Ferries and schools will benefit from the federal stimulus package approved by Congress and signed by President Obama Tuesday. The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act “will invest more than $44 million to modernize schools, fund special education and help kids learn, including investments in Title I, IDEA and school modernization and repair” in the 2nd Congressional District, according to Rep. Rick Larsen’s Web site.
Researchers have confirmed the birth of two Southern resident orca calves, bringing the population to 85. However, the news comes as one 31-year-old male orca is believed missing, emphasizing the challenges the endangered whale pods face in their recovery.
Sunlight has touched the soil beneath the King Farmhouse on Price Street for the first time since 1894. Nickel Bros. House Moving is scheduled to lift the house today so that a concrete foundation and 4-foot crawl space can be placed under the historic home, the centerpiece of the San Juan Historical Museum.
The two brothers moved to Friday Harbor to start a new life far from the tough inner-city streets of Tukwila. Now, one is dead and the other will spend 50 months in prison for fatally shooting his brother in a predawn altercation that left family and friends grief-stricken, perplexed and pleading for leniency.
A San Juan Island woman’s Toyota 4-Runner went off Turn Point Road and Harrison Street today at about 2 p.m., crashing into a truck parked in the Seattle Yacht Club parking lot below. The woman, identified by Sheriff Bill Cumming as Anne Gutierrez, was taken by ambulance to Inter Island Medical Center. Witnesses said she had gotten out of her vehicle by herself and walked to the ambulance, though that could not be confirmed by authorities.
A San Juan Island man is in custody today, suspected of shooting his live-in girlfriend in the chest last night in their home near Roche Harbor Road and Lillan Lane. Doug Curnow, 35, is in San Juan County Jail, Sheriff Bill Cumming said. His 45-year-old girlfriend, whom Cumming would not identify, was flown by the U.S. Coast Guard to Harborview Medical Center, where she is reportedly communicative but still unable to talk.
If you rented property owned by the Friday Harbor Port District between Jan. 1, 2004 and Dec. 31, 2008, the state Department of Revenue may have some money for you. The possibility of reimbursement applies to all renters of publicly-owned property — whether of an airplane hangar, boat slip, or a commercial site, according to Mel Kirpes, the Department of Revenue’s operations manager for miscellaneous tax programs.
Facial hair can come in all sorts of colors, shapes and size. But who would’ve thought day-glow green? Evidently, Dave Staehlin did. And though he caught the eye of many, Staehlin failed to capture the nod from judges on Monday when Friday Harbor’s beard-growing contest mercifully — for many — reached its conclusion.
James “Jim” Peter Crain passed away at home surrounded by family and dear friends on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009, after a sudden and brief battle with cancer.
Ferry whistles will blast. Sirens will sound. A cannon will fire. And the town will party like its 1909. Friday Harbor celebrates its 100th birthday today with plenty of pomp and circumstance, as well as parties at three venues.
Friday Harbor Town Councilman Christopher Wolf will resign this year to take a two-year teaching assignment at the American School of Doha (www.asd.edu.qa), in the Persian Gulf country of Qatar. Wolf will teach Advanced Placement history; his wife, Emily, will teach middle school English. They will leave Friday Harbor the first week of August, Emily said.
What’s the difference between zooplankton and phytoplankton? On Saturday, students from Friday Harbor High School will answer this and other challenging questions about the biology, chemistry, economics, geology, history and physics of the ocean at Orca Bowl ‘09.
In an effort to avoid nearly $500,000 in unfunded testing costs, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has cancelled optional Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) testing for ninth-graders, effective immediately.
