MUSIC OF AMERICA Ethnic music, dancing livens Ober Park. Page 10
A MUDDY TRADITION Mud-bogging slated to end in center forest. Page 4
NEWS | Movie house fundraiser tops $50,000 [3] SPORTS | Track star competes in Junior Olympics [14] BUSINESS | New hard cider makes the scene [15]
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012 Vol. 57, No. 31
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Crime exposed on a back road
After a raft of drug activity, a neighborhood fights back By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
Tom Hughes Photo
Michael Spakowsky relaxes on the back stoop of his house above Paradise Ridge.
An artist from another time
country music LPs sitting patiently in front of an old turntable and a 1970s-era tape deck. Photos of his grown daughters and grandchildren, which n a bright July day, as I pulled up in he proudly pointed to, share a spot atop the piano front of Michael Spakowsky’s place, with a framed photo of Merle Haggard signed by he stepped outside his clapboard the country legend to “Vashon Mike.” house and gave a friendly A couple of guitars were lined up against one wall, close wave. The tableau — a big Michael Spakowsky’s to a small couch. Looking past man standing alone in front paintings evoke the wild the room, I could see a small, of a small white house in a austere art studio in the back beauty of the sea. His life clearing carved out of the of the house. speaks to a simpler time, woods — was reminiscent of The vibe was cozy and a bit an Andrew Wyeth painting. before computers, credit well-worn. Then it hit me. “I The 63-year-old artist, revered don’t see a computer in here,” cards and cell phones. locally for his maritime and I said. landscape watercolor paintings, “Nope, no computer,” had dressed up for the occasion. He wore black Spakowsky said. “No answering machine or cell jeans with a button-down shirt neatly tucked phone. I never had a credit card or a debit card, I in and his hair slicked back. Sharp, button eyes never wrote a check.” peered out behind long, thin eyelids that seemed Even Spakowsky’s car — a 1967 turquoise and carved out of wood. white Galaxy 500 that he has owned for 30 years And then there was the smile — an impish grin — speaks of another era. that fully welcomed me into his world. And that’s all OK with Spakowsky, who seems To visit him is to take a trip back in time, to content to live amid the trappings of a time gone see Vashon through the eyes of an artist who has by. lived here almost all his life. “I choose to be this way, obviously,” he said. “I Inside his house — a place he built himself, can still sell my paintings the old-fashioned way.” using mostly salvaged materials, on a two-and-aIndeed, by Spakowsky’s reasoning, he’s made half-acre plot near Paradise Ridge that he bought for $7,500 in 1989 — there were stacks of old SEE SPAKOWSKY, 20
By ELIZABETH SHEPHERD Arts Editor
O
Several Islanders recently banded together to rid their quiet neighborhood east of Vashon town of what they called an out-of-control drug house. Those involved describe a month-long effort involving both residents and law enforcement that resulted in the eviction of the suspected dealers. King County Sheriff’s Dep. Joel Anderson, who was involved in the effort, lauded the neighbors and called the incident a success. But it’s also indicative of a larger problem on the Island, said Anderson, who believes drug use is the catalyst behind nearly all crime on the Island. Anderson, who has worked full time on Vashon for four years, said 80 to 90 percent of the people he arrests are either under the influence of drugs at the time or stealing so they can purchase drugs. “Most of our crimes are in some way, shape or form relat-
ed to someone being on drugs,” Anderson said. Many other Islanders, meanwhile, have their own stories to tell about drug houses in their neighborhoods, though some haven’t achieved the success of this neighborhood east of town. That’s partly due to limits police officers face: While Vashon deputies do all they can to put drug users and dealers behind bars, Anderson said, privacy laws often prevent them from making big drug busts. And people who are sent to jail, he said, almost always return to the Island and continue their habits. “It’s a vicious system that continues to play itself out,” he said. Even so, he said, he’s pleased by what happened in July, when residents on a dead-end road east of town became suspicious of new renters and took action. Neighbors noticed the nearSEE DRUG HOUSE, 18
VCC’s new therapy program helps people rebuild their lives By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
When Barbara Gross moved into an assisted living apartment at Vashon Community Care last December, she was confined to a wheelchair after injuring her back in a fall. But now, after several weeks dedicated to rehabilitation, she regularly uses a walker and navigates stairs. In her recovery, Gross relied on a new service VCC is offering to both its residents and Islanders at large, Vashon Community Therapy. Through it, health care professionals offer physical, occupational and speech therapies to people who qualify for such services, whether the need is from an injury, illness or surgery.
Gross gives the service high praise. “It just changed my life,” she said. In 2011, VCC first offered rehabilitation services on an inpatient basis to people who had been released from a hospital but needed further care before they could go home. Since then, the service has grown. So far this year, the new program has served roughly 70 people, including about 45 residents of the assisted living facility, according to nursing home administrator Janelle Ansell. It provides services on both an inand out-patient basis and, she said, has room to grow. The center, with a commitment to serving Islanders regardless of SEE VCC, 19