The San Juan County Department of Emergency Management reports 38 confirmed or probable new COVID cases on San Juan Island since Jan. 28. The County also reports 17 new cases on Orcas Island, and seven on Lopez Island. This week’s 62 new cases are a decline of more than half over last week, and bring the total case count to 1,048.

In their media release, the County outlined some positive news about regional COVID trends:

Though still high, case rates have started to decline in much of Western Washington (though still on the rise in Eastern Washington). Hospitalization rates have slowed but are not yet dropping, and death rates are still increasing — both trends that make sense, given the time that usually passes between initial infection and hospitalization for those with the most severe cases of COVID. With luck, current trends will hold and we’ll see cases drop quickly in the islands over the next few weeks.

San Juan County Health & Community Services continues to offer free vaccinations, although they note that their February vaccine clinics will be the last scheduled clinics for adults. From March onward, the County will instead focus on clinics for children. Vaccines for adults will still be available through local pharmacies and medical providers.

The Friday Harbor Film Festival’s Best of the Fest series presents one feature-length documentary and two short documentary films each week in February. The films are streamed on demand. For the week of Feb. 5 to 11, FHFF is showing Whale Talk, Vala North, and Generations of Sound.

FHFF shared with the Update a preview of each film.

Continue Reading

In response to member concerns expressed after unexpectedly high December electric bills, OPALCO announced that it is considering changes to the way it handles its seasonal demand charges and credits.

According to Foster Hildreth, OPALCO’s general manager, the utility may modify its Energy Charge Adjustment formula so that large surcharges and credits are applied more evenly throughout the year. OPALCO Communications Director, Suzanne Olson, said that it’s also possible the utility may decide to bank credits so that they can be applied during extreme weather events in the future. Continue Reading

Dr. John Moalli, Michael Soltman, and Duncan Wilson joined the Board of Directors of the San Juan Island Community Foundation last month. SJICF shared with the San Juan Update a brief overview of each new board member’s background and achievements. Continue Reading

The Friday Harbor Town Council will hold a regular meeting on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 12 p.m. Items up for discussion at Thursday’s meeting include:

• Amending the development agreement for 825 Argyle Avenue
• Awarding the First Street overlay project
• Authorizing a supplemental agreement for construction management services
• Authorizing groundwater monitoring at the Friday Harbor landfill
• Authorizing the 2021 stormwater drainage project
• Authorizing an amendment to the wastewater treatment plant outfall project

The meeting will also include an update from the Town Administrator.

You can view the live stream of the meeting online, or listen by calling 872-240-3311 and entering access code 110-364-381.

Following a closure of more than a week, fuel is once again available at The Little Store. Service will resume on Monday, Feb. 7 at The Big Store. The old pumps and signage have been replaced at both locations, with 76 now providing fuel instead of Shell.

According to Petro San Juan, who manages the pumps at both stores, Shell had become more difficult to work with over the last few years, and 76 wanted to return to the island again. Petro San Juan also hopes to bring prices down, noting that Shell’s pricing was consistently higher.

The work at both stores was completed by Pacific Environmental Services of Port Townsend.

Merri Ann Simonson sends along this year-end real estate market summary for San Juan County and San Juan Island.

Another record-breaking year for San Juan County! It was incredible for our sellers and those buyers that were successful in purchasing property. Not so much for many of our buyers that are sitting frustrated on the side lines. Continue Reading

San Juan County is looking for up to four San Juan Island residents to become members of its newly established Climate and Sustainability Advisory Committee. Continue Reading

More than 5,000 free at-home COVID tests kit are being made available to the community by San Juan County Health and Community Services. Distribution on San Juan Island will take place at the Mullis Center from Wednesday, Feb. 2 through Friday, Feb. 4, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day.

Each household can request one test kit per member over age three, with a limit of four kits per family. Business owners can pick up one kit per employee, with a limit of ten kits per business.

The test kits must be used prior to their June 23, 2022 expiration date.

Even though higher than normal energy bills were expected after December’s extended cold snap, the severity of the increase caught many OPALCO members across San Juan Island off guard. Continue Reading

In these times of cancelled sailings, changing schedules, and limited reservations, every bit of information about the status of the ferries running to and from San Juan Island helps. But for the last few weeks, the Friday Harbor ferry terminal camera had been out of commission, further limiting the information available to travelers.

Thankfully, a few hours after receiving a request by the San Juan Update about the status of the camera, Washington State Ferries’ I.T. department was able to engineer a fix to the terminal camera and restore service late this afternoon.