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Guest Column: In Service to our Community’s Seniors

The District Committee of the Mullis Community Senior Center has worked through many challenges over the past few months and confronted concerns in our Friday Harbor community. We have come to better understand the perspectives of those we serve and have reinstated all Use Privileges to the four islanders who were cited for non-compliance with the established Mullis Center’s Code of Conduct.

Guest Column: Why didn't San Juan County Council members select Lytton to replace Ranker

Last Tuesday Feb. 5th our representatives threw away a golden chance to appoint a strong strategic advocate for San Juan County. The San Juan County Council voted unanimously to appoint a State Senator who was not their constituents first choice nor the local Democratic party's first choice. Unfortunately, the way the final vote was made in addition to some allegations still in the process of being corroborated that the suprising outcome of the appointment process was known to at least one public official ahead of time, has sparked concern that the Open Meetings Act was violated by a number of councilors. Since the vote in favor was 2 from Skagit, .6 from Whatcom and 3 from San Juan County, that means our county councilmen were the deciding votes. We need to take this very seriously.

Guest Column by Jim Corenman: How you can influence decisions about future of WSF

Washington State Ferries recently released the draft for their Long Range Plan looking out the next two decades to 2040. This has been a long time in the making, including meetings over the last year and public outreach by WSF this spring. The draft plan is now open for comment, and the final draft will be complete and presented to the state legislature in January. The next month is the time to for serious attention.

The Veterans of Iraq & Afghanistan Owe Thanks and Gratitude to Vietnam Veterans

I was speaking to a group of small business owners a few days ago about the benefits of military service and hiring military veterans for their businesses. As I received their still very special, “Thank You for Your Service,” compliments following my talk, I realized that the public displays of gratitude for military service have their origins in the failure to honor, recognize, and respect military veterans from the Vietnam War upon their return. In so many ways, my generation of military veterans owes an incredible debt of gratitude and respect to the actions that the Vietnam War military veterans took to create a world-class military.

2015 Guide to Holiday Gifting: The “Tiny Trend” Year

Avatar_IngridGabriel

Yes, it’s true. Back without any readership demand whatsoever, I paused my other life-affirming activities and taken on, once more, the heavy Mantle of Gifting Consultant. If you were reading the San Juan Islander a few years back, you may remember that I offered an annual guide to holiday gifting - an essential bible for the shopper. The series was like The Great Courses in its scope and erudition.

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