A couple dozen Islanders toured Vashon High School’s gym last week, where they saw lockers that no longer open, sinks that have no hot water and a boiler that frequently floods.
After two years of effort, King County officials have made little headway in a far-reaching attempt to get homeowners along the western shore of outer Quartermaster Harbor to address failing septic systems that are fouling the wildlife-rich bay.
Vashon’s property values fell 8.4 percent this year, while countywide they’ve dropped around 14 percent, the first countywide decline in property values in nearly 20 years, according to County Assessor Lynn Gering.
Three Islanders holding a banner dangled over Niagara Falls Tuesday as a way to protest Canada’s efforts to extract oil from the tar sands of its boreal forests, what one protester called “the most environmentally destructive project” on Earth.
The Tahlequah ferry route will not lose its 10 p.m. sailing, thanks to an 11th-hour agreement forged between state and union officials last week.
The Backbone Campaign, a homegrown entity with a national following and a flair for spectacle, is facing one of its most serious financial hurdles since it was founded in 2003.
Vashon school district officials plan to ask for community input on a proposed bond measure that would likely weigh in at around $50 million — $25 million less than the proposal that failed at the ballot box earlier this year.
The state Transportation Board — after a spate of public hearings where people complained about its proposal to raise ferry fares during the height of summer — decided not to impose a new “super summer surcharge” at its meeting Tuesday.
Far fewer eighth-graders reported using drugs or alcohol in the latest survey of Island teens, suggesting to educators and youth advocates that efforts to curb Vashon’s high substance abuse rates are beginning to have an impact.
King County has earned the highest level of green certification possible for the way it’s managing Island Center Forest, a 363-acre expanse that shelters the headwaters of Vashon’s largest salmon-bearing stream and provides miles of recreational trails.
Far fewer eighth-graders reported using drugs or alcohol in the latest survey of Island teens, giving educators and youth advocates encouragement that efforts to curb Vashon’s high substance abuse rates are beginning to have an impact.
Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison emerged as the top two contenders in a crowded pack of King County executive candidates Tuesday — transforming the non-partisan race into a contest between a liberal county councilmember and a conservative former television news anchor.
Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison emerged as the top two contenders in a crowded pack of King County executive candidates Tuesday — transforming the non-partisan race into a contest between a liberal county councilmember and a conservative former television news anchor.
