No real change with the latest election update Friday afternoon, with challenger Laurie Gere still holding onto 62-percent of the vote to Mayor Dean Maxwell's 38-percent. As of Friday afternoon, Gere has 4,492 votes to Maxwell's 2,735 votes. No change in other races.

The San Juan County Council declared a state of emergency Friday in the wake of the "catastrophic" failure of a wide spectrum of communication capability in the islands. A fiber optic cable linking the islands failed on Tuesday morning.

Anacortes PD has recieved several reports recently of what are known as "Green Dot" scams, which are scams which ask a victim to transfter funds to a Green Dot account for some legitimate-sounding reason. Then the money disappears.

The credentials of a pharmacist in Anacortes and his pharmacy have been suspended for multiple violations that put patients at risk for serious harm.

Anacortes Schools Foundation is launching its first major fundraiser next month with “Celebrate the Season,” a family-friendly event set for December 6 and 7 at the Port of Anacortes Event Center.

The San Juan Islands are in the third day without phone service between the islands and with the mainland as a result of what appears to be a cut in the fiber optic cable between Lopez and San Juan islands.