Pam Fry of the Senior Center Friends & Neighbors program e-mailed this request for help: The Senior Center Friends & Neighbors program is looking for volunteers who are able to drive in this winter weather to help some seniors
Friday Harbor Taxi, 298-4434, is offering free taxi service within the town limits
An Orcas High School junior broke his neck in a snowboarding accident at the Orcas Island Golf Course, Dec. 17.
A Friday Harbor woman was in surgery this morning at Harborview Medical Center for injuries she received in a four-car collision on Portland Fair Road late Sunday. The Sheriff’s Department only identified the woman as a 62-year-old San Juan Island resident.
Snow kept many islanders hunkered down in warm homes over the weekend, as a storm blanketed the region. The storm caused Alaska Airlines and Horizon Airlines to cancel all flights Sunday afternoon. The state Transportation Department closed I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass and SR 14 through the Columbia River Gorge due to high winds, snow drifts and zero visibility.
San Juan Island public school students will get to sleep in a little late today; schools will start 90 minutes later and buses will use snow routes for the fifth consecutive day. Freezing temperatures that arrived last weekend continue here today and will continue through this weekend.
You know the motto associated with U.S. postal carriers: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” But freezing temperatures and icy roads apparently can slow them.
Gov. Christine Gregoire has proposed cutting the level of service in Washington State Ferries, including eliminating the Sidney run, in an effort to close a projected $5.7 billion shortfall. The 2009-11 state budget, proposed Dec. 18, closes the shortfall through a combination of program reductions; suspension of state employee, teacher and care worker salary increases; changes in pensions; and using the state’s rainy day fund.
The staff of The Journal of the San Juan Islands wishes you and yours a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. We look forward to being your local information source and your partner for progress in 2009.
The San Juan Islands Christmas Bird Count has been rescheduled for Jan. 3 because of weather. “Thank you to those that e-mailed me to support this change and thank you to the brave souls (only a couple) that were willing to brave the conditions,” coordinator Barbara Jensen e-mailed.
The Friday Harbor Town Council’s 5:30 p.m. meeting today has been canceled because of inclement weather. The council will meet at noon in the Town Hall Council Chambers; the evening’s agenda items have been moved to the noon meeting.
Dec. 4, the Town Council discussed the installation of a crosswalk and controlled stop at the intersection of Spring and Mullis streets. No action was taken. The discussion took place in an effort to respond to requests made to the town to address pedestrian crossing concerns associated with the Village at the Harbour assisted-living apartments, Inter Island Medical Center, Islands Convalescent Center and Friday Harbor MarketPlace.
A seat check on Monday and Tuesday morning found that most county employees were at their desk and offices were open for business and functioning normally despite the snow and ice, the county communications office reported Wednesday.