Five Friday Harbor residents have applied for appointment to the Friday Harbor Town Council. The applicants will be interviewed by the council Thursday at the noon meeting, with appointment following.
These were the pound puppies of ruminants. Once abandoned, abused, underfed, the herd is now living in goat heaven: Eating to their heart’s content, lounging in the sun, pausing for a neck scratch from their caretaker, and serving an important purpose. The 12 goats, owned by San Juan Island farmer Karen Lundin, are being used to clear Friday Harbor Airport property of noxious weeds.
The San Juan County Land Bank Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting on Friday, July 16 in the Lopez Public Library, community meeting room, 2225 Fisherman Bay Road, Lopez Island. The meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. Public comment time is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. The public is welcome at every monthly Land Bank Commission meeting.
Steve Cartagena walked up the stairs to the Port of Friday Harbor office so he could pay his moorage. It was July 1. He woke up four days later, on July 5, at St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham. What he doesn’t remember is his heart stopping and his lifeless body rolling down the flight of 15 stairs. And eight people carrying him up the stairs and summoning help. And Assistant Harbormaster Jeremy Talbott — who is also a volunteer firefighter and EMT — getting his heart going again. And the ambulance arriving, and the medflight to St. Joseph.
The Journal of the San Juan Islands asked the candidates for San Juan County Sheriff four questions. Here are their answers.
We are your sons and daughters, nieces and nephews. We are your grandchildren. We write to you because we have a very specific need we would like to communicate with you in hopes that we can work together to make this happen. Our community needs to have a place for us, the youth of the island. We would like a cozy place to gather and hang out in the evenings that is not a bar or a party and doesn’t cost us a half a day to a day’s pay simply to be there.
Regarding the story, “County Council considers increase in real estate excise tax,” July 7 Journal: County Councilman Howie Rosenfeld says that if such an issue was put on the ballot it would not pass. So the real question is, why would HE vote for it?
Two 64-car state ferries to be launched in 2011 will be named the Salish and the Kennewick. The State Transportation Commission selected the names Tuesday. The other names under consideration were Cowlitz, Samish and Tokitae. Salish is expected to be launched in spring 2011; Kennewick is expected to be launched in summer 2011, according to Washington State Ferries.
As you may have heard on the news, the MV Catalyst hit a rock while whale-watching off Port Houghton on July 6 on one of their seven-day trips in Southeast Alaska. No one was injured and the boat was fine. However, all passengers were evacuated off the boat by skiff to the nearby Robert Island. There they were taken care of by the crew members, while the captain, Bill Bailey, returned to the boat to prepare her for keeling over as the tide was going out. He was able to keep the boat stable, until the tide came in hours later and she went afloat.
Recently, in response to my candidacy for sheriff of San Juan County, several deputies have written and published a letter of “no confidence” in me as a potential leader for law enforcement in our community. Of course, this is disappointing to me personally, but not unexpected. Since I ran against Sheriff Cumming several years ago, it has been clear that I believe we can do better than we are currently doing. With the recently demonstrated inability of our department to deal effectively with a single teen-age serial burglar, it is no longer enough to say that we can do better. We must do better.
We feel that candidate Jeff Asher, while doing his job well as a deputy, does not have the leadership abilities or management skills to move the Sheriff’s Office forward for our community. We have worked alongside Deputy Asher for many years, some of us his entire career, and based on this experience we have not seen the qualities we are looking for in our next sheriff.
Colton Harris-Moore pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of entering the Bahamas illegally, and is scheduled to be deported to the United States. Numerous news agencies report that the U.S. Embassy in Nassau will pay the $300 fine he received, clearing the way for his return to the U.S. for trial. Harris-Moore, 19, of Camano Island is suspected of committing burglaries and thefts in several states, British Columbia and the Bahamas over a two-year period before his arrest Sunday by Royal Bahamian Police.
U.S. Senate candidate Paul Akers wants to meet you. The candidate and his wife, Leanne, are hosting an open house at their home in Bellingham — July 16 at 6 p.m. — and are inviting the public to attend. “There will be food, fun and an opportunity to meet Paul and ask him questions,” the e-mailed invitation states.
