Journal of the San Juans, December 18, 2013

Page 1

Sports

Wolverines roll over Loggers in runaway win PAGE 8

Island Scene

Don’t get caught pouting, Santa Claus is coming to town PAGE 9

Guest Column

A win-win? How about a company of federal conservation agencies at First & Spring instead? PAGE 7

Journal

The 75¢ Wednesday, December 18, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 51

of the San Juan Islands

www.sanjuanjournal.com

Frustration aired over outage Gays

add to rise in wedlock

Poor communication by CenturyLink echoed by many By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter

As many as 50 local businesses suffered combined losses totaling $175,000 or more during the 10-day telecommunications failure of early November, according to Brendan Cowan, director of emergency management for San Juan County. The monetary losses of local businesses was among a long list of complaints and problems brought before the state Utilities and Transportation Commission Monday, Dec. 9, as part of its investigation into the widespread outage and the response by CenturyLink, the single-largest provider of telecom services in the San Juans and owner and operator of the underwater fiber-optic cable that ruptured and shutdown much of the islands voice, internet and 9-1-1 services starting in the early morning hours of Nov. 5. A lack of information about the outage itself and what steps were being taken to repair the cable proved a source of frustration for many. Friday Harbor Town Administrator Duncan Wilson said CenturyLink showed a “lack of initiative” in getting information out to the public and the news media, calling the information that was provided “muddled at best.” Roche Harbor Resort General Manager Brent Snow was even more emphatic.

By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor

Staff photo / Scott Rasmussen

Above; State Sen. Kevin Ranker, Philip Jones and David Danner of the Washington State Utilities Commission, listen to a hearing Monday, in Friday Harbor.

“Communication [with CenturyLink] was weak and unacceptable,” Snow said. The UTC spent almost three hours reviewing the facts and frustrations of the outage. David Danner, chairman of the commission, said the hearing was part of a “thorough investigation of the cause of the service disruption and of the adequacy of the emergency preparations and response” of CenturyLink, especially focusing

on the disruption to 9-1-1 emergency services in the county. Economic Development Council Executive Director Victoria Compton said economic damages, including two real estate transactions that were lost and business relocation expenses in response to the outage, might well be significantly larger that Cowan’s estimate. Mike Greene, president of Rock Island

Contributed photo / Tabitha Bullock

Evan Foley, with flag, and friends star the pop music video “Believer”.

See WEDLOCK PAGE 4

Real Esta te

in the

San Juan

Islands December

2013

See OUTAGE, Page 3

Island kids star in pop music video Christmas came early for a “score” of San Juan kids, as they watch the fruits of their labor unfold on the silver screen, Dec. 11, at the Palace Theater. Before a house packed with family, friends and supporters of San Juan Island School District’s art program, 15-20 children, who together make up the

Turns out that 2013 is well on its way to being a banner year for love, honor and commitment in Washington state, and in the San Juan Islands as well. Credit the legalization of samesex marriage, at least in part, for the spike in the number of couples tying the proverbial knot, both at home and across the state. “I think the numbers show a lot of people are taking advantage of this new found freedom,” San Juan County Auditor Milene Henley

cast of “Believer”, a music video with an anti-bullying message in Seattle’s Kris Orlowski soon-tobe-released recording, saw their performance for the first time. The video marks the directorial debut of Seattle’s “Ransom & Reason” (Daniel Blue and Casey Sjogren), and was produced by Jennifer Beck-Furber.

2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

Published the Journal of the San Juanthird Wednesday of each mon Islands, th by the Islands’ Sounder and Islan ds’ Weekly

Real Estate in the San Juan Islands

See inside for November’s real estate sales, listings and statistics.


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