DIGITAL 101 VARSA guest speaker will address digital safety. Page 4
GOING TO THE DOGS Harbor School students meet Obama family dogs. Page 18
NEWS | Public invited to walk Dockton Forest bike trail. [3] COMMENTARY | Humor: Jeopardy’s ban on Canadians. [6] ARTS | Hawaiian singer, slack key guitarist comes to Vashon. [10]
Beachcomber Vashon-Maury Island
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
Vol. 61, No. 12
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Democratic caucus on Saturday gives islanders a say in politics By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Islanders will have a chance to help select the Democratic nominee for president when the precinct caucuses convene this Saturday across the state. The caucuses are the initial step in sending delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this summer, where the party will nominate either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders for the presidency. Throughout Washington this weekend, voters will gather together, select their choice of candidate and — unlike in a primary when ballots are quietly slipped into the mail or ballot box — exchange ideas about who will be the best candidate to lead the country forward. “The brilliant thing about caucuses is that they essentially bring a community together and encourage grassroots conversation,” said islander March Twisdale, the lead area caucus coordinator. Many islanders likely remember the caucus of 2008, when a sea of more than 1,600 Vashon residents filled the gym at McMurray Middle School, overwhelm-
Hillary Clinton
Bernie Sanders ingly endorsing thenSenator Barack Obama for president. Twisdale said similar numbers are expected at this year’s caucus at the Open Space for Arts & Community, and she and nearly 40 volunteers are planning for the event to ensure that it goes smoothly.
The doors will open at 9 a.m., with the caucus slated to begin at 10 a.m. Parking will likely be a challenge, and while volunteers will be assisting, Twisdale recommended carpooling, biking or busing to the event — and arriving early. After a certain point, she said, latecomers would be welcome, but they would lose their ability to influence how delegates are allocated. “Being Vashonably late is not a good idea,” she added. According to state law, any person who will be 18 by Nov. 8 may attend. Washington does not register voters by party, but when caucus-goers register for the event, they will be asked to affirm that they consider themselves Democrats and to state their preference for the presidential nominee. Twisdale recommended pre-registering for the caucus online and bringing the printed form along, making it possible to forego the sign-in process at the caucus itself. People who have not registered to vote may do so at the caucus, she added. SEE CAUCUS, 19
75¢
A REPRIEVE FROM THE WETTEST WINTER
Carolyn Shilling Gill Photo
Anneli Fogt/Staff Photo
Martin Halliwell Photo
Following the wettest winter ever recorded in the Seattle area, last week the sun shone on Vashon for three days in the last days before spring. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, temperatures reached near 60 degrees, and cloudless skies afforded colorful sunrises and sunsets as light reflected off Mount Rainier. Islanders shared their sunlit photos on the Visual Delights on Vashon Facebook page. Top: Thursday morning sunrise photo from the south end. Bottom left: Thursday night sunset from Manzanita. Bottom right: A sunny afternoon at low tide at Tramp Harbor.
Poor salmon return predictions cause some to worry about island numbers Officials consider closing fishing off Washington’s coast By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Despite recent efforts to preserve salmon populations on Vashon and throughout Puget Sound, ocean conditions are wreaking havoc on fish
populations and raising concerns about the 2016 salmon season. T he Washi ng ton Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) last week began the annual process of developing salmon-fishing seasons and announced that expected low returns of coho salmon “could put a damper on salmon fisheries” throughout the state.
According to a statement from WDFW, the forecast of about 256,000 Puget Sound coho is 71 percent smaller than the size of the run predicted in 2015. “Unfavorable ocean conditions led to fewer coho salmon returning last year than we anticipated,” John Long, salmon fisheries policy lead for WDFW said in the state-
ment. “We expect to see another down year for coho in 2016 and will likely have to restrict fishing for salmon in a variety of locations to protect wild coho stocks.” For Vashon, the low return numbers could mean fewer coho salmon in the island’s two salmon-bearing creeks: Judd Creek and Shinglemill Creek. The Vashon Maury
Island Land Trust has been working for years to restore and preserve the creeks where coho salmon come to spawn every fall and have seen success in recent years. “Ocean warming and coho is the big question right now,” Land Trust Executive Director Tom Dean said last week. “Will they come back? What worries me is that there
is a consideration to stop all ocean fishing for coho and Chinook. It makes me wonder how our salmon runs will be since we were just starting to get bigger runs in Judd Creek and Shinglemill.” Indeed, overall salmon numbers in 2015 were higher than in recent years, as Vashon Nature SEE SALMON, 20