San Juan County

New San Juan council member sworn in, forming county’s first all-woman governing body.

The League of Women Voters of the San Juans has begun observing and reporting on local government.

How do you plan for the future water supply when you don’t have all the information?

Turnout plummeted, charter amendments failed and the challenger leads the incumbent sheriff in San Juan County’s midterm election.

Island-style policing in the San Juans may be an embodiment of real police reform—or it may fall victim to changing times.

Whatcom County voters will decide in November whether they will fund change for an overburdened child care system: Part 2.

Demand far outstrips the supply of available and affordable child care locally. The problem is multifaceted, as solutions also will need to be: Part 1.

An update on the sunken vessel Aleutian Isle off the west coast of San Juan Island details the extreme hazards involved in recovering the boat.

San Juan County will vote on ranked choice voting and other proposals forwarded by its charter review commission, after a court ruling overturned a county council decision.

Washington residents won’t be required to wear masks inside many public areas starting March 12. But experts advise not to throw out those masks yet and caution that vulnerable groups are still at high risk of infection from COVID-19.

The public’s right to access government documents and the government’s power to keep certain information private are at loggerheads in San Juan County, with the Washington Coalition for Open Government bringing suit against San Juan County for violating the Public Records Act.

2021 was a year like no other, with themes such as public health vis-à-vis COVID-19 and opioid addiction; social justice in the courts, the arts, housing and policing; and climate change and natural resources including water rights management. Salish Current offers a look back via articles published during the nonprofit newsroom’s first full year.

Harm reduction programs and collaborations among police, health professionals and society at large pave the pathways to treatment needed by those addicted to drugs, agreed an expert panel at the recent Ralph Munro seminar. Along with looking at why people turn to drugs and how to get them the help they need to overcome addiction, the panel offered ideas as to what’s needed in the way of policy.

San Juan County voters will have had their say by Nov. 2 on hotly debated amendments to their charter proposed by the Charter Review Commission. The amendments have raised controversy, with one group launching a campaign encouraging voters to reject all the proposals.

As the Delta variant of COVID-19 ravages the unvaccinated population, killing some and filling hospitals, public, private, and government entities have renewed masking mandates, and more are enacting vaccination mandates and requiring proof of testing to stamp out the virus from places of both work and play.