Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, February 26, 2014

VASHON-MAURY ISLAND

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75¢WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014 Vol. 59, No. 09 www.vashonbeachcomber.com

Patients, providers report mixed success with Affordable Care ActHundreds on Vashon have signed up for coverageBy SUSAN RIEMERStaff Writer

Island artist Pam Ingalls signed up for health insurance earlier this year with the help of a local volunteer, one of many who assisted hundreds of islanders with the enrollment process when the state’s health insurance exchange opened in October.

Now, Ingalls and countless others across the country — patients and health care providers alike — are settling in to the new insurance land-scape created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). On Vashon, the picture appears mixed, with some reporting optimism and greater access to care and others saying more change is needed for the pro-gram to be truly effective.

Ingalls, known to many for her oil paintings that hang in The Hardware Store Restaurant, says her new insurance plan is a welcome change. It replaced a high-deductible plan that resulted in her paying all her health care bills in addition to her high monthly insurance premiums. Now, she said, her premiums are half of what they used to be and her plan covers medical care she needs, including physician visits, lab tests and prescriptions.

“I feel like I’m getting something for the money I’m spending, plus the security of insurance. I guess other people — who have had regular insur-ance — have felt this kind of security all along,” she said. “But it’s a new experience for me, and I’m very grateful.”

With more people now insured, clinics through-out the country have reported bracing for a wave of patients. On Vashon, it appears that while physi-cians are busy, representatives of the island’s larg-est clinics say they have not been overwhelmed by a flood of newly insured patients seeking care.

Vashon’s Franciscan Medical Clinic has seen a number of new patients, Scott Thompson, a Franciscan spokesman said last week, but the clin-ic is not tracking whether the patients are newly insured because of the Affordable Care Act.

So far, he added, the state’s health exchange has not posed problems for Franciscan providers, and he noted the Franciscans support the intent of health care reform.

“We know that people with health insurance

SEE HEALTH CARE, 18

State proposes only slight ferry schedule changes, improvements at dockBy SUSAN RIEMERStaff Writer

After proposing sweeping changes to the north-end ferry schedule last year, Washington State Ferries (WSF) has put forward a more limited schedule rewrite that would only eliminate one run on the triangle route.

WSF officials will host a public meeting on Vashon this week to present proposed schedule revisions and hear feed-back from islanders. Officials believe the schedule rewrite, along with proposed changes at the Fauntleroy dock, will help eliminate the ferry delays that have plagued the route.

The schedule changes are slated to take effect this fall, when the 124-car Cathlamet replaces the aging 87-car Klahowya. The proposed changes are minor revisions to the current weekday schedule, but will require additional staffing on the

Fauntleroy dock to make the schedule work as planned, said Ray Deardorf, the planning director at WSF.

“We are banking on having additional traffic control on the Fauntleroy side,” Deardorf said.

Photo Courtesy WSDOT

The 124-car Cathlamet, pictured above, will replace the 87-car Klahowya this fall.

SEE FERRIES, 12

County moves forward on pot plan after mixed meetingBy NATALIE MARTINStaff Writer

King County is moving forward with a proposal that would allow marijuana business at the K2 building after hear-ing mixed reactions to the plan at a public meeting attended by hundreds on Vashon.

The county’s Department of Environmental Permitting and Review (DPER) is working with the county executive’s office to complete the pro-posed amendment to the Vashon Town Plan, according to Lisa Verner, DPER’s legislative coordinator. It plans to send the proposal to the King County Council by Monday.

The proposed amendment, Verner said, will not be significantly different than what was discussed when more than 200 islanders packed the cafeteria at Chautauqua Elementary School for a meeting last Wednesday. According to county officials, the amendment would bring Vashon’s zoning in line with other parts of unincorporated King County by allowing marijuana growing, pro-cessing and retail at properties zoned accordingly in Vashon town and at Center.

“We are moving ahead with crafting a recommendation,” Verner said.

Meanwhile, Bakkhos Holding says it is also continuing with its plans to pur-chase K2 and use the site to grow and process marijuana, despite considerable

pushback at the meeting, two petitions circulating that are related to the busi-ness and a surprise announcement from the state Liquor Control Board that could limit its future pot production.

On Monday, Dan Anglin, a spokes-man for Bakkhos Holding, issued what he called an open letter to Vashon, repeating claims he made at a meeting

earlier this month that the company will hire local, be good environmental stewards and partner with community causes.

In another letter issued late Monday by K2 Sports, the president of K2 addressed some of the environmental

Jeff Dunnicliff Photo

Scott Bergin, an owner of Bakkhos Holding, speaks at the county meeting last week.

SEE K2, 19

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Distillery seeks compliance with town plan, no other businesses under scrutinyBy NATALIE MARTINStaff Writer

King County is requiring that one busi-ness on Vashon, the Seattle Distilling Company, obtain a permit that complies with the Vashon Town Plan.

At last Wednesday’s public meeting on a proposed town plan amendment, some islanders expressed concern that some busi-ness on Vashon do not comply with town plan zoning rules drafted in 1996. Since then, however, officials with the county’s Department of Environmental Permitting and Review (DPER) have said only the Seattle Distilling Company has an open code enforcement case related to the town plan. That case has been open for months, they say, because the business never obtained the permit it needed to open its doors in 2012.

“We may have other code enforcement cases that deal with zoning, but not because of the town plan issue,” said Sheryl Lux, a code enforcement officer with DPER.

The Vashon Town Plan, which is folded into the county’s comprehensive plan, has been in the spotlight recently because of the county’s efforts to amend it. A section of the plan specifies what types of businesses can be located in Vashon town and at Center, providing a basis for zoning restrictions at those properties. A county amendment to add marijuana business to those uses was recently proposed and was vetted at a public meeting last Wednesday.

As the town plan amendment has been considered, islanders have also raised con-cerns that that portion of the plan, last updated in 1996, could be out of date and prohibit current businesses. At the meeting last week, county officials said they were early in the process of looking into the issue.

In interviews afterwards, however, DPER officials said they knew of only one conflict with the town plan, at the Seattle Distilling Company, and have no plans to shut the business down.

Lux said that when the distillery opened at a building at Center in 2012, its owners failed to obtain the required change-of-use permit from DPER. Ishan Dillon, a partner in the business, said they admittedly over-looked the permit as they dealt with the

complexities of setting up licensing their new operation.

In June of last year, however, an anony-mous complaint about the distillery was filed with DPER. The department then real-ized the business was not permitted and notified the owners, Lux said. As the owners began the process of obtaining the required permit, they realized the distillery was not allowed under zoning restrictions tied to the Vashon Town Plan.

“It’s going to be an issue, and it looks like the town plan doesn’t allow it without a revi-sion,” Lux said.

Dillon said the business owners hope to see a town plan amendment proposed that would allow the distillery go through at the same time as the one related to marijuana is proposed.

Lisa Verner, DPER’s legislative coordina-tor, said the county would give the distillery time to get the town plan amended for its use, whether that means proposing their own amendment or adding it to a larger amendment of the town plan. The business will be allowed to operate in the meantime.

“If it takes a year or possibly two years, that’s what would be allowed in order for there to be a resolution,” she said.

Verner and other county officials said they know of no other businesses that currently have to go through the same process and are unsure why some people thought many businesses are out of compliance. Verner said she looked into the gas stations, which are apparently out of compliance with the plan but existed before 1996 and are therefore considered a legal nonconforming use.

DPER’s code enforcement department is complaint driven, she said, so the depart-ment won’t investigate whether businesses comply with the town plan unless it receives complaints.

At the county’s meeting last week, Lauren Smith, a land use policy advisor in the executive’s office, noted that a portion of the town plan is out of date. She said Fall City recently went through a town plan revision process, something that could happen on Vashon.

“I think that’s something we need to talk about,” she said.

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Volunteers will now fundraise, hope to go live in a few monthsBy NATALIE MARTINStaff Writer

Voice of Vashon has been granted a permit from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to start an FM radio station on the island.

Last Friday Voice of Vashon (VoV) volunteers learned that the organization’s application for an FM station hads-been approved and it was granted a construction permit from the FCC to build a low-power FM station. The orga-nization will now begin a fundraising campaign to help purchase the needed infrastructure and FM transmitter. It will also begin lining up radio content and complete the steps required before it can go live, which it hopes to do within a few months.

“Everybody is really excited,” said VoV president Jean Bosch, “and we’re all trying to keep ourselves focused on a linear process of doing it right.”

Those involved with Voice of Vashon say the announce-ment fulfills a longtime goal of the community media organization, which was founded 14 years ago in hopes of starting an FM station on the island. It has applied with the FCC at other times over the years and been unsuccessful, and one early attempt to broadcast an FM station was also shut down.

“It’s a testament to the creativity of this bunch of people,” said Susan McCabe, VoV’s station manager. “After we lost … each time rather than folding our tents and going away,

we found other ways to continue broadcasting.”Indeed, VoV has grown to include everything but an

FM station. The nonprofit, powered by a large volunteer crew and a shoestring budget underwritten by island busi-nesses, now offers a web radio station and a community access television station in addition to its robust emer-gency alert system. Recently, it revamped its website and has been broadcasting live commentary of Vashon High School sports games and posting video of public meetings on Vashon.

The organization, however, has held out hope that it would eventually get a place on the FM dial. A couple of years ago, its vision came within reach when federal regulations for low-power FM stations changed in favor of small-town stations and an application window for such stations was opened.

“I want to give full credit to the Obama administration for opening up the band-width and making it happen,” Bosch said.

John Midgley, a VoV board member who has been closely involved with the effort, said the group got its sta-tion approval sooner than it expected and is now working to quickly get its plans in order.

“We’re very happy that this happened so fast. … We’re actually ahead of schedule,” he said.

VoV plans to install an FM radio transmitter on top of the Water District 19 water tower near town. From there, it will broadcast on 101.9 FM to most of Vashon and Maury, though some reaches of the island could have spotty ser-vice, Midgley said.

“We do have plans to figure out ways to enhance the signal,” he said.

Once the infrastructure is in place, the station will be tested to meet FCC guidelines, but Midgley said they aren’t concerned about getting the final approval.

At a VoV retreat last weekend, volunteers discussed their vision for the FM station, which will have similar content as the web radio station, with additional programs, music and talk radio specific to Vashon.

McCabe said the group hopes to get more people involved in producing both live and pre-recorded programming and hopes to air call-in shows and possibly bring back the once-popular Morning Scramble. Music will be from Vashon or the Northwest.

The 1650AM alert station will be unchanged, though alerts may be includ-ed on the FM station as well.

“Our goal is to be a valuable asset to the community,” McCabe said. “Our format is likely to be fairly eclectic. We want it to reflect the character of Vashon.”

The nonprofit estimates it will need to raise as much as $50,000 to purchase new equipment for the station, which will utilize the existing studio at Sunrise Ridge. Bosch said it is still determining how it will move forward with fundraising, but noted at least one person has already vol-unteered to donate labor to help build the infrastructure.

“I think the community is going to step up in a lot of ways we can’t even imagine yet,” she said.

Voice of Vashon gets approval to start an FM radio station

“We’re very happy that this happened so fast. … We’re actually ahead of schedule,”

John MidgleyVoice of Vashon board member

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After almost 35 years with Vashon Island Fire & Rescue, Linda Hamilton is retiring! Her celebration will be on

Saturday, March 1 from 4-7 p.m. at the Sportsmen’s Club on Cemetery Road.

A potluck is planned, so bring a dish, your appetite and join in the celebration!

ComeJoin Us!

It’s a Party!It’s a Party!

By NATALIE MARTINStaff Writer

An island man has opened the first medical marijuana dispensary in Vashon town.

Kevin Bergin recently opened Island Cure Collective in the small office building just south of the former Vashon Family Practice.

At the dispensary, Bergin sells marijuana and marijuana products to adults who hold a medical marijuana card.

Bergin has been selling medical marijuana on Vashon since last May, when he first started Island Cure as a deliv-ery service.

In an interview last week at the new dispensary, Bergin said he decided to open the store because he believes many people go off-island to purchase medical marijuana.

“Shopping at a place in Seattle, they tell me we get a lot of customers from Vashon,” he said.

Bergin also owns Kevin Bergin Construction, a small business that does excavating work. He plans to continue the Island Cure delivery service.

Bergin has leased the building, a former dentist’s office, since November from Sjardo Steneker. The building is connected by a breezeway to the former Vashon Family Practice building, which Steneker owns as well. The prop-erty is currently for sale.

Bergin said before he opened his doors, he had to apply for a change of use permit from the county’s Department of Permitting and Environmental Review (DPER). He

received the permit in about eight weeks.Lisa Verner, DPER’s legislative coordinator, confirmed

that Island Cure is permitted. The new store is allowed under the Vashon Town Plan, she said, because a medical

marijuana dispensary is considered a retail drug store, a business allowed in the plan.

Last December, King County issued a moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries and collective gardens due to the legalization of recreational marijuana. Bergin, how-ever, applied for his permit before that time, Verner said.

Bergin said he plans to stay in business as long as there’s a legal medical marijuana market in Washington, but he isn’t interested in moving into the recreational marijuana market, which he said is more highly taxed.

“The Liquor Control Board would make more money than I would,” he said.

Island Cure offers a variety of strains of marijuana, as well as edible products and lotions. He plans to carry EdiPure products, whether or not the business buys and moves into the K2 building.

As with other dispensaries, products aren’t on display but are sold to customers at a counter. He isn’t hiring any employees now, he said, but plans to keep regular hours at the dispensary seven days a week.

Bergin removes all product and cash from the building at night, something he said is a good practice and also an insurance requirement. There are also security cameras inside and outside the building.

In the first week of business, Bergin said he had about 50 customers and he heard a lot of positive feedback.

“Everyone that comes in thinks it’s great they don’t have to go to Seattle to get their meds,” he said.

Islander opens medical marijuana shop at edge of Vashon town

Natalie Johnson Photo

Kevin Bergin, in his new dispensary, says he hopes to stay in business as long as medical marijuana is legal in Washington.

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Write to us: The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber welcomes community comment. Please submit letters — e-mail is preferred — by noon Friday for consideration in the following week’s paper. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Only one letter from a writer per month, please.

All letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and libel considerations. We try to print all letters but make no promises. Letters attacking individuals, as well as anonymous letters, will not be published.

Our e-mail address is [email protected].

WWW.VASHONBEACHCOMBER.COM Wednesday, February 26, 2014 • The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber

EDITORIAL

The ferry proposal we learned of last week is drastically different than the one first proposed by the state last year. Rather than overhauling the north-end schedule, the new proposal seems to reflect the community’s desire for even better service on the triangle route, which has frequent delays. We hope state lawmakers will now follow suit and approve the funds that will make this plan work.

This fall one of Vashon’s smaller ferries will be replaced with a larger one, giving the route greater overall vehicle capacity. Ferry officials initially said the boat swap would be a good time to add space between sailings on a route known for falling behind schedule easily. They proposed cutting several sailings a day and spacing out the remain-ing ones. While the state never released an official proposed schedule, some of Vashon’s volunteer ferry advocates leaked some draft schedules that showed wholesale rewrites on the triangle route the volunteers believed would be bad news for commuters and other ferry riders. They and other islanders cried foul, saying the frequent delays on the route should be addressed not by reducing runs but by improving the slow ticketing, loading and unloading at the Fauntleroy dock.

We reported the situation but didn’t hold our breath that the state would “fix Fauntleroy first” as some islanders demanded. At a well attended public meeting on the plan, however, officials vowed to do what they could to address islanders’ concerns, and now it appears they have. A pro-posed schedule released last week alters sailings by just 5 minutes one way or the other and deletes only a mid-day sailing from Southworth to Vashon. To make the plan work and to alleviate ferry delays, the state has requested funding to put more workers at the Fauntleroy dock and replace the state patrol cadet that was once positioned there to direct traffic, all things that should make dock operations go more smoothly and allow the ferries to catch up after delays. Should the state fund the positions, Vashon will be set for better ferry service, with a larger boat on the north end as well as quicker operations at the dock.

Sometimes government officials seem to hold meetings and take comments when they’ve already decided what they’re going to do. Washington State Ferries, however, has shown us that they’re able to listen and that sometimes the public process can work in our favor. To make this new and improved proposal work as intended, lawmakers in Olympia will have to approve the funding for more ferry and state patrol workers. While one Vashon representative has already said he believes the plan will have support, state Republicans, which have control in the Senate, have historically hesitated to fund transportation initiatives. We hope the importance of good service on this route is understood in Olympia and that WSF’s plan will come to fruition this fall.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Restoring the public’s trust is paramount

At the Vashon Park District, we are past the election and have our new commissioners on board, as of Jan. 1. Some things are the same: We still have wonderful parks, and we have islanders par-ticipating in all kinds of active sports, including hiking, soccer, horseback riding, softball and skateboarding. And some things are different: We have a refined and redesigned accounting system, a general manager with a profes-sional background in finance; we are playing on some bright new ball fields; we have survey results that tell us what you think, and we have two new commissioners, Scott Harvey and Doug Ostrom. Thanks for re-electing me, as well.

True, those fields at VES, the former Vashon Elementary School, have come at a steep price from your tax dollars, but almost half was actually paid for with money outside of Vashon Park District (VPD) funds, including some very generous islander cash and volunteer donations. And now we can track those dollars much more reliably with our updated account-ing system and accounting staff.

Regardless of how we got here — mostly reduced annual levy money and taking on the VES Fields project — I have seen our actual recovery coming for several months. We are just beginning to come out the other side, and it is exciting on a number of fronts.

First, we are moving beyond the VES Fields project. We have one final permit lingering that requires us to finish some work before mid-2015. However, we expect to complete that work this year. This

is psychologi-cally, as well as financially, responsible. Doing this work will finish the required work on the fields in the most cost-

effective and expeditious manner possible.

Second, per one of the recent Washington State Auditor’s rec-ommendations, we are committed to paying off all of our debt and creating a cash reserve. This is a new way of thinking, supported by the majority of our commis-sioners, myself included. Even though past state audits from 2001 through 2009 never found a prob-lem with VPD using this $400,000 line of credit (also known as the Tax Anticipation Note or TAN), we are now committed to eliminating this practice. This is a multi-year process and will only continue as long as the majority of VPD commissioners support it, but it is refreshing to have this philosophy as we move forward with financial planning. And, as we recover, we are projected to fin-ish this fiscal year with a comfort-able margin of cash in the bank.

To this end, we are also moving more slowly on ramping up staff and starting new programs. Elaine Ott, our general manager, is slowly building her VPD team, and we, the commissioners, are reticent to take on new activities this year. Let’s cost effectively manage what we have, then, at a later time, we can consider taking on new activi-

ties. And, because we continue to keep the status quo, Elaine, by her own admission at our last board meeting, is comfortable with her current staff and is carefully and methodically evaluating the need for new additions.

We are also taking this opportu-nity to improve internally. Elaine and our maintenance manager, Jason Acosta, just came back from a conference trading new ideas on maintenance management plan-ning with colleagues from all over the United States. They sat in on classes related to turf manage-ment, time management, risk management, play area safety and creating a culture of innovation, among other topics. There is no question this investment in profes-sional development will save VPD money and improve our efficiency in the area of park maintenance.

Your thoughtful responses to the survey we sent out last fall were very impressive. Your mes-sage came through loud and clear about fiscal responsibility and fiscal stability. Note our efforts in creating a refined accounting system, hiring a manager with a finance and accounting back-ground and our vision of eliminat-ing debt.

But I think an over-arching theme was a sense that the park distict has some work to do to regain your trust. We are work-ing on that. And we look forward to proving to you that you can continue to trust us with your tax dollars and that we, as your elected representatives, represent your park and recreation interests here on Vashon.

— Lu-Ann Branch is the president of the Vashon Park District.

Public process for ferries worked in our favor

OPINIONVashon-Maury

STAFFPUBLISHER: Daralyn Anderson [email protected] COORDINATOR: Patricia Seaman [email protected]: Chris Austin [email protected]

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IDENTIFICATION STATEMENT & SUBSCRIPTION RATESVashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, 17141 Vashon Hwy SW, Suite B, Vashon, WA 98070; (USPS N0. 657-060) is published every Wednesday by Sound Publishing Inc.; Corporate Headquarters: 19351 8th Avenue NE, Suite 106, Poulsbo, WA 98370-8710. (Please do not send press releases to this address.)

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Park district charts course for the futureMOVING AHEADBy LU-ANN BRANCH

Marijuana at K2The need for jobs does not trump environmental concerns

I appreciated the chance to hear from other island-ers and express my own concerns about the proposed marijuana factory at the K2 site during Wednesday’s public hearing. Islanders were eloquent and pas-

sionate — something I appreciate deeply about my community. In my own, less well-prepared testimony I fear I sounded dismissive of the need for jobs on the island. While I do recognize that Vashon has an intense need for more employment opportunities, I ask those who argue that the county should allow industrial marijuana production — in violation of our town plan — for that specific reason to consider

LETTERS CONTINUE, NEXT PAGE

this: How many communities now have fracking or Walmart in their midst because of the clamor for more jobs?

If someone proposed fracking on the island, would you jump so quickly? Would you say disparagingly, “You use natural gas — where do you think it’s going to come from?” (This, a variation of one person’s testimony regarding people who voted for the legalization of marijuana but ques-tion its industrial growing at the K2 site.) Would you toss aside concerns over water and energy use and pollution? Would you want your community to be ramrodded into accepting fracking? Would you not ask for time to come to a community con-sensus?

The proposed plant could cause a deep fracture in our community if fast-tracked as proposed. I ask the county council to give the island time to update our town plan rather than taking advantage of our lack of local governance and forcing an amendment upon us. Let us have a say in determining our destiny. And I ask island-ers who support marijuana production to have patience and allow a reasonable process for this momentous decision. We waited a long time for marijuana legaliza-tion; we can wait a little longer to do it right.

— Lesley Reed

Vashon should say yes to opportunity at K2

The Beachcomber is outstanding despite its occasional misstep. One such misstep was the decision to use the candy photo on the recent front page illustrating an article about Bakkhos Holding buying the K2 site. The depiction provided fodder for alarmists and was a disservice to the com-munity.

At the recent public meeting, many of the attendees seemed to believe that sell-ing drug-laced candy to Vashon children is the likely outcome of having the pro-cessing plant on the island and in that location. Largely lost among the outpour-ings of myth and anecdote is the fact that the company will be selling wholesale to retailers and cannot sell directly to con-sumers, here or anywhere. Even if Bakkhos never locates to Vashon, legal retailers will have the right to sell the products here. Parents and other adults won’t be able to shirk their own responsibility of safe-guarding minors simply because they have forestalled a legal, job-producing business from settling here.

At the meeting some raised relevant points about on-site pollution from past practices and about future energy con-sumption. If the current seller remains responsible for any necessary cleanup, our community is better served by putting the area to good use rather than letting it sit idle and remaining as damaged as it was during its active era.

The energy use issue is worth consider-ing, but isn’t one that affects the siting of the business on Vashon. Whether Bakkhos is located here or Bainbridge or Walla Walla, the same energy issues arise.

In our insular community, some NIMBY attitude may be unavoidable, but after enduring years of obstruction-ism on a national level with a gridlocked Congress, I hope the community can work together to create solutions rather than relying on a new, local version of a failed Just Say No policy.

— A J Bastarache

Photo of EdiPure’s product was appropriate

Dan Anglin, a principal in EdiPure, expressed unhappiness with The Beachcomber at a public meeting last week for the paper’s decision to run a photo-graph of one of EdiPure’s products on the front page. The photo was of THC-laced colorful, gummy-style candy.

It’s a curious position for Anglin to take. A visit to EdiPure’s website reveals countless photos similar to the one The Beachcomber ran. One of those images is nothing but a big, bold “EDIPURE” writ-ten in letters made out of colorful gummy-style candies. What kind of a company is angry when its product is displayed in a newspaper? And what kind of a product is it that its manufacturers don’t want the public to see?

— Jim Evans

Carbon footprint is too high for proposed operation

Many thanks to Joe Yarkin for making intelligible the environmental harm that an indoor marijuana growing business at the former K2 could cause. In his Feb. 29 letter to The Beachcomber, energy-expert Yarkin pointed out: “My calculation, based on carbon footprint data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, is the carbon footprint for the indoor lighting at K2 would be 23,900 tons of CO2 annually.”

For what? An absurd operation: grow-ing plants with artificial light, plants that are as hardy as weeds, in a state that offers more than enough land and sustainable free sunshine. The environmental cost cannot be justified.

The prospect of Vashon’s (really the King County Council’s) permitting such a large waste of energy and increase in CO2 emissions is awful. So many people on Vashon are sensitive to environmental degradation and take steps to reduce their role in it. The indoor growing operation would negate the progress made by people who know that gross, unnecessary envi-ronmental pollution has to stop and for that to happen we have to draw lines and take alternative paths.

But really, even with a retractable roof or solar panels, the Bakkhos Holding project is too problematical for our small island for reasons expressed by others in the last Beachcomber. It would be foolish to rush into a project just to create jobs by destroying the environment. Perhaps more jobs would be created by outdoor farms — tending them and securing them. Even if the plants were grown elsewhere, the security-fenced candy factory would resemble a prison in the heart of Vashon. We can do better.

— Jill Janow

President did not represent his company well

I just attended the meeting on K2 and the Vashon Town Plan. The participation by the EdiPure president was appalling. He called a Vashon participant a liar for the information he presented.

Does this businessman not have a clue about civil discourse? I don’t think we need people who act like bullies to create jobs on Vashon.

— John Staczek


Amiad & Associates Exclusively Representing Buyers of Vashon Island Homes

206-463-4060 or 1-800-209-4168

We bought a nice piece of property two years ago with the intention of building our retirement home there. We just met with a King County technician to fi nd out how we start the building permit process, and he informed us that we can’t

build without a water share. No one said anything about a water share when we bought it. We just assumed that the property would have water. We talked to the people who run the water system yesterday and they said there might not be any new shares for years, if ever! I think we were taken advantage of by the seller. Could you recommend a good attorney? We intend to sue the man we bought it from for false representation.

I can recommend an attorney for you, but before you head into a lawsuit it’s important to ask yourself some questions. From every-thing you told me in our follow up conversation, the seller made no

specifi c representations about the property. You bought it directly from the seller without a real estate broker to represent you. That might have helped in this case. You didn’t check with the local water purveyor to be sure water shares were avail-able. You also didn’t have a septic design done which would have alerted you to the need for a water share and is prudent when buying land.

This seems to be what we call “recreational” land. That means it’s not buildable for some reason. Looking at the map of your parcel it appears far too small to drill a well. That means you really can’t do much of anything with it. Had you done your due diligence before closing you could have avoided this costly mistake.

The price you paid for this land was far below the average price for a similar buildable parcel. That should have given you a clue that something was wrong. We have a lot of unbuildable land on Vashon and often the owners don’t know it’s not buildable until they try to sell it or build on it. I’m really sorry.

Q:

A:

Just Ask EmmaCurrent Real Estate Issues

To view this blog & make comments,

visit www.vashonislandrealestate.com/blog.html

High-energy project should be reconsidered

NPR had an article on lighting this last week that stated, “The Environmental Protection Agency says that if every household replaced just one incandescent bulb with an ‘Energy Star’-rated LED or CFL (compact fluorescent), Americans would save close to $700 million per year in energy costs.”

Last week I visited the Bullitt Center in Seattle — a certified “living building” — the greenest commercial building in the world where they produce the energy they use in the building, collect and filter the water they use and treat their sewage on site. Commercial tenants are given an energy budget that may limit them to two or three laptops. Some of the tenants have had to eliminate their large-screen moni-tors because they used too much energy.

I agree with so many of our com-munity members who spoke at this last week’s K2 meeting: I would really like to see the derelict K2 building put to some good use, and the prospect of new jobs is very good news. But I am also concerned about the tremendous increase in energy use required to grow so much marijuana indoors. As Joe Yarkin noted, the produc-tion of a pound of marijuana requires nearly 2,000 times more energy than the production of a pound of aluminum — a huge use of energy considering the scale of

the proposed operation. If Vashon still hopes to become a sus-

tainable community, how can we balance our island energy budget while engaging such an energy-intensive enterprise? Isn’t our carbon footprint worth considering? It certainly seems worthwhile for this com-munity to take a little time to consider the responsible path forward.

— David Warren

More people working on Vashon would bring benefits

I can remember a time when the K2 building was a bustling place of employ-ment — somewhere working class people could go on Vashon to support their fami-lies. Our community was more diverse, more vibrant and a lot less precious back in those days. That’s why I’m excited that a company has come along that wants to produce a legal and highly regulated prod-uct there.

More people working on Vashon means more traffic in our other local businesses, less stress on our social service net, and perhaps — if we are lucky — a return to a time when Vashon was not just a moated, gated bedroom community for the wealthy but a place that was welcoming to people of all different income levels and ways of life.

— Liz Shepherd


ONGOINGFree Tax and Health Insurance Help: Hilary Emmer will be avail-able on Wednesdays to assist with federal tax preparation for those making $25,000 a year or less, health insurance sign-ups and property tax exemptions for those over 60 earning less than $35,000 per year including Social Security. No appointments are necessary, and all forms will be provided. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through March 26 at the Vashon Library.

THURSDAY • 27Lecture Series: The Burton Community Church lecture and discussion series continues; all are welcome to attend, and the lectures are free. This week’s topics are apocalypse and original sin and the inevitability of evil. For more information, call Herb Reinelt at 408-7360. 4 to 6 p.m. in Lewis Hall, behind the Burton Community Church.

Ferry Meeting: The meeting’s focus will be on the Washington State Ferries’ proposed revisions to the triangle route schedule. 6 p.m. open house, 6:30 p.m. presenta-tion at McMurray Middle School.(For more information, see page 1.)Relay for Life: Learn more about the relay, which benefits the American Cancer Society. The relay will take place Aug. 1 and 2 at Vashon High School. Sign up at www.VashonRelay.org. 6:30 p.m. at Rock Island Pub & Pizza.

FRIDAY • 28

Club O Dance Night: All are wel-come to this monthly dance night for people of all ages. 8 p.m. at the Open Space for Arts & Community.

Senior Center Birthday Table:People with March birthdays are invited to join the celebrants at “high table” for games, prizes and songs. Members of Vashon Island Fire & Rescue will check blood pressures. The suggested dona-tion is $4.50. Noon at the Vashon Senior Center.

SATURDAY • 1

Adopt-a-Cat Day: Vashon Island Pet Protectors (VIPP) hosts a cat adoption day every Saturday. See www.vipp.org for directions or call VIPP at 389-1085. 11:30 am. to 2:30 p.m. at VIPP’s cat house, 12200 S.W. 243rd St.

Vashon Social Dance Group: The group will hold a lesson (instruc-tor TBA) followed by the monthly dance. No partners are needed and admission is by a $10 suggested donation, though no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. For more information, call Candy McCullough at 920-7596. 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Ober Park performance room.

VHS Student-Faculty Comedy Night Fundraiser: Vashon High School’s Spanish IV class is raising funds for its upcoming service trip to Nicaragua, with the first ever VHS student-faculty standup com-edy night. The cost is $5. 7:30 p.m. at the Vashon High School theater.

SUNDAY • 2

Unitarian Fellowship: The day’s topic will be Letting Go and Risk. Rev. Carmen McDowell will share strategies of letting go that are grounded in hope and lead to greater capacities for love and sustaining each other in the long struggle for justice. 9:45 a.m. in Lewis Hall behind Burton Commu-nity Church.

Burton Community Church: Rev. Dick Birdsall, a retired Ameri-can Baptist minister, will return for this Sunday’s services. He has served as a minister in Idaho, California and Issaquah and he is a co-founder of the Rainbow Lodge Retreat. 11 a.m. at Burton Com-munity Church.

St. John Vianney Church: Rev. Kevin Duggan from Mary Queen of Peace Parish will present Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. The presentation is free and childcare will be provided. 1 to 5 p.m. at St. John Vianney Church.

MONDAY• 3

Great Books Discussion Group:The group will meet to discuss this month’s reading, “Masks,” by George Santayana. The group meets on the first Monday of the month from Oct. through June, and visitors are welcome as long as the material under discussion has been read. 6:30 p.m. at the Vashon Library.

Scout Troop Celebrates 90 Years: Boy Scout Troop 294 will celebrate 90 years of preparing youth to become responsible and participating citizens with experi-ence in leadership and respect for the outdoors. Guests, especially former scouts and leaders, are welcome for the Court of Honor. Call Scoutmaster Michael Deblasi at 567-5957 for more information. 6 to 7 p.m. at the Sportsmen’s Club.

TUESDAY • 4

Family Story Times: For newborns to age 6 with a care-giver, this weekly library offering includes stories, finger plays, movement and music. Participants do not need to be members of PlaySpace to attend. For more in-formation, call the Vashon Library at 463-2069. 11:30 a.m. to noon at the VYFS PlaySpace.

UPCOMING

Free Range Folk Choir: The choir will perform a concert including songs by the Beatles, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Stan Rogers and choral folk music from Japan, South Africa, Bulgaria and the U.S. Admission is free but donations in support of the event will be ac-cepted. 7 p.m. Friday, March 7, at the Burton Community Church.

Telling Stories: Islander Bill Wood will present his talk, Bill’s Excellent Hollywood Adventure, as part of Vashon Community Care’s Telling Stories speaker series. Wood, Hollywood screenwriter, playwright and composer, has many entertaining life stories to

share. Proceeds will benefit the Vashon Community Care Founda-tion. Tickets are by donation. 4 p.m. Sunday, March 9, at Bethel Church.

CLASSES

Land and Water Stewardship Workshop Series: This free five-week program for horse and small farm owners on livestock manage-ment practices is offered by the King County Conservation District. Learn how to reduce mud, improve pastures, manage manure and care for streams and wetlands. The topic for the first week will be “Streams and Wetlands: Living with Livestock Near Water.” To register, call 425-282-1949 or email [email protected]. 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Land Trust Building.

Oil Painting Fundamentals: Led by Ditte Jensen, these weekly classes will explore the essential concepts of composition, hue, value, chroma and more. Class time will include demonstrations, critiques and open painting time. Beginners are welcome though previous drawing experience is helpful. Cost is $200 for non-VAA members, $180 for members, with a $15 materials fee for all. Go to www.vashonalliedarts.org for more information or to register. 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Feb. 26 to April 2, at the Blue Heron.

More Magic at Open Space: Poet-magician Thomas Pruiksma will continue his magic classes on three Sundays in March for stu-dents ages 8 and above. No previ-ous experience is necessary. The cost is $110. Call 567-4023 or email [email protected] to

register. 1 to 3 p.m. on March 2, 9, and 16 at the Open Space for Arts & Community.

Cheese-Making Classes: Profes-sional cheese maker Kelsey Kozak will hold cheese-making classes through the month of March. Participants will milk a Jersey cow, learn to make Mozzarella, aged cheese and more, sample the day’s work and enjoy a full lunch. Cost is $150 per person and group discounts are available. For more information or to register, go to www.dairycouple.us. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 2, 12, 23 and 29 at the Kozak family farm.

The Incredible Years Series: Vashon Youth & Family Services will offer this class for parents and caregivers of children 3 to 10 years old. Melanie Salonen will facilitate the course, which is a 12-week, research-based program that provides parents with the tools needed to make the job of parenting easier while raising happy, healthy, independent chil-dren. The cost is $80 for PlaySpace members and $100 for non-mem-bers. Call Ann Palmer at 463-5502 to register or email [email protected]. 5:30 p.m. Thursdays, March 6 through May 22, at the PlaySpace.

Staying Connected with Your Teen: Yvonne-Monique Zick will lead this class for parents and caregivers of youth in grades eight through 12. This series is designed to supply parents with simple, effective tools to help teens deter-mine right from wrong, develop open communication skills and remove roadblocks in their rela-tionships with their teens. Call at 463-5502 to register or email [email protected]. 6:30 to 8:30

p.m. Thursdays, March 6 through April 3, at Vashon High School.

“Doing it Your Way … Aging in the 21st Century: Emma Amiad is offering this free seminar, which will provide a variety of speakers and a range of information, includ-ing buying down, retrofitting a home, wills and estate planning, medical directives, end-of-life decisions and living wills, all to help chart the course for aging. Space is limited; contact Amiad to register at 463-4060. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at the Land Trust Building. Creative Drama — Building Character: Led by Sue Wiley, these classes for children ages 4 to 6 will explore a different piece of literature each week through role play. Embodying different characters provides participants opportunities to develop empathy. Cost is $85 for non-VAA members, $70 for mem-bers and a $5 materials fee for all. For more information and to regis-ter, go to www.vashonalliedarts.org. There are two, four-week sessions available. 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Satur-days, March 8 through 29, or May 3 through 24, at the Blue Heron.

Basic Rifle Class: This course will cover safety, operation of different firearms, mechanics, marksman-ship and position shooting. The cost is $100 per student. Lunch will be offered for an additional $10. A parent or legal guardian must accompany students under 18 at no charge. To enroll, contact Phil Mahurin at 898-6697 or email at [email protected]. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 15, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 16, at the Sportsmen’s Club.

Courtesy Photo

Voice of Vashon offers free, open studio training on the second Saturday of every month for any-one interested in learning how to create radio programs. The VoV studios are staffed by trainers — like Michael Golen-Johnson, pictured above — who are ready to teach the art of radio produc-tion to participants who need the skills to get their ideas on the air. The sessions begin with an introductory overview of audio production, equipment and recording and editing software; then individual assistance is available via mentors. For more information, contact Susan McCabe at [email protected]. The next open studio session is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at the Voice of Vashon studios at Sunrise Ridge.

CALENDARVashon-Maury

SUBMISSIONS

Send items to [email protected] is noon Thursday for Wednesday publication. The calendar is intended for commu-nity activities, cultural events and nonprofit groups; notices are free and printed as space permits.

The Beachcomber also has a user-generated online calendar. To post an event there, see www.VashonBeachcomber.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and follow the prompts.

CREATE YOUR OWN RADIO PROGRAM

VASHON THEATRE

Her: Ends Feb. 27

Nebraska: Plays Feb. 28 to March 6

Osage County: Plays Feb. 28 to March 6

THX 1138: 1:30 p.m. March 1, for Science Fiction Saturday

Note: Anchorman 2 had been scheduled to play this month, but the studio has cancelled it.

See www.vashontheatre.com for show times or call 463-3232.

PUBLIC AND CLUB MEETINGS

Vashon Island School District: 7 p.m Thursday, Feb. 27, at Chautauqua Elementary School.

Kiwanis: 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, at the Vashon Eagles.


Friday, Mar 7th

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The proposed schedule calls for one of the ferries to begin just 5 minutes ear-lier in the morning – 4:40 a.m. instead of 4:45 a.m. — with several other sailings throughout the day adjusted by 5 minutes as well. Deardorf noted the planning com-mittee wanted to build some recovery time into the schedule in the middle of the day and eliminated the 11:35 a.m. run between Southworth and Vashon to do so.

“The philosophy was to start peak 5 minutes earlier and count on it ending 5 minutes later to give additional loading time,” Deardorf said. “No peak trips were cancelled.”

The proposal calls for two additional ferry employees to help with traffic control on the Fauntleroy dock as well as a member of the state patrol to provide additional traffic control assistance.

“The legislature is aware of the proposal, and it will be up to them to put it in the budget,” Deardorf said.

Greg Beardsley, who heads the Vashon Ferry Advisory Committee, said the pro-posed staffing changes would be a return to the model used two to three years ago when the state patrol helped get cars on and off the dock quickly and safely and extra ferry staff helped ticketed cars keep moving.

Earlier this week, Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien) said that he and Rep. Larry Seaquist (D-Gig Harbor) are asking that the state transportation budget include funds for those positions, and he believes the money will be forthcoming. Deardorf noted the cost of the two ferry employees would be $116,000 annually, and Fitzgibbon said the cost of the state patrol cadet would be $150,000.

“I am optimistic we will be able to get the

resources in the budget,” Fitzgibbon said. Last fall the draft schedule changes drew

ire from critics, including islanders who worried the more substantial changes con-sidered then would make commuting more difficult for many while ignoring staffing needs on the Fauntleroy dock. The public response was instrumental in the creation of this proposal, Beardsley said.

“It’s only because everyone stood up last fall and raised a big fuss that the ferry sys-tem moved forward to where they are at, I think,” he said. “It was a very heavy lift to get them to the conclusion to do this.”

Both Deardorf and Beardsley said the committee created only a proposed sched-ule that relies on additional staff, and sev-eral ferry and government officials are pushing hard to secure the funding.

“I am very hopeful it will actually hap-pen,” Beardsley said.

Even though the proposed schedule changes are minor, Deardorf noted that he feels it is important to host another meet-ing, in part as a follow-up to the meeting WSF held in October.

“We feel there might be some other issues with the schedule that we have not thought of,” he said. “And we wanted to let people there know their input was heard.”

Beardsley stressed that the proposed schedule changes affect only the weekday sailings and that Saturday sailings may be looked at in the future. Now, he said, on Saturday evenings there are frequently long lines to get off the island. But when the Cathlamet comes on, there will be two large boats running, and that might solve the problem.

“We may end up not having an issue because of the larger boat,” he said.

FERRIESCONTINUED FROM 1

The meeting will begin with an open house at 6 p.m., and the presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at McMurray Middle School.

please recycle!

An open letter to Vashon Island:We at BAKKHOS Holding llc, the makers of EdiPure products, found

on Vashon Island what we believe to be the best opportunity to become part of a vibrant community, where our values match those of the people who will become our neighbors. Our vision to expand our operations as leaders of our industry begins with becoming a member of the community of Vashon Island, through a commitment to service, employment, and preserving the identity of the Island and protecting the environment and precious resources of the Island.

To achieve that goal, we understand that becoming good neighbors and stewards of the Island means hearing the concerns of Island residents, and acting in the best interests of the community while building our new business in a new marketplace.

Our commitment to Vashon Island is to ensure that our operations do not interfere with the community, but instead enhance the lives of Vashon resi-dents, through economic, environmental, and community improvements by our presence as part of the Island.

We commit to hiring Vashon Islanders first for all of our needs, whether working with us directly as employees in our facility, or as contractors for our plans to build out the building to suit our needs. We commit to engage with other businesses on the Island to create relationships to provide services for our company needs. We commit to becoming an important part of the business community by continuing our membership with the Vashon Island Chamber of Commerce and the Vashon Island Marijuana Entrepreneurs Alliance.

We commit to being stewards of the Vashon Island environment and our planet by reducing the need for District 19 water through the installation of a catchment system for our cultivation irrigation needs, by immediately reduc-ing the consumption of resources that the building has been known to use for the last five decades, and by continuously considering the environmental impact of our processes through improving and reducing our consumption of natural resources as our company grows.

We commit to the community by partnering with Vashon Island organiza-tions to increase the education of Vashon Island and the state of Washington’s youth to prevent and reduce drug and alcohol use; by creating opportunities for use of portions of the property for community purposes (if and where state and county laws allow); and through our direct involvement in events that improve the quality of life on Vashon Island.

We have heard the concerns of Vashon Island, and want to ensure the com-munity that your concerns are ours too; we will ensure that the former owners provide us with an environmentally sound property to guarantee EdiPure with a clean start for our new operations, and provide the comfort to Island residents that the company entrusting the property in our hands has protected your interests over the last five decades.

We ask that those of you who are unsure if we are the right company to become stewards of the property consider that we have been open and honest about our intentions, and have provided you with a real look into who we are and what we do. We ask that Vashon Island consider that we want to be your neighbor, an employer of Vashon residents, a steward of the environment, and a real part of the community.

We look forward to becoming Vashon residents ourselves, and hope you’ll accept us for who we really are, not who some believe us to be.

Sincerely,

BAKKHOS Holding llc.Makers of EdiPure Products

206-462-0911You are not alone.


ARTS&LEISUREVashon-Maury DANCE AT CLUB O: Boogie away the winter blues at 8 p.m. Friday at the Open Space for Arts &

Community. Deejays Miragesix and Whitmore will spin tunes under the flashing disco ball. Bring your dancing shoes and $5 for the cover charge. Anyone, any age, is welcome.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

MUSIC OF BULGARIA

Tradition of music and culture comes to VHS

Vashon Artists in the Schools (VAIS) will bring the musical and cultural tradition of Bulgaria to Vashon High School with two concerts at 9 and 10 a.m. Monday, March 3.

Vashon folklorist Martin Koenig of Balkan Echoes curated the program, The Folk Music of Bulgaria, which features the musical group Bulgarite, five professional musicians trained in classic, Bulgarian music.

The concert is part of the Ethnic Artist Series spon-sored by VAIS and Balkan Echoes. VAIS is a collabora-tive program between Vashon Island School District and Vashon Allied Arts.

A limited number of tickets for each concert will be avail-able to community members for a suggested donation at the door. To reserve a ticket, e-mail [email protected].

GYPSY COMES TO TOWN

Audition for a summertime musical

Drama Dock will hold auditions for its summer musical, “Gypsy,” directed by Stephen Floyd, in the Vashon High School band room from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28 and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 1.

Actors should prepare a short song for the audition. They will also be asked to read from the script.

Monologues of two min-utes or less are welcome though not required.

CELEBRATE FAT TUESDAY

Enjoy a Mardi Gras evening at Mileta Creek Restaurant

Celebrate Mardi Gras with Poultry in Motion from 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Vashon Golf & Swim Club’s Mileta Creek Restaurant.

Poultry in Motion will play a mixture of Cajun, country and rock and roll music, while chef Bille Rowe will serve up an authentic Creole meal.

Tickets for dinner and music are $18 and $28 after Feb. 28. Tickets for music only are $10. Reservations are requested. Call 463-2005.

By JULI GOETZ MORSERStaff Writer

Over, under and through — that’s how islander Deborah Anderson instructs parents of children with disabilities to help their chil-dren discover and connect with their inner strength, the part, she said, that is not chal-lenged.

And Anderson should know. As a person with a disability and as a longtime teacher of special needs students, Anderson recently teamed up with Vashon Allied Arts to put on in a series of drama and writing classes called Equally Artistic Classes designed for spe-cial needs students plus siblings and friends. Classes begin March 1 at The Blue Heron.

Anderson came to Vashon in the 1990s when the Burton Community Church hired her as its pastor, making Anderson the Northwest’s first woman solo pastor in an American Baptist Church. Not one to stand on the sidelines, Anderson jumped into the com-munity, becoming PTSA president, a singer in the Vashon Island Chorale and performer in Drama Dock productions. Once her tenure as pastor ended, Anderson returned to her previ-ous profession teaching and helping students with a range of physical, cognitive, emotional and psychological challenges.

Anderson currently serves on the King County Developmental Disabilities Advisory

Board.Through her work as a pastor and educa-

tor, Anderson came to believe that there is an artist inside everyone, even those who, in her words, are differently abled. As a parent of two special needs children, Anderson commiser-ates with parents overwhelmed by the daily tasks of supporting a child with disabilities. There is often little room to help the child develop any artistic expression, which is where the Equally Artistic Classes come in.

“It is best to start with writing and drama,” said Anderson. “They are concrete and spe-cific and easier to narrow into a single focus.”

Anderson described Imagination Exploration, the drama class for children grades one through five, as helping students to explore their talent and differing abilities through the dramatic forms of improvisation, story acting and scene preparation.

In All Kinds of Writing, the class for teens with challenges, Anderson plans to use par-ent input to maximize the classroom experi-ence for each student. Classes will focus on understanding form, structure and purpose for different genres, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction and memoir. Students of all writ-ing and reading levels are welcome, including non-readers.

Anderson hopes the classes will grow and become a regular branch of Vashon Allied Arts’ educational programming. She has her sights set on adding dance for the next series.

Anderson finds human development fas-cinating and said she will bring her knowl-edge of it along with her own experience into the classroom. In her personal struggle with a physical disability, Anderson said she approached her limitations with a “can do” attitude, choosing to find the way over, under and through them by experimenting with what was possible.

“Everyone has a part that is not challenged,” said Anderson. “Find that and you find the strength. That’s the way in.”

If you’ve ever paid a visit to Seattle’s Volunteer Park, then you’ve prob-ably caught a glimpse of the Space Needle through the hole in Isamu Noguchi’s doughnut-shaped onyx sculpture, “Black Sun.”

Art histo-rian Rebecca Albiani will present a talk called “Between East and West” about Noguchi’s widely varied works and life story at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 4, at The Blue Heron.

Best known as a master stone carver,Noguchi also designed furni-ture, lamps and gardens and sets for choreographer Martha Graham.

This versatile artist, born to an American mother and a Japanese father, grew up in Japan, trained in New York and Paris, studied brush painting in Beijing and pottery in

Kyoto. European modernist Brancusi and the creator of Mount Rushmore are two of Noguchi’s mentors.

According to Albiani, Noguchi’s life’s work reflects a deep sensitivity to form and void and to humanity’s rela-tionship with nature.

Tickets are $14 for VAA members, students and seniors and $18 for gen-eral audience. Tickets are available at VAA and www.vashonalliedarts.org.

— Juli Goetz Morser

Arts & Humanities will present lecture on Isamu Noguchi

Islander offers art classes for disabled students

Courtesy Photo

Black Sun, a 1969 sculpture by Isamu Noguchi in Seattle’s Volunteer Park.

Deborah Anderson

Join Dr. Charles Johnson, Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Washington and a National Book Award winner, for an evening of conversation, called The Power of Story, at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 9, at The Blue Heron.

Based on his short story “Night Hawks” that describes a series of dinner conversations he held with playwright August Wilson for more than a decade, Johnson will facilitate a group-directed analysis of his story and explore ques-tions audience mem-bers might have about theme, composition, content, genesis and the art of writing.

“I prefer platonic dia-logue over a lecture for-mat,” Johnson said in a press release. “I encour-age people to come pre-

pared with questions to stimulate a conversation so we can dig in deep.”

Those planning to attend can obtain a free copy of the assigned reading, “Night Hawks,” at The Blue Heron or online at www.vashon-alliedarts.org.

Tickets are $18 for VAA members, students and seniors and $22 for general audience. Tickets are available at VAA and www.vashon alliedarts.org.

Award-winning author will give a talk on stories

Charles Johnson, PhD


Sunday, March 2

4 pm

at the Vashon Theatre

OSCAR N GHT

Advance tickets $10

Elegant meal $10/person

Limo ride/photo $10

Wine sales benefit the

Food Bank

or save and buy the

Superstar Package

for $30

(everything included)

Advance tickets $10

Elegant meal $10/person

Limo ride/photo $10

Wine sales benefit the

Food Bank

or save and buy the

Superstar Package

for $30

(everything included)

Our 17th year celebrating

movies, community

and creativity!

Big screen broadcast of the

Hollywood Oscars with

Vashon red carpet fun, limo

rides and costume contest!

Our 17th year celebrating

movies, community

and creativity!

Big screen broadcast of the

Hollywood Oscars with

Vashon red carpet fun, limo

rides and costume contest!

presented by Vashon Film Society

Oscar Night at the Vashon Theatre

for info call 567-4768

Those who have an interest in avian life on Vashon have probably heard of the islander with a reputation as a regional bird expert who happens to share his last name with a bird: Ed Swan. Swan will talk about the new edition of his book on local birds, “The Birds of Vashon Island” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, at the Vashon Bookshop.

Swan, who released the first edition of the book in 2005, said he is pleased with the addi-tional color photographs, maps made from satellite images depicting Vashon’s bird habitats in the new edition. The book, he said, also has a greater and more current amount of data on the 251 bird species on the island.

But Swan is quick to point out that the book would be nowhere without the community’s critical input, and he singles out two groups for praise. The first includes all the conservation nonprofits that have worked to pre-serve and protect the crucial bird habitats, including the Vashon Maury Island Land Trust, the Audubon Society and Preserve Our Islands, now known as Sound Action. The other group consists of the many community members who have reported their individual bird sightings and participated in the Christmas bird count over the past 15 years.

“The book is based on a lot of people’s efforts,” Swan said. “A lot of folks have given their time, and without that effort, the book would be a hobby.”

— Juli Goetz Morser

Author of birds book to read at bookshop

Vashon Allied Arts will bring the classical sound of the trumpet with piano accompani-ment to the Blue Heron at 4 p.m. Sunday with a concert by Raymond Deleon.

At the age of 6, Deleon began playing the trumpet in his native country, the Philippines. Three years later he had his first solo perfor-mance.

Deleon went on to study at the University of Santo Tomas, twice received the Benavidez Award for International Excellence in Music and has been featured as a premier soloist with a number of orchestras including the Seattle Philharmonic.

Vashon pianist Ann Herfindahl will accom-pany Deleon in the concert program that includes Oskar Böhme’s Trumpet Concerto in F minor, Variations from Norma, Musseta’s Waltz from La Boheme and Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat.

Premiere trumpet soloist will play at the Blue Heron this weekend

Raymond Deleon

Ed Swan will read and sign his new book next week at the Vashon Bookshop.

Tickets are $12 for VAA members, students and seniors and $16 for general audience. Tickets are available at VAA, the Heron’s Nest and www.vashonalliedarts.org.

Find a great place for yourkids to “hang out” this summer!

Our spring/summer resource of camps, classes and events on Vashon Island

Publishes: April 9, 2014Ad Deadline: March 13, 2014Call to reserve your ad space.

[email protected]

Island Child 2014Island Child 2014


Dear energy conscious Vashon residents,We’d like to re-introduce ourselves. We are Artisan Electric Inc. and we are growing.Best known for our high quality solar electric installations and electrical work, it all began in 2007 right here on Vashon Island with one electrician and a secretary. We are now a company of thirty professionals, leading the energy efficiency and solar industry throughout Puget Sound. Although headquartered in Georgetown, we kept our roots on the island and are expanding the Vashon branch to include residential and commercial electrical services as well as solar.

solar electricians in Washington, will manage the Vashon branch of Artisan Electric. We are also excited to announce the return of our highly successful Solarize Vashon Campaign!Solarize Vashon is a bulk purchase solar program available only to Vashon residents. All solar workshop attendees will get a 10% bulk purchase discount on their installation, have access to special low financing from PSCCU, and can sign up for a low-cost home energy audit and weatherization work. Don't miss out on our last workshop at the Land Trust Building on Saturday March 22nd from 10-11:30am.

Thomas Vroom, a long-time Vashon resident and one of the most experienced

206-463-3111 i solarizevashon.com

Vashon High School students Maya Krah and Maria Gilmour of Two Dime Icebox, plus Kate Atwell & Mallory Breen, will open the show for the Seattle acoustic indie-pop Lucy Horton Band at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Blue Heron.

While studying classi-cal music at the University of Washington, members of the Lucy Horton Band joined musi-cal forces. The collaborative group played its first official gig at The Triple Door in Seattle in 2012.

Since then, with Lucy Horton on vocals and piano, Gabriella Vizzutti on violin, Kelsey Mines on bass, Anna Mines on trum-pet and David Solomon on per-cussion, the band has recorded its fresh instrumentation and warm harmonies as well as filmed music videos and toured. The band covers music as diverse as Adele, the Cranberries and ABBA, in addition to their own original songs.

Tickets are $8 for VAA members, stu-dents and seniors and $12 for general audience. Tickets are available at VAA, the Heron’s Nest and www.vashonalliedarts.org.

VHS musicians will open for Seattle indie-pop band

Courtesy Photo

The Lucy Horton Band will play at The Blue Heron on Saturday.

Call to reserve your ad space463-9195

Our Annual Home & Gardenis coming March 19, 2014

Ad Deadline: March 5, 2014

[email protected] • [email protected]

2014

Call to reserve your ad space463-9195

Our Annual Home & Gardenis coming March 19, 2014

Ad Deadline: March 5, 2014


Country Cajun Rock & DancingCountry Cajun Rock & Dancing

Poultry In Motion

Mardi Gras!at Vashon Golf & Swim Club’s

Mileta Creek Resaurant

Fat Tuesday March 4th, 5:00 to 9:00p

Call 206.463.9410 for more information or visit our website at www.vashoncountryclub.com

Authentic Creole Menu by Chef Bill RoweGumbo, Dirty Rice, Cajun Wines, Beignets, Bananas Foster,

King’s Cake and Drink Specials

Reservations Required • 463.2005 • Public WelcomeBand plays from 6:00 to 9:00p • Dinner served 5:00 to 7:00p

Dinner and show $18 Before Feb 28th

After Feb 28th – $28 Show only – $10

989388

Grab your boa and a gown from Granny’s or a top hat and tails and head out to the Vashon Theatre to walk the red carpet. It’s time once again for the Vashon Oscar Night party sponsored by the Vashon Film Society. The festivities will begin 4 p.m. Sunday at the Vashon Theatre.

It’s the 17th year this gala affair will broadcast live the glamour and glitz of the Hollywood Oscar show on the big screen, while offering homegrown Vashon entertainment dur-ing commercial breaks.

The event also marks an anniversary for theater owners Eileen and Gordon Wolcott, who decided 10 years ago to buy the histor-ic building with the single silver screen after hear-ing about Vashon’s Oscar Night party on a Seattle evening news station.

The Oscar night fun begins when a limousine whisks partygoers around the block, returning them to the red carpet outside the theater and to a swarm of local “paparazzi” for photo-graphs and interviews.

Inside, guests will find a costume contest with 11 competitive catego-

ries, including the Cher award for most outrageous attire, the Best-Dressed Child, Best Pajamas, Best Celebrity Look-alike, Best-Dressed Adult, Best- Dressed Teen, Best-Dressed Adult Couple and Best Ballot. Larry Flynn, com-munity activist and well- known bus driver, will pre-side over the Vashon show as master of ceremonies.

Catering the dinner once again, Snapdragon Bakery and Café will offer vegetarian and gluten-free options. Wine sales will benefit the Vashon Maury Community Food Bank, and for those who can’t

watch a show without pop-corn, the theater concession stand will be open.

Proceeds from ticket sales go toward the Vashon Film Society’s annual scholarships awarded to aspiring film mak-ers through the Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. A $30 superstar deal includes admission, a limo ride with photo, plus a beverage and meal. Tickets are available at the Vashon Theatre, Vashon Bookshop and www.brownpapertick-ets.com.

The stars will shine on Vashon

Courtesy Photo

“Stars” dressed for the gala, take a ride in the event limo at last year’s Oscar Night party.


SPORTSVashon-Maury

INDOOR SOCCER: Young soccer players can cure their winter cabin fever by playing futsal for two more weekends. The Vashon Island Soccer Club is hosting the game for first- through sixth-grade players on Sundays through March 9 at the McMurray gym. For more information, see w w w.vashonsoccer.org.

Serving Vashon Island Since 1929 463-9134

WILLIAMS HEATING Proudly Sponsors…

Skyler HowardVHS Senior – Guide Dogs for the BlindSkyler is a remarkably positive and hard working individual. She joined the Guide Dog program, “Eyes of the Future”, in 2011, and is currently the ASB Guide Dog secretary. Now raising her third puppy, “Berlin”, a Yellow Labrador Retriever, Skyler serves as a mentor for newer puppy handlers. She has a cumulative GPA of 3.961, and will be entering Carroll Colleges’Anthrozoology program in the fall.

PIRATE

Four island wrestlers make their mark, rack up winning pointsBy CHERYL PRUETTFor The Beachcomber

For the first time since 2009, the Vashon wrestling team cracked the top 10 in team points, finishing seventh overall at the state competition last weekend at the Tacoma Dome. What makes this performance all the more significant is that all the points were earned by just four wrestlers.

The crown jewel of the team’s effort was the championship performance by sopho-more Chase Wickman, who dominantly charged through his 106-pound weight bracket. Taking hard-earned second place finishes were seniors Shane Armstrong at 170 pounds and Preston Morris at 195 pounds. In his third trip to the state com-petition, senior Louis Jovanovich cracked into the medal round, taking home eighth place.

With three team members competing in the finals, Vashon had more representa-tion in the 14 weight classes than any other school. That fact alone required coach Dave Chapman to shave his signature beard. The clean-shaven Chapman only appears when a Vashon grappler makes the state finals.

There were 49 1A schools represented in the competition. The Pirate squad was comprised of six wrestlers. Perpetual 1A powerhouse and regional champion Castle Rock, who beat Vashon last week, sent 13. The four wrestlers who made it to day two of the tournament earned enough points to best all 13 Castle Rock participants. The irony was not lost on the large and vocal Vashon crowd in attendance at the dome.

Also representing Vashon was junior Joe Coller, who made his third trip to the state event. Coller gamely wrestled in the 285-pound weight class, taking on tough

competition from Zillah and Freeman before getting edged out. Sophomore Clyde Pruett made his first trip to the Tacoma Dome, having the unfortunate first draw of last year’s state champion and losing 0-15. Pruett lost his second match to senior Andy Madsen of South Whidbey, 4-10. Both pirates gained valuable experience and look to be back next year.

Wickman, who wrestles year-round, took on fellow sophomore Stuey Rasar of Blaine to win his first match, crushing him in a technical fall, 19-4. Next up was senior Jesus Dominguez of Warden, with Wickman taking the win 7-4. The third match was pivotal — and a nail-biting grind. With numerous stalemates called throughout the match, it was a back and forth hang-on-fest. Wickman persevered with a close 2-0 win. The final pitted Wickman against David Peterson, a junior

from Highland who finished second at State last year. The score was 4-3 at the end of round two, but after that Wickman never looked back, taking the top of the podium with a final score of 7-3.

Armstrong, who finished third at state

last year, made it to the finals for the first time and wrestled through a very tough 170-pound weight class. His first match against Anthony Louthan of Montesano was a rematch of last year’s state battle for third and fourth. It was an old-fashioned, upper-body tie-up kind of match complete with headgear and shoelace issues. The score was knotted at 1 to start round three. He scored a takedown with seconds to go for the 3-1 win. Next up was Darrin Miller of Royal — a sophomore who appears to be Royal’s version of Wickman. In a crazy match marked by stall points and techni-cal violations, Armstrong took the breath-taking overtime win, 8-6. His third match was a breath of fresh air as it appeared Armstrong had eaten his Wheaties; he pinned Blaine’s Tristan Hunter in round two. The final against senior Tom Odneal of Ilwaco was a rematch of the previ-ous week’s regional final. The score was a close 5-3 at the end of round two, but Armstrong ended up on the short end of a 4-10 loss.

Morris survived a near-fall scare late in the third round of his first match against Cade Wallace of Quincy to take an 8-7 win. He handily defeated sopho-more Matt Bartlett of Royal in his second match, 7-0. The third match brawl against John Rawley, a senior from Tonasket was a nail-biter. Morris was up 3-0 at the end of rounds one and two, but gave up 3 points to have the score tied at the end of regulation time. With a textbook take down, Morris won 5-3 in overtime. He faced senior Dom Nakano, a fireplug from Tenino in his final match. The score was 0-0 at the end of round one, and he scored first with a takedown in the second. The score was tied 2-2 at the end of round two. Morris was behind 2-3 with one minute to go, before it all slipped away with a final score of 2-7.

Jovanovich, always tough in the 285-pound bracket, gets a nod for match of the

Vashon wrestlers take 7th at State, Wickman earns championship

Alison Blomgren Photo

Chase Wickman, in yellow above, shows his strength in the state final, while Preston Morris, right, easily handles his opponent.

STORY CONTINUES, NEXT PAGE

VYFS delivers effective services and support including parenting education and coaching, out of school care for elementary students, mental health and chemical dependency treatment, and emergency services and homeless prevention. Our aim is to strengthen the community so that our children can grow up healthy and thriving. Last year VYFS served more than 15% of Island families. Your support makes a difference. Please give today.

www.VYFS.org206 463-5511

ast eaup

g. YYour su

Connect. Nurture. Thrive.

Your support makesa difference.


CASABONITA

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day for his first bout against Gavin Brumley of Naches Valley. Trailing 2-11 with one minute to go, he abrupt-ly eggrolled Brumley to win with a pin. The crowd went wild; his mom cried, and Jovanovich summed it up best when afterward he said, “I am very happy.”

He lost his second match to Mikey Antczak of Blaine, then turned around and won his third match against Payton Smetana of Freeman with a pin. Saturday morn-ing’s loss to Jake Claussen of Forks put him in the bout for seventh and eighth place. Oddly enough, it was a rematch against Brumley from round one. This time Brumley bested him, but he walked out of his final state competition with his first medal.

Coach Anders Blomgren summed up the season, “I’m so proud of all our guys with their resiliency, courage and adjustments they made in redeem-ing losses. We all trained together, battled together and celebrated by tossing our dirt off the ferry. Shane and Preston set their stamp on our program, helping to lead the new era of Vashon wrestling with a top 10 team placement and model-ing hard work and ego-ess good character values. One of my most enjoyable years ever! Such a pleasure every day with these guys.”

— Cheryl Pruett is the mother of two Vashon

wrestlers.

Basketball team continues in state playoffsBy EZRA LACINAFor The Beachcomber

This past week was another busy one for the Pirate basketball team as it marched deeper into the playoffs. The Pirates went 2-1 last week, beat-ing The Northwest School and Seattle Christian, but losing to Cascade Christian. Despite the loss, the Pirates are moving on to regionals, which will take place this weekend in eastern Washington.

The first game of the week was a home game against The Northwest School. These two teams met earlier in the year, when Vashon came out on top by a score of 66-33. The game started well for Vashon as it jumped out to a huge lead early, going up 12-2 halfway through the first quarter. Northwest won the last four minutes, pulling to within 6 and ending the first quarter with Vashon up 16-10.

The Pirates’ overall play improved in the second quarter. Junior Jessie Norton played strong, both rebounding and scoring, giving the Pirates momentum as they pulled away from Northwest. In the final seconds, sophomore Noah Chee drained a 3 to cap off a great half. Heading into the locker room, the Pirates were up 34-17. Norton had a double double in the first half with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Norton started the second half right where

he left off, knocking down a 3 for Vashon’s first points. In the second half, the Pirate defense let up a bit, but the offense just kept getting better. Sophomore Sean Delargie made a nice play with a ball fake put back shot. Junior Ian Stewart wasn’t able to continue in the second half, giving Delargie more minutes than he is used to run-ning the point, and he played very well with the extended time.

Vashon finished the game strong on offense, winning 76-57. Norton had a great game, scoring 24 and grabbing 14 rebounds.

On Friday night the Pirates took on league rival Cascade Christian at Mountlake Terrace High School. Things started off pretty badly for the Pirates, with Cascade scoring first and getting the momentum early. Vashon lost four turnovers in the first four minutes, all leading to Cougar scores.

Junior Steen Jennings got Vashon on the board with an early 3, but Cascade still had the momentum. After the first quarter, Vashon kept it close, down 9-11. The second quarter was more of the same. Norton had an impressive quarter, but as a team, the Pirates didn’t play Vashon basketball. At the half, Cascade was in the lead, 25-19.

The Pirate defense picked it up in the third quarter, holding Cascade to 9 points, but the offense couldn’t get going, scoring only 7. The Cougars simply seemed to want it more than the Pirates.

In the fourth quarter, Vashon started a come-back with a bombardment of 3s by Chee, Stewart,

Yates and Norton, bringing Vashon within 2. With seven seconds left, Vashon was down by 2 with an inbound under the basket, but a last-second 3-pointer attempt didn’t fall, and Vashon was defeated 43-45. Norton again led Vashon in scoring with 19 points.

Because of the loss, the Pirates had to face Seattle Christian the next day at Mountlake Terrace. It was another rough start for the Pirates, as they found themselves down early. Sophomore Sam Schoenberg knocked down a corner 3 to bring the Pirates within 2 points late in the first quarter. The quarter ended with Vashon down, 10-15. The Pirates picked it up in the second quarter, starting off with a Chee 3 followed by another 3 by Schoenberg that tied it up. In the second half of the quarter, Norton took over with several scores. At the half, Vashon was up 28-24.

Chee went off in the third quarter, knock-ing down 3 after 3. Chee’s performance plus Norton’s aggressive drives gave the Pirates a huge lead with 1:20 left in the third, 47-29.

In the fourth quarter, Seattle made it close for a bit, but the Pirates never gave up the lead. Vashon won 67-57, ending Seattle Christian’s season and continuing its own to regionals.

The Pirates will play at noon Saturday in Wenatchee. Their opponents will be Okanogan High School. The game will be broadcast live on Voice of Vashon web radio.

— Ezra Lacina is the sports editor of The Riptide.

Pirates’ play takes them to regionals this weekend

Red BicycleBistro & Sushiin Downtown Vashon

WEEKLY LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

206.463.5959www.redbicyclebistro.com • 17618 Vashon Hwy SW, Vashon

Friday, February 28th

8:30pm

PureGato

All-ages ‘til 11pm, 21+ after that. Free cover!

Please recycle your Beachcomber

AT YOUR SERVICEAT YOUR SERVICEAT YOUR SERVICE

To place an ad in the Service Directory, contact Deborah at 463-9195. Deadline for ad placement is Friday at 1pm.

K’s Cleaning ServiceLet Our Professional Friendly Team

Help you with:Move Outs

ClosingsPrep for Listings

Rentals/Vacation Rentals

Karilyn [email protected]

Gift Certifi cates Available 206-463-9587 or 206-498-9401

One Time Cleans now through February!

(waiting list full for regular clients)


“No job too big or small!”Mowing & Weed Whacking

Gardening & WeedingSpraying

Gravel & BarkPruning & Trimming

PlantingClean-up

[email protected]

An island business with island employees

206 818 8371www.ro-enterprises.com | [email protected]# ROENTEI924RS

New ConstructionAdditions

Renovations & RemodelsCommercial & Residential

RO Remodeling & Construction

Kitchens & BathroomsSeismic RetrofitDecks & Siding

Windows & Doors

Monday-Friday 8–6pmwww.ricksdiagnostic.com 463-9277

Diagnostic & Repair Service, Inc.

Auto & Truck Repair • Towing

For your convenience, now open on Saturdays 9-5!

VashonCompassionate Pet Care

Judy Pells206.949.6318

Providing peace of mind when travel takes you away from home.

House Calls or Home Stays.

206-730-0940 • [email protected]

HOME WIZARDS, LLCWe Specialize In Helping You Prepare Your Home For $ale!

• Interior/exterior home repair

• Floor Covering & Tile installation

• We work with your schedule

• No project too small• Kitchen & Bath Face Lifts• Drywall & Painting• Landscaping-All Facets• Electrical

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Storm cleanup? Call the Wiz!

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To place an ad in the Service Directory, contact Deborahat 463-9195. Deadline for ad placement is Friday at 1pm.


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463-9195

Our 2014 Special Section focusing on your Home & Garden is coming in the

March 19th issue of The Beachcomber!Ad Deadline: March 6th

[email protected] [email protected]

Home & GardenVashon’s

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Melisa Carol (Missy) Jamesmay 4, 1961 – february 11, 2014

After a long fight with cancer, Melisa Carol (Missy) James passed away at her home in

Seattle. Missy had been under Hospice care and her brother, David, had come from his home in

Fairbanks, AK to help her through her last days. Missy lived on Vashon the first 18 years of her life and was a 1979 graduate of Vashon High

School. In addition to her brother, Missy is survived by her father and mother, Milt and

Betty James of Mountlake Terrace, WA. A memorial was celebrated at the South Park Community Center on Sunday, February 16.

•

In Loving Memory

coverage are more likely to seek out preventative medical care rather than wait until they have a medical crisis,” he said.

At Fulton Family Medicine, manager Kathy Henke said a flood of newly insured patients has not been possible because that clinic has been closed to new patients tempo-rarily. The clinic had received several new patients from routes other than the insurance exchange, she said, and the providers there could not keep up with the demand. A new nurse practitioner is supposed to begin next month, she said, and she hopes the clinic will be able to re-open to new patients at that time.

Henke noted that the clinic has experienced some diffi-culty because it was not included in some of the insurance plans offered through the exchange. She said one insur-ance representative told her that the clinic was excluded because it is not affiliated with any hospitals.

According to some who have worked closely with the exchange, a cumbersome aspect of the expanded Medicaid system — now in Washington called Apple Health — is

that people are assigned a provider and then have to go through a process to make a change if desired.

Henke said her clinic has had problems with this, as some people have come in believing they had been assigned to that clinic, but actually were not. In some cases, Henke said, people have found they had been assigned to a plan with no providers on the island. And while it is possible to make changes, this area has been a been a stumbling block.

“I don’t think the exchange is going well,” she said. “Maybe it will as time goes on.”

At Vashon Natural Medicine, however, Kelly Wright, a naturopathic physician, has praise for the program and noted that for the first time, naturopathic physicians can see patients with Medicaid health benefits. Vashon Natural Medicine received its credentials to do so in January, Wright said, a move that she said was impor-tant so her office could continue to provide services for patients newly assigned to Apple Health and to serve new patients as well. Many islanders — children in particu-lar — who had private insurance now qualify for Apple Health because of its expanded income parameters.

Apple Health sometimes reimburses physicians at a lower rate than private insurance companies, Wright noted, so many clinics limit or do not take patients with

those benefits. When all providers take some of those patients, she said, it helps to provide care across the eco-nomic levels in a community.

At her clinic, so far the transition to the new system has been almost seamless, she said, and she believes once initial problems are dealt with, such as individuals being assigned to the wrong plan or provider, many will be bet-ter off.

“Once it straightens itself out, people will have a lot more coverage and options and will be happy,” she said.

At the Vashon Pharmacy, however, co-owner Tom Langland recently told a more cautionary tale, explaining that many people with Apple Health benefits might find that their plans do not meet their needs well because of those low reimbursement rates.

Of the five plans that provide Apple Health benefits, Langland said that the pharmacy will drop two by the end of March if the companies do not renegotiate their rates. Right now, he said those two plans reimburse the pharmacy at such a low rate that the business loses money on the medications themselves — to say nothing of paying for the staff time and other overhead expenses required to fill the prescriptions.

He suggested that people with Apple Health bring their cards in and talk to a pharmacy staff member to deter-mine if their plan is one of those that may be dropped. If it is, he said, patients may wish to write those companies and express the need for the Vashon Pharmacy to be com-pensated fairly. They may also wish to change plans before March 31, he said.

There are few independent pharmacies left, Langland noted, and their cost structures are higher than those of the big chains. Additionally, he said, the Vashon Pharmacy itself is heavily staffed — more so than some of the large chains. There are always two pharmacists on staff, who fill and review the prescriptions and field patient questions, he said.

“That is basically how we sleep at night, how we know we have not given one of our neighbors the wrong dose or the wrong medication,” he said. “We are not going to change that to fit lower insurance reimbursement rates.”

Dentist Marc Langland shares similar concerns about reimbursement fees. While all children enrolled in Apple Health now have dental coverage as part of their insur-ance, on the island, Langland is the only dentist who accepts Apple Health plans and only on a limited basis.

The fees cover just a fraction of the cost of care, he said, and even if reimbursement fees were doubled, they would still fall short of covering his costs. To make matters worse, he said, by contract, he cannot bill patients for any of the shortfall, even if a patient would like to pay. In one recent example, he said, he billed more than $300 and the Apple Health plan reimbursed him $60. Among the wide network of dentists he knows, he said, he is the only one to accept patients with Apple Health benefits.

“We just do it as a service to help the need here,” he said. “We’re seeing as may people as we can afford.”

The office has a waiting list for Apple Health clients, he

All-Merciful SaviourOrthodox Monastery

9933 SW 268th St. (south of Dockton)SUNDAYS: DIVINE LITURGY 9:00 am

Followed by PotluckCelebrating 2000 years of Orthodox Christianity Call for a schedule weekday and Holy Day services.

463-5918www.vashonmonks.com

Burton Community ChurchALL ARE WELCOME

INSPIRATION not Indoctrination!Worship 11 amMaggie Laird

Pianist/Choir Director463-9977

www.burtonchurch.org

Bethel Church14736 Bethel Lane SW(Corner of SW 148th St.

and 119th Ave. SW)9am Sunday Bible School

10am WorshipFollowed by coffee fellowship

AWANA Thurs 6:00pm Sept-May

Offi ce phone 567-4255

Vashon Island Community Church

Worship Service 10:00 am (Children’s Church for preschool–5th graders)

Offi ce Phone 463-3940Pastors:

Frank Davis and Mike Ivaska9318 SW Cemetery Road

www.VICC4Life.com

Catholic ChurchSt. John Vianney

Mass–Saturdays at 5:00 pmSundays 8:00am and 10:30am

Pastor: Rev. Marc Powell16100 115th Avenue SW,

Vashon WA 98070

office 567-4149 rectory 567-5736www.stjohnvianneyvashon.com

Vashon Island Unitarian Fellowship

Community, Diversity, Freedom of Belief,Enrichment of Spirit

Sunday Services at 9:45 am (Sept–June)Religious Exploration for toddlers–8th Grade

Lewis Hall (Behind Burton Community Church)

23905 Vashon Hwy SW

Info: www.vashonuu.org • 463-4775

Vashon Friends Worship Group

(Quakers)

10 am Meeting for Silent Worshipin members’ homes.

Call for Location567-5279 463-9552

Havurat Ee ShalomServing the spiritual, social and

intellectual needs of Vashon’s Jewish Community

9:30 am Saturday Services

15401 Westside Hwy SWPO Box 89, Vashon, WA 98070

463-1399www.vashonhavurah.org

Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit

The Rev. Canon Carla Valentine PryneThe Rev. Ann Saunderson, Priest Assoc.

Sundays – 7:45 am & 10:15 amChurch School & Religious Exploration 9:00am

Child CareMid-week Eucharist, Wednesday–12:30pm

15420 Vashon Hwy SW 567-4488www.holyspiritvashon.org

Vashon Lutheran Church18623 Vashon Hwy. SW (1/2 mile south of Vashon)

Children’s Hour 10:30 am (Sept.- June)

Holy Communion Worship 10:30 amRev. Jeff Larson, Ph.D.

vm: 206-463-6359 www.vashonluthernchurch.org/JeffLarson/JeffLarson.htm

463-2655e-mail: [email protected]

Vashon United Methodist Church17928 Vashon Hwy SW

(one block south of downtown)

Pastor: Rev. Dr. Kathryn MorseSunday Service & Sunday School

10:00 a.m.Childcare Available at All Services.

Offi ce open Mon.–Thurs. 9 a.m. – 12 noon 463-9804

www.vashonmethodist.orgoffi [email protected]

Calvary Full Gospel Church at Lisabeula

Worship 10:30 am & 7:00 pmThursday Bible Study 7:00 pm

Call for locationSaturday Prayer 7:30 pm

Pastor Stephen R. Sears463-2567

Our VashonIsland Community

warmly invitesyou and your family to

worship with them.

Pla ces of Wors hipon our Island

HEALTH CARECONTINUED FROM 1



ORG

.

TACOMA FAULT LINE

Beatrice (Ellingsen) BealMarch 21, 1925-February 15, 2014

Bea was born on Vashon Island to Alfred and Engvarda Ellingsen, the third of fi ve children. She graduated from Vashon High School. She married Earl Beal, and they had one son, Bob. Nearly six years ago, Bob and his wife, Sonja, gave birth to her grandson, Travis, who gave her great joy in the late years of her life. She also enjoyed spending time with Sonja’s children: Th omas, Tara, Tyler, and Tessa.

Bea loved life in so many diff erent ways! Much of what she did and enjoyed was with or for family, including her parents, her siblings and their spouses, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and

nephews. Many weekends were spent with large groups camping, fi shing, and agate hunting on the beach. Birthdays, holidays, any special occasion was cel-ebrated with a large group. Bea loved cooking, especially baking, and the family was regularly treated to her specialties…Bread, cookies, pies, pecan rolls. She also made awesome caramel corn, the recipe for which you’ll fi nd on the memorial brochure!

After a day of work at Schick Shadel Hospital, where she was a bookkeeper, Bea enjoyed quiet moments at their home in West Seattle. She was an expert seamstress, often sewing for other family members. She also enjoyed needlework and knitting, and many dishrags made by her still wash the dishes of those who were lucky enough to claim one of them. Reading was another passion. Like most members of the Ellingsen family, Bea was a gardener. She took pride in her fl owers, fruits, and vegetables.

After Bea and Earl retired, they moved from West Seattle to the family home-stead on Vashon, where she lived until two years ago.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and two brothers, Karl and Dick. Bea is survived by her son, Bob, and his wife Sonja, her grandson Travis, and step-grandchildren Th omas, Tara, Tyler, and Tessa. She is also survived by her sisters, Marie Sundberg and Lue Wales (Ray), sister-in-law Maryann Ellingsen, and many nieces and nephews.

Services will be held Friday, February 21, 2014, 2 PM. Call Island Funeral Service for information on service location. 463-9300

Th e family suggests memorials to Seattle Children’s Hospital, Alan Richard Howard Guild.

Please visit our online guest book at www.islandfuneral.com

said, and staff frequently refer people out to off-island clinics and will now refer families with children to the dental van, which can provide some free dental ser-vices.

At Vashon Youth & Family Services, a nonprofit agency, the ACA has brought welcome changes, according to Kathleen Johnson, the executive director.

Several newly insured people have come in for services since the start of the year, Johnson said, adding she believes they sought care now because it will be covered. What’s more, she said, a pool of clients the agency had been seeing for free now has insurance coverage, and the agency will be reimbursed for their care.

“It could not have come at a better time for us. Having this additional opportunity for support for work we are already doing is important,” she said. “We’re celebrat-ing.”

The ACA also expanded mental health benefits, and now, Johnson said, many people will have to pay less out of pocket for needed services.

“We see that as a sign of improvement for people who need mental health care,” she said.

On Vashon, exact numbers for how many people signed up for insurance cov-erage through the exchange are not avail-able, according to authorities with the state exchange. However, information from islanders most involved in the process pro-vides some indication.

LeeAnn Brown, an insurance agent at The Brown Agency, said she has signed up 148 households through the exchange and believes up to one-quarter had previously been uninsured.

Hilary Emmer, who coordinated the community volunteer assistants, said they signed up more than 370 households. She estimates at least 75 percent of those were previously uninsured. She believes another 20 percent, like artist Ingalls, are paying less now than they were before.

For most people, the open enrollment period to obtain health insurance for 2014 extends to March 31, Emmer said. After that, unless a person has a significant event, such as losing a job that provided insurance, gets married or has a child, obtaining insurance for this year through the exchange will not be possible. Open enrollment for 2015 will open in the fall. People who are eligible for free insurance, however, may enroll to obtain coverage this year at any time.

Brown noted that the process of signing people up is going much more smoothly now than in the beginning of the roll-out, though she knows that not everyone understands they only have one more month to enroll.

“I am finding people do not realize open the open enrollment period ends March 31. There is confusion about that,” she said. “They need to take action now.”

LeeAnn Brown will continue to help peo-ple enroll in and outside of the exchange. Call her for more information at 567-4600.Volunteer assistance will continue to be available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays at the library through March 27. Call Hilary Emmer for more informa-tion at 463-7277.

concerns that have been raised about the property. He said K2 will remain liable for any contamination at the site and that it will take steps requested by the state concerning the 2008 cleanup of known contamination there.

In interviews with The Beachcomber, Anglin described Bakkhos — a company with two owners with ties to the Colorado marijuana industry — as on the defense against criticism and what he called untrue information being spread on the island. He has said he believes that other businesses on Vashon have not been scrutinized the same way and called the K2 site “the most contentious property in (Initiative) 502 in the entire state.”

“We’ve been portrayed inaccurately. Even though we had a town meeting of our own ... we think there are still plenty of Vashon Island residents who have not yet heard from us, and the two-minute forum wasn’t enough to get our message across,” he said.

At the standing-room-only meeting on Wednesday, comments on the county amendment were wide ranging and con-tentious at times. Islanders who took to the microphone expressed a variety of opinions

on the amendment, as well as the company, the K2 site and edible marijuana products in general.

Joe McDermott, Vashon’s representative on the King County Council, was at the meeting, and Lauren Smith, a top advisor in King County Executive Dow Constantine’s office, helped moderate. McDermott did not return a call Monday for a comment on the meeting.

Many who commented said that they supported Bakkhos Holding’s plans to pur-chase K2 and grow marijuana and manu-facture marijuana-infused candy and other products at the building. They largely focused on the fact that the company would make use of a large commercial building that has sat empty for years and would cre-ate local jobs.

“I see a lot of people opposing some-thing that is going to bring jobs to a lot of people who need them,” said Tim Johnson, president of the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council.

Others brought up a variety of concerns about the company’s plans, with some say-ing they worried that the operation will attract crime, will use a huge amount of energy, or that the product will get into the hands of kids and teens.

K2CONTINUED FROM 1



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hands of kids and teens. Bakkhos plans to transport all of its product to off-

island distributors, unless a legal marijuana shop on Vashon sells some of its products as well. Some who commented at the meeting argued against concerns raised about children, saying they believed they were not relevant.

“This is not going to give our children access to drugs,” said Linda Schaeffer.

Several who commented said they were concerned King County is moving forward with amending the town plan, part of the county’s comprehensive plan, too quickly, not providing time for the community to vet the changes.

“You cannot make a decision that is going to impact the spirit and letter of the town plan, which was to preserve the spirit and nature of this community, in a week’s time,” said Wayne Miller.

“Vashon has little control over its destiny. … It’s impor-tant to take the time,” said Merrilee Runyan.

A group of islanders has also circulated a petition to the county, asking officials to hold off on the amend-ment while Vashon completes its own town plan update, a process that would take about a year. As of Friday, the petition had about 70 signatures.

Still others at the meeting brought up concerns first raised by the Backbone Campaign several weeks ago about potential contamination at the K2 site.

Bill Moyer, director of the Backbone Campaign, recent-ly went public with a document that Backbone purchased and that he says calls into question the adequacy of envi-ronmental testing that has been done at the site.

An eight-page memorandum prepared by the Issaquah company Farallon Consulting, which examined environ-mental assessments of the site prepared by other com-panies, identifies what it considers to be gaps in testing by those companies. The report says it expects the state Department of Ecology (DOE) would require additional environmental testing at the site before it declared that no further action is necessary there.

Backbone has been circulating an online petition ask-ing K2 Sports and Jarden, its parent company, to do just that — obtain a No Further Action letter from DOE before it moves forward with the sale and any transfer of liability. As of Monday, the petition had about 440 signatures.

At one point at the meeting, one of the owners of Bakkhos Holding, Scott Bergin, stood up to comment. He spoke to Bakkhos’ plans for the site and largely focused on the environmental concerns raised. He said his company does not plan to indemnify Jarden of any prior contami-nation at the property, contrary to what is stated in the Backbone Campaign’s petition. He called some of the information going around the island lies.

“We do not want to buy a piece of property that is con-taminated. It serves no purpose,” he said.

Donna Musa, a site hazard assessment coordinator with DOE’s toxics cleanup program, said K2 is listed by the state as a cleanup site. It is listed along with more than a

dozen other Vashon properties because a few years ago the department received notice from the property’s owner of a leaky oil tank there. According to DOE records, Musa said, the tank was removed and some of the oil cleaned, but it wasn’t possible for all of it to be cleaned. The state knows of no other contamination there, she said.

Moyer forwarded documents on past testing as well as the Farallon report to DOE, and Musa said they would become part of DOE’s record on the site. However, she said DOE is unable to comment on testing done unless the owner enters the state’s Voluntary Cleanup Program and the documents are examined by state officials.

“It’s really site specific,” she said. “The information that has come to light since all this came up would definitely be reviewed by a site manager.”

In an letter sent out late Monday by Anthony De Rocco, president and CEO of K2 Sports, De Rocco addresses environmental concerns about the site and says K2 has not asked Bakkhos to indemnify it of any existing con-tamination there. The letter was addressed to the King County executive and county council members and was also emailed to The Beachcomber.

In the letter, De Rocco goes on to say that K2 will work with DOE to take steps “in connection with K2 Sports’ volunteer action to decommission a 300-gallon oil tank at the site in 2008,” and would seek a No Further Action (NFA) determination. It was not clear whether the NFA determination would relate specifically to the oil tank, which DOE has said is an option, or to the site as a whole.

“Despite the fact that we moved the business off the island,” the letter reads, “K2 Sports is legally and morally bound to take responsibility for adverse impacts on the environment, when those impacts are identified by state or federal agencies with appropriate jurisdictions.”

Anglin has reported that Bakkhos Holding, which is under contract to purchase the K2 building, consists of three investors — one from Washington and two of whom recently moved from Colorado, where they were involved in marijuana business as well. A state Liquor Control Board document recently obtained by The Beachcomber and dated Jan. 17, however, showed that the owner from Washington withdrew from the LLC.

On Monday, Anglin confirmed that the remaining

investors are Bergin and one other, Daniel Griffin, and said he had still been naming the third investor because he was still listed on the Secretary of State’s website.

“There are no secrets here,” he said. “The application process is not yet finished, and there are a lot of things in flux.”

The same day as the public meeting, there was also an unexpected announcement from the state LCB that could affect the company’s plans. The LCB announced that due to the large number of applications it received to grow marijuana in the state, it will initially limit how much any one company can grow.

Companies last year could apply for up to three permits to grow as much as 30,000 square feet of marijuana, for a maximum of 90,000 square feet of grow space. Now, how-ever, the LCB will initially limit companies to one permit each and reduce grow space on permits by 70 percent, for a maximum of 21,0000 square feet of grow space. In the future, companies may eventually be permitted to grow as much as they originally applied for.

Bakkhos Holding applied for three of the top licenses, one on Vashon and two for a building in Woodinville. It planned to move the two Woodinville permits to Vashon for a potential of 90,000 square feet of growing at the K2 building. Now the Woodinville applications have been put on hold.

“We’re not thrilled it happened,” Bergin said of the LCB announcement. However, he added that under phase one of their plan, they would start with less than 21,000 square feet of pot production anyway.

“That’s a lot of product,” he said.The King County Council is expected to hold a public

hearing in Seattle on the proposed amendment. It will vote on it as soon as late March.

Should the county approve the amendment, Bakkhos Holding will also seek a rezone of the K2 building and may be required to obtain a conditional use permit from the county as well.

463-3161Open: Tues, Thurs, and Sat, 10 to 5Donations: 7 days a week 8am-4pm

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Saturday, March 1st Special

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Carlo is one of a family of cats

hanging out on the south end with no

one to care for him. He is a shy but

sweet boy who would love nothing

better than a full time lap and regular

meals. Carlo is a submissive kind of cat

around other felines and he is ready to

sit back and let the others run the show.

Carlo came to VIPP on 10/20/12.

Goose is an independent kitty,

but he can also be very affectionate.

He likes to snuggle at nighttime. He

is a pretty skittish kitty and tends

to be quite jumpy. When he was a

kitten, he had a dog, and they used to

wrestle and play. As an adult cat, he is

more shy but does warm up to dogs

over time. He currently has two kitty

roommates, and they have all lived

together for the last year. It was an

adjustment, but they have done well.

He also really loves to eat and will try to

convince you he is hungry around the

clock! Goose came to VIPP 6/30/13.

Frodo is an affectionate, beautiful, tri-color Miniature Australian Shepherd with papers. He has spent all of his three years as the only dog in a quiet home with elderly owners, and although he loves people and greets strangers with a wiggle and a wag, he is shy of being touched and he is very noise-sensitive. Frodo is polite to other dogs he meets on walks, and puts up with the other dog in his foster home, but he makes it clear that he would prefer to be The Only Dog. He had “Family Dog” training as a puppy and is quiet in the house, never gets on the furniture, and is perfectly house-broken. Because of his sensitivity to sharp noises, he reacts strongly to hair dryers, blenders, power tools, etc., and either charges the noise source or ‘attacks’ his stuffed toys. He likes to be an inside dog but will stay quietly in the yard for hours. He sleeps in his crate all night. Frodo is very loving when he gets to know you. He has all his shots and is chipped, neutered, house-broken, and leash-broken; knows Sit and Wait and comes to his name. He would benefi t from training classes and enjoy the mental as well as the physical effort. If you intend to leave him alone outside, he

must have a fenced yard. For more information or to meet Frodo, call Joan at 463-2608 or email her at [email protected].

Celebrating30 Years

of Service!

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Firewood, Fuel

& Stoves

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Rick Middling 206-463-3889

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JOHN L SCOTT VSH

Leslie

206/235-3731

Carefree living. It’s easy to enjoy Island living in this sought-after condo! Great maintenance & management.

SOLD

MLS #564646 $239,000

MLS #574053 $169,000

Lisabeula

level building site. MLS #576176 $95,931

MLS #538458 $59,000

206/940-4244

This retail shop building has great visibility and room

opportunity also available. MLS #469332 $365,000

garage/shop. MLS #588162 $620,000

& sunny beach. MLS #309005 $399,000 septic system. MLS #570014 $495,000

MLS #402115 $299,000

MLS #595685 $298,000

outbldgs & greenhouse. MLS #593036 $349,500

Val

206/790-8779

JUST

NancySipple

206/465-2361

JUST

Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, February 26, 2014

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Transcript of Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, February 26, 2014