• So long, Evergreen State: Islanders bid farewell to an old family friend as the Evergreen State set sail out of Friday Harbor July 29 for the very last time, bound for Anacortes and retirement beyond.

Built in 1954 and the first ferry commissioned by Washington state, the “E-State,” or “Queen of the Northern Fleet,” as she was known by many, carried the hopes, dreams, disappointments, celebrations and longings of more than three generations of islanders during six decades of shuttling travelers back and forth across international waters and in the San Juans as well.

• Charlie Silverman calls it a career: It was early in his first tour of duty in San Juan County when the Ruth Neslund case landed on deputy criminal prosecutor Charles Silverman’s desk. Although none would prove more sensational, there would be many more to follow.

After a 36-year-career in law enforcement, 28 of those in San Juan County, Silverman strolled out of the county courthouse March 14, closing the books on an illustrious career and, for the first time in nearly four decades, with no immediate plans for the future.

• IMA celebrates “soft-opening” of its new home: Fabricated on the footprint of
the old EMS building on Spring Street, San Juan Islands Museum of Art unveiled its new home, a $3.25 million remodel and controversial, eye-catching renovation of the former EMS headquarters, Dec. 5.

It features three galleries, a studio for future workshops, a towering glass atrium and a look, feel and presence that’s certain to be talk of the town for years to come. Some say that’s what art should do.