Gary J. McKay Sr. was born on Jan. 2, 1936 in Friday Harbor, Wash., and passed away on Jan. 4, 2010 in Bellingham, Wash. He was 74. Gary was the great-grandson of Charles McKay, who first raised the U.S. flag on San Juan Island after British troops left in 1872.
In Friday Harbor, the mayor votes only to break a tie. During the Town Council’s noon meeting, new Mayor Carrie Lacher got to fulfill that responsibility twice — to deny her former position on the council to her opponent in the November election; and two, to appoint a planning commissioner to the post. Planning Commissioner Stephen J. Hushebeck was appointed to the Town Council 3-2 today; he will be sworn in at 5:35 p.m. and will take office immediately. He will serve the two years left in the term vacated by Lacher when she was elected mayor.
William D. Ruckelshaus, a part-time resident of San Juan Island and former director of the EPA and the FBI, will receive the Theodore Roosevelt Medal for Public Service from the Theodore Roosevelt Association, Oct. 21, in Seattle. The Theodore Roosevelt Association is an historical and cultural organization dedicated to honoring the life and work of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th president of the United States.
Mallory Dahlquist, a sophomore at Friday Harbor High School, modeled teen fashions on Fox TV Channel 12 in Portland during Christmas break. Mallory is the daughter of Annette Crosby of Friday Harbor and Garrick Dahlquist of Beaverton, Ore.; and the granddaughter of David and Mary Ann Anderson of San Juan Island.
On behalf of Islands Convalescent Center residents and staff, I would like to genuinely thank the island and inter-island community for all of your precious gifts of time at our facility this holiday season.
San Juan County Council members Jan. 5 signed a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) urging the agency not to establish a “No-Go Zone” for watercraft on the west side of San Juan Island, but rather to emphasize enforcement primarily of more targeted regulations to protect the endangered Southern resident killer whales.
The San Juan County Council has unanimously selected Fourth District Council member Richard Fralick to chair the council for the next year and First District Council member Lovel Pratt as vice chairman.
A Sea Shepherd Conservation Society boat’s bow was sheared off today after it was struck by a Japanese whaling ship in the frigid waters of Antarctica, the group reported. The Associated Press reported that the vessel was taking on water and that its six crew members were safely transferred to another Sea Shepherd vessel, the newly commissioned Bob Barker. The boat is named for the American game show host who donated $5 million to buy it.
Ballots will soon arrive by mail for the renewal of the San Juan Island School District’s Maintenance and Operations (M&O) levy. Nearly 20 percent of our schools’ annual budget depends upon the M&O levy. M&O levy dollars flow directly to our classrooms and after-school programs, providing additional teachers and instructional staff. M&O levy funds support reasonable class sizes; staffing for music, visual arts, libraries, advanced placement, and vocational tech; online classes; and alternative options for all our students. These are the same programs that are subject to budget cuts when the district is pressed for funds, yet they are also the very programs that often help students succeed overall in school.
San Juan County Health & Community Services will participate in the state’s annual Point in Time Count of Homeless Persons on Jan. 28. Prior to that date, it will contact and enlist the cooperation of local agencies and organizations that come in contact with homeless members of the community. The annual count was mandated by a state law passed in 2005 which seeks to reduce homelessness in the state by 50 percent by 2015. The first survey in San Juan County, performed in 2007, identified 28 people as homeless, but last year’s count totaled 73, and it is expected that number will be larger this year due to the difficult local and national economic situation, county Communications Director Stan Matthews said in a press release.
As of Tuesday, Elijah Enochs is believed to be in the lead in the race to be the first baby of 2010 born to San Juan County parents. Elijah, the son of Lindsay Johnson and Justin Enochs of Wold Road on San Juan Island, is due Jan. 20 at Islands Hospital in Anacortes. Melinda Milligan of Eastsound is midwife.
The Journal of the San Juan Islands’ Citizen of the Year for 2009 is announced in the newspaper’s Wednesday edition. The edition will be on newsstands late Tuesday and in subscribers’ mailboxes Wednesday.
The days of the ubiquitous polystyrene “to-go” container are numbered in San Juan County. The County Council voted today to ban nearly all forms of expanded polystyrene food containers. The ban takes effect on April 22, Earth Day. A similar ban approved earlier by the Friday Harbor Town Council also takes effect that day.
