We would like to start by saying that we have never had poor feelings about The Beachcomber. In fact, quite the opposite. We have loved and supported the newspaper for years, by advertising in it on a regular basis as well as purchasing the newspaper weekly.

Two weeks ago, The Beachcomber ran an article about a rumored murder on Vashon and was very clear that it was in fact a rumor. (“Murder on Vashon? Not here, authorities say.”) However, La Playa’s name was associated with the rumor. Here is a quote from the article: “According to one rumor, a body turned up in the Dumpster outside of La Playa, a restaurant next to the north-end ferry dock.”

Putting a business name, particularly a restaurant, in the same sentence with the words “murder” or “body turned up in the Dumpster” will without a doubt hurt the business and did. We experienced a dramatic and unexplainable drop in revenue last week. There are numerous businesses that share that Dumpster, and The Beachcomber was expressly asked not to print the restaurant’s name. Why did the paper choose to print our name despite our clear request not to? We feel that the editor ran this article with a lack of consideration for our business and our customers.

We at La Playa are making every effort to enhance and improve our business during these hard economic times. We have re-opened the espresso bar (now under new management) and are continuing improvements. Thank you for your support.

— Miguel Flores and Julia Silberman, La Playa

Editor’s note: There was no request made by the owner not to mention La Playa’s name in the news story. Rather, the owner said he did not want to talk to a reporter about the rumors.