Island News
No Place Like Loam | The six-tree culinary apple orchard: eating, cider, baking, storage
||| NO PLACE LIKE LOAM from ALEX TAMAYO WOLF ||| I spent the last week pruning an orchard near President’s Channel on Orcas Island —thinning cuts only, thank you—which leaves a lot of time to think. There’s a long pause between deciding the future and letting the saw finish the sentence. You stand there, reading structure, weighing the past and future, listening to the quiet argument between what could stay and what must go. I have a lot to think […]
Derevensky and Stern win seats in OPALCO 2026 board election
||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT COOPEERATIVE ||| On Thursday, May 7, OPALCO held their virtual Annual Business Meeting, where the meeting minutes from the 2025 Annual Meeting were approved and the election results were announced. Ray Glaze of the OPALCO Election and Governance Committee announced the results of the 2026 Board Election. In District 1 (San Juan et al), Laura Derevensky was elected with 764 votes. In District 2 (Orcas et al), Laura Stern was elected […]
Garden Club garden tour tickets now on sale
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| Looking for a last minute Mother’s Day gift? Garden tour tickets are officially on sale! Hello Fellow Garden Enthusiasts! Mark your calendars! This year’s theme, “Gardens With Purpose” features seven inspiring gardens with fun planned for all ages. As a non-profit, all proceeds go back to our community. During the 2025 – 2026 season, the Orcas Island Garden Club has been proud to fund speakers for programs always free and open to the […]
Community art show at Orcas Center | Capturing the Moment
||| FROM COLLEEN SMITH SUMMERS for ORCAS CENTER ||| The Visual Arts Committee of Orcas Center announces a new community show — “Capturing the Moment” – to open on May 29. For this show, the VAC welcomes art that depicts a special moment or fleeting event (e.g., a whale breaching, a lightning strike, a child laughing, friends having coffee together). This is a broad theme for art in all mediums. Community shows are open to ALL island artists, beginning and […]
Happy Mother’s Day to all the matriarchs of the sea
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Today we’re celebrating all mothers everywhere, especially the matriarchs of the Pacific Northwest. For 50 years, the Center for Whale Research has studied the endangered Southern Resident killer whales. What we’ve found is remarkable: grandmothers are essential to their family’s survival. They know where to find food, lead their pods through uncertainty, and pass down a lifetime of knowledge to the ones they love. This Mother’s Day, we honor the matriarchs
I’m Not the Church Lady | Mother’s Day is the worst day of the year
||| I’M NOT THE CHURCH LADY by ROSIE KUHN ||| An idol is not something evil or dramatic. It is often something we unconsciously ask to give us what only God, Presence, or the Divine can provide: peace, completion, security, identity, worth, certainty, and unconditional love. Children can become idols. Parenthood can become an idol. Relationships, success, approval, usefulness, spirituality itself—even suffering—can become idols if we are asking them to complete us or fill the ache of separation
Orcas Pride | GiveOrcas approaches
||| FROM ORCAS PRIDE ||| Thank you for standing with Orcas Pride! We are gearing up for three unforgettable days of joyful resistance on June 12, 13, and 14, and your gift can make all the difference. Whenever our queer and trans communities face challenges, we come together and find strong, creative ways to support and celebrate each other. When the pressure rises, we crank up the music and let our Pride shine even brighter! Will you help keep the […]
Indian Island stewardship season needs you
||| FROM RUSSEL BARSH for KWIAHT ||| Community stewardship of Indian Island is 18 years old and still growing! This one-acre preserve a few hundred feet from Main Street is a unique part of the San Juan Islands National Monument that has a locally staffed and funded program of research, wildlife monitoring, and public interpretation, organized by the nonprofit conservation laboratory Kwiaht. (Keepers of the Patos Light is the only other nonprofit stewardship program in the Monument; Monument sta
GiveOrcas set to kick-off at Orcas Center party
||| FROM LINDSAY JENNINGS for ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ||| Please join your neighbors and friends at the GiveOrcas Kick-Off Party at Orcas Center on Tuesday, May 12 from 4-6pm. All ages are welcome to celebrate spring and meet the 31 nonprofits taking part in Spring GiveOrcas. Light bites, beverages, kids’ art activities, music, and lots of community joy will be provided. We even have fun games planned that will give you a chance to win additional funding for your […]
Sheriff’s Report | April 29 – May 5, 2026
||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE ||| WEDNESDAY, APRIL. 29 26-002400 Suspicious Person/Circumstance 08:39:06 04/29/26 A report of suspicious activity on the 100 block of Spring Street was reported to the Sheriff’s Office. It was reported a male may have been attempting to circumvent an electronic lock, but was unsuccessful. The individual was identified and contacted. 26-002401 False Information to Police 09:17:43 04/29/26 An Orcas Island Deputy responded to a citizen required to surrend
Want to direct? An evening with Ken Kwapis, director
||| FROM SAM GAILEY for ORCAS ISLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY ||| Orcas Island Public Library will host a special evening with award-winning film and television director Ken Kwapis on Thursday, May 14, at 6:00 p.m. The program will feature a Q&A-style conversation about Kwapis’s career in film and television, his work adapting books for the screen, and his book, What I Really Want To Do Is Direct. Kwapis, who lives part-time on Orcas Island, has directed eleven feature films, including ‘A […]
County Council to travel to Lopez Island for upcoming May 12 meeting
The meeting will be held at the Lopez Community Center ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County Council will hold its regularly scheduled May 12 meeting on Lopez Island. The public is invited to join the three councilmembers and County staff at the meeting at the Lopez Community Center beginning at 10:30am. What: San Juan County Council meeting Where: Lopez Community Center, 204 Village Road, Lopez Island, WA When: Beginning at 10:30am The agenda and related materials […]
San Juan County announces resurfacing of 18 miles of roads this summer
Chip seal maintenance programs help preserve county roads ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County’s Public Works Department is announcing its annual summer road resurfacing schedule to chip seal approximately 18 miles of roads on Lopez and San Juan Islands. Chip sealing is a pavement treatment that extends the life of the road surface. Learn more by visiting the County Roads Program webpage at https://www.sanjuancountywa.gov/309/County-Roads and see the schedule and map below
WSF Weekly Report | Good Morning America visit; media visits; online community meetings
||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| A message from Steve I spent Monday with my deputy, John Vezina, and Electrification Program Administrator David Sowers at Eastern Shipbuilding Group. We visited the Florida site where our new 160-car ferries will be built. It was an opportunity to learn more about the family-owned business (watch a video about the company’s history). We also wanted to convey to them the importance of this program to the people of Washington state. They […]
Are you entering something in the Fair?
Check out these important dates for 2026 fair exhibitors ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| The San Juan County Parks & Fair Department is excited to continue offering convenient online pre-registration and multi-island pick-up and drop-off for non‑perishable Fair entries. Online registration opens Wednesday, July 1, and our staff will be traveling to Orcas, Lopez, and Shaw on August 8 to collect entries headed to the Fair. Register early, prepare your entries, and meet us on your islan
Occam’s Razor | Our island, our world through the eyes, pen of S.C. Watson
Letter to Editor | A compelling reason to learn CPR
||| FROM GERI BAKER for ORCAS ONLINE ||| On April 20, 2026 my husband Stu collapsed in his chair (Widow-Maker heart attack. 70% mortality rate) at our office in Eastsound and was without pulse for 25+ minutes. 6 paddles (clear!), 3 EPI jabs & so many compressions, plus 3 stents added by the Cath Lab at Peace Health in Bellingham–he is alive and well! Because God Almighty blessed us! Because our colleague Ron Claus knew/started CPR immediately on the instruction […]
GoFundMe campaigns set up for traffic accident victims
||| FROM JEFF PLATT for GOFUND ME ||| The friends and families of the young couple from Orcas Island who died in the crash on US-97 near Beebe Bridge in Lake Chelan have started GoFundMe pages asking for help to honor their loved ones. The links to both fundraisers are below. For your convenience, photos shared on GoFundMe are public and available for use with attribution to the GoFundMe fundraiser. Here is the fundraiser in memory of David Klein Jr: https://www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-david-r-
Coming Soon | Master Gardeners spring plant sales on San Juan, Orcas
Healthy herbs, tomato and pepper starts, and locally grown perennial landscaping plants need new homes! ||| FROM CAITIE BLETHEN for SJC MASTER GARDENERS ||| One of the most anticipated signs of spring, the San Juan County Master Gardener Foundation Spring Plant Sales will take place on San Juan and Orcas Islands on Saturday, May 16th and Sunday May 17th, respectively. San Juan Island When: Saturday, May 16th, 9 a.m. to noon Where: Mullis Center, 589 Nash St. Orcas Island When: […]
Salmonberry Community School is turning 25
…and we’re having a party! ||| FROM LAURA BLACK for SALMONBERRY SCHOOL ||| Anyone who has ever been in relationship with the little school with a big heart is invited to attend our birthday party on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 from 1:00 – 4:00 in the school yard. We will have food and refreshments to share, cake and conversation, and much more. Over these 25 years, hundreds of children and their families have crossed the threshold through the spinning metal […]
Larsen defends reproductive health care
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) joined more than 250 House and Senate Democrats in filing an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn a Fifth Circuit decision that would restrict access to mifepristone by reinstating a requirement that the drug be dispensed in person. Last week, the Fifth Circuit blocked access to mifepristone nationwide at retail pharmacies and in the mail, prompting the Supreme Cour
Have a garden question? Ask an Orcas Master Gardener
Saturday May 9th at the Market Garden Nursery ||| FROM ORCAS MASTER GARDENERS ||| Do you have a question about your soil, have a problem with your fruit tree, or are thinking about starting a garden? Is something bugging your plants, or you are curious about identifying a plant or insect? Master Gardeners will be staffing Ask A Master Gardener events on Orcas to help answer your questions and collect plant problem samples. Orcas Master Gardeners will be at the Market […]
SJC’s Agricultural Resources Committee to host farmer listening session on meat processing
The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and will be held virtually on Zoom ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS ||| San Juan County’s Agricultural Resources Committee (ARC) is hosting a listening session and information sharing opportunity for farmers to discuss access to meat processing. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and will be held virtually on Zoom. Register here: Meeting Registration – Zoom. This […]
Join Garden Club for permaculture presentation
||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB ||| LEARN FROM PERMACULTURIST, STEWARD, AND PASSIONATE GARDENER, TAJA WICKS Wednesday, May 20th, 10 am (at the Orcas Center or by Zoom) JOIN US AT 9:30 AM (just before the program) for social time, and feel free to bring something for the Sharing Table! Please join the Orcas Island Garden Club on Wednesday, May 20th when we welcome Taja Wicks for her presentation, What is Permaculture? A glimpse into her “Intro […]