MOORE RETURNS Musician will perform concert in the park. Page 11
NEWS | Vashon Pool to close sooner than expected. [5] COMMENTARY | Aging is everyone’s business. [6] HISTORY | Who needs a traffic [17] signal?
ISLAND ATHLETE SHINES Javelin thrower places second in the nation. Page 14
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015
Vol. 60, No. 33
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Feeling the heat Record-breaking summer brings challenges to many island farmers By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Last week, while he was walking through his pastures meant to be growing green grass for his animals, farmer Dave Hatfield’s boots kicked up clouds of dry earth from the brown fields. “This is not much different than farming in the desert in Bend, Oregon, he said, gesturing to the 5 acres around him, home to 400 fowl and more than 20 cows, sheep and pigs. Hatfield has owned Pink Tractor Farm on Cemetery Road with his wife Katie for the past three years. There they have fruit trees, grow vegetables and raise their animals, including ducks, turkeys and geese. The intent, he said, is for the farm to be completely sustainable. “We want all the animals to be free range and have green grass to eat every single day,” he added. Last summer, his pastures were green. This summer they have been brown for weeks. Hatfield, like others farmers on the island raising animals, has spent considerable time providing water for them, and he’s had to supplement their food far earlier than normal with hay — an additional expense. His crops have needed extra attention, as well. “Last year I watered an hour a day. This year it’s been four hours a day,” he said. Vashon has several microclimates, and not all farmers have been affected the same way, depending on their practices and the nature and location of their land. But for all, it has been a record-breaking summer. July was the hottest month ever recorded in Seattle, with SEE FARMING, 19
TAKING IN A SHOW
Susan Riemer/Staff Photo
At Pink Tractor Farm, Dave Hatfield and his son Everett feed clippings from their walnut tree to Abigail, a Scottish Highlander who prefers a diet rich in green food, hard to come by this summer. Cows, Hatfield said, are particularly fond of walnut and apple leaves.
School board aims to limit spending on next phase of construction at high school By LESLIE BROWN For The Beachcomber
Susan Riemer/Staff Photo
Engels Repair & Towing held its 10th annual car show on Sunday. See page 12 for more photos of the day, which included cars, trucks, boats, tractors and motorcycles.
Faced with wide-ranging costs for round two of their multi-million-dollar makeover of the Vashon High School, three of the five school board members voiced support last week for a project at the low end of the current cost estimates. The Vashon Island School Board is grappling with how to address a range of facility issues at the high school campus — from a track so inadequate it can’t host track meets to insufficient gym space. Architects have given the board several options to consider, with price tags ranging from $25 million to $40 million. At Thursday’s meeting, three board members — board chair Laura Wishik, Dan Chasan and Bob Hennessey — told architects they’d like to see them come back to the board with a $25 million proposal. They also identified their three top priorities — a new gym, a new track and field and upgrades to Building L, which houses
StudentLink and FamilyLink. Board member Steve Ellison, stressing the need to invest more in Building L, said he’d be comfortable with a $30 million project, and Kathy Jones opted for around $38 million, saying she wanted to see the school district tackle all of its facility needs in one bond measure. The board did not take a vote. Still, Wishik said after the meeting, the discussion suggests a majority has made it clear that they’d like to spend less, not more, on what’s being called Phase 2 of the district’s capital facilities project. Board members hope to vote on a final proposal later this year with an eye toward a bond measure in February or April of next year. Thursday night’s discussion gives the planning team the direction it needs to make progress, Wishik said. “They’ve been stuck for a while. And the full board needed to weigh in and give them direction. … That’s what happened SEE SCHOOL, 18