Letters to the Editor
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Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
May 20th, 2013, by Margie Doyle
To Pizzeria Portofino & Little Angels,
Thank you so much for your generous donation of your facility and wonderful staff to Orcas Angels last month. It was above and beyond to loan us your restaurant, equipment, and staff for the night to help us with a fundraiser to assist a family in need. We greatly appreciate all your help and support in our continued goal to benefit our fellow Orcas Islanders.
To all the little Angels who showed up to buy a pizza that night THANK YOU!
Our community is an amazing place….we sold over 103 pizzas that night….Whew! It was amazing. Once again Orcas Island community you ROCK!
Melissa Lowry for Orcas Angels
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
May 18th, 2013, by Margie Doyle
To the Editor,
I would like to commend the Orcas Island Fire Department/EMS, Emergency Management, Airlift Northwest, Camp Orkila, the volunteers from Deer Harbor and all the others whose combined effort made the recent fire drill in Spring Point an outstanding success. Fire Chief Kevin O’Brien coordinated the activities of an impressively professional crew. Bob Connor had prepared a field for use as an alternate Landing Zone for helicopter evacuation. Sheila Gaquin organized Red Cross facilities at the Deer Harbor Inn, the designated Emergency Center. Altogether a fine example of professionalism, resourcefulness and community effort.
One problem that was readily apparent was with communication.The Fire Department was able to work around crowded radio frequencies. However, cell phone coverage in Spring Point and other areas on Orcas is all but non-existent. Reception is better through the local Canadian network than with our domestic ones in these dead zones. During the recent wild fires in California we saw numerous examples on the news of vital information being exchanged through Twitter or Facebook. And in our dead spots we cannot even make a 911 call.
OPALCO has reached out to the island community to support an improved Broadband through an expanded optical cable network. In my view this would be an outstanding development. However, contrary to rumor, it does not affect coverage for cell phones. The proposed antennas at the end of its lines would only provide Wi-Fi to expand the cable network’s coverage. I am told that these same antennas could also be used to enhance cell phone coverage but one or more of the carriers (ATT, Verizon, etc.) would have to be convinced of the economic incentive.
I believe it is incumbent on OPALCO, our County Council and all our cell phone users to explore and encourage multiple uses of these antennas before the opportunity is lost. Poor reception is not just an inconvenience. As demonstrated in the fire drill it is an avoidable condition that potentially affects the security of much of our islands.
David Schermerhorn
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
May 14th, 2013, by Margie Doyle
By Spirit Eagle
Last night, May 13th, our beloved, beautiful Light Being Helen Hale, left Orcas Island for her Greatest Journey!
She Flew to the Stars!
Your beloved Cat People, Reishi and Squeaky will be with you now!
Clipper of Claws
Never focused on flaws
Friend and Sister
Generous and Loving
It was hard to keep Pace with your Kindness and Grace
Neighbor Extraordinaire
Easter Baskets at the door
Big-Bowed Christmas Presents
Halloween Dazzle
Birthdays with Sundaes for Dan and for Betty
Open the Book
Judge Not Here
The Softness Within
Acceptance of All
You made me laugh Helen, when you did your “Happy Dance”!
Never Complained
Through your Pain
A Woman of Grace
And a Heart to keep Pace
With your Happy Sweet Face
We will Miss You Dear Friend
You are Free of the Bonds of the Earth!
Fly now Helen!
Fly like the Eagle
On Wings of Pure Light!
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
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Margie Doyle
April 27th, 2013, by Margie Doyle
Thanks to Turtleback Race Participants!
Supporters and participants at the “Leave No Trace” fundraiser last Sunday, April 21
On behalf of the Board and staff of The Funhouse Commons, thanks so much to the runners and volunteers that made the first-annual “Leave No Trace” race on Turtleback a success!
Special thanks to: Ruthie Dougherty & San Juan County Land Bank; Barbara Courtney & San Juan Preservation Trust; Chief Kevin & Keenan O¹Brien from Orcas Fire Dept; Deputy Steven Johns from the Sherriff¹s Department; Ron Gilleland & San Juan County Public Works; Marcia West & Orcas Island Park & Recreation; Wild Rose Lane residents; Island Thyme, Orcas Septic, Orcas Island Physical Therapy and Funhouse art director Lana Hickman & kids.
And our volunteers: Loren Dickey, Max Dickey Vollmer, Dave Zoeller, Mike O¹Connell, Tina Whitman, Soren O¹Connell, Mary Wachter, Jeni Sanders, Jean Spalti, Tara Hubbard, Kaya Salt, Tad Sommerville, Randy Gaylord, Marcia West, Deborah Hansen, Nathan Yoffa and Tracy Harachi.
Thanks again,
Pete Moe
Funhouse Commons Exec. Director
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
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Margie Doyle
April 23rd, 2013, by Margie Doyle
The Port will spend over $80,000 to sue their neighbors over an issue that was resolved by a joint committee but not accepted by the Port and the FAA. Fact – this is a property rights issue that does not involve the FAA.
The neighboring property owners, who have deeded access rights to use the “airstrip” (not other Port Property), requested a joint committee meeting after the Port wrote a tariff demanding the property owners pay a fee based on the tie down fee (the amount charged to aircraft owners that rent a Port tie down space for their aircraft).
The property owners objected because the fee did not reflect the language of their deeds. The owners understood that a fee could be charged for access and use and were willing to do so, but only “as charged to all others for like use of the airstrip” as stated in the deed.
All commercial aircraft that use the Orcas Airport and airports throughout the world pay landing fees. The property owners offered to pay 3 times the amount the commercial carriers were paying but the FAA refused. Note: it was not necessary for the Port to ask the FAA.
The Port initially filed a Declaratory Relief with the court. The judge ruled against the Port using a tie down fee basis but did not suggest an alternative basis.
The Port has continued their attempt to charge the property owners a fee that does not reflect the language of the deed. As a result, there will now be a full trial to resolve the issue. No matter what the outcome, at best it will take over 100 years for the Port to recover the money they have wasted on a frivolous lawsuit against their friends and neighbors – all because they couldn’t make a decision about something they were legally entitled to make. So there are your tax dollars at work.
If you believe that deeded rights should be honored and the Port should not foolishly spend your tax dollars, call one of the Port Commissioners for an accounting and an explanation.
The Owner’s Representatives:
Bob Waunch
Mike Parnell
(Editor’s notes: Port Manager Bea vonTobel writes, “Any letter from an individual commissioner would appear as if spoken on behalf of all the commissioners. Since the next regular meeting of the Port of Orcas Commission does not occur until May 9, there is currently no reply.”
(The case is scheduled for trial on Monday, April 29 at the San Juan County Courthouse.)
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
April 21st, 2013, by Margie Doyle
This is a response to an article that needs to be shared with all San Juan County residents:
[A recent] article in the “Journal of the San Juans” (4/17/13) “Council Inks Aerial Photos Deal” needs more explanation. One of the main themes that came out of our Community Conversations, is that the people in our county want more communication and given more facts about subjects.
This is not just Aerial Photography; this is “Oblique Photography” (see web site at www.pictometry.com). From the web site we learn that Pictometry Oblique Imagery is called, “Intelligent Imagery…..is capturing two types of imagery for every square foot of an area, oblique and vertical.” “……it reveals the world from a more natural perspective, so objects are easier to recognize and interpret. With resolutions as high as 3-inch Ground Sample Distance, you can see all in amazing detail and every feature, structure and parcel from North, South, East, West or straight down. When you layer GIS information on top of such meticulous imagery, you turn data into knowledge.”
This technology gives the county not only the ability to look at buildings from all angles and measuring heights of buildings, it also gives them the ability to see “every feature” and structure on your property in “amazing detail”.
I do not feel this technology fits in our county, or with our desire to keep the rural character of our county. My feed back from county islanders is that we want to preserve our privacy as much as possible. This technology, in my opinion, infringes on those privacies. I have no problem with just updating our existing aerial photos with “straight down” technology when they need to be updated and when it is brought before the Council as a “budgeted item”. However, Marc Forlenza and I voted against updating our aerial photos because it was not a budgeted item and it would use Oblique Photography.
The Council will be updated in the progress of the project. It is on the County Council Agenda at 11:15 am, Tuesday, April 23rd in the Council Chambers.
Bob Jarman
County Councilmember, San Juan Dist. 1
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
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Margie Doyle
April 21st, 2013, by Margie Doyle
So just who are these people who claim to “trust islanders” and want my vote?
[On April 19] I checked the Public Disclosure Commission website about TrustIslanders, the new political action committee on San Juan Island, and learned a few things about them. The couple who made the largest single donation, $5,000, list their address as Bellevue, although they vote on San Juan Island where they own a multi-million dollar waterfront estate.
Altogether, there are 57 people, or companies, who have contributed to TrustIslanders’ $24,000 war chest. But only five of these, including the Bellevue folks, account for 54 percent of the total.
Contributors whose connection to the County is through San Juan Island are at least 77 percent of the supporters of this PAC. The big five donors are all San Juan and Bellevue interests. One large donor isn’t even registered to vote in our county. The new three-member County Council system is intended to foster a whole county focus; they seem sort of insular (pun intended). There are only 8 contributors from Orcas and Lopez.
I also looked at a few records of past political contributions from the largest donors to TrustIslanders. Almost all are to partisan Republican party candidates and entities. So how can Trust claim with a straight face that it is non-partisan?
Why are they making all this investment in our election? What are THEY afraid of? What is it they expect from the candidates they are pushing? Are they just so used to throwing their weight around that they think it is their right to tell the rest of us how to vote?
Of course, the rich are different from you and me. They have more money. But that shouldn’t mean they can buy our government.
David Dehlendorf
San Juan Island
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
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Margie Doyle
April 18th, 2013, by Margie Doyle
There are some crazy political hat tricks going on during this special county election season. Are you watching?
First we had the Republican Party quietly disappear themselves in a full-on fit of “non-partisanship.”
Then the 3 candidates that the Republicans would ordinarily promote everywhere, have now also disappeared their own campaigns behind something called “Trust Islanders.” Who?
“Trust Islanders” now has all the money, pays for all the ads, sends out all the mailers. They are now the instant, and only, opposition to the council candidates endorsed openly months ago by the local county Democratic Party.
Who are these Islanders We Should Trust? They are a new local PAC: a brand new political action committee. You can check them out for yourself on the Public Disclosure website: www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem
You will learn they are primarily five very large donors, representing primarily only San Juan Island, and that most all of the “Trust Islanders” donors previously gave to various state and national Republican candidates.
See this hat? Look what I have in here. Now, watch this, it is really something else entirely. Now, look over here.
I don’t think county voters are that dumb. I just hope they remember to vote. Soon. The 23rd is the last day to get your ballots in.
Lee Sturdivant, Friday Harbor
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Margie Doyle
April 15th, 2013, by Chom Greacen
Michael Karp is running for the OPALCO board, and he has our vote and full support.
Michael is uniquely qualified for the OPALCO board. He has been pioneering innovative and successful energy efficiency, renewable energy and other programs for the past 35 years in Washington State and throughout the USA. He is a founding board member of the 30-year-old NW Energy Coalition, a consortium of over 100 consumer public interest and utilities in the four NW States.
Currently he is the founder and President and CEO of A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity, and for the past 20 years has served as a consultant representing governments and non-profits on public interest power sector issues.
The power sector in the Pacific Northwest is undergoing a significant change. Once abundant hydropower resources are stretched thinner and thinner and OPALCO’s guaranteed access to cheap hydropower is now capped at 2011 levels. Energy efficiency and cost-effective renewables region-wide have long served a key role in meeting increasing demands for electricity service in the Northwest, but OPALCO has been timid in investing in local economy through rate-based investments of energy efficiency and local energy generation.
As OPALCO members, we need to prioritize and ramp up these efforts to face the new pressing challenge of rising rates (“Tier 2” rates) and limited legacy hydroelectricity by updating OPALCO’s “story” and business model, redesigning tariff structure (instead of just passing on costs by raising rates across the board), and refocusing the board’s efforts towards its core business of efficiently and economically delivering energy services in the face of unprecedented uncertainties.
Michael has the vision, solid energy background, the network and respect of professional colleagues, and years of Pacific Northwest power sector management, board and policy experience needed at this critical time. We are very lucky to have people like him in our county. Let’s elect him to represent us on the OPALCO board.
Chom & Chris Greacen, Lopez Island
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Letters to the Editor
If you'd like to post a letter to Bullwings, please send it via email here:
Send a letter to the editor
Please keep it to a manageable 350 words and give some contact information, so the editor can get in touch with you with any questions.
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Margie Doyle
April 13th, 2013, by Margie Doyle
In the upcoming election, voters countywide will be casting their ballots for County Council members. I realize that people who live on Orcas and Lopez might not be very familiar with Bob Jarman from San Juan Island.
I worked with Bob for almost 30 years, first in a small company, then in a very large one. I also watched Bob in a supervisory position. Bob is a hardworking, honest, straightforward individual who is willing to share his opinion but also willing to listen to yours. Bob is a great choice for County Council.
Barry Madan
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