Monday, January 13, 2025 at 9:26 a.m.by Jeff Noedel Following a tradition of rotating the County Council chair position among the three “residency districts” in San Juan County, Kari McVeigh (District 1, including San Juan Island) has been unanimously elected Chairperson of the County Council. She was nominated by Jane Fuller (District 3, including Lopez…
Sunday, January 12, 2025by Jeff Noedel After a thorough vetting of six candidates for two County Council offices, the voters spoke. A new leadership team occupies the legislative chambers now. Kari McVeigh, Justin Paulsen, and Jane Fuller will be making decisions that affect the lives of 18,000 San Juan Countians. They will make decisions that…
Saturday, January 11, 2025by Jeff Noedel In 2024, candidate Bob Ferguson promised to make the problems with Washington State Ferries a priority. He promised change. On Wednesday, in appearances in Mukilteo and then in Clinton, Governor-elect Ferguson began to make good on his promise for change — the speed of change, and the cost of…
Tuesday, January 7, 2025by Jeff Noedel San Juan County Superior Court Presiding Judge Kathryn C. Loring has ruled in the lawsuit filed by San Juan County government against the Town of Friday Harbor over the County’s water rights at the County fairgrounds. Specifically, the judge ruled against the Town’s “Resolution 2850,” which it adopted on May…
Monday, January 6, 2024 DATA SUPPLIED BY SAN JUAN COUNTY GOVERNMENT By the numbers…
Monday, January 6, 2024by Jeff Noedel Last week’s heartbreaking news of another dead calf of Southern Resident Killer Whales’ Tahlequah (J35) was a worldwide story. Reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC News peppered local experts with questions during a 60-minute telephone news conference. There were even more journalists in the…
by Tom Banse, contributor to The Salish CurrentOriginally published in The Salish Current on January 3, 2025 Western Washington refineries brought in more oil by tanker from Canada after an expanded export terminal opened in May near Vancouver Washington state oil refineries are taking advantage of a newly expanded tanker terminal just across the border…
Friday, January 3, 2025by Jeff Noedel Funded by a portion of the revenue collected under the State Lodging Tax excise statutes, the Lodging Tax Grant program is made possible in part by the many local hotels, bed and breakfasts, and other lodgings that collect taxes from visitors. Collected funds support activities, programs, and capital projects…
Sunday, January 5, 2024 A SanJuans.Today RECORDED LIVESTREAM IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE IF YOU FIND YOURSELF looking for a new environmental protection project, this could be it. Dr. Riki Ott is completely focused on how America will respond to its next major oil spill. She makes the case that this is a…
Sunday, January 5, 2024by Jeff Noedel America’s local newspapers continue to disappear at the rate of 2-1/2 per week. La Conner, Washington is in the process of losing its local newspaper. And this is not just any weekly community newspaper. It’s believed to be the oldest continuously running newspaper in the State of Washington. Rutherford…
Friday, January 3, 2025by Jeff Noedel SanJuans.Today reached out to some local residents with the question “What is your New Year’s resolution for an organization dear to you?” Here’s what we got back (in order received): Dr. Riki Ott, Founder, ALERT Project“ALERT Project resolves to better protect our emergency responders by initiating rule-makings to revise…
Tuesday, December 31, 2024by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero and Bill Lucia WASHINGTON STATE STANDARD, Olympia–New restrictions on cosmetics tested on animals, tougher penalties for negligent drivers, requirements for hospitals to offer drugs to people possibly exposed to HIV. These are among the changes in Washington state law set to take effect Jan. 1, 2025. Washington state lawmakers passed…
Monday, December 30, 2024 at 11:30 a.m.by Jeff Noedelphotos by Ed Andrews When the fireworks start popping at midnight tomorrow night, two new San Juan County Council members assume office. But they took their oaths of office this morning at 9:00 a.m. Washington State law allows for the oath of office for county officials to…
SanJuans.Today is elevating our coverage of oil spill risk in the Salish Sea. Periodically, we will report on major oil spills worldwide. Friday, December 27, 2024by Jeff Noedel Attempts to clean up a spill of at least 3,700 tons of oil continue in the Kerch Strait near Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea. According to new reporting…
Friday, December 27, 2024by Jeff Noedel CenturyLink, the largest telephone company in Washington, has been fined $133,000 for “excessive” call wait times and disclosure violations, according to a The Seattle Times article penned by staff reporter Caitlyn Freeman. The fines were levied by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. Washington state law prescribes acceptable response…
