Sports
Girls soccer team downs Eagles, 3-1, event record at 2-2; details online Sanjuanjournal.com
Island Scene
Editorial
Bounty of October’s delights unveiled in Savor the San Juans
What level of women’s health care are taxpayers getting at PIMC? Hospital Board should say page 7
page 9
Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, October 2, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 40
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Through the lens New battlefront
opens over CAO
Can litigants weigh in on required changes?
Contributed art/ FHFF
Above; history and future of nuclear energy revealed in “Pandora’s Promise”. By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor
Three days. Four venues. Twenty-five films. And that’s just for starters. Add into the mix an interactive question and answer forum with presenting filmmakers, a cinematic program designed especially for kids, an opening reception with a piano performance by acclaimed composer Morten Lauridsen, himself a documentary subject and a onetime Waldronite, and a closing night celebration where the most popular film of the bunch will receive the event’s coveted “Audience Choice” award, with the winning documentary reaired, and where longtime killer whale researcher and advocate, San Contributed art / FHFF
In “Blackfish”, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite tells a shocking and sad story of Tilikum, a mistreated and captive killer whale that is responsible for the death of three people while confined at a marine park.
Juan Island’s own Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research, will also be honored as the event’s “Local Hero”. Did we mention that three of the documentaries are all about orca whales, including “Keiko—The Untold Story of the Star of Free Willy.” So, what is this event? It’s none other than the Friday Harbor Film Festival, and it’s the first of its kind hosted by San Juan Island. Sort of like Sundance or Telluride, but with this one happening in the heart of the Salish Sea. If you haven’t heard about it, or know much about the details, you’re probably not alone. In fact, according to Lynn Danaher of Pacific Islands Research Institute, the festival’s chief sponsor, the most difficult part of getting a firsttime event off the ground, even a film festival, is raising awareness about it. Starting from scratch can be that way. “The biggest hurdle?” she asks. “In a word, publicity. The biggest obstacle is getting the See LEns, Page 5
Journal photo / Steve Werhly
Briefed by prosecutors Jon Cain (right) and Amy Vira (not pictured), planning commissioners considered revisions to the critical areas ordinance, Sept. 19. By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
The Critical Area Ordinances are back - and so is the contention that three members of the Planning Commission should be recused from participating any further in the process. After the County Council and the planning commission took up the question of amending the controversial ordinances at a Sept. 19 joint meeting, Kyle Loring, attorney for Friends of the San Juans, questioned whether Tim Blanchard, Mike Carlson and John Lackey, members of the planning commission and board members of the Common Sense Alliance as well, should participate in the deliberations. Loring said he would take his concerns to county Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord. The Common Sense Alliance was formed in 2009 “to inform the community about San Juan County’s proposed land use regulations affecting wetlands, streams, lakes, ponds, and shorelines,” according to the website commonsensealliance.net. The CSA was active during the process
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
of enactment of the CAO, and remains involved in the ongoing appeals process. The Critical Areas Ordinances were required to be updated by See Battlefront, Page 4
Halloween Costume Photo contest
Go to sanjuanjournal.com and enter your favorite Halloween costume. Winner announced in the Nov. 6th edition.