Vashon HouseHold has created the first apartment units on the Island permanently assigned to housing homeless families — five units at the organization’s newly refurbished Mukai Commons just west of the Post Office.
The state, King County and a regional conservation organization are working to purchase Glacier Northwest’s 236-acre gravel mine on Maury Island and put the land into public ownership — a remarkable denouement, should it come to pass, to one of the region’s biggest environmental battles.
A proposed expansion of the Quartermaster Marina won preliminary approval from King County, which determined last week that the project complies with the state’s environmental requirements for shoreline development.
The 6:45 a.m. ferry run from Fauntleroy to Vashon is virtually given over to teenagers most weekdays. More than 100 young people fill the boat’s booths, transforming it into a kind of floating study hall — poring over chemistry, penciling out math problems and listening to iPods.
Steve Rubicz and Gaye Detzer moved to their west-side home on a sweeping hillside above Colvos Passage in 1982, and ever since, Rubicz says with a wry smile, “I’ve been trying to keep the barn from falling down.”
A Vashon organization has joined forces with Puget Sound Energy in an ambitious campaign to increase the Island’s participation in a program that brings alternative energy into the power grid.
The state Supreme Court, in a case that has had more twists and turns than an Olympics-style bobsled run, has issued what appears to be the final word on Armen Yousoufian’s 13-year crusade over King County’s failure to uphold the state’s public disclosure law.
Jody Metzger, a seasoned educator who has helmed two elementary schools, directed school choirs and taught second, third and fourth grade, has been hired to become the new principal at Chautauqua Elementary School.
Amy Carey remembers vividly those early morning hours six years ago, when she hopped into a boat with two other Islanders to investigate news of an oil spill off of Maury Island’s rugged shoreline.
The Dirt Yard, a commercial enterprise that took in construction debris and sold fill, has apparently closed after an inspection by King County’s health department found that the operation violated county codes.
In a move that King County seldom takes, county officials will sit down with local commissioners next week to see if they can find a way to lift Water District 19’s 14-year moratorium on new water shares.
The Harbor School, in an effort to tighten its belt, has decided to let go of its top administrator, turning the role over to one of its long-time teachers and its business manager.
James Cardo, an English teacher who has taught at the private school for nearly a decade, and Caroline Matter, the business manager, will jointly serve as the head of school while maintaining their other duties, Matter said.
King County Councilwoman Jan Drago told Islanders Monday night that she believes the county council should be more involved in selecting the trustees who oversee the countywide library system.
