The seventh-grade girls SWISH basketball team took first place in the SWISH tournament Dec. 11 in La Conner. The girls endured a six-week season, with games every Saturday off-island and 6 a.m. practices in Turnbull Gym.
Friday Harbor Town Administrator King Fitch’s salary reaches the six-figure mark for the first time Jan. 1. Fitch’s salary is scheduled to be $102,392 in 2011, up from $82,760 five years ago. The Town Council is scheduled Dec. 16 to approve the 2011 budget, as well ordinances setting the salaries of officials and unionized and non-unionized employees. The council meets at noon and 5:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers. Council meetings are open to the public. Here’s a sample of public salaries.
San Juan County Public Hospital District commissioners are scheduled Dec. 15 to discuss appointing a successor to Randi Dooley Park, who resigned from the commission Nov. 17. Her resignation is effective Dec. 31. Dooley Park, a nursing administrator, lives on the island but works on the mainland, making it difficult for her to attend meetings. She has participated in several meetings by speaker phone.
The state Parks and Recreation Commission on Dec. 14 announced the immediate closure of the docks at Jones Island and Sucia Island state parks in the San Juan Islands for construction work. The docks will undergo major construction to replace floats, gangways, piers and pilings. Additionally, docks will be upgraded to include enhanced access consistent with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The existing docks are more than 30 years old. During the closure, boaters are requested to not moor to the floats, watch for debris in the area and stay clear of the construction barges.
The truck eased forward, and the Adam Brown House was removed from the corner of West and First streets at about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 2, leaving soil there bare for the first time in 126 years.
Former Friday Harbor standout Tyler Hart caught the game-winning touchdown pass on the first play of overtime as the Eastern Washington Eagles defeated North Dakota State in the quarterfinals of Division I football playoffs, Dec. 11 at Cheney.
Boaters interested in greening their mooring buoys can now save some green doing so. In 2009, Friends of the San Juans received a grant from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board to map buoys in San Juan County and develop a cost-share program for mooring buoy owners to retrofit buoys in priority areas of the county.
Inter Island Medical Center has received the donation of a handheld portable ultrasound to assist in rapid evaluation of many conditions. The donor, Fred Housel of Johns Island, said, “I wanted to bring this technology to our clinic for a number of reasons. Certainly the ability to ‘see’ with sound is miracle enough, but I also hope to increase the medical independence of our community and to give back a gift to the remarkably hard working and caring staff of our clinic.”
Only 20 spots remain in the eighth annual Salmon Classic Invitational at Roche Harbor, Feb. 3-5, 2011. Anglers from the Northwest and Canada compete for more than $30,000 in cash and prizes including $10,000, first place; $5,000, second; $3,000 third; $2,000, fourth; $1,000, fifth; $2,000, Mystery Fish; $2,000 Best Boat Total Weight.
Should we have franchise fast-food chains in town? Some people say we should spend our money in local businesses and remember that corporate franchisers vacuum money from the local economy. Others say, “Let the market decide.” Franchises will be built — we’re reminded they’re already here — the fuss will die down and the market will, as it does in matters of money, decide. But there’s more at stake in the fates of local businesses than where the money goes. Local businesses are the community’s base of common knowledge.
On Nov. 24, The Journal of the San Juan Islands published an opinion column entitled “Verdict Is In: Human Impact Effects [sic] Our Shorelines.” I disagree with Dr. Landau’s opinions. While unintentional spills may occur, runoff from construction sites does not contain toxic chemicals, and land buffers do not break down “many chemicals into less toxic forms.”
Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan, has been elected by majority Democrats to chair the recently rechristened Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee and to serve as assistant whip for the Democratic Caucus in the state Senate.
The San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild has hired Adam Eltinge as construction manager for the Brickworks Project, 150 Nichols St., Friday Harbor. Eltinge and his wife, Deanna (Sundstrom), recently moved back to Friday Harbor to make their home and raise their two children. Eltinge has a degree in construction management and business from Washington State University, worked for a major commercial developer in the Seattle area, and most recently led the renovation of historic carriage houses in Portland.
