As the do-it-yourself season slides into squash and tomatoes, I’ve discovered that even ordinary gardeners can experience extraordinary things.
While the songs of summer birds are on the wane, many birds are already on the move. By early September, millions of migratory songbirds and shorebirds will fill the skies.
All of us who worked for nearly a decade to protect Maury Island’s waters from Glacier Northwest’s proposed industrial dock were relieved, jubilant and thankful for Judge Ricardo Martinez’s careful ruling that halted construction. Judge Martinez grasped that Puget Sound, its orcas and salmon are dying because of the failure to take a “hard look” at specific projects. It’s great to want a healthy Sound, but the decision makes clear that this depends on preventing many cumulative, damaging actions.
There’s a curious trend in the results from the latest Healthy Youth Survey, a comprehensive measure of Island teens’ attitudes and behaviors on a wide range of issues.
Ninety percent of the sixth-graders who answered the survey said they believe the adults in their neighborhood think marijuana use among young people is “very wrong.”
My husband does this thing. I call it “hrrmmphing.”
Like the old E.F. Hutton ad says, when Emma Amiad talks, I listen. With great interest, I read her editorial Aug. 5 regarding the role of the Vashon Chamber of Commerce and the issue of tourism on Vashon.
I don’t usually get involved in Island politics. As a theater artist, I have at least seven jobs I am juggling to stay afloat, and that usually means not so much time or money. But I love this Island and especially the people who live here.
On occasion, a federal judge comes along who plays a remarkable role in shaping the direction of society, which is why their appointments are often so hard-fought. Consider William Dwyer, who, during his 15-year tenure on the federal bench in Seattle, did more to protect the Pacific Northwest’s last stands of old-growth forests than probably any other single individual. When he died seven years ago, the New York Times’ obituary referred to him as a judge “of vast influence.”
Charities are among the hardest-hit victims of the current economic slowdown. If you’re like me, you get two or three requests in the mail every day for help during tough times — most of them from well-known, deserving organizations.
On Friday evening, more than 50 people crowded into the dining room at Vashon Community Care Center. They were united by a common concern — how the economy is affecting the Island’s most vulnerable residents. And at this community forum, attendees did more than talk: They made plans for the future.
Signs have popped up over the last week urging Islanders to conserve water. Some were put up by managers of Heights Water, when record temperatures were placing strains on the small system. Others were put up by King County Water District 19, the Island’s largest water purveyor, when last week’s power outage raised concerns about the district’s ability to keep its water flowing.
In the discussions and public meetings being sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce on the issue of tourism, some points are being missed, I think.
Vashon Island gets little attention during countywide political races, and for the most part, that has been true this year — in the wide-open contest for the next King County executive.