“What’s new?” Cossetted comfortably beneath the slow mood, slow food drape that descends over Vashon in the fall, I find I have a stock answer to that question. “Not much.”
On Monday a 30-day special session of the Washington State Legislature will commence, as the state faces a $2.2 billion shortfall in revenue for the 2011-2013 budget.
Islanders had a fantastic choice on Nov. 8, when we had to decide between Candy McCullough and Joe Ulatoski for fire commissioner. Little wonder, then, that a mere 60 or 70 votes out of some 4,075 cast separate them.
If you’re a guy like me who is not a fan of the holidays, you might be worrying about upcoming seasonal obligations that you will fail to meet and for which you must create a decent excuse. Things like why you didn’t get a present for your mother-in-law, or why your contribution to the cookie exchange is in a container labeled “Bob’s Bakery.”
A friend periodically questions me about citizen journalism, the role ordinary people are playing — on blogs, YouTube and elsewhere — in getting news about their community out and into the world.
I thought, “Oh good. I’m going to land on that fluffy moss.” Very deceptive, that moss. It disguises hardpan and it also grows under trees. I hit the ground with a crunch, the leading edge of my helmet buried about a quarter inch into soft bark.
Over the last few years, as The Beachcomber’s website has garnered more attention, some readers have raised concerns about one issue in particular — the fact that we allow visitors to vashonbeachcomber.com to post anonymous comments.
Implementing elegant solutions to thorny problems is a Vashon talent. Little wonder, then, that a dedicated group of Islanders is taking steps to slow teen alcohol and drug use by doing something simple — changing the physical environment that enables the activity.
In 2003, I was asked to create a theater piece for Lynann Politte’s Vashon production of the Vagina Monologues addressing the question “What would our world look like when violence against women and girls no longer exists.”
The luckiest among us were on Vashon’s eastern shores Friday afternoon, witnessing a parade of killer whales cavorting and breaching as they made their way south past the Island.
While visiting my sister Maureen and friends in New York last week, I went downtown by subway from the Upper West Side to join the Wall Street protest in lower Manhattan. As an afterthought, I bought a poster board and Magic Marker at a card shop and proceeded to scrawl a message that read: “Vashon Island is with the 99%.”
Now that Shape Up, Vashon is under way and more walkers are taking to the Island’s roads, it’s time we reviewed what “sharing the road” really means.
Last year, the five commissioners who make up the Vashon Island Fire & Rescue board received, all told, $16,932. How? For the most part, simply by attending board meetings.
