Two people beached their boat at Cape San Juan and got a ride into town, telling a helpful carpenter that they had run into boat trouble.
But now the San Juan County Sheriff’s Department suspects the two smuggled marijuana onto the island from Canada. On Friday, the Sheriff’s Department impounded the Canadian runabout that was beached at Cape San Juan on Oct. 7.
As Nikki Fink lay in her hospital bed, her body fighting infection so she could get a life-saving lung transplant, family and friends prayed. They prayed for healing. They prayed for a miracle. The 28-year-old woman died peacefully, on a cool fall Sunday afternoon, surrounded by those who love her. And those in the room realized that their prayer had been answered, long before they ever offered it up.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Department on Friday impounded a Canadian runabout that was beached at Cape San Juan on Oct. 7. Sheriff Bill Cumming said the boat is presumed stolen and may have been used to smuggle marijuana onto the island. Using the boat’s serial number, located on the transom, Canadian authorities have not been able to identify an owner and the boat has not been reported stolen, Cumming said.
If autumn nights leave you feeling lethargic, San Juan Community Theatre has the perfect remedy. On Oct. 24, SJCT hosts Asleep at the Wheel, a band renowned for bringing energy to every show. The nine-time Grammy winners, originally formed in Paw Paw, W.Va., found success quickly after forming in 1969, opening for big names like Alice Cooper and Hot Tuna in Washington, D.C. In the ensuing years, the band turned out a consistent stream of popular, western-swing, boogie, and roots-music for a large fan base.
Kathryn Pinion, a centenarian who worked for the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives during the New Deal, died Thursday morning in her apartment at Village at the Harbour in Friday Harbor. Her daughters were at her side.
Helen Brown died Sept. 25 in Friday Harbor. Helen was born in 1915 in Montana. She attended Carleton College in Minnesota, majoring in Music. During college, she met her husband Kenneth, a philosophy teacher at Macalester College.
Nikki Fink, 28, of Friday Harbor is in the intensive care unit at University of Washington Medical Center, awaiting a lung transplant. Fink has cystic fibrosis. She is the daughter of Yvonne Bowman and stepdaughter of Gary Bowman of Friday Harbor; she has a five-year-old son, Xander.
The Journal of the San Juan Islands asked the candidates for 40th District state House of Representatives, Position 2, the following questions: 1. Friday Harbor and San Juan County have cut staffing, reduced services, and implemented unpaid furloughs to balance their budgets. What new revenue sources are available to local governments? 2. In what ways can the state Legislature further reduce state spending, increase state revenues, and ensure adequate levels of public services? 3. Washington State Ferries has been beset by financial and management problems. What are your recommendations for solving those problems? 4. Education funding: What are your recommendations for ensuring the Legislature meets its constitutional obligation to adequately fund public education? 5. What would be your top three priorities as a state representative? Here are their answers.
The Journal of the San Juan Islands asked the candidates for 40th District state House of Representatives, Position 1, the following questions: 1. Friday Harbor and San Juan County have cut staffing, reduced services, and implemented unpaid furloughs to balance their budgets. What new revenue sources are available to local governments? 2. In what ways can the state Legislature further reduce state spending, increase state revenues, and ensure adequate levels of public services? 3. Washington State Ferries has been beset by financial and management problems. What are your recommendations for solving those problems? 4. Education funding: What are your recommendations for ensuring the Legislature meets its constitutional obligation to adequately fund public education? 5. What would be your top three priorities as a state representative? Here are their answers.
Friday Harbor Fire Chief Vern Long has resigned, effective Oct. 18. His resignation came two months after he was suspended without pay for two days after published photos showed a firefighter being supervised by the chief fighting a car fire without proper gear. He then went on medical leave. The town later hired a law firm, Patterson Buchanan of Seattle, to investigate claims made by five firefighters who resigned. They wrote a letter expressing no confidence in Long’s leadership.
Noted sculptor and art educator Stewart Luckman is expected to check in to Life Care Center of the San Juan Islands for rehabilitation Oct. 13, four days after being injured when a large steel sculpture toppled on top of him at his Portland Fair home.
Jane K. Fox, a first-year multimedia reporter at The Journal, won first place and third place for multimedia stories she produced for SanJuanJournal.com, in the state press association’s annual contest. It’s the first time The Journal has entered, and won, in the online categories of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspapers Contest. The contest judged work produced from 2009-10. Some 2,491 entries from 77 newspapers were submitted and judged by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.
After sliding steadily into the abyss over the past three years, the local real estate market appears to be on the rise. That’s according to local real estate companies — and statistics compiled from the San Juan County Treasurer and the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. It’s the top story in this week’s Journal of the San Juan Islands, which is available Wednesday at newsstands, in stores, and in subscribers’ mailboxes.
