Orcas News

Economic recovery funding money is available to Class A water systems , and smaller systems combining to become Class A, through the Department of Health Drinking Water State Revolving Funds program.

VanderYacht Propane is a family-owned, multigenerational business that can now include Orcas Island on its list of service areas.

"We have no hidden agenda; we are fighting for our future ... youth are not vulnerable, and our inclusion in development strategies is crucial.

Some will get more. Others will get less. But for the most part, San Juan County's tourist-related facilities will have to get by next year with about the same amount of public support that's helping them to pay the bills this year.

From the moment you sit down with Terry Anderson, one thing is clear: he's a storyteller.

Orcas School is one step closer to finalizing a 2009-10 budget. Last week the school board gave the go-ahead for Superintendent Barbara Kline to proceed with her proposal of starting the year off with a full middle and high school schedule, and cutting programs later if enrollment numbers aren't high enough to help fill the financial hole.

After weeks of rarely sighting them, all three of the southern resident killer whale pods - J, K and L - converged up in Boundary Pass last week meeting up in a mass gathering southwest of Pender Island, one of the Canadian Gulf Islands.

When Ray Dowdy began visiting the graves of fallen soldiers he fought with in Vietnam, he knew there was one that would be the most painful: Lloyd Stearns, who is buried in the Olga Doe Bay Cemetery.

For four years Orcas Islanders and visitors bought one-of-a-kind and custom made jewelry and clothing designed by local artist Sallie Bell at her Monkey Puzzle shop in Eastsound.

Orcas Center will present one performance only of the Portland Taiko on Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. Those who have experienced taiko drumming know the thrilling sound created by performers playing large drums in unison, moving in dramatic choreography.

Ten young participants of the 2009 Theatre Camp will perform on Friday, July 3 at 6:30 p.m., showcasing their original hand-made masks and newly learned performance skills.

Onstage during last week's One World Concert at Orcas Center, local writer Ed Wilson surprised singer-guitarist-composer Gene Nery by presenting him with a platinum record, commemorating the sale of one million copies of a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album, on which a song sung by Nery with lyrics by Wilson appeared.

"Island Time." It's the logo on T-shirts and hats in a market near the ferry dock.

Orcas Rec has several outings for the month of July that are open to both kids and adults.

You can fly there via seaplane, but most visitors prefer to travel aboard a Washington State ferry with their car, RV, or bicycle.

On Sunday, June 14, the Orcas Island Community Band traveled to Ladner, B.C., to perform at the two-day Ladner Bandfest with 22 other all-volunteer community bands.

The subject of keeping orcas in captivity is a big one, fraught with emotion and embedded in huge financial investment.

Lt. Jeff Jones is standing at the fire ring, which an shows unburned area around it.

May 28: The bite was just the beginning for an Orcas Island man, a fugitive from Wisconsin, who was taken into custody on a felony warrant a couple of days after his two-year-old pit bull bit the leg of a female friend as she jogged by his North Beach Road home.

High school golf coach Bobby Olmsted will teach golf skills for children ages 10 and up at the Youth Golf Clinic at Orcas Golf Club, Mondays and Wednesdays, June 22 to July 8 from 10 to 11 a.m. Golfers may stick around for an extra half hour after the clinic for additional golfing.