Tom was born in Ukiah, Calif., and was raised in North Bend, Ore. He excelled at many things but was a standout on the football field. Tom played football at Oregon State University and later for the Arena Football League. He made many good friends throughout his life. His bright smile and wit were hard to resist.
San Juan Island hospital district commissioners will vote March 18 on a contract that would give PeaceHealth the right to build and operate a hospital on San Juan Island for 50 years.
The state Senate today passed legislation sponsored by Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan Island, establishing a permanent funding source for the Neah Bay response tug. Senate Bill 5344 passed 44-4 and now goes to the House for consideration.
In Friday Harbor golf coach Bryan Germain’s eyes, sports and education are one and the same. The course is a classroom, and the lesson each day is self-discipline, patience, respect for others and, above all else, honesty. “What golf teaches you is honesty more than any other sport I’ve ever played,” Germain said. “In some sports, you can fake a foul, or the ball is out and the ref calls it in, or you act like you got charged. In golf, there’s none of that.”
Friday the 13th will be a lucky day for residents of Homes for Islanders’ latest neighborhood. That’s the day that Homes for Islanders and USDA Rural Development have a Key & Dedication Ceremony to formally mark the completion of Park Plaza, nine townhomes on Park and Guard streets, across from the San Juan Island Library. The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. Representatives of Rep. Rick Larsen’s office are expected to attend. The ceremony is open to the public.
The Lopez Island School District has narrowed its search for a K-12 principal to three candidates. Those candidates will be interviewed March 11-13. The person selected will succeed Principal Roland MacNichol, who is retiring at the end of this school year.
Researchers have confirmed the birth of another J pod orca, bumping the precarious Southern resident killer whale population to 86. “Thanks to a call from Jeanne Hyde, Dave Ellifrit, John Durban and I got out with J pod in Haro Strait just before sunset last night,” Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research reported on the Orca Network Web site March 3. “(We) confirmed that there are now TWO new babies in J pod: J44 with J17 and J45 with J14. Both babies appeared to be in good condition and energetic.”
The Playground Underlayment Committee plans to replace the crumb rubber playground surface material at Friday Harbor Elementary School the weekends of March 6-8 and 13-14.
San Juan Island School District Superintendent Michael Soltman is one of two finalists for the position of Vashon Island superintendent of schools. The Vashon Island School Board on Sunday chose Soltman and Arthur Himmler, superintendent of the Steilacoom Historical School District, as finalists from a field of six.
The San Juan County Council had a moment of silence Monday in memory of Jeffrey Lloyd Wasnick, the county’s code enforcement officer, who reportedly died of a heart attack Sunday. Wasnick was 55 and lived on Lopez Island. Viewing and visitation is scheduled Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Evans Funeral Chapel, 1105 32nd St., Anacortes. Memorial service is at 3 p.m.
“I have a gavel and I’m not afraid to use it.” San Juan County Councilman Rich Peterson is known for not taking the trappings of elected office too seriously. And the above remark, which he’s uttered more than once since being elected chairman for 2009 by his council colleagues, has been made with a knowing wink and tongue-in-cheek delivery. But all kidding aside, the council will face a number of difficult decisions over the next 11 months, such as whether to relocate the solid-waste transfer station on San Juan. With gavel in hand, it’ll be Peterson leading the way.
Dr. John Geyman has been working within and trying to improve our nation’s health care system for decades. Join Geyman at the next meeting of the League of Women Voters of the San Juans for an assessment of the latest challenges and opportunities now facing doctors, patients and lawmakers.
Marie Cunniff could pass her son off as a younger brother and get away with it, crochet an afghan in record time, and at 100 make a TV interviewer blush. She was always punctual, preferring to be early to appointments in the event she could be seen early. “Always wanting to be early, she did, however, surpass her brother Anthony, who passed at 100,” her son, Herb Cunniff, said after his mother passed away Feb. 19 at the age of 101.
