Island News
June is Pride Month; Community leaders call for action
The San Juan County Council formally proclaimed June as Pride Month at its Tuesday morning meeting on May 26, reaffirming the County’s commitment to the rights and dignity of its LGBTQIA+ residents — even as advocates urged elected officials to move from proclamation to concrete action.
The Big Chautauqua show is coming to Odd Fellows Hall
||| FROM ERIC MORRIS ||| The Big Show is at the Odd Fellows Hall on Haven Road @ 7pm Saturday June 20. Featuring internationally known performers including the Flying Karamazov Brothers, Artis the Spoonman, The Fighting Instruments of Karma Marching Chamber Band /Orchestra and more! It’s a knock-your-socks-off extravaganza full of fun, music and magical surprises. Tickets available at the door / also online at: www.tickettailor.com/events/newoldtimechautauqua/2160870 All proceeds to benefit The
Join Us for Orca Sing 2026
||| FROM CONOR AGNEW for THE WHALE MUSEUM ||| Join your friends and neighbors at Lime Kiln Point State Park on Saturday, June 20th at 7:00 PM for Orca Sing 2026! Bring your friends, family, and a picnic to enjoy the beauty of the park and the Salish Sea while listening to thoughtful speeches and local musicians. First Nations naturalists Odin Lonning and Orca Annie will offer Indigenous perspective on the endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Fred West will play […]
Harvesting immature Chinook is shrinking salmon and reducing future returns, new research finds
Study shows that millennia-old practice of fishing in rivers could restore salmon size ||| FROM EMMA HELVERSON for WILD FISH CONSERVANY ||| A new study by researchers at the Wild Fish Conservancy and Raincoast Conservation Foundation has found that marine salmon fisheries along the Pacific coast typically harvest Chinook too early in their life cycle, before they reach their full size as adults. The implications from this are far reaching for fisheries, future Chinook runs, and the ecosystem. Th
News Brief | Trump is taking aim at forest and wildfire research just as the West is poised to burn
||| FROM NPR ||| SEATTLE — Few public universities get more federal research funding than the University of Washington. So, as President Trump has already canceled or suspended about a quarter of all funding for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes for Health, the atmosphere on this leafy Seattle campus is tense. “We have a wildfire crisis in the West [and] in the United States,” says Ernesto Alvarado, a fire ecologist and associate professor at the school. But the […]
WSF Weekly Report | Relief boats on standby for World Cup; $150 fine for line-cutting; schedule updates; music on board for 75th anniversary
||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES ||| A message from Steve As our region prepares to welcome visitors from around the world for a summer of soccer, we are taking important steps to safely and reliably handle the increased demand. We plan to have two relief boats ready, with crews on standby during the event. These ferries can quickly step in if there is a service disruption, especially on our busy Central Sound routes. We will also have […]
Occam’s Razor | Our island, our world through the eyes, pen of S.C. Watson
Please return Orcas Art Barn sandwich board sign | Letter
A Message to Our Community:
Sail Orcas launches summer sailing lessons
Submitted by Sail Orcas.
(Re)Creation of the OIHS Culture Travel Club
By Leela Griesemer
Planning Scars from the San Juans: Looking back to 2024 by Marc Santo
Three months after my office burned down in the Friday Harbor arson fire that took the Windermere offices, the Crow’s Nest, and a handful of other business back in 2022, I voluntarily left a senior GIS role with the geospatial giant ESRI in order to accept my first local government job. On July 5, 2022, […]
New research shows harvesting chinook before they mature is shrinking salmon and reducing future returns
A new study by researchers at the Wild Fish Conservancy and Raincoast Conservation Foundation has found that marine salmon fisheries along the Pacific coast typically harvest Chinook too early in their life cycle, before they reach their full size as adults. The implications from this are far reaching for fisheries, future Chinook runs, and the […]
Merri Ann Simonson Real Estate Update: San Juan Island Market Snapshot
Here is our Market Snap Shot for the end of May. We reviewed the median home price for the 5-month period in 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025 and the prices reflect an increase in all price categories, except one. The trend may be returning to upward median home prices in 2026, […]
Guest Opinion | WA lawmakers should get involved as AI data centers sprout
||| BY MICHAEL RIORDAN as printed in THE SEATTLE TIMES ||| Artificial intelligence promises benefits, but its pernicious impacts must be anticipated and mitigated, else vast inequities and disruptions will result. State and local governments must act soon to mitigate these effects, especially in regulating the massive data centers that have blossomed in the Pacific Northwest and across the country to enable AI. As underscored by a series of 2024 Seattle Times and ProPublica articles, one of the
Larsen votes ‘No’ on funding ICE without guardrails
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement: “I voted no on this partisan bill to fund ICE, and I will continue to oppose funding ICE until the agency is required to follow the same rules as every other local, state and federal law enforcement agency. “Once again, Republicans ignored bipartisan calls for reform and instead advanced a bill that gives ICE and CBP 70 billion taxpayer dollars […]
Stand-up comedy night with acclaimed comic Adam Cayton-Holland at Orcas Center
||| FROM COLLEEN SMITH SUMMERS for ORCAS CENTER ||| Nationally touring comic Adam Cayton-Holland will perform stand-up comedy on Orcas Center’s stage. Cayton-Holland has appeared on Conan, Corden, Comedy Central, and a bunch of other great stuff that starts with the letter “C.” He will perform on Friday, June 26, at 7 p.m. Along with his cohorts in the comedy troupe, The Grawlix, Cayton-Holland created, wrote, and starred on the TV show, Those Who Can’t, which aired for three seasons. The Grawl
Environment Stewardship community-wide climate survey
Your input guided the first steps—now help us build the next phase of the Climate Action Plan ||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY LAND BANK ||| San Juan County is developing a Climate Action Plan (CAP) to guide how we respond to climate change while protecting our community and environment. The County is inviting all residents to participate in its second communitywide climate survey to help shape a future that reflects community values and priorities. Given the current budget restraints and […]
CWR encounters Bigg’s killer whales and humpbacks
||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH ||| Full Encounter Report ObservBegin: 12:39 PM ObservEnd: 01:36 PM Vessel: KCB III Staff: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss Other Observers: Rachel John Pods: Bigg’s killer whales IDsEncountered: T30A, T30C, T75B, T75B2, T75B3, and T75B4 LocationDescr: Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca/southwest Hein Bank EncSummary: The team was working in the office when we heard reports of a group of Bigg’s southwest of Hein Bank. The group was said to include T30A and T30C, two […
LWVSJ Observer Corps | San Juan County Council regular meeting, June 9, 2026
||| FROM BARBARA SHARP for LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ||| Council issued a proclamation recognizing June 19th, 2026, as Juneteenth National Independence Day. Public Hearings were held to consider land use reclassification of Bayhead Farm on Shaw (no objections) and to discuss a proposed ordinance (addition to county code) regarding wildlife protections. There was substantial discussion with Deputy County Manager Tillery Williams and deputy prosecuting attorney Jon Cain concerning the wording of the
Hotdogs, ice cream and community thank you
||| FROM LENA KASSA for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER ||| Join us for hotdogs and ice cream on Thursday, July 2, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Orcas Senior Center. We are deeply grateful for the generosity and support of our community and donors who have helped make our renovation progress possible. Come tour the building, see the exciting improvements underway, and celebrate what we’ve accomplished together. Enjoy free hotdogs, ice cream, live music, and the company of friends […]
While orca and salmon declined, ocean harvests of Puget Sound chinook significantly underestimated for decades
Revised Pacific Salmon Commission data reveal substantially more Puget Sound Chinook were intercepted in ocean fisheries over a twenty-year period, harming local communities and undermining decades of salmon and orca recovery efforts. ||| FROM EMMA HELVERSON for WILD FISH CONSERVANCY ||| PUGET SOUND, WA—Newly revised data released by Canada at the Pacific Salmon Commission shows that for more than two decades ocean fisheries have killed thousands more Endangered Species Act-listed Puget Sound Ch
Rick Larsen’s campaign launch event on Orcas Island
||| FROM THE OFFICE OF U.S. REP. RICK LARSEN ||| What: Congressman Rick Larsen’s Campaign is holding a campaign launch event on Orcas Island to formally launch his reelection campaign. Rick is fighting to lower costs, bring investments home to Northwest Washington, hold the administration accountable, combat fentanyl in our communities, and support our veterans. Rick’s grassroots campaign has been endorsed by more than 80 local elected officials, with support from party organizations, labor unio
Two Orcas women take flight in the 49th Annual Air Race Classic
Submitted by Janna Carter.
John Payne Geyman, MD 1931 – May 28, 2026
John Payne Geyman, MD, a devoted husband, father, physician, pilot, educator and advocate for health care reform passed away peacefully at his home in Friday Harbor, WA, on May 28, 2026, at age 95. Born in Santa Barbara, CA in 1931, John graduated from Princeton University in 1952, served three years in the Navy, and […]