Five American Red Cross volunteers from San Juan Island will assist firefighters battling the Tommy Thompson trestle fire in Anacortes. Emergency personnel from five agencies are on the scene. Island Red Cross volunteers will be part of the feeding crew, feeding firefighters who are expected to battle the fire through the night and into Friday morning.
The Friday Harbor Port Commission on Oct. 14 approved the following tribute to Nourdine Jensen, a member of the first Port Commission.
Jensen, 95, died Oct. 11.
For the second time in three years, voters will decide the fate of countywide legislation. Approved by the San Juan County Council in June 2008, an ordinance that would make it illegal to use any and all types of so-called consumer fireworks — including those labeled “safe and sane,” such as fountains, snakes, pinwheels and sparklers — remains in limbo pending the outcome of the Nov. 3 general election.
The Wolverines, plagued this season by injuries and illnesses, turned in what may have been their best performance of the year as a patchwork lineup gave a talented Shoreline Christian squad all it could handle despite coming out on the losing end of three consecutive games Tuesday in Turnbull Gym.
As moderator Susan Dehlendorf speed-read the ballot statement against the Islands Rec levy Tuesday, there was little doubt the candidate forum – seven candidates, five ballot arguments – would finish on schedule. In fact, it finished about 15 minutes early. “Did you even take a breath while reading that,” a reporter asked Dehlendorf. “She didn’t have time,” Island Rec levy proponent Brent Snow responded. There was humor, there were stumbles, there were no-shows at the forum presented by the League of Women Voters Tuesday in the Friday Harbor Middle School Commons.
A calf has been born to L pod, bumping the Southern Resident killer whale population to 86. Center for Whale Research director Ken Balcomb said today that the calf was born sometime between Sept. 20, when the pod was last seen without a new calf, and Oct. 10, when the calf was sighted off Port Townsend.
At first glance, the Island Rec levy on the Nov. 3 ballot seems an easy sell: A renewal of 10 cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation would keep Island Rec’s stable of youth and adult programs going for another six years. An additional 7 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation would provide a stable source of funding for school sports programs for six years. Meanwhile, a school bond measure of 60 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation expires at year end. So even if voters approve the Island Rec levy, their property tax bill will decrease 43 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation – for most property owners, a savings of about $300 a year. But proponents of the Island Rec levy aren’t taking any chances.
He designed and/or built more than 150 boats in his tenure at the yard while at the same time serving his community in capacities such as: first Friday Harbor Port Commission, 1950-1973; Friday Harbor Town Council, 1953-1959; OPALCO board, 1965-69 and 1975-2008; and as a school board member, a volunteer firefighter, member of the Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church, charter member of the San Juan Island Yacht Club, and member of the San Juan Masonic Lodge for more than 60 years.
Friday Harbor Town Administrator King Fitch has a daughter and grandchildren in Nashville, where the H1N1 flu virus re-emerged this fall. His 8-year-old granddaughter, Eleanor, was one of the first to become ill — and she became very ill. At Fitch’s request, his daughter Stephanie Shippen, described the experience in an email to share with people who have not yet seen the effect swine flu can have on young children. Here is her description of how the disease progressed.
Nourdine Jensen — boatbuilder and former town councilman, school board member, port commissioner and OPALCO board member — died Sunday in Island Hospital after cancer surgery. He was 95. He was hospitalized shortly after a birthday celebration at the Grange in September. Doctors discovered cancer during a CT scan. Up to the time of his hospitalization, he was dutifully at work in his office overlooking Albert Jensen & Son Shipyard. An obituary will follow.
Beloved. Endangered. Exploited. Revered. Puget Sound’s killer whales may be all that and more. But it will be an uphill battle for federal officials in their bid to create bigger buffers between boats, kayaks, canoes and the struggling population of Southern Resident killer whales. And in the realm of public opinion, a proposal to establish a half-mile “no-go zone” off the west side of San Juan Island during the summer season has proven even less popular.
Property tax information is just a mouse-click away. Visit www.sanjuanco.com/treasurer/default.aspx to get your Property Tax Statement, search for Personal Property Tax and Excise Tax information, and other links.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has stationed a mobile Radiation Portal Monitor in Friday Harbor, a port of entry into the United States. The truck-mounted RPM is a completely self-contained, passive monitoring device that screens for dangerous radiological devices or materials that might be smuggled into the U.S. in vehicles arriving aboard the international ferry.