By banding together Saturday, WSF-served communities may have more clout in Olympia
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By banding together Saturday, WSF-served communities may have more clout in Olympia

Tuesday, November 19, 2024by Jeff Noedel SanJuans.Today was the ONLY news media in all of Washington to cover the important 2024 Fix Our Ferries legislative summit. Not only did we report on the meeting, but we live-streamed the entire public session and recorded it for the record. If you value this kind of commitment to…

RECORDINGS OF THE FIX OUR FERRIES SUMMIT:  Ferry-served communities united for Regional Legislative Summit in Mukilteo
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RECORDINGS OF THE FIX OUR FERRIES SUMMIT: Ferry-served communities united for Regional Legislative Summit in Mukilteo

SanJuans.Today was the only news media to attend Saturday’s Fix Our Ferries legislative summit. We streamed the meeting live, and recorded it, too. The video below is part 1 (morning session) of the summit. The video below is part 2 (afternoon session/keynote address) of the summit. ORIGINAL: Friday, November 8, 2024UPDATED: Friday, November 15, 2024by…

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Live notes from the ‘Fix Our Ferries’ Legislative Summit Saturday
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REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: Live notes from the ‘Fix Our Ferries’ Legislative Summit Saturday

Saturday, November 16, 2024 SanJuans.Today uses the new BlueSky social platform. It’s similar to the old Twitter because it was created by the old Twitter team. Instead of “tweets,” posts on the BlueSky platform are called “skeets!” In this post, you’ll see real-time notes created by SanJuans.Today News Director Jeff Noedel. To see all the…

WSF ANNOUNCEMENT: Uptick in Cancelations of inter-island likely over next few weeks – Robust alerting promised
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WSF ANNOUNCEMENT: Uptick in Cancelations of inter-island likely over next few weeks – Robust alerting promised

Monday, October 7, 2024 at 9:55 a.m.From the SanJuans.Today Newsroom Over the weekend, senior management with Washington State Ferries informed state legislators from Washington’s 40th District and members of the San Juans’ Ferry Advisory Committee that an uptick in canceled sailings of the inter-island route, due to crewing shortages, is “likely” over the next “few…

ARBITRATION DECISION: WSF marine engineers and oilers get 4% pay bump two years in a row – MEBA sought to close gap with other job titles on vessels
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ARBITRATION DECISION: WSF marine engineers and oilers get 4% pay bump two years in a row – MEBA sought to close gap with other job titles on vessels

Thursday, September 26, 2024 The union representing Washington State Ferries’ engine room crew members (Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association) and state negotiators reached an impasse in bargaining their new contract in early August. The parties entered into an interest arbitration hearing Friday, August 23. The hearing ended Friday, August 30.  The arbitrator had until Sep. 30…

UPDATED: GOVERNOR ORDERS .5 MILLION IN STATE ‘EMERGENCY FUNDS’ FOR LOCAL FERRY & BARGE SERVICES & WEEKEND INTER-ISLAND SERVICE THROUGH WINTER 2025
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UPDATED: GOVERNOR ORDERS $1.5 MILLION IN STATE ‘EMERGENCY FUNDS’ FOR LOCAL FERRY & BARGE SERVICES & WEEKEND INTER-ISLAND SERVICE THROUGH WINTER 2025

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 3:04 p.m.UPDATE1 at 5:13 p.m. by Jeff Noedel FRIDAY HARBOR, WA–In a 1:00 p.m. meeting today at the Brickworks meeting space, Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced that he has ordered $1.5 million in state emergency funds to help the San Juans cope with canceled sailings in the Washington State Ferry…

GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE ON WSF: “The San Juans community has been tolerant to the ‘nth degree…”
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GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE ON WSF: “The San Juans community has been tolerant to the ‘nth degree…”

A CNL2 VIDEO IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE Saturday, August 24, 2024by Jeff Noedel Governor Jay Inslee visited San Juan Island today, and he rekindled hope that the State may help with with some kind of solution – temporary or permanent – if and when we experience the kind of meltdown of Washington…

IMPASSE TO BE BROKEN: WSF Engineers’ union and State of Washington enter arbitration today
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IMPASSE TO BE BROKEN: WSF Engineers’ union and State of Washington enter arbitration today

Friday, August 23, 2024 Washington State Ferries’ engine room crew represented by their union, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, and state negotiators in the Washington Office of Financial Management reached an impasse in bargaining over terms and conditions of their contract. They begin interest arbitration today, Friday, August 23. Arbitration is expected to be complete by next Friday,…

BREAKING: Governor rejects San Juan County funding proposal for expanded walk-on ferry services during WSF inter-island outages
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BREAKING: Governor rejects San Juan County funding proposal for expanded walk-on ferry services during WSF inter-island outages

ORIGINAL: Wednesday, August 21, 2024 @ 12:50 p.m. Asked and answered.And the answer is no. CNL2 has learned that a representative for Governor Jay Inslee have told leaders of San Juan County government that the State will not agree to the proposal made by the County for special supplemental passenger ferry and small barge services…

WSF engineers to vote on State’s contract offer – If rejected arbitration starts in 2 weeks
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WSF engineers to vote on State’s contract offer – If rejected arbitration starts in 2 weeks

FOLLOWING IS A STATEMENT BY THE MARINE ENGINEERS’ BENEFICIAL ASSOCIATION Friday, August 9, 2024 Seattle, WA –  Members of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A) Washington State Ferry workers bargaining team are taking the state’s offer of a pay scale 30% lower than deck crew to their members.  If members reject the offer, the parties…

Town wastewater treatment plant recognized for outstanding performance
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Town wastewater treatment plant recognized for outstanding performance

FOLLOWING IS A STATEMENT BY THE TOWN OF FRIDAY HARBOR, WASHINGTON Friday, August 9, 2024 The Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) has presented the Town of Friday Harbor sewer treatment plant with the 2023 Wastewater Treatment Plant Outstanding Performance award.  The plant is one of 118 out of more than 300 plants statewide to…

WSF Engineers detail complaints at Tuesday’s M.E.B.A. press conference
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WSF Engineers detail complaints at Tuesday’s M.E.B.A. press conference

CNL2 traveled to Downtown Seattle Tuesday to cover a press conference of the union for Washington State Ferry engineers. The 175-year-old Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA) has approximately 400 members who keep the WSF vessels running. The first part of the interview includes multiple engineers reading prepared remarks. Then union officials make statements and answer…

Governor’s Policy Advisor Talking with SJC Council Chair Fuller – Could Lead to Chat with Governor
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Governor’s Policy Advisor Talking with SJC Council Chair Fuller – Could Lead to Chat with Governor

NOTE: This article first appeared in the Journal of The San JuansIf you’re not a subscriber to The Journal, it costs just $5.95 every four weeks!Subscribe here! By Jeff Noedel SAN JUAN COUNTY, WASHINGTON NEWS — A lot has happened in the five days since the San Juan County Council gave Chair Jane Fuller the nod to…

Community Water Taxi Releases Inter-island Survey Results
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Community Water Taxi Releases Inter-island Survey Results

FOLLOWING IS A STATEMENT BY COMMUNITY WATER TAXI In mid-February of 2024, the Community Water Taxi (CWT) released a survey meant to capture the community impacts of unreliable Washington State Ferries (WSF) interisland service on San Juan County (SJC) residents and offer a more complete picture of the current crisis in SJC and islanders’ specific…