AMERIGAS

Lack of service is endangering islanders

I am a long-time resident of Vashon Island with four propane tanks on my property and I, as most of the Vashon customers of Amerigas, have not received our propane deliveries as scheduled and often as previously paid for.

This situation has been going on since at least November. We are scheduled for deliveries and they do not come. We are promised expedited deliveries over and over, and they do not come. There are people on the island who depend on propane for their home heating and hot water and they are in homes that now are in below-freezing temperatures. All of us have experienced being cut off on phone calls, especially to supervisors. When we do reach someone we are again assured and again disappointed.

This behavior on the part of a multi-national company that has seen fit to remove all local offices is both immoral and I believe illegal. We have contracts and have paid money. They have responsibilities, both legal and moral, which they have not exercised. In response, we have organized a meeting at the Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust, 10014 SW Bank Road, Vashon, to take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4 (with masks), in order to compile our various experiences and work on ways to force Amerigas to make deliveries as promised. I urge you to document your own experiences with Amerigas in writing, attend our meeting and assist us in any way you can to put pressure on Amerigas. For more information, contact changeAGas@gmail.com.

Joan Wortis

STREET LIGHTS

Some advocate darkness

I read in The Beachcomber that there may be a change to the brightness of the streetlights on Vashon. (“Crews begin work to turn up the lights on Vashon,” Dec. 8.)

I think it would be a shame for Vashon to become a place where lighting is increasing, as so many other towns are advocating for dark sky-adapted lighting and turning off street lights entirely.

I’ve gotten involved with Dark Sky Dunedin, here in New Zealand, to reduce street lighting and they sent me this super cool map of places in Europe where communities have turned off their street lights: tinyurl.com/4m3e4s96.

I’m not suggesting Vashon town needs to turn its lights off entirely, but I think if the lighting in town changes, it should be dark sky compatible, because outdoor lighting affects wildlife and insects negatively, and doesn’t necessarily increase road safety. Learn more about light pollution and the dark sky movement from the International Dark Sky Association.

Paulina Barry

Turning up lights is not desired by all

In the Dec. 8 issue of The Beachcomber, I learned something about those blinding new street lights around town. The article quotes Brent Champaco of King County Roads as saying “We heard that community members wanted more lighting along this busy area.”

No doubt some people did – there are always those who seem to be afraid of the dark. But others would prefer minimal street lighting, compatible with Vashon’s more rural character, or value a sky illuminated only by stars and moon, rather than having them obliterated by megawatts of reflected ground-based lights. What do the neighbors think of them?

I asked Mr. Champaco what form the community feedback took. Did I miss an island-wide survey to gauge if the new lights were really what the Vashon community as a whole wanted? No. Did KC Roads post a notice of the project, inviting comments? No. Did anyone even consider adding shades to direct light downward, where it’s supposed to go? No. If I had time to read the Beachcomber cover-to-cover every week, I would have learned of the lights a bit earlier, as they were mentioned in the Oct. 6 edition, but it appears it was a done deal already. When a change this glaring, literally, is proposed, public comment is more than warranted before committing to it.

Citizen participation concerns aside, some studies show that lower light levels and fewer lights don’t lead to more accidents — for example, the British Medical Journal’s 2015 investigation, at tinyurl.com/4hr4ru3s. After driving past those new, dazzlingly bright lights, the highway seems even darker than before, making me wonder if they won’t actually decrease road safety. If we must keep those street lights, let’s dim them!

J. Dulfer

SAYING GOODBYE

Thank you to WSF crew, family and friends

I want to offer thanks to workers on the Washington State Ferry on the Tacoma-Pt. Defiance-Tahlequah route, namely Captain Gabe and deck crew, and my friend John Devereau.

On Saturday, Dec. 17, a group met on the Tahlequah dock: my son Nicholas Joseph Jurus, his partner in life, his step-grandmother Ann, his auntie Heidi Weispfenning and husband, his auntie Gretchen Weispfenning and husband, Larry, his mother’s best friend in life, Sue (Fuller) Hoffmann and her husband Doug, a couple of others I did not know, and myself.

It was to be a “remembrance and sending off” of my son’s mother, the youngest daughter of Dr. Charles G. Weispfenning, MD. She passed away back in March of 2022, in a chain of unfortunate events/accidents, along with alcoholism, sadly. We’ve lost quite a few to this disease, and now sadly, Kirsten, as well.

My thanks go out to Captain Gabe, John and the crew of the ferry, and to my son for putting this ceremony together and inviting me to be a part of the send-off. He did very well.

The boat/ferry stopped halfway across. John welcomed my son to speak his piece, from the page he’d hand-lettered for this occasion.

Nick read aloud and then brought out his mother’s cremains. He then said his goodbyes, and gently placed her remains into the waters of the South Puget Sound waterway — directly between Pt. Defiance and Vashon.

Someone in the family, or a friend, handed out long-stemmed roses to us all, to toss into the water in remembrance of Kirsten, in saying goodbye.

The ferry captain watched patiently, as Nick finished up.

I saluted the captain as I saw them above. They saluted back. And then the captain sounded three blasts of the ferry’s horn in honor of the send-off. It was truly wonderful, as send-offs go.

I would also like to thank all the ferry commuters that day, for their acceptance and patience with us. Not one person complained that I know of.

When the boat landed back on Vashon, I was able to get on the phone with Captain Gabe, to thank him and the crew. I left the boat walking (well, I kind of jogged so I would not hold up anyone any longer) to meet my son and the family, saying their goodbyes.

Kip Jurus