Underage and high-risk drinking, alcohol abuse and binge drinking are complex problems. No one strategy can remedy the risks, but one effective, proven approach is the higher (age 21) Minimum Legal Driving Age, or MLDA.
The San Juan Island solid waste transfer station, one of the most contentious issues on the island today, may help bring peace between the town and county governments. If the county vacates the Sutton Road site for another location, the town could conceivably operate its own waste transfer station. But the state Department of Ecology and the town and county’s joint planning policy discourage the operation of two waste transfer stations on the island. So, the town and county are drafting letters of intent, pledging to work toward a single solution to the island’s solid waste woes. This is a major diplomatic move and we applaud it.
I am utterly dismayed by the letter from Glenn Kaufman that appeared on SanJuanJournal.com (“Opposed to PeaceHealth/San Juan Community Hospital Committee proposal,” March 9). I am the administrator of the Orcas Medical Center and am deeply concerned that I was misrepresented in paragraphs four and five of this letter.
It’s taken 18 months of researching and planning, but the Shared Care program is now available on the islands. And we think it’s a great thing. Shared Care is a regional service based in Bellingham. It is operated through PeaceHealth, which operates St. Joseph’s Hospital and proposes building a hospital on San Juan Island. Because the San Juans are in the St. Joseph’s service area, PeaceHealth agreed to extend the program to us (the Orcas Island Fire Department worked with PeaceHealth to bring the program here).
Hard times are always harder on children. The challenges of ordinary life are magnified when the stress of economic difficulty is imposed on a family. Foreclosures, layoffs and budget woes can lead to desperate behaviors. The overall gloom of the times affects even those who are not at immediate risk.
April gives us a lot more to think about than spring. This month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month, and Alcohol Awareness Month — three issues that plague our society yet three issues on which we can make such a big difference. Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of the San Juan Islands is using this month to make you aware of some important facts.
Minimally fixing up the current transfer station has been widely advocated, because at first glance it appears to be obviously the cheapest option. In fact, it would be wasting money. To see why requires delving a bit deeper. There is another option that is not only cheaper but also better.
When non-Native settlers began flooding into the Pacific Northwest in the 1850s, the prairies were the first to undergo considerable change because of their easy conversion to farming use. The result? Today, Western Washington’s prairies — including that at American Camp — are widely considered the most imperiled ecosystems in the region.
In its 11th year, The Family Umbrella Group has never turned down a qualified preschool scholarship application, making it possible for more than 200 local island children to attend the preschool of their choice. Our annual fund-raiser will be held on April 3 in Mullis Community Senior Center. The theme this year is “Spring at the Seashore” and will include a silent auction and social hour beginning at 11, gourmet lunch served at noon, followed by a live — and lively — auction led by Eugene Cuomo.
We are born wired to learn. By age 3, our brains have one trillion synapses — more than we’ll have in adulthood. By age 6, our brains are 95 percent the size of mom’s and dad’s. We’ll spend 13 years in school preparing for college or the workplace. But it’s our first five years of life — those years before we ever set foot in a classroom — that have the most impact on our ability to learn, control our behavior and build relationships. By age 5, we either have the building blocks for success, or we have a tough road to hoe.
April 13. That’s the new deadline for public comment on the U.S. Navy’s plans to extend its training over the San Juan Islands and the Pacific Northwest. Hear those planes rumbling over the San Juans? That should compel you to learn more about what the Navy has planned. Read the draft Environmental Impact Statement – the name of the document is the “Northwest Training Range Complex Draft Environmental Impact Statement / Overseas Environmental Impact Statement.” To review the document and submit a comment, visit www.NWTRangeComplexEIS.com or write to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest, 1101 Tautog Circle, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101, Attn: Mrs. Kimberly Kler – NWTRC EIS/OEIS.
San Juan Island is at the threshold of major changes that will be felt 50 years from now. Attend these meetings. Be sure you are heard.
I had my skeptic’s guard up Tuesday when I attended the San Juan Lions Club meeting, where Beth Williams-Gieger, superintendent and clinic administrator of San Juan County Public Hospital District No. 1, was scheduled to speak about the proposed integrated medical center. Williams-Gieger was impressive enough to make a believer out of me.
