The American Legion invites the public to a Superbowl Party and Dinner at the Orcas Island Post on Sunday, Feb. 1.
Admission is $10 for big screen viewing of the XXXI
Superbowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals, beginning at 3 p.m. Dinner will be served.
All profits will go to assist Jordan Griffin and his family. For questions, call 376-4987.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Cuban poet to give workshop and poetry reading at Doe Bay
The Cuban poet, Jose Kozer, will be comingto Doe Bay on Saturday, Feb. 7 to conduct a workshop ($50) from 1-5 at Doe Bay and give a free reading of his poems in Spanish at 7 p.m. This will be Jose's first visit to the Pacific NW. He'll be teaching and speaking at Hugo House in Seattle and Seattle University.
Paul Nelson of Global Voices Radio and SPLAB! is bringing Kozer to Orcas Island. Nelson is a longtime visitor of Doe Bay Resort and he was eager to bring Jose to the island. He says, "Jose Kozer is one of the most remarkable Cuban poets in the world. Jose's poetry critiques are the kindest, most incisive and remarkable ones I have ever experienced."
The webpage for his visit has been updated with all the current info at: www.globalvoicesradio.org/Jose_Kozer_Workshop.htm
Joze is offering four scholarships to his workshop at Doe Bay. Contact Paul Nelson at splabman@yahoo.com or call Harreld at Doe Bay at 376-2291 for more information.
Paul Nelson of Global Voices Radio and SPLAB! is bringing Kozer to Orcas Island. Nelson is a longtime visitor of Doe Bay Resort and he was eager to bring Jose to the island. He says, "Jose Kozer is one of the most remarkable Cuban poets in the world. Jose's poetry critiques are the kindest, most incisive and remarkable ones I have ever experienced."
The webpage for his visit has been updated with all the current info at: www.globalvoicesradio.org/Jose_Kozer_Workshop.htm
Joze is offering four scholarships to his workshop at Doe Bay. Contact Paul Nelson at splabman@yahoo.com or call Harreld at Doe Bay at 376-2291 for more information.
Stan Englehartson passes away
Stan Englehartson, longtime Orcas Islander, died Thursday, Jan. 22.Stan's parents homesteaded on Orcas and Stan and his brother Alan were born here. Stan spent his entire life farming, lumbering and working for the Road Department on Orcas -- except for serving in the Navy during WWII. He leaves his wife Margaret Englehartson, his daughter Lynn and his brother Al.
There will be a funeral service for Stan at the Woodlawn Cemetery given by the American Legion at 11:30 A.M. Feb. 7, followed by a memorial gathering at the Senior Center.
There will be a funeral service for Stan at the Woodlawn Cemetery given by the American Legion at 11:30 A.M. Feb. 7, followed by a memorial gathering at the Senior Center.
Total SJC 2009 Property Tax Bill: $41 Million
By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager
Graphic above shows how much of each tax dollar is levied by each of the various types of taxing entities (fire, schools, the state, the county, etc.)
County Treasurer Jan Sears reported on Jan. 28 that her department began running the final calculations for taxes on each of the 17,127 taxable properties in San Juan County. The calculations are complex, as the bills include levies for 43 different taxing entities within the county; many with complex systems of rates and exemptions. Sears reports that the bottom line, including all taxes, assessment and accrued penalties and interest is: $41,050,167.05 – an increase of $2.16 million over last year.
By law the tax bills have to be in the mail no later than February 15, “And we’ve never been late,” Sears said. When the calculations are complete, they must be printed and then they are stuffed into envelopes by County staff. “We are one of the few counties in the state still doing that in-house,” she said. “It gives us the opportunity to check for errors and special situations where we need to pull the statements for adjustments. We are also able to insert informational flyers from our taxing districts.”
Taxpayers may choose to pay half of their taxes by April 30 with the second half payable by October 31. Penalties for missing the April 30 deadline start with a 3% penalty plus an additional 1% interest for every month the payment is late. An additional 8% penalty is tacked on if the total payment isn’t received by December.
Last year the Treasurer’s office collected 97.3% of the taxes due by the end of the year. It also collected $327,325 in interest and penalties.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
All Ages Dance with Common Market Friday at the Center
The fact that Barack Obama likes hip hop has brought me at least to the door to have a listen, and fellow Orcas Islanders will have that chance tonight when the Funhouse and Orcas Center join forces to bring hip hop genius to the island.Common Market and No-Fi Soul Rebellion will go onstage tonight, Friday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are just $10.
Above, singers rock with Common Market as they create their new music video.
Barbara Courtney, Executive Director of Orcas Center says, "Come rock the house with a leader of Seattle’s hot hip hop scene and a hip pop-soul duo."
“Common Market have created a work that’s brought them closer to the region of hiphop greatness. This is no exaggeration.” — The Stranger
From Common Market's latest work
…Service, work it
The vagrant came upon a plot, shop – set it down
Found vacant, he gon’ make it into something better now
Barn hand, conversant in farm land, planted seven rows
Will it ever grow? Heaven only knows, though he’s
Hopeful, never boastful about the ethic
Set it deep into the earth, work and serve, all the rest let it
Come or not, hot summer sun, son – bumper crop
Over night, or so some thought (now they’re talkin’ that)
Orcas Writers Festival sponsors the Big Read
The Orcas Writers Festival Gurus are gearing up for a new year, starting with the Big Read, a grant program that gives money to support a community-wide reading program. The Gurus have decided that Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a good choice for the Big Read.
It works like this: libraries and community organizations come together, choose one book from the Big Read booklist, and plan events over the space of a month that entice the whole community to read and discuss the same book.
The Big Read program, sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Arts Midwest, is working directly to give communities the means to read together and have fun while they’re doing it.
The Orcas Island Writers Festival would like to bring the Big Read program to the San Juan Islands community in connection with their September festival.
A San Juan READS! program would inspire reading among adolescents, bring lapsed readers back to the pleasures of a good book, and bring the community together.
The Festival Gurus have a number of ideas for San Juan READS! events and welcome more ideas and participation:
· The festival will devote a number of events to the Big Read, including a reading from Hurston’s book by an up-and-coming author, a lecture on Hurston by an authority on African-American literature, and an invitation to several African-American authors.
It works like this: libraries and community organizations come together, choose one book from the Big Read booklist, and plan events over the space of a month that entice the whole community to read and discuss the same book.
The Big Read program, sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Arts Midwest, is working directly to give communities the means to read together and have fun while they’re doing it.
The Orcas Island Writers Festival would like to bring the Big Read program to the San Juan Islands community in connection with their September festival.
A San Juan READS! program would inspire reading among adolescents, bring lapsed readers back to the pleasures of a good book, and bring the community together.
The Festival Gurus have a number of ideas for San Juan READS! events and welcome more ideas and participation:
· The festival will devote a number of events to the Big Read, including a reading from Hurston’s book by an up-and-coming author, a lecture on Hurston by an authority on African-American literature, and an invitation to several African-American authors.
2009 Property Tax Rates Set - lower for most, but...
By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager
San Juan County Assessor Charles Zalmanek reports that the total assessed value of taxable property in San Juan County increased 13.1% between 2007 and 2008 to approximately $7.976 billion. That is identical to the increase during 2006 and lower than the jump in 2005 when the total taxable property value increased by 17%.
The increase in total value does not translate directly into higher taxes however because the County can only increase revenue collected from existing property by 1% per year without voter approval.
Assessor Zalmanek also noted that some of the 43 taxing entities in the County did not take their full allowable increase this year. Those include: the Port of Orcas, the San Juan and Orcas Cemetery Districts, and San Juan Island Emergency Medical Services. (Only 10.5% of the average property tax dollar is collected for the County Government’s operating fund.)
To offset the higher values, the tax levy rate was reduced by amounts ranging from 3% in Friday Harbor to 17.4% on Orcas Island. Because roughly one-third of the properties in the County are re-assessed each year, two thirds of the properties in the County actually pay less tax each year than the previous year. Residents of South San Juan Island – whose appraisals increased an average of 52% last year – will pay about $23 less in property taxes per $100,000 value. On Blakely Island property taxes will drop by $54 per $100,000 value.
County Communications Program Manager
San Juan County Assessor Charles Zalmanek reports that the total assessed value of taxable property in San Juan County increased 13.1% between 2007 and 2008 to approximately $7.976 billion. That is identical to the increase during 2006 and lower than the jump in 2005 when the total taxable property value increased by 17%.
The increase in total value does not translate directly into higher taxes however because the County can only increase revenue collected from existing property by 1% per year without voter approval.
Assessor Zalmanek also noted that some of the 43 taxing entities in the County did not take their full allowable increase this year. Those include: the Port of Orcas, the San Juan and Orcas Cemetery Districts, and San Juan Island Emergency Medical Services. (Only 10.5% of the average property tax dollar is collected for the County Government’s operating fund.)
To offset the higher values, the tax levy rate was reduced by amounts ranging from 3% in Friday Harbor to 17.4% on Orcas Island. Because roughly one-third of the properties in the County are re-assessed each year, two thirds of the properties in the County actually pay less tax each year than the previous year. Residents of South San Juan Island – whose appraisals increased an average of 52% last year – will pay about $23 less in property taxes per $100,000 value. On Blakely Island property taxes will drop by $54 per $100,000 value.
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