INTIMATE WORDS A poet shares his work at a public reading. Page 11
NEWS | Park board selects four finalists for top job. [3] COMMENTARY | Get ready to spell for a good cause. [6] SPORTS | Hoopsters lose. [15]
DANCING WITH JOY The O Space rings in Obama’s next term. Pages 12-13
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013
Vol. 58, No. 04
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Islanders voice concern over drug houses But ‘sometimes, nothing can be done,’ sheriff says By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
The half-dozen or so reported drug houses on Vashon likely won’t be shut down any time soon, King County Sheriff John Urquhart told a large crowd on Monday. Urquhart, invited to speak by the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council, told nearly 70 Islanders who showed for the meeting that the county simply lacked the resources required to go after most suspected drug houses. At the same time, he encouraged those in attendance, several of whom spoke about their own experiences with drug houses, to work with police and to petition elected officials if they want to address crime on Vashon. “A drug house is something that can’t be handled on a shortterm basis. … Sometimes, nothing can be done. I know that’s hard to hear,” he said. The long question-and-answer session at McMurray Middle School centered almost entirely around drug houses and related
Every day, Joy Humphreys takes her dog Shadow with her to the laundromat and dry cleaner she owns. Since her husband George died a year ago, running the small business has been difficult, and she’s now ready to sell, she says.
Leslie Brown/ Staff Photo
75¢
Climate change
Rising sea levels could alter life on Vashon By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
len; that some of the people who hang out there seem dissolute and troubled. Vashon’s police officers also express concern, calling the site an epicenter for drugs and other illicit activity on Vashon. “The majority of the crime on the island is perpetrated by just a small group of people, and a majority of that group of people just happen to hang out at the laundromat,” said Dep. Jeff Hancock with the King County Sheriff’s Office. The deputies who patrol Vashon have worked to clean up the Village Green over the last few months, Hancock
One morning last month, an extreme high tide collided with a blustery winter storm to create a surge of seawater the likes of which some Vashon residents said they had never seen. Around the island, crashing waves damaged bulkheads, swept away docks and boats and came dangerously close to beachfront homes. Experts say these types of high tide events, and even worse ones, could become frequent as sea levels rise due to profound changes in the climate that are slowing causing glaciers and icefields to melt. The issue is particularly germane on Vashon, some say, an island with 51 miles of shoreline and countless houses built close to the water’s edge. “We’re already vulnerable to these types of situations,” said Laura Whitely Binder, a researcher with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group. “You add high sea levels, and that can add to the damage potential,” The City of Seattle, which also experienced a high-tide storm surge that day and recorded a record high tide, recently used forecasts by the Climate Impacts Group (CIG) to create a map of how rising sea levels will affect its shorelines. The map, which was released by Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) last week along with an updated climate change action plan for the city, showed a sobering scenario: coastline areas that will be inundated daily within 40 years as well as neighborhoods that will be under water during storms and
SEE LAUNDROMAT, 5
SEE CLIMATE, 18
Leslie Brown/Staff Photo
King County Sheriff John Urquhart answers questions at the community council meeting Monday night. crime on the island, with many islanders probing the newly elected sheriff on what steps the community could take to address what it sees as a growing problem.
“We have an active, involved community that wants to do something about it,” said Michael Meade. “Even if there is no funding, we’re looking for a strategy.”
Islanders’ concerns over drug houses mounted last fall, after the body of India Castle, 27, was found SEE CRIME, 17
Broken dryers, stolen clothes: Some fret over state of laundromat But owner says she’s trying hard to run it well By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer
A few weeks ago, only one of the eight dryers at Joy’s Village Cleaners was working, and those who were washing their clothes were frustrated by the long waits that resulted. Indeed, some customers say, they’ve given up on Vashon’s laundromat and now haul their dirty clothes to Seattle or Tacoma. They say the equipment at the Vashon laundromat is often broken; that they’ve had articles of clothing sto-