ON THE BALLOT Former Vashon figure runs for mayor of Seattle. Page 4
NEWS | Agreement over EMS levy is good news for VIFR. [3] BUSINESS | Blooms & Things expands its offerings. [5] COMMENTARY | Health center’s affiliation raises questions. [6]
A NEW KIND OF FUNNY Comedy troupe aims to bring back the laughs. Page 10
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2013
Vol. 58, No. 17
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Schools once again seek to fill budget gap Foundation is nearing the final push in its $500,000 campaign By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
With just weeks left in its annual fundraising campaign, the Vashon Schools Foundation hopes to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars more to sustain district programs. The group kicked off its campaign March 1 and so far has garnered $133,000 in pledged support, including $55,000 from island businesses. Fundraising will continue in the coming weeks to help the foundation reach its $500,000 target, according to Donna Nespor, the nonprofit’s administra-
tive coordinator, who said she is confident the community will step up and provide the support, as it has in past years. “I feel the momentum is picking up, and we will be able to reach the goal,” she said. When the district’s financial picture was at its most dire a few years ago, Superintendent Michael Soltman announced staff layoffs and program cuts that would take place if sufficient funds were not raised by the newly formed foundation. Now, however, while funding from the state is still insufficient, the foundation’s message is not one of a fiscal emergency, but one of maintaining the district’s staffing levels and programs. “We are trying to run a more positive campaign based on a common community commitment to sustaining the education we value here,” Soltman said. With this trust in community dona-
tions, next year’s budget is being rolled out accordingly. But Soltman noted he is concerned that people may not fully understand the importance of continuing to support the schools, even when the district isn’t declaring an emergency. “It’s absolutely essential,” he said. In fact, he said, were it not for belief in the foundation’s success, he would be proposing cuts now in staffing, the arts and advanced placement classes at the high school. If the money is not raised this spring, Soltman said, he will look to cutting supplies, materials and custodial services and then to dipping into the reserve fund, which may require deeper cuts next year. Steve Ellison, who serves on both the SEE SCHOOLS, 20
Glacier scientist works to track a chilling trend
Staff Writer St
SEE SCIENTIST,17
SEE GOATS, 18
For The Beachcomber
This piece originally appeared on Crosscut.com.
Natalie Johnson/Staff Photo
Wendell Tangborn sits at his home office on Vashon. From his PC, he monitors glaciers around the world. — that is, the difference between the winter accumulation of snow and the summer melting of snow and ice. A positive balance means the glacier is growing; negative means it’s shrinking. The program must be customized for every glacier. Tangborn must take account of the topography and total area of the glacier’s surface. Once
By NATALIE JOHNSON B
he plugs that into the program, he can sit in his office and get information that’s as reliable as the data produced the oldfashioned way — the way he did it for many years — by climbing around on the ice with probing rods and shovels. For each glacier, Tangborn
By DAN CHASAN
Tangborn, no one is looking systematically at a large number of glaciers so that trends become obvious and the glaciers that are behaving contrary to the trends can be seen clearly as outliers. Basically, he uses temperature and precipitation data from fixed weather stations to calculate a glacier’s “mass balance”
Many want a part in islander’s green business A couple years ago, Bothell resident A Adrienne Anderson felt lost. In her mid40s, 4 she was growing weary of her stressfu job as a social worker, but unsure what ful else el she could do. These days, she spends much of her time outside tending a small m herd of goats as they energetically munch h on o underbrush. Anderson is one of a small but growing in number of people across the country and an around the world to follow in the footsteps of islander Tammy Dunakin, fo using goats to clear land more easily, more u cheaply and in a more environmentally ch friendly way than equipment can. Rentfr A-Ruminant, a name that’s well known A on o Vashon and has made headlines in Seattle, is now tagged onto the names S of o Dunakin’s new affiliates from North Carolina to Australia. C “It would never have occurred to me,” said sa Anderson of her new career as a goat wrangler. “Even if it had, I wouldn’t have w wanted to do it on my own.” w Dunakin, a well-known Vashon resident with short-cropped hair, a warm d demeanor and sharp sense of humor, d started her own goat rental business in st much the same way — middle-aged and m looking for a change. lo Having grown up on a farm, Dunakin has h long kept a small herd of goats at her h Vashon home, even while working a demanding job as a medical assistant at Harborview. But about 10 years ago, she sh found herself in need a break from the th fast pace at the hospital. It occurred
Islander’s methods are unusual, but his findings are clear
Wendell Tangborn thinks he has invented a better mousetrap. He’s still waiting for the scientific world to beat a path to his door. Sitting in a cramped home office on Vashon, overlooking the (rising) waters of Puget Sound, Tangborn talks about his plan to monitor 200 glaciers around the world to see whether or not — and, if so, how quickly — they’re melting away. He has already done detailed reports on seven, including Juneau’s incredible shrinking Mendenhall Glacier. He’s working on 40 more, and hoping one or more foundations will supply enough money to hire the three people he’d need to keep track of all 200. People often cite the waxing or waning of glaciers to prove that the Earth is or is not getting warmer. But according to
Renting goats