How fast a year passes.

Only half of 2024 remains, and it promises to be six months chock full of significant decisions for Vashon, Washington and our country as a whole.

This November will see a presidential and U.S. Senate election, and consequential state races for governor, superintendent of schools, attorney general and our state representatives, among others. First will be the August primary to narrow the fields down. (Make sure your voter registration is up-to-date and that you get your ballot in on time. You can visit kingcounty.gov/en/dept/elections for help.)

But some of the most important choices for our island won’t be on the ballot.

Those choices will include (but aren’t limited to) details of rebuilding the aging Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal, the reigning gateway for visitors and residents to Vashon Island; the future of urgent care on the island and how our taxing districts support it; and countless regulations and codes in the King County Comprehensive Plan that will span projects and developments across the island for decades to come.

That’s a lot of homework — thousands of pages of documents and dozens of public meetings, to start. We at The Beachcomber are tasked with giving you study guides, of a sort. Our responsibility is to explain the complexity, lay out the options and keep you informed of the developments.

We haven’t always been quick on the draw for some of those projects so far this year. It’s time for us to re-ink our pens as major deadlines approach.

Similarly, there’s never been a better time for you to get involved. Visit the board meetings of island organizations. Attend our community council. Send emails to county and state agencies. Write to The Beachcomber about the issues that are important to you.

After all, next time we blink, another six months will have passed.