Island News
Board Candidate Questionnaire Results Released: Eight Candidates Provide Detailed Perspectives on Cooperative Future
SAN JUAN ISLANDS, WA — To help members differentiate among an unusually large field of candidates in the upcoming Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) board election, a group of concerned members has released the results of a candidate questionnaire. Of the nine candidates vying for two positions on the board, eight have provided detailed […]
Vote in OPALCO’s Election – Voters eligible to win prizes
OPALCO Board Candidate election season is in full swing! OPALCO members should have received a ballot. Get to know the candidates this year and vote in the election to help guide the energy future of San Juan County. There are 9 candidates for 2 open positions in District 1 (San Juan, et al) and District […]
Kiwanis Trade School Scholarship available, apply now
Guest Opinion | When growth ends and maintenance begins
||| FROM ELISABETH ROBSON ||| In the Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, the shift is easy to see. Washington State Ferries, the largest ferry system in the United States, is not expanding to carry more people. Instead, the state is scrambling to replace aging vessels simply to keep existing routes running. Boats built decades ago are nearing or going beyond their life expectancy, and Washington expects to need more than a dozen new ferries by 2040 just to maintain […]
No Place Like Loam | Legacy Landscapes: The three design forces of time, experience, and structure
||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM by ALEX TAMAYO.WOLF ||| Time: The Monk of Reichenau Abbey He worked in a scriptorium lit by high, narrow windows, winter light thin and lateral, flattening shadow against stone. Beeswax candles guttered in drafts, their smoke faintly sweet, clinging to wool and parchment. The room smelled of warmed tallow, scraped hide, damp lime from the curing vats. He leaned over the vellum the way a man leans over something that cannot be wasted, shoulders rounded, […]
Let’s talk public transit for Orcas, San Juan
You’re invited to a community meeting || FROM COLIN WILLIAMS for RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION |||| Let’s talk public transit for Orcas & the San Juan Islands. Hosted by the Friends of Rural Public Transportation Date & Time — Tuesday, March 31, 2026 , 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM Location: Orcas Island Public Library Community Room Online Meeting Link Imagine Orcas & the San Juan Islands where… You can hop on a bus from the ferry to Eastsound, Doe Bay, or Deer Harbor. Kids […]
Preparing for when oil meets shore
Inside a Shoreline Assessment Workshop on Lopez Island ||| FROM BILL SYMES and ELAINA THOMPSON ||| Islands’ Oil Spill Association (IOSA) held a public workshop on the classification, assessment, and cleanup of oiled shorelines, February 11 at the Lopez Community Center. Led by Gary Shigenaka, a 40+ year National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) veteran and IOSA board member, the workshop featured speakers from NOAA and Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), introducing IOSA vol
Vote in OPALCO’s election
Voters eligible to win prizes ||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPERATIVE ||| OPALCO Board Candidate election season is in full swing! OPALCO members should have received a ballot. Get to know the candidates this year and vote in the election to help guide the energy future of San Juan County. There are 9 candidates for 2 open positions in District 1 (San Juan, et al) and District 2 (Orcas, et al). Here are the 2026 Board […]
OPALCO Board candidate questionnaire results released
Eight candidates provide detailed perspectives on cooperative future ||| FROM CHOM GREACEN ||| To help members differentiate among an unusually large field of candidates in the upcoming Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) board election, a group of concerned members has released the results of a candidate questionnaire. Of the nine candidates vying for two positions on the board, eight have provided detailed responses to the community’s inquiries regarding the cooperative’s future. The part
County float at Waldron temporarily closed April 5-11 for repairs
The County recognizes how important marine facilities are to commuters, visitors, businesses, locals, and other service providers and is working to repair the facility as quickly as possible. ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County’s Public Works Department owns and/or maintains marine facilities (piers, floats, and ramps) at 16 locations across the islands, one of which is located on Waldron Island. The department is providing public notice that the float will be removed and
Tending the garden: How San Juan Islanders are choosing community over chaos
By Darrell Kirk
Community Lunch celebrates a year of connection
Submitted by the Orcas Community Resource Center Communications Team.
Share your ferry experiences with WSTC
The Washington State Transportation Commission wants to hear about your experience riding our ferries. They just released a new Ferry Riders’ Opinion Group, (FROG) survey, open through April 15. Join FROG to receive a link to the latest survey. Everyone is encouraged to take part – whether you ride often or just once in a while. Your feedback helps the […]
Tell WA Transportation Commission about your ferry experiences by April 15
The Washington State Transportation Commission wants to hear about your experience riding our ferries. They just released a new Ferry Riders’ Opinion Group, (FROG) survey, open through April 15. Join FROG to receive a link to the latest survey. Everyone is encouraged to take part – whether you ride often or just once in a while. Your feedback helps the […]
March 31 @ 11:00 am Tuesday, March 31 | 11 am to 12:30 pm | Emmanuel Episcopal Parish meeting hall | 218 Main TUE31 March 31: Humanities Washington Hosts Program Marking 50th Anniversaryof End of the Orca Capture Era March 31 @ 7:00 pm March 31 | 7 pm | VIRTUAL They were chased with speedboats, corralled by […]
Coach Jack RIce: Friday Harbor Golf — Week 2
The 2026 high school golf season has opened with more challenges than rain. The weather gods haven’t been on our side, and our players have become very familiar with a new term: the mud ball. It doesn’t fly quite like a clean golf shot, and our first three opponents were all in the early stages […]
News Brief | How new fishing tech can reduce bycatch of turtles and other creatures
||| FROM ARSTECHNICA.COM Designed to capture animals destined for our dinner tables, our oceans are full of sophisticated, perfect traps. Over the decades, conservationists, researchers, and fishermen have developed ways to minimize various kinds of bycatch in different fishing stocks around the world. Some approaches, however, now have a proven success rate—and more may be on the horizon. READ FULL ARTICLE
Town, County councils to meet on April 1
||| FROM TOWN OF FRIDAY HARBOR ||| NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Town Council and San Juan County Council will hold a special joint meeting on April 1, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. The special meeting will take place in Council Chambers located at 60 Second Street. For more information, contact the Town Clerk at clerk@fridayharbor.org.
Letter to Editor | No Kings rally missing an issue
||| FROM BEV LEHMAN ||| At the Orcas Island No Kings Rally on March 28th the most important issue in this country was absent—voting to change the majority party in the United States Congress. The SAVE America Act — similar to its predecessor the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act — could silence millions of voters by creating new barriers to voter registration The SAVE Act could affect registered voters too. Any time somebody updates their registration, if they change […]
News Brief | Inside a rare sperm whale birth
||| FROM INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS ||| Two landmark studies of a rare sperm whale birth observation in the Caribbean are reshaping scientists’ understanding of cooperation in the animal kingdom, revealing that whales in unrelated family lines work collectively to help newborn calves survive. Witnessing such an event is extremely uncommon. There is only one previous scientific observation of a sperm whale birth over the past six decades, and just four other accounts post-birth from whaling activities.
CWR logs encounter #18 with J Pod
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Full Encounter Report ObservBegin: 03:35 PM ObservEnd: 05:08 PM Vessel: KCB III Staff: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss Pods: J IDsEncountered: J16, J19, J22, J27, J31, J35, J36, J37, J38, J39, J40, J41, J42, J44, J45, J46, J47, J49, J51, J56, J57, J58, J59, J62, J63 LocationDescr: Haro Strait EncSummary: The team had received reports of likely residents in Rosario Strait early in the day, but the weather had prevented them from heading out. By mid-afternoon, t
Drifting dock highlights growing microplastic risk
By Asifa Pasin, Nancy Schafer and Bill Symes
Joan M. Whiting April 4, 1944 – March 15th, 2026
Joan M. Whiting was born in Bismark, ND to Alvin and Doris Molvig on April 4th, 1944 and passed away March 15th, 2026 in Longmont, CO. She married the love of her life, Ralph S. Whiting, on October 9th, 1973. Joan was the most caring, loving soul to everyone she encountered throughout life. She was […]
OICF supports new program bridging indigenous and islander communities
||| FROM KIM WEST ACTKINSON for ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ||| The Orcas Island Community Foundation (OICF) is excited to announce its fiscal sponsorship and support of a new community program, Island Allies of Indigenous Lifeways – a grassroots organization that fosters decolonization, Indigenous sovereignty and adaptive culture through Tribally-led education and participatory practices. Through the lens of Food as Lifeway, Island Allies chooses to step into this work as a responsibility