ASARCO POLLUTION State discusses cleanup plan with Islanders. Page 4
NEWS | Officer who patrolled
A POWERFUL PLAY High school production takes on topic of hate. Page 10
Vashon fired by county. Page 5 COMMUNITY | Survey looks at how seniors can ‘age in place.’ Page 23 SPORTS | Islander goes to national shooting competition. Page 18
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2011 Vol.56, No. 43
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
An ambitious effort to rebuild habitat is unfolding along Judd Creek
Farmers find it’s hard to get produce into schools
By LESLIE BROWN
By LESLIE BROWN
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
This winter, when the pond at Singer Farm tops its banks, the excess water will cascade over a sinuous trail of boulders and rocks, passing by native shrubs and trees before spilling into Judd Creek some 50 yards away. It didn’t used to be this way. The pond used to service cattle, animals that would wander through this sloping pasture adjacent to Judd Creek, trammeling creekside vegetation in the process. The nitrogen in their waste would seep into the water, pollutants that would make it all the way to Quartermaster Harbor. Now, thanks to a set of agreements and property transactions between the Singer family and the Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust, as well as support from King County, a transformation is taking place in this once-barren cow pasture — part of a bigger effort by the land trust to restore Vashon’s largest watershed. Over the last several months, a small land trust crew brought in a backhoe and created the stream bed that now snakes from the
surprised to see the vote Vashon’s liquor so evenly split, as both store reacts to candidates have had the passage of strong support throughInitiative 1183. out the election. See page 23. “I think the fact that it’s so close shows that both of them are really well regarded and have lot of people willing to campaign for them and actively support them, as opposed to just vote for them,” he said. Hennessey said that since VIFR transitioned from an all-volunteer department to having some paid responders about a decade ago,
Last winter, Vashon farmer Joe Yarkin sold $40 of sunchokes to the Vashon Island School District, the beginning, many thought, of a farm-to-school program that would build on the district’s popular makeover of its lunch program. Since then, Vashon growers say, they’ve taken several steps to bring the farm-to-school program to fruition. They secured $10,000 in grants to support the effort, formed a new growers cooperative called Vashon Island Producers Co-Op, or VIPCO, and purchased a $1 million insurance policy to cover liability. Some have also begun to develop food safety programs appropriate to their smallscale growing operations. But no produce — short of those tubers from the Yarkin farm — has made it to the district’s three cafeterias. The reason is that the school district is also requiring that farmers’ food safety programs get certified by a third-party — an independent professional, in other words, who can look at the farmers’ safety plans, walk their land and declare their operations safe. Both Tom French, the Whidbey Island-based chef the district hired to remake the school lunch program, and Superintendent Michael Soltman say the requirement makes sense. “It’s pretty common in the industry,” French said of the third-party certification requirement. But some farmers say French is overstating the need by calling it a government requirement, not one of the district’s own choosing. In the October issue of “Soundings,” the school district’s newsletter, French is quoted as saying that
SEE ELECTION, 23
SEE FOOD, 22
Restoring a watershed, one parcel at a time
Leslie Brown/Staff Photo
Beth Bordner, Abel Eckhardt and Tom Dean make their way up the newly created stream bed at Singer Farm. pond to the creek. They planted hundreds of native trees and shrubs — cedar and cottonwoods, ninebark and dogwood — that will eventually provide a swath of riparian habitat along the new stream. Bullrushes and sedges
now line the pond, the beginnings of what land trust staff call an emergent wetland. Tom Dean, the director of the land trust, Abel Eckhardt, the land trust’s steward, and Beth Bordner, its operations manager, walked the
former pasture on a clear day last week, taking in the scene and discussing its importance. The land trust owns the 16-acre pasture; another nine acres of pastureland SEE JUDD CREEK, 16
VIFR race between Ulatoski, McCullough too close to call As of Monday, 21 votes separated the candidates By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
The candidates for Position 4 on Vashon Island Fire & Rescue’s board of commissioners were still holding their breath Monday, waiting for final results in a close race that may not be called until the end of the month. While incumbent Ron Turner has taken a clear victory in the race for Position 1 on the board, only 21 votes on Monday separated incumbent Candy McCullough and challenger
Joe Ulatoski, two high-profile Islanders vying for Position 4. Ulatoski was a hair ahead with 50.16 percent of the vote, or 1,681 votes. McCullough had 49.54 percent or 1,660 votes. Initial returns from last Tuesday’selection gave Ulatoski a slightly larger lead. That lead has grown narrower, however, as the county tallied additional votes in the past few days and more came in for McCullough. Updated results will be announced each weekday at 4:30 p.m., with final results coming on Nov. 30. “It’s just a cliffhanger,” Ulatoski said. “The Island is expressing its preference. We’ll have to hold our breath and see what way it ends up.” Bob Hennessey, a school board member who has closely followed the election, said he’s not