sign up for the FROG is to click on the link below:

http://www.ferryridersopiniongroup.com

We truly do appreciate you taking the time to share your views via the FROG surveys and also appreciate any help you can lend us in getting more folks to join the FROG community.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Dan O’Neal, Chairman
Washington State Transportation Commission
http://wstc.wa.gov/

Rainbow over Roche Harbor – Click for larger view – Kevin Holmes photo

Roving Update photographer Kevin Holmes caught this great scene on Friday evening out out Roche Harbor. Thanks for sharing Kevin!

M/V Elwha in Drydock – Click for larger image – Aaron Shepard photo

Here’s a cool photo sent in by photographer extraordinaire Aaron Shepard. This is the Elwha in dry dock at Dakota Creek Shipyards in Anacortes. If you wanna see this for yourself, take a left when you get to Commerical Ave. in Anacortes, instead of the right you would normally take to get to Hwy 20. All the way down at the end of Commercial is the dry dock where you will frequently see Washington State Ferries being serviced.

Thanks for the great photo Aaron!

CenturyLink sends this press release about the current outage affecting the south end of San Juan Island…

The remains of the Remote Terminal Cabinet after a single-car accident – CenturyLink photo

A CenturyLink Remote Terminal located near the intersection of Cattle Point Road and Golf Course Road was struck by a vehicle, Thursday, March 27, 2014, at 11:09 p.m. impacting telephone, Internet and 911 services to approximately 200 customers.

In case of an emergency, customers can call 911 from their cell phone or call their local sheriff’s office at 360-378-4141.

Technicians have been on site since early this morning and will continue to work around the clock to restore services. Due to the extensive damage to CenturyLink’s equipment, services are estimated to be restored March 31, 2014.

“CenturyLink is focused on our customers’ safety and restoring communications as quickly as possible,” said Tom Novotney, CenturyLink vice president and general manager for western Washington. “We appreciate our customers’ patience while we work to restore services.”

Washington Library Association recognizes outstanding work in English Language Learning

Beth Helstien, Award-winning Outreach Coordinator for the SJI Library – Tim Dustrude photo

San Juan Island Library outreach coordinator Beth Helstien received the 2014 Merit Award for Advances in Library Services from the Washington Library Association. The award recognizes outstanding work in resurrecting and revitalizing what was a defunct English Language Learning Program into a popular, well-attended, well-staffed, curriculum-guided program.

English Language Learning at the San Juan Island Library provides instruction in speaking, listening, reading and writing English to immigrant families. An English instructor works with community volunteers who meet in small groups based on students’ English abilities to learn grammar, pronunciation and idiomatic expression. Classes meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6-8pm during the Fall and Spring. While parents learn, an enrichment program keeps the children of adult learners busy with homework, reading and craft programs.

“It’s nice to know our program that has so much community support from volunteers and the San Juan Island Community Foundation is getting recognized for the difference it makes in the lives of families learning English,” Helstien said. “We help parents fulfill their responsibilities to their kids by learning English and being able to supervise homework and school participation. And when adults know English, their children don’t have to translate in situations beyond their years.”

In addition to its collections of materials to loan, the library also provides an array of programs for adults and children, public access computers and WiFi. Library hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Here’s Captain Hobbes with the latest update on whales and wildlife…

Pacific White Sided Dolphin – Traci Walter photo

WHAT A WEEK! On Sunday, transient orcas were found late in the day in our area, and Capt. Nate at Deer Harbor Charters found over 100 harbor porpoise feeding between Flat Top Island and Orcas Island. On Wednesday at least three groups of extremely playful Dall’s porpoise were seen all over the place, with the last sighting being made by Capt. Ivan on the Western Prince.

On Thursday morning Jeannie Hyde reported seeing around 150 Pacific white sided dolphins (PWSD’s) on the West Side. These guys are great to view and often jump out of the water! We seem to be seeing more of these this year, which is rare. I’m hoping they stick around…

Thursday afternoon, yet another group of at least 150 PWSD’s, showed up north of us but coming this way, and they were being followed by about 20+ transient orcas which include the T60’s. And then yet another smaller group of PWSD’s showed up west of Victoria… Blimey, what a week!

Other wildlife being seen in and around our waters include seals, sea lions, eagles, seabirds and exotic wildlife on Spieden Island… Cheers from the PWWA.

Staff from Bird Rock Hotel and Earthbox Inn and Spa help with clean-up efforts in 2012 – Contributed photo

Land Bank volunteers will clean up local beaches and roadsides on San Juan Island as part of the Great Island Cleanup on Saturday, April 5, 10 am to 6 pm.

Volunteers are needed to help at three San Juan locations:

Third Lagoon Beach, 10:00 A.M.
Meet at the Third Lagoon Preserve trailhead located at the end of Cattle Point Road to help clear plastic rubbish from the back of the lagoon.

Cattle Point, Noon
Meet at the Cattle Point interpretive center. Volunteers will work on the beaches just below the interpretive center as well as the rocky shoreline and pocket beaches between the Cattle Point lighthouse and South Beach. Because the beaches and shoreline on both sides of the lighthouse are difficult to access, removal of garbage in this section will include negotiating logs and a steep loose bluff trail. Extent of cleanup is weather and tide dependent. Parking at Cattle Point requires a Discovery Pass.

Deadman Bay Preserve, 5:00 P.M.
Meet at Deadman Bay beach. Volunteers will tackle the drainage below the roadside where lots of debris collects throughout the year.

Sturdy rubber boots, pants, and gloves are recommended. Carpooling is encouraged. The Land Bank will provide garbage bags, buckets, and some snacks. RSVP to Doug at:
dougm [@] rock island [.] com or 378-4402, or just show up.

Dr. Jerry Whitfield Of Shaw Island To Fill District 4 Board Vacancy – OPALCO photo

The OPALCO Board has appointed Dr. Jerry Whitfield of Shaw Island to fill the board vacancy in District 4 (Shaw, Bell, Canoe and Crane Islands). Dr. Whitfield began his service to the Co-op in March.

Dr. Whitfield and his wife Carol live on Shaw Island and have been OPALCO members since 1999. As a Doctorate Aerospace Engineer, Whitfield has served with such companies as Rolls Royce Aero Engines, General Electric Company and The Boeing Company. An entrepreneur in the renewable energy field since the mid-1980s, Whitfield invented the wood pellet stove, built and led a successful manufacturing company and helped pioneer the wood pellet industry across North America. Lately, Whitfield invented a unique café coffee roaster, Sonofresco; he and his wife run the business in Burlington, WA. Whitfield is also developing product ideas to simultaneously generate carbon negative energy and biochar from surplus biomass materials.

For the latest information about OPALCO, go to: www.opalco.com.