Sunday, July 29, marked the final sailing of the oldest boat in Washington State Ferries’ fleet, and state and local officials memorialized the event with photos, gifts and speeches onboard her deck.
San Juan Community Theatre marks 25 years with tribute to founders as well as encore performances. The July 28 anniversary extravaganza drew a standing-room-only crowd.
Seven years in the making, “War of the Whales,” a 420-page expose of the U.S. military’s often secretive use of sonar and account of those, like marine biologist Ken Balcomb, who, through keen supposition and painstaking science, first connected the dots and then launched a courtroom campaign against the U.S. Navy and its perilous program, is due out July 1.
A 33-year-old San Juan Island man, accused of dumping a mass of auto tires on the shoreline of a westside preserve, faces a $1,000 fine and a $4,700 cleanup bill, and possible prosecution on criminal charges. And, that’s just the start.
Road less traveled leads to degree for five Skagit Valley College graduates. Though small in number the graduating class, five in all, are “rich in background and in diversity.”
By all accounts, a new twist to a long-standing state pollution prevention program got off to a smashing success on the waterfront of Friday Harbor. Still, for Ken Norris, the launch signaled a most bittersweet goodbye.
San Juan County Sheriff’s Department ended its long-standing policy of honoring a request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that anyone taken into custody, and who is suspected of being in the country illegally, be detained for up to 48 hours, long enough for immigration enforcement agents to presumably pick them up.
For the hard-core athletic enthusiast, this year’s solstice marks a turning point, as the annual San Juan Island Marathon, with a brand new course lying in wait (for the half-marathon and 10K events as well), and the Three Lakes Triathlon all come together on the weekend that’s also home to the longest day of the year.
Peppered with smiles and applause, the soon-to-be graduates were greeted by a warm welcome from family, friends and well-wishers as they passed by the church pews and stepped up onto the stage. They were swarmed by an even more enthusiastic embrace on stage after tassels had been turned and caps lofted ceremoniously into the air.
From the opening “Welcome” address by ASB President Erin McCauley, to concluding speeches by class co-valedictorians Emily Guard and Libby Snow, representatives of the Friday Harbor High School Class of 2014 made it clear that high school graduation is a collective cause, and that Saturday’s commencement ceremony was as much about family, friends, supporters, mentors, employers and well-wishers, as it was about those donned that evening in the customary cap-and-gown.
Funded by a $600,000-plus federal grant and built by Burlington-based Munson Boats, the Sentinel and its arrival in Friday Harbor signal an end to a two-year bureaucratic odyssey for the Sheriff’s Department and the beginning of a new era of public safety out on the water.
A spike in strandings of harbor porpoise has biologists unsettled. A total of eight harbor porpoise carcasses were recovered from beaches on the westside of San Juan Island between May 19 and May 29.
As proposed, the dock would measure 271-feet (10 yards shy of the length of football field) accommodate up to six boats, 20-30 feet in length, and be located a stone’s throw from San Juan Island’s False Bay.