Vashon Park District’s annual Kite Day is set for Saturday, May 21, at Point Robinson. There will be music, food, tours of the lighthouse by Captain Joe and kites for sale in the Ship’s Store and at Essentials 4. Festivities will run from 10 a.m. to at least 3 p.m. There will be parking on both levels, and the swing gate will be open for parking on the grass. The event itself is free, with the items for purchase available — and donations welcome.
Seventy-four years ago this week more than 120 Japanese-American islanders were forced to leave Vashon, bound for Seattle and then on to Tule Lake Concentration Camp in California later that summer.
With the closure of the Franciscan medical clinic coming this August, members of state and county governments have said they will support the island in whatever ways they can, while agencies in Vashon’s broader health care community are making plans for a medical services landscape that soon could be dramatically changed.
The Vashon Valkyries are coming of age. Coming off a 6-5 record last year, the five-year-old team just completed an undefeated season.
CHI Franciscan Health announced late last week that it will close the clinic at Sunrise Ridge in August because of financial reasons.
A group of islanders stepped forward last week and indicated they are working to prevent a health care crisis on Vashon, following the news that the Franciscans plan to close the Sunrise Ridge clinic this summer.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Dozens of islanders beat the heat on Sunday and helped the Vashon Park District break in the pool by participating in the May Day Splash Down.
Some two and a half years after its former administrator left the organization, the care center hired a new leader, who has been settling in since March.
When a young woman was killed in a crash on the north end last December, she was the third islander to die on Vashon in slightly more than a year while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The island’s public swimming pool, typically open only during the summer months, will be open this Sunday for free lap and open swims.
A gray whale that was reported dead off of Vashon last week likely died of starvation, whale experts say, though it is not yet clear if there were additional causes that contributed to the animal’s condition.
Yesterday researchers concluded their necropsy of a gray whale found earlier this week off the west side of Vashon.