GOING OUT OF BUSINESS Vashon’s only laundromat will close this week. Page 5
COMMUNITY | Vashon history comes to life on Facebook. [4] COMMENTARY | Brave activists help form our island. [6] SPORTS | Young wrestlers rise [12] to the top.
WOMEN MAKE MUSIC Island songstresses will share the stage. Page 10
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
Vol. 58, No. 26
LOW TIDE DRAWS HUNDREDS TO THE SHORE
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Islanders look at buying Misty Isle Site could be preserved for farming, other activities By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
Ray Pfortner Photo
On Sunday the waters at Point Robinson rolled back to a -3.5-foot tide, revealing a colorful and peculiar world of near-shore creatures. And just as sure as the tides, the Vashon Beach Naturalists were there to guide beachgoers and provide activities at the eighth-annual Low Tide Celebration. Above, Kristin Pesman and her daughter Ellie Jackson check out a sunflower star. For more photos from the day, see page 15.
A group is exploring whether the 500-acre Misty Isle Farm could be purchased for farmland preservation and transformed into a multi-use site. “There is no other piece of land on the island with so many assets,” said Tom Dean, who heads the Vashon Maury Island Land Trust and is leading the effort. “This is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity.” For the past six months, Dean and several other high-profile islanders, as well as representatives from King County and PCC Farmland Trust — a nonprofit that works to preserve threatened farmland — have been meeting regularly and working to determine whether the massive estate once owned by the late Tom Stewart could not only be purchased and protected, but one day hold farms and other resources or amenities that would benefit Vashon. While the property near Paradise Valley hasn’t been on the market in years, committee members say they believe that if a nonprofit were to fundraise millions of dollars for the
Natalie Johnson/Staff Photo
Merrilee Runyan, president of the Vashon Island Growers Association, and Tom Dean, director of the land trust, stand outside Misty Isle Farm on 232nd Street. The two have organized a committee that is considering whether the property can be purchased and preserved. ambitious project, it may be able to negotiate a buy. “We all came to the conclusion that yes, we think there’s a good idea here, and a window of opportunity,” Dean said. The exploratory committee, which members say is still in the early stages of research, will now look to develop a rough business plan for the site, gather more community feedback and have an appraisal done on the property. Should they craft a plan that pencils out, Dean said, they’ll begin approaching potential donors to gauge interest in funding such an
endeavor. “I have vetted this idea with leaders in the community, and I have gotten universal excitement around it,” Dean said. “We’re trying to learn as much as we can and piece together something that makes sense.” Dean estimates that a property appraisal alone will cost up to $70,000, funds he called at-risk seed money. A purchase would likely cost tens of millions. “This community would have to have some skin in the game,” he said. “This doesn’t get off the SEE MISTY ISLE, 15
Sheriff’s office investigates a string of residential burglaries on Vashon Several women report having jewelry stolen under similar circumstances By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
One day this spring, when Linda Bianchi went to put away a pearl earring she’d recently had repaired, she found that some of her jewelry was missing. She also found, in the coming weeks, that many island women have surprisingly similar stories. The King County Sheriff’s Office is now
investigating the apparent string of residential burglaries. Since Bianchi reported the theft, three other women have contacted the sheriff’s office because they, too, recently discovered jewelry missing, according to Sgt. Cindi West, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office. After Bianchi’s story circulated, five women contacted her with their own stories of stolen jewelry, she said, including some who have not reported their losses to police. The spate of thefts extends beyond jewelry and includes a valuable guitar recently taken from a home near Gold Beach and a
rare coin collection and cash that had been tucked away in a jewelry box in a home off Cove Road. Earlier this month, a woman in Burton arrived home to find a strange vehicle in her driveway and encountered a man walking out of her house. She expects he is a suspect in the thefts, she said. Adding to the situation’s twists and turns, this month a sheriff’s deputy, acting on a tip that some of the stolen items might be on the roof of Joy’s Cleaners, climbed up, fell through the roof and was injured. He is expected to return to work soon, West said. According to Bianchi, all the victims she has talked with said there was no sign of
forced entry at their homes and that nothing was disturbed. “You have no idea anyone’s been in your home,” she said. West confirmed that the lack of telltale clues in the reported cases and noted that more islanders may have had items stolen but may not have noticed them missing yet. She suggested islanders take stock of their possessions, and if anything is missing, contact authorities. “They should absolutely report it,” she said. SEE BURGLARIES, 16