County Health Official Reports Pertussis Cases

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

San Juan County Health Official Dr. Frank James reports that the County Health Department has received reports of three local cases of Pertussis (“Whooping Cough”) this month. He urges all County residents to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date and asks anyone with a cough or cold-like symptoms to take extra precautions to avoid contact with young children.

California is now dealing with a growing outbreak of the disease, reporting nearly 1,500 cases and five deaths. All of those fatal California cases were in children under three months of age – too young to be fully protected by vaccine.

Children are most susceptible to pertussis, showing symptoms of spasmodic coughing, whooping and vomiting. The disease is considered highly communicable, but a vaccine does provide protection.

A series of five vaccinations is recommended to provide protection against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. The first shots are given beginning at two months of age and are completed between ages 4 and 6.

From Fire Marshal Steve Marler

The fire danger rating is being raised from “Low” to “Moderate” throughout San Juan County effective Thursday, July 22^nd.

The change was implemented by the San Juan County Fire Marshal’s office in cooperation with the fire protection districts serving Orcas, San Juan, Lopez and Shaw Islands. The State Department of Natural resources has advised that the entire region is experiencing warm, dry weather.  This weather pattern is expected to continue into the foreseeable future, with very low chances for any appreciable rain.  The risk of a serious fire is increasing as the area’s natural vegetation begins to dry out.  Residents and visitors are urged to be very cautious of the risk of fire.

“Recreational” fires, such as campfires in developed campgrounds are still allowed.  To qualify as a recreational fire, the burn area may not be more than two feet in diameter, and be surrounded on all sides by at least two feet of clearance to combustibles.

The Alaskan "Exxon Valdez" surface oil spill, here represented at 11 million gallons, though estimates vary between 11 and 39 million, extrapolated onto Salish Sea and Pacific Ocean waters. (Courtesy of the Pratt Historical Museum).

“Tool for balancing and regulating the multiple uses of shoreline and aquatic lands” is signed into law

From State Senator Kevin Ranker’s Office

After President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the first-ever national ocean policy on July 20, state Sen. Kevin Ranker, D- San Juan, said Washington is uniquely positioned to benefit from this unprecedented effort to coordinate national policy for our oceans and coastlines.

“Nothing has highlighted our nation’s dependence on healthy oceans and coasts more than the current BP oil spill disaster,” said Ranker. “A massive spill in the Puget Sound or on our coast is unthinkable, but it’s not impossible. It’s clear that we can and must do better in how we protect and manage our oceans.”

The new federal ocean policy framework includes marine spatial planning as a key element, which Ranker helped establish as state policy when his Senate Bill 6350 passed into law in the 2010 legislative session.

Be sure to register in advance for these upcoming Orcas Rec Programs

Go to www.orcasrec.org for a detailed list of all of Orcas Rec programs

Funky Art Fun!
When: July 24^th (1-3 p.m.) Free craft activities for kids!
Where: Farmers Market at the Village Green
Cost: Free

Mosaics Fun!
When: July 28 & 29 (10 a.m.-noon)
Where: Senior Center Multi-Purpose Room
Cost: $23.

Please pre-register!

British Soccer Camp
When: August 2-6 (M-F)
Where: Buck Park.
See website for details and to register. www.challengersports.com

New!Junior Sailing Evening Classes.
When July 26^th -29^th 5 – 8 p.m.
For Beginners and Intermediates – no experience necessary
Ages: 8 – 15
Cost: $80. Limited to 12 students

August 2^nd-5^th 5 – 8 p.m.
For Advanced sailors with experience. Includes spinnaker work and possibly Keel boats
Ages: 8 – 15.
Cost: $80. Limited to 9 students.

Those interested in having your child enroll in either of these classes please call Orcas Rec at 376-5339 for details and to register. Because this is a new class you can NOT register online for this class.

For all other sailing classes register at www.sailorcas.org

Go to www.orcasrec.org or call 376-5339

By Helen Venada
SJC Waste Reduction and Hazardous Waste Coordinator

The recycling rate for the 2009 County Fair was 11.2%.  Could we do even better this year to pump up that recycling rate?  We’re looking for some bold and adventurous volunteers to be “Trash Monitors.”   These good folks (young and old) will be stationed at major trash collection areas at the Fair (for 1 to 2 hour shifts) to help Fairgoers decide on just what can be recycled; we’ll also provide instruction about eliminating contamination, like liquids and food,  in the recycling bins.   Please, call the county’s waste hotline at 370-0503 to sign up early for the Trash Monitoring team …to get your shift of choice.

With all the fun, food, and festivities at the Fair comes the typically unsavory by-product of trash…TONS of it!  The 2006 County Fair generated 8.8 tons of garbage; 5.51 tons of 2009 Fair trash went to the dump (i.e. landfill in eastern Oregon).  This waste reduction by Fair-going island residents and visitors was mostly due to better-than-“fair” recycling at the Fairgrounds.  The effort saved on transportation to the mainland, landfill space, AND saved the Fair $$$$!

The San Juan County Land Bank invites the public to a Guided Interpretive Walk at the Judd Cove Preserve. Join Ruthie Dougherty, local historian Boyd Pratt, and Steve Cohan on a walk to explore the preserve’s natural and cultural history, including the lime quarry and kiln located on the property.

The date for this walk is Sunday, August 1, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Meet at the Judd Cove Parking area ~ 103 Fowlers Way, just outside of downtown Eastsound. For questions, please call 378-4402 for more information.

By Corey Wiscomb

After reading both Janet Knowles’ guest column and Chris Bultler’s letter to the Editor in the July 7th, 2010 issue of The Sounder I felt compelled to reply to statements made by the authors that attacked the necessity of the upcoming school bond.  In a thankful way their statements may project questions and/or doubts that other community members may be feeling towards the bond, and so this is a great opportunity to supply the correct information and answers.

First, let me remove the ambiguity about the safety issue that Mr. Butler calls, “the wool over our eyes” being used as propaganda for the new bond:  The Orcas Middle School structure is not up to seismic standard.  When it was built nearly 30 years ago as a new high school the intent was for the building to last 15 years until the next bond would pass.  Why?  Simple, the first bond attempt failed and rather than build a smaller facility at high quality, the decision was made to build the same facility at lesser quality to match the smaller bond that did pass – a mistake that will not be made presently.  Regardless, we are stuck with a large portion of our school facility that, I repeat, does not meet seismic standard.  Take a moment with that.

Monday, July 19

Tuesday, July 20

Hot Dogs & S’Mores About the Bond” Potluck at Cascade Lake at 5:30 p.m. The Vote YES! For Schools Committee invites the community to a “Hot Dogs & S’mores about the Bond” BBQ at the Cascade Lake Shelter in Moran Park.  Bring your family and a potluck dish if you like. We’ll provide the bbq and drinks. This will be a fun way to talk about the bond…or just enjoy a great summer evening. School Board members and Superintendent Barbara Kline will be there, as will the members of Vote YES! with information, answers to questions, and plenty of Hot Dogs!  Hope to see you there!  Visit www.YesForOrcasSchools.com for more information.

Wednesday, July 21

Brown Bag Concert at Emmanuel Episcopal Church at noon features Carolyn Cruso on hammered dulcimer. Concerts are free but donations are accepted.

Thursday, July 22

Marc Foster Grant and Kate Scott host an Artist’s Reception featuring their work at the Orcas Center Gallery at 5:30 p.m. The show is titled “Folly a Deux” or “Madness of Two”  and will continue at the Orcas Center Gallery until August 3rd.

Orcas Island School Board meeting 5:30 p.m.

The League of Women Voters (LWV) of the San Juans sponsored the Candidates’ Forum at the Orcas Island Senior Center last night, where an audience of about 90 heard from five Sheriff’s Candidates, three candidates for U.S. Congress, four candidates for retiring State Representative Dave Quall’s position, and two surrogates for the other position from the 40^th district, and School Superintendent Barbara Kline as a proponent for the School Bond measure.

League of Women Voters Voter Services representative Jill Johnson congratulated the Orcas Island audience, noting that, of the three forums held in the past two days on Lopez, San Juan and Orcas Islands,  it was the most well-attended session and more audience members stayed past the sheriff candidates’ session.

Candidates for the Lopez Island County Council position did not attend, and thus the forum ended before the 2 hours allotted for it. At the beginning, a schedule set forth the time scheduling, limiting the speakers to three minutes, and questions to one-minute responses from each candidate to three questions from the audience

It had been arranged that a written statement in opposition to the School Bond would be available at the Orcas Candidates’ Forum; however, it was not delivered to the forum for circulation.

The following timetable has been scheduled for the League of Women Voters of the San Juans Candidates Forum to be held Saturday, July 17 at 5 p.m. Because of the large numbers of candidates attending, time limits must be strictly observed.

5:00 p.m. Opening greeting and explanations

5:04 p.m. Introduction of moderator Margie Doyle

5:05 p.m. Sheriffs Candidates: 3 min./ea total:15 min

• Jeff Asher
• Brad Fincher
• Brent Johnson
• Felix Menjivar
• Rob Nou

5:20 p.m. Q&A: 15 min.total, 1 min/question

5:37p.m. U.S. Representative, Congressional District 2, total: 12 min.

• John Carmack
• Larry Kalb
• Rick Larsen
• Diana McGinness

5:49 p.m. Q&A

6:06 p.m. State Representative Pos.1, total: 12 min.

• Thomas Boucher
• Kristine Lytton
• Donna Miller
• Tom Pasma

6:18 p.m. Q&A

6:35 p.m. State Representative Pos. 2, total: 6 min.

• Jeff Morris—surrogate Cathy Ferran
• Howard Pellett—surrogate Tim White

6:41 p.m. Q&A: none

6:43 p.m. County Council Member 6, total: 6 min.

• Jerry Gonce
• Bob Myhr

6:49 p.m. Q&A

7:01 p.m. Orcas School Bond, total: 6min.

• Pro: Barbara Kline
• Con: Janet Knowles (written statement to be available)

7:07 p.m. Q&A

7:17 p.m. Closing Remarks

LWV’s Voter Services coordinator has said, “The Forums are informational only and not a debate. The public is invited to ask questions of the candidates, but not make statements.”

By Barbara Kline,
Superintendent, Orcas Island School District

Here is a table that shows the enrollment over time. I decided to start it in October 2000 which is the year before OASIS was started. Because Janet [Knowles, see link] was concerned about counting students who did not actually come to the school campus, I subtracted OASIS K-8 from the OISD total in the final column.

OASIS 9-12 and Waldron Island Elementary students are part of the Orcas Island School District and attend classes on campus. Some of the OASIS K-8 students also attend classes on campus. As of the end of the school year 2009-10, a minority of the OASIS students are from off island families.

I used headcount as the best measure of the students who will be using the facilities. Headcount is a count of the actual students who are in each grade. A student’s “head” can only be counted one time even if he/she is attending classes in two schools. For example a student at Orcas High School taking classes in OASIS will be counted in the headcount in the school in which he/she is attending the most classes.

Orcas Island Public Library wants to help you tell your story

The library is collecting islanders’ recollections of how they came to live on Orcas.  Did you come for vacation and just stay?  Or did you dream of retiring here?  Did you come here looking for a better life away from hustle and bustle of the mainland?  Please share your journey story with us! It will become part of the Historical Museum’s archives – imagine future islanders enjoying reading this journal in 50 years time.

Please keep your entries concise, but complete. We hope to collect as many stories as possible in this book, as everyone has a story to tell.  Anonymity is optional.  Visit the library during open hours and write your story in a journal specially made to record your journey to Orcas.

The Orcas library is open Monday through Thursday 10-7, Friday and Saturday 10-5, and Sunday 12-3.  Hope to see you soon. 376-4985.

An independent steering committee made up of OPALCO members has begun to meet with the mission of developing a proposal for a new green power program that would provide financial incentives for renewable generation and, potentially, fund energy efficiency and conservation measures beyond what OPALCO can offer through Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) conservation program.

Why is OPALCO rebuilding its green power program? OPALCO was one of the first utilities to establish an interconnect program and demand has outgrown OPALCO’s current capacity to fund the incentive program that helps members offset the costs of installing a renewable generator. As of this July, there are 82 members generating their own renewable energy (solar, micro-hydro and wind) and interconnecting to the OPALCO grid—and more in the process of designing or completing a project. Of OPALCO’s 11,000 members, 0.75% are interconnected—nearly ten times more than any other utility in the region (the next closest are Inland Power with 0.09% and Puget Sound Energy with 0.07%). Since the beginning of the green power program in 2000, OPALCO has paid members a total of $198,928 for installation incentives—and $113,055 (57%) of that was paid out in 2009 alone.

Growing up with a father who was a Superintendent of Schools in a district of  small schools,  the largest of which was about the size of Orcas, and with a mother and siblings all teachers through portions of their lives,  I am strongly in favor of creating an environment for learning that supports the school administration and teachers.   Without this, student learning suffers.

Here on Orcas, the board, the superintendent, the teachers, and the Parent- Teacher Association,  through many meetings, have repeatedly told us that there are serious safety and maintenance problems as well as insufficient classroom design or space for certain courses in some of the school buildings.  Because these people have the most detailed knowledge about the needs of the school, I have faith in their judgment.

Furthermore,  the architectural plans they have worked out with the Mahlum group, who specialize in school design, seem sensible and well thought out.  If we can buy Turtleback, we can vote “yes” in August for the School Bond, and feel equally proud of ourselves for enabling a better life for future generations.

Rachel Adams

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

San Juan County Public Works Operations Manager Russ Harvey said on July 14 that “fog sealing,” the last phase of this year’s chip sealing program on San Juan and Lopez Islands, should be completed by the end of next week. The two words that always follow such as statement are, of course: “weather permitting.”
Harvey noted today that while traffic is being inconvenienced while the sealant is being sprayed, generally with one lane of traffic closed at a time, cyclists are having a tougher time. The material stays sticky for about 12 hours after it’s applied and the effect is felt more acutely by cyclists, who have a more intimate relationship with the roadway than the drivers of cars and trucks.

The areas where the road work is being done are heavily signed and flaggers and other workers in bright orange vests are helping with traffic control. A map showing the where and when fog sealing will take place is kept current on the County web site at: http://sanjuanco.com/docs/hottopics/PW/118_2010ChipSeal.pdf (a link is also on the county’s home page: http://sanjuanco.com).

The Vote YES! For Schools Committee invites the community to a “Hot Dogs & S’mores about the Bond” BBQ at the Cascade Lake Shelter in Moran Park on Tuesday, July 20th at 5:30 p.m.

Bring your family and a potluck dish if you like. We’ll provide the bbq and drinks. This will be a fun way to talk about the bond…or just enjoy a great Summer evening.

School Board members and Superintendent Barbara Kline will be there, as will the members of Vote YES! with information, answers to questions, and plenty of Hot Dogs!

Hope to see you there!

For updated and accurate information on the bond, please see the website at: www.yesfororcasschools.com

The San Juan County Land Bank Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting on Friday, July  16^th in the in the Lopez Public Library, Community meeting Room, 2225 Fisherman Bay Road, Lopez Island.  The meeting begins at 10:30 a.m. Public comment time is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. The public is welcome at every monthly Land Bank Commission meeting.

The agenda for the July 16 meeting include the Director’s Report by Lincoln Bormanna and Discussion of the following Acquisition Projects (island/description):
Lopez

• Odlin South Trust Land Transfer lease
• Lopez Island Vineyards Conservation Easement (CE)
• Buffum CE

San Juan

• Mitchell Hill
• Buck – Beaverton Valley Marsh
• Taylor CE
• Mitchell Bay Nursery CE
• Erickson Historic Preservation and Conservation Easement

At noon, the Stewardship Report on the Frazer Homestead Lease Approval will be given.

The meeting will adjourn at 12:30 p.m. and reconvene at the Lopez Public Library at
1:30  p.m. for a Public Walk to Lopez Hill, which will conclude at 3:20 p.m.
Lopez Departures
Orcas – depart 3:55, arrive 4:35 p.m.
FH – depart 3:55, arrive 5:15 p.m.

The League of Women Voters of the San Juans has scheduled Primary Election Forums on San Juan, Lopez and Orcas Island. Candidates for all contested elections have been invited.

The Orcas forum will take place on Saturday, July 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Senior Center.

Unopposed candidates will not be presenting at the forum, and because of the large number of announced candidates, the only issue that will be discussed at the forum is the local Orcas School District Bond vote. 

Each speaker will give a 3 minute statement, followed by a session of questions and answers, conducted by the moderator.

The amount of time allotted for questions and answers will depend on how many candidates will attend. Invited candidates for whom Orcas residents will vote include

County Sheriff candidates:

• Rob Nou from Lopez Island
• Jeff Asher from San Juan Island
• Felix Menjivar from San Juan Island
• Brad Fincher from San Juan Island
• Brent D. Johnson from San Juan Island
• Brent Johnson from San Juan Island

15 Candidates for U.S. Senator (current incumbent Patty Murray)

5 Candidates for U.S.

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

County solid waste facilities on Orcas and San Juan Islands will be open to self-haulers for two additional days this week as both sites transition to a new schedule.

Both facilities will be open Wednesday through Sunday July 14 – 18 to help smooth the transition, and to catch up with pent-up demand resulting from the July 4 holiday closing.

“Self-haulers crowded both facilities on Sunday,” County Administrator Pete Rose said, “and we had reports that the waits became so long that some haulers gave up and returned home. We expect that the new schedule, being open on two weekend days, will prevent that from happening again.”

After July 16, self-haulers will be able to drop off garbage and recycling at the Orcas Island and San Juan Island locations between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

The new schedule is prompted by operational changes which began July 5 at the San Juan Facility. The change diverted commercial and franchise haulers to the Orcas Island transfer station.

Scott Lancaster
Orcas Island School District Board President

I’d like to clear up a few things that have appeared in the Sounder. Keith Whitaker has responded very effectively online, and in the paper to Janet Knowles opinion piece and corrected her misunderstanding of the data. I’d like to add a couple of things to his response.

The figures that the ESD and the school district work from are a snapshot at any given moment in the school year, of our enrollment. The final figures that create our funding source from the state are audited and verified by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Education (OSPI).

I can see how someone coming to a single board meeting and taking away what can sometimes be a huge packet of data, could easily misunderstand the numbers. It is complex, and we are fortunate to have a staff and administration that keeps impeccable track and care of this data so that our district is fully accountable. I, or any other board member would be happy to go over these packets with anyone who has a question about them.