SAYING GOODBYE Longtime high school principal announces her retirement. Page 3
A HOLIDAY TRADITION Vashon dancers bring back ‘The Nutcracker.’ Page 10
NEWS | Park district faces deficit, could close for four months. [4] BUSINESS | New coffee shop emphasizes variety. [12] SPORTS | High school teams see success early in the season. [15]
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2012
Vol. 57, No. 49
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Activity at house near airport has long vexed neighbors Now, brothers of the resident say they plan to do what they can to end the situation By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer
WHALES MAKE A SPLASH, DELIGHTING HUNDREDS OF ISLANDERS The Puget Sound’s famed southern resident orcas have been no strangers to Vashon lately, making three dramatic passes by the Island in a week and a half. Each time — on Nov. 24 and 27 and Dec. 3 — news of the whales drew crowds of Islanders to Point Robinson, where groups of 20 to 45 orcas, mostly from the J and K pods, delighted onlookers with their trademark moves — tail slaps, spy hops and awe-inspiring breaches. On Tuesday, Nov. 27, nice weather made for especially pleasant whale watching and what amounted to a truly Northwest scene as several of the whales stopped and lingered under a clear, looming Mt. Rainier. As Islanders reveled in the whales’ winter visits, the federal government announced on Nov. 26 that it would consider removing the southern residents from the endangered species list. According to news reports, the whales’ endangered status review by NOAA Fisheries is in response to a petition by California farmers who have suffered from irrigation cutbacks put in place to protect fish the whales feed on. The petition, filed by a Sacramento-based nonprofit, argues that the local whales are part of a 50,000 worldwide population that is thriving as a whole. Ann “Orca Annie” Stateler of the Vashon Hydrophone project called the proposal a “horrible idea,” saying the southern residents, like other groups of orcas around the world, are a genetically distinct species with their own body type, language and feeding habits, and they need individual protection. What’s more, she said, their population still hasn’t reached the size necessary for a healthy level of genetic diversity. She noted that six whales have died this year. “They’re moving in the wrong direction. ... They are far from the recovery goal,” she said. Photos by Kelly Keenan / Story by Natalie Johnson
Seattle fundraiser selected to helm Vashon agency By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer
Kathleen Barry Johnson, a fundraising professional and former criminal defense attorney, will become the new head of Vashon Youth & Family Services, a $1.5 million agency that provides a wide range of social services on the Island. The board announced its selection of Johnson, a Seattle resident, last week. Diane Kjellberg, the interim executive director who will join the board once
Johnson steps in, said the agency chose her because she “seemed to connect with us as an agency.” Johnson replaces Ken Maaz, who left VYFS in August. She begins her new job in January. “She had a lot of experience in a lot of different areas that parallel what we do at the agency. So we thought she’d be a good fit,” Kjellberg said. Johnson, 48, said she’s thrilled to have been tapped for the position. She said she’s struck by the breadth of services VYFS offers, the professionalism of its
staff and the position it holds in the community. She also has a connection to Vashon, a place she’s visited many times over the years. “I’m really impressed by VYFS,” she said. Johnson currently works as the development director for the Economic Opportunity Institute, a nonpartisan center that works to shape policy on a number of family-related economic SEE VYFS,14
Neighbors have complained for years about the grey-blue house on 109th Avenue S.W., a modest split-level on 12 acres of marshy land abutting the eastern edge of the Vashon Airport. It was there that $30,000 worth of stolen film and computer equipment was found two years ago, and there that India Castle’s body was discovered three weeks ago in a shallow pond behind the home. Neighbors say frequent activity at the house — cars coming Richard Grant and going at all hours, faces criminal charges for people approaching the meth posseshouse with flashlights at sion. See story, night — suggests it’s a page 18. site of drug trafficking, and a few Islanders are in the process of forming a neighborhood watch group in an effort to shut it down. The house is owned by Nelly Grant, an 81-year-old woman who now lives in Seattle. The top level of the house is completely shuttered. The bottom half is occupied by her son, Richard Grant, his girlfriend, Muggie Sparks, and a variety of visitors. Grant, 47, a slight man with dark hair, has a long record of arrests, including at least nine felonies, and is slated to go to court on Dec. 13 to face the latest charges — possession of 10 grams of methamphetamine with an intent to sell. During an interview at the home Saturday night, he acknowledged his checkered past. “I admit I’m not an angel. But I’m not a bad guy. I’ve got morals,” he said. Sparks added, “People should not judge him just because he has a record. Otherwise, how can anybody change?” His brothers, Arnold and Bryan Grant, Jr., however, paint a different picture, saying their brother has long struggled with drug addiction and petty crime, an arrest record that dates SEE HOUSE, 19