For years I’ve wanted to do something in the public arena, but there was never enough time or the right opportunity. I walk regularly and often found myself in the woods of Vashon. Given my business background in the timber industry, those woods gave me the idea of becoming involved with the Vashon Park District (VPD).
When members of the Island Jewish community arrived at the Havurat Ee Shalom for their Shabbat Torah study, they found their place of worship desecrated. Graffiti was scrawled on the wall of their small synagogue on the Westside Highway. It was a hateful act — directed towards one of our Island’s minority groups.
Vashon Island School District (VISD) is at a critical juncture. We are in the midst of major changes that will affect student achievement over the next few decades. These changes are inspired by the strategic plan that the school board adopted last fall. This plan provides a roadmap for making Vashon one of the top districts in Washington state.
Vashon Island School District’s board is leading our community to a brighter and healthier future as we are forging a “culture of ecology” in our schools.
The busy summer season is upon our Island.
In the peaceful pause that comes to all Strawberry Festival volunteers the week after, it’s fun to reflect on the beauty of the event. I came across the following description that says it perfectly for me.
Editor’s note: This column ran a few years ago. Tressa asked that it run again in part because of the strong response it stirred when it first appeared in The Beachcomber.
I recently reported that my red bicycle was stolen while I was working late one night at The Beachcomber. It was a disappointing moment — to walk out of the office on a summer night, looking forward to a quick, brisk ride home, only to find my bike no longer in front of the paper’s storefront office.
When The Beachcomber heard Monday that a patron had been fined more than $1,000 for allegedly drinking too much at the Strawberry Festival’s beer garden, we thought it was likely the stuff of rumor — an urban legend, Vashon-style. It turns out it’s true.
When The Beachcomber heard Monday that a patron had been fined more than $1,000 for allegedly drinking too much at the Strawberry Festival’s beer garden, we thought it was likely the stuff of rumor — an urban legend, Vashon-style. It turns out it’s true.
Would a ferry reservation system work for Vashon? The Transportation Commission, appointed by the governor, has been pushing this approach to find ways to fund the ferry system.
Washington State Ferries (WSF) was mandated to ask the question, given the traffic congestion at a number of ferry docks and the challenge of filling every boat to capacity. And how can they do this andkeep ferry tolls reasonable (which they aren’t now)?
This past week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined it would permit Glacier’s proposed barge-loading facility within Maury’s sensitive shoreline. The agency refused to require a federal environmental impact statement. With the federal government having listed the chinook as a threatened species and our beloved orcas as endangered, this decision casts a major shadow over efforts to recover these species and Puget Sound.
Last week, this paper reported some of the first good news in a few years about the long, hard, Quixote-like struggle to keep Glacier Northwest at bay. Preserve Our Islands, the grassroots group opposing Glacier, had successfully convinced state regulators to hold the sand and gravel company to the highest standard possible under the state’s voter-approved toxic cleanup law.
