About Us


We are independent citizen journalists reporting on what we see, hear, and experience in our community.

This blog will focus on the pristine San Juan Islands of Washington State, and it will tell the facts and stories surrounding the many ecological controversies here.  It is no exaggeration to say that these controversies are destroying the community.  Actually, to be precise, it is not the controversies per se that are destroying the community; it is a coordinated strategy of abuse, using false and trumped up environmental claims against average people, that is destroying the community. Corruption is destroying our community. Ultimately, this is a story about average people trying to cope with a government that is against them, environmental organizations that are against them, and general news media that is against them.

The general tone of this blog will be factual and analytical.  We will tell people's stories too.  We will occasionally use parody to emphasize certain points and story lines, but if we do, it will be within a factual and analytical context.

27 comments:

  1. If you are truly "independent citizen journalists" will don't you put you names on the articles, like real journalists do????

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  2. That is so 20th century of you. Would you like our social security numbers and mother's maiden names too? That would really identify us.

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  3. I don't think it's 20th Century to sign what you write. Like I said, it's the professional aspects of reporting. No mother's maiden name or ssn required.

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  4. Jim Skoog (San Juan Island)March 26, 2013 at 9:27 AM

    TH Management...Really? Could this be paranoia? The government is not against you, environmental organizations are not against you and the general news media is not against you. Perhaps you are against yourself in your conflicted anonymous writing. "Independent citizen journalists"; I think not. Posting anonymous comments thinly veiled as journalism is chicken shit. Say what you mean, mean what you say and own it. If you cannot own it then don't say it. If it is not nice then think twice or do not say it at all. Pretty basic stuff this.

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  5. Does the "not nice, think twice" adage apply to you as well, Mr, Skoog? We realize our editorial and comment style is not for everyone. Thank you for your comments.

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  6. Just found this site! YOU GUYS (OR GALS?) ABSOLUTELY ROCK!!!! Anonymous is GOOD! You bend people out of joint because you speak the TRUTH, and they HATE that! After all, they know that if they tell a lie long enough, often enough ....
    I'm sharing your blog with everyone I know on my side of Washington because these takers' nasty little tentacles infiltrate everywhere and destroy all they touch in their lofty guise of "helping us". Keep up your amazing work! HoneyBee in Spokane WA

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    1. And they're telling the truth because they're anonymous? God, you're so biased and paranoid.

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    2. Let me get this straight? You are accusing someone of bias and paranoia and linking levels of honesty or truth to the fact that something has been posted anonymously?

      And you made those comments...GET THIS...ANONYMOUSLY?!!?
      By your logic, your post would be untruthful as well, given that it is, well, anonymous...

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    3. Well, I can't be untruthful because I wasn't making a statement or a factual comment. I basically said I believe people here on this blog are biased and paranoid.

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    4. Why do you come here and comment then? Why not spend your valuable time somewhere else?

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  7. This blog is a fascinating parade of undereducated and misinformed fanatics. I love it, keep going, you're so funny!

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  8. @1:50

    You fit right in.

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  9. Could you give the upcoming hospital board election some space here? Mark Schwinge is running against Howie for the position.Mark is a well experienced,educated,highly thought of man in our community who would serve us well in this position. Howie must need to catch up on some sleep.

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  10. We plan to cover the local elections with some stories in a week or so. We admit ahead of time that we wish we knew more about the choices in some of the upcoming elections, but TH at least wants to mention them so that readers can comment.

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  11. How do you take comments off that one has put on?

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  12. I've taken on governments and corporations, and never been afraid to sign my name. You should sign yours

    Mark Anderson
    CEO, Strategic News Servicw

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  13. @ Mark Andersen

    You have a different philosophy from us. Frankly, we don't care what Mark Andersen's point of view is, but we do care about the content of what Mark Andersen has to say. We do not wish to promote the views of specific people. TH wants to promote TH, not the views of the people who write or comment on TH.

    We hope you have lots of continued success with your business model, but we're on a different path.

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  14. What the people who want you to print your names do not realize is that there is a culture of attacking the messenger in San Juan County. So people are forced to write without their names for fear of reprisal against their families and businesses. So you get some whackos posting anonymously but you also get a lot of truth that would otherwise not be revealed--so I choose to wade through the wackos to get the obvious good stuff. Thank you all for posting---

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  15. Why do we see so many comments on this post ?
    Because you can be anonymous and you never
    see so many comments any
    where else.

    So keep up the good work !

    You Rock !

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  16. Yes, sure, in a county where anyone who raises an issue is hounded relentlessly by the planners and prosecuting attorney? Retaliation is the name of the game--no matter how petty. Look at the Craftsman Corner mess. Erroll Speed complained of what he perceived as mistakes by CPD and he was hounded into the ground, including criminal charges, for having a tiny house. Look at Michael Durland. He complained of what he perceived (correctly) to be CDP mistakes, took the case to court, and then found his longstanding business being undermined by false charges of violations. Look at John Genuich--he complained that the county was using building permit fees to pay the salary of Sam Gibbbony, who was unqualified for the solid waste job she got somehow and then became head of CDP, for which she was just as unqualified--a person with no building experience whose salary is now being paid at least in half part, by permit fees. This allows her to attend numerous meetings and functions with her radical "environmental" friends. And now Genuich is fired. So yeah, people are wise not to use their names. Because the upper management of this county will use their power to hunt down any citizens who dare challenge their authority. Their overpriced salaries and pensions and benefits and egos are threatened if a simple question is asked.

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    1. I just need to correct something you said about environmentalists. The rest is right -on. Apparently I am one of those "radical" environmentalists you claim is a friend of Sam Gibboney, because I think forested wetlands, fish bearing streams, and shorelines should be protected - not by abuses but by education and cooperation. And I think codes should be clear, enforceable, offer incentives, and reasons why someone should do the right thing by their lands and waters. For clarification purposes: Sam Gibboney is absolutely NOT a friend to environmentalists. Look what just happened in the Mike Thomas and "JT" wetland debacle, and Gibboney pushing the PC to push through the latest ESAP. So NO. I think Sam Gibboney is anti wetland, anti-environment. I wouldn't want her heading or directing anything environmental!

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  17. PIG WAR 2015 I'am born citizen of San Juan county. I hereby am calling to arms all true community leaders now is the time to take action .....TODAY!!! we can have a movement to expel all council members on a basis of repeated corrupt actions followed by backroom hand shakes and sidestepping. The pigs are loose in the garden and i want them out who is with me. i will paint the tank again because its the only thing i have done that people seem to notice.

    "Lets clean House Now" & "Take The Keys"

    why cant we marginalize them like they do to us

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  18. From the front gate of Errol and Kathleen Speed’s 20-acre Orcas Island farm, they can glimpse a small stand of evergreen trees, an open meadow and their own, fenced organic garden.

    What they can’t see is why the local governing authority, San Juan County in Washington State, has chosen to treat them like criminals for committing what appear to be minor building code infractions.

    Like many rural Washington residents, the Speeds live “off the grid” in a small trailer on the property they
    share with their horse, goats, and chickens. They are neither wealthy, nor are they hardened criminals.

    Consequently, they never expected to be subjected to a search warrant, charged with a criminal offense, tried before a jury of their peers, and sentenced to actual jail time for minor code violations involving their own property.

    The driving force behind Errol and Kathleen Speed’s nightmare is the bureaucrats’ relentless effort to
    criminalize minor infractions and victimless crimes. The Speed family’s experience is just the latest example, but it demonstrates the pointlessness of this over-criminalization effort by Big Government.

    Freedom is almost perfectedAccording to San Juan County law enforcement officials, the couple’s great crime was to erect a small building on their property, believing that structures less than 1,000 square feet were exempt from permit and building code requirements. They also committed the great crime of having a bed, blankets, a couch, and a kitchen in this building.

    They also used a composting toilet.

    For their trouble, the Speeds endured a police raid of their property (using a criminal search warrant), a jury court trial, thousands of dollars in fines, and a 180-day jail sentence for Errol Speed. Not coincidentally, the county has spent tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money prosecuting the case

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    1. Right ON to all you say. And the request for enforcement to report the Speeds was a vendetta from someone whose integrity I wholeheartedly question - and since most people don't know That Whole Story - only his side - comes out looking like the "victim." Don't be fooled. SJC threw the book at the Speeds. The Speeds are still fighting this unjustified attack for trying to do the right thing, today. (hmmmm.... wondering if it was the hearings examiner from Enumclaw who threw them under the bus...)

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  19. Somebody sounds extremely butt-hurt.

    Too bad you lost your baka lawsuit.

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