Camano Community

For Today...

Weather Forecast

• Today: Showers, mainly after 10am. High near 49. South wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
• Tonight: Showers. Low around 41. South wind between 11 and 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Book swap for library meeting. The Stanwood-Camano Friends of the Library will meet at 11 a.m. Tues, Nov 10 in the library meeting room. “Sharing your book bounty,” a book swap, will be the program. Members may bring a book, receive a number which will then entitle them to select a different book. The library is located at 9701 271st in Stanwood.

Western Washington University's Center for International Studies is sponsoring a lecture series this fall highlighting international research done by university professors.  All presentations, which are free and open to the public, will be at noon Tuesdays in College Hall room 131 on WWU's campus.

Nov. 10: "School and Family Life in Rural Kenya." Kris Slentz, WWU professor in the Department of Special Education, will share a photo essay and social research that depicts the daily life of families and children in rural Kenya.

Stanwood City Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the Stanwood-Camano School District Administration Building, located at 26920 Pioneer Hwy, Stanwood.

Road Construction/Closures

• Monday, Nov. 9, through Thursday, Nov. 12, between Hanstad Road and Smith Road from 8:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. nightly.

Around the web...

The Camano Island Inn is really going high the these days with good listings on Facebook and Twitter. Please check these listings for good specials available now.  Facebook: Camano Island Inn Fan Page, Twitter: @camanoislandinn

Snow plowing. Chad Davis, Seaside Landscape & Excavation, Inc., Davis Brushcutting, Inc., 800.505.8662, local 360.652.8662, fax 360.387.6582, cell 360.239.0956, www.SeasideLandscapes.com, and add Austin's Lend-A-Hand Corporation, 459 Vesper Way, Camano Island at 387-1442

Man walks into own funeral

This should make you angry:  Pfizer abandons site of infamous Kelo eminent domain taking

Cats are trainable — and that's not a punchline

North Cascades Highway update

by Jeff Adamson

With the fronts coming through now and tonight  (more snow has already started falling) and a forecast calling for 4 to 6 more inches, it's not safe for even our avalanche crew to go in today.  (Of course with more snow falling, the avalanche threat will likely be different by tomorrow morning in any case). 

For Today...

Weather Forecast

• Overnight: Rain, mainly after 4am. Low around 43. South southeast wind between 17 and 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
• Monday: Showers. High near 52. Breezy, with a south wind between 20 and 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
• Monday Night: Showers. Low around 42. South southeast wind between 13 and 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Women’s club to hear about candles.  The Camano Country Club Women’s Club will meet Nov. 9, 10 a.m. for their monthly meeting/program and luncheon. The program will be on the making of beeswax candles by the Sisters of the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord. They will be offering their candles and other handmade items for sale. Lunch will be catered by Debbie Christopher. Sign-up for luncheon is on bulletin board in clubhouse entry hall. Ladies bridge (by reservation only) will follow at 12:30 p.m.

Stanwood ski and snowboard signups. Sign ups will be held Mon., Nov. 9 at the high school cafeteria, 6- 8 p.m.for the ski and snowboard programs that continue for either six or eight weeks. It is open for kids grades 6 thru 12 and travels to Mt. Baker Saturdays starting Dec 12. Discounted season passes are available for kids in the program. For more information and transportation cost, contact James Haugen, 387-8069.

Take a class at Gallery by the Bay

November

Nov 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29:  Life Drawing Sessions at Gallery by the Bay from 11am - 2pm

Nov 2: Planning your Web Site with Gayle Picken at Gallery by the Bay from 6 - 9pm

Nov 3, 10, & 17: Michele Cooper shares "tricks and cheating ways" in watercolor at Gallery by the Bay from 10am - 1pm

Wind on the way for Monday

From NOAA:

WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 1 PM PST MONDAY.

SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH WINDS WILL INCREASE LATE TONIGHT...REACHING SPEEDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 45 TO 55 MPH ON MONDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL START TO SUBSIDE AROUND MIDDAY ON MONDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS:

A WIND ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 TO 39 MPH OR GUSTS OF 45 TO 57 MPH ARE LIKELY. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN SNAP SMALL TREE BRANCHES...TOPPLE SMALL OR SHALLOW-ROOTED TREES...AND CAUSE LOCAL POWER OUTAGES.

Around the web...

Wild weather:  Funnel cloud over Enumclaw on Friday

Robot Cow Rectum: For Educational, not Recreational, Purposes…

Washington state has to play the add-value card, not low-cost-leader ace

West Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback

Heavy snowfall has some Wash. ski areas opening

He's back? Teenage serial burglar suspected in more Camano Island burglaries

A teenage serial burglar accused of a crime wave stretching from San Juan County to Idaho may have returned to his native-Camano Island to commit more crimes

Colton Harris-Moore, 18, is suspected of breaking into homes in South Camano Island over the last several weeks in search of food, said Island County sheriff's Detective Ed Wallace. Wallace declined to go into details, but called the burglaries "Colton-esque."

via seattletimes.nwsource.com

WSDOT Skagit, Island county updates

More snow on the way for North Cascades passes

The Twisp snow crew has been on their winter schedule since Sunday, Nov. 1, so there's round-the-clock coverage in the Cascades on SR 20. They have been plowing as needed and we expect it's going to be a busy weekend.

Opinion: Stage set for emergency taxing

by Ed Jenkins

Island County Commissioner John Dean states, “The situation is no different than a community that has suffered a devastating natural disaster, such as an earthquake. In such situations, governments must prioritize services based on critical needs.”

This financial crisis did not fall upon us like some natural disaster with no warning. I am certainly no genius but myself and many friends read the papers over the past years and realized that there was going to be a huge problem very soon. Why was the inevitable crash such a shock to our government leaders?

via www.pnwlocalnews.com

Stanwood’s Fields takes second

From 30th place to second place in a year, it’s been quite a climb up the ranks for Stanwood’s Minna Fields.

Fields, a junior at Stanwood High School, was the runner-up in the Class 4A girls race Saturday during the state cross country championships at Sun Willows Golf Course. After biding her time in the first mile and waiting to make her move, Fields completed the 3.1-mile (5,000-meter) course in 18 minutes, 17 seconds. Garfield senior Anna Dailey won it in 17:58.

via www.heraldnet.com

For Today...

Weather Forecast

• Sunday: Showers. High near 51. South wind between 11 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
• Sunday Night: Rain likely, mainly before 10pm. Cloudy, with a temperature rising to around 50 by 4am. South southeast wind around 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Anacortes & Fidalgo Model Railroad Club 14th annual open house 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the basement at 419 Q Ave. The entrance is on the north side of the building. The event is in recognition of Model Railroad Month in November.

Dusty Cellars Winery Hours. Just a yummy reminder on hours of operation this weekend. The Dusty Cellars Winery will be open on Saturday and Sunday, Nov 7th & 8th from 12-5 pm and if you take a look at the web site you’ll notice that all red wines will be on sale. Cheers, Dusty Kramer, Dusty Cellars Winery, 529 Michael Way, Camano Island. www.dustycellars.net

Colton Harris-Moore captures imagination of many

Colton Harris-Moore has been a one-boy crime wave since he was 7 years old.

He has broken into houses, stolen cars and burglarized markets, hardware stores and cafes for years on this rural, woodsy island north of Seattle.

Since early in 2008, when he escaped from a juvenile holding facility, Harris-Moore, now 18, has been leading police on a fruitless chase through Washington, Canada and Idaho -- stealing two boats and crash-landing three planes (he taught himself to fly on his computer, authorities suspect) along the way.

via www.latimes.com

Cliff Mass: Crazy Weather?

Heavy showers one minute and sun the next. Followed by more showers. The reaction one often hears is that NW weather is crazy and unpredictable! Such things don't happen over the east coast! But it turns out that showers and sunbreaks are an essential aspect of NW weather and if you are aware of what is going on (and can see a radar image on the web), you can take advantage of it.

via cliffmass.blogspot.com

A focus on farming

In this day and age, it’s not enough for farmers to grow food.

They also must be experts at marketing, Twitter and Facebook.

They must protect their land not just from development but from ecological wear and tear.

They must work against a national food system that rewards cheap food and devalues small family farms.

Those were just some of the views expressed at Focus on Farming VI: Growing Together, Snohomish County’s regional agriculture conference on Thursday at Tulalip Resort Casino.

via www.goskagit.com

For Today...

Weather Forecast

• Saturday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 49. Breezy, with a south wind 13 to 16 mph increasing to between 21 and 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
• Saturday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 10pm, then showers likely. Low around 42. South southeast wind between 8 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Events - Lots of things going on today...

Dusty Cellars Winery Hours. Just a yummy reminder on hours of operation this weekend. The Dusty Cellars Winery will be open on Saturday and Sunday, Nov 7th & 8th from 12-5 pm and if you take a look at the web site you’ll notice that all red wines will be on sale. Cheers, Dusty Kramer, Dusty Cellars Winery, 529 Michael Way, Camano Island. www.dustycellars.net

Anacortes & Fidalgo Model Railroad Club 14th annual open house 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the basement at 419 Q Ave. The entrance is on the north side of the building. The event is in recognition of Model Railroad Month in November.

Playoff football: Stanwood buried by Bothell, 61-0

From the Seattle Times:

Thirteen plays later, it was all but over.

The absolute one-sidedness of Bothell's 61-0 victory Friday night against Stanwood — the difference between a team that fought like heck to make the Class 4A playoffs and the undefeated team expected to win the whole thing — could be broken down in many ways. Perhaps the total yardage (a whole lot to not so much), the disparity in first downs (ditto) or the final score itself might suffice.

More here.

... and here.

WSDOT SR532 Update

Lane closure at the bridge Monday night to move crane

Crews will move a large crane across the Mark Clark Bridge Monday night. The crane is so large, it must be taken apart and moved in pieces. Crews will also do some paving work Monday night to flatten out the ends of the bridge to give you a smoother ride. You may have noticed the bumps while crossing the bridge recently.

To complete this work, crews will close one lane of the bridge on:

• Monday, Nov. 9, from 8:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

During the week, crews will continue building columns for the new Mark Clark Bridge. This involves setting large forms in the ground and filling them with reinforced concrete. We just completed the four columns on the east side of the bridge, and once we move the crane, crews will turn their attention to building the four columns on the west side of the bridge. This work has been going on for several weeks, and we’ve taken lots of great pictures of the process. Visit the Flickr page to see photos of our progress on the new Mark Clark Bridge.

Island County Elected officials make budget demands

Six elected Island County officials signed onto a stinging open letter to the county commissioners, demanding that they take certain steps before making cuts in their departments to plug the $1.2 million shortfall in the 2010 general fund budget.

The letter insists that the commissioners cut funding for all non-mandated programs, which would include the WSU Extension Service and parks; renegotiate a large increase in the public defense contract; dip into reserve funds; and work with the unions to gain concessions.

via www.pnwlocalnews.com

Around the web...

Van stolen 35 years ago in Wash. state recovered

Carolyn Southworth, Composer. Pianist. Recording Artist, www.carolynsouthworth.com and www.southworthnotes.blogspot.com

Ya think?  The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been feeding people in Lestho since 1965, yet the tiny mountain kingdom is still not much closer to achieving food self-sufficiency. Time to overhaul the approach, aid agencies say.