Daylight saving time has ended — and with it come 5 p.m. sunsets and dark Washington evenings. But the shift also signals that the holidays are near, bringing light and hope to an otherwise dim season.

That hope feels especially important right now, as the federal government shutdown stretches on and uncertainty continues to ripple across the country — including here on Vashon. Programs that families rely on, like SNAP, have been caught in political limbo. As deadlines come and go in Washington, D.C., islanders are left waiting, wondering when relief will come.

Reporting this week’s story on SNAP benefits has been difficult, as uncertainty continues to surround when — or if — funding will resume. At press time, the situation remains unclear, though it’s possible, and even likely, that benefits will begin flowing again soon.

The country is approaching what could become the longest government shutdown in history. As our Monday press deadline approaches, the Trump administration faces a court-ordered deadline to at least partially restore SNAP funding.

Even amid that uncertainty, Washington state and local communities are stepping up. Gov. Bob Ferguson has directed $2.2 million each week to support food banks and the Vashon Food Bank has seen a recent surge of donations.

A major change for The Beachcomber is that we now must begin going to press Mondays instead of Tuesdays. Papers will still arrive on-island Wednesdays and be mailed Thursdays — but this earlier deadline means big weekend workloads for our tiny team. Losing that extra Monday to report and write stories will take some getting used to.

The upside? We’ll have one more weekday to report articles each week and plan to put fresh stories online as they are written. Watch vashonbeachcomber.com and our social media pages to keep up with what’s happening.

In the meantime, contributions that help fill our pages — such as this week’s timely and well-written sports stories — make an enormous difference. Letters, commentaries and contributed pieces are still due Thursdays, but sending them earlier will help us make this transition smoother and save our team a few late Sunday hours.

Advertisers should also check in with our publisher, Daralyn Anderson, at publisher@vashonbeachcomber.com, if they have questions about their deadlines.

As always, thank you for reading and supporting your community paper. For now, cheer on the Pirates as girls’ soccer heads to the playoffs and cross-country runners prepare for state — and stay tuned as we get ready to roll out our annual holiday gift guide.