A FIELD OF POSSIBILITIES Food bank moves its garden to field near town. Page 4
Weddings on Vashon
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 Vol. 59, No. 07
Pages 13-20
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Singers take off with saucy telegrams County proposal Duo also inspired would allow pot a popular karaoke night at K2 building By ELIZABETH SHEPHERD For The Beachcomber
On an island where fleece and muck boots predominate as everyday apparel, it’s hard not to be startled when you first spot two women decked out in false eyelashes, corsets, taffeta skirts and cocktail hats adorned with ribbons and marabou. And that’s before they turn around and you notice they are also sporting wings. But over the course of the past few years, residents of Vashon have become accustomed to the outlandish costumes worn by Jennifer Sutherland and Tami Brockway Joyce, and to the cheerful music they seem to make everywhere they go. Joyce and Sutherland — also known by their character names Klahowya and Kalakala — have a singing telegram company, the Washington State Fairies, that has been in business since 2010. In a recent KOMO television interview, Sutherland
County hearing called, as well as other public meetings By NATALIE MARTIN Staff Writer
Natalie Martin/Staff Photo
Tami Brockway Joyce and Jennifer Sutherland — aka the Washington State Fairies — entertain the crowd at Fairyoke last Friday. called her act with Joyce “a little flash mob of two who delivers songs of love and devotion all over the Puget Sound.” Together, they have serenaded customers at events ranging from bar mitzvahs to birthday parties to weddings, and even parlayed
their local fame into a yearlong stint as Vashon’s unofficial mayorettes in 2011, running on a platform of support for the Vashon Public Schools Foundation. Now, the dynamic duo is gearing up for one of their busiest times of the year, Valentine’s Day, and
both say they are ready to go door-to door to delight unsuspecting recipients with made-to-order musical messages. Joyce and Sutherland expect to make at least 20 surprise Valentine’s Day visits in all.
As community interest grows in the potential purchase of the K2 building by a marijuana company, King County has proposed an amendment to its comprehensive plan that would allow marijuana growing and processing at the property. County representatives will take comments on the proposed amendment at a public meeting on Vashon next Wednesday. The amendment will be considered by the King County Council as soon as next month. “We want to go to the community and ask what their thoughts are … and see what kind of information we get back,” said Lisa Verner, the legislative coordinator for the county’s Department of Permitting and Environmental Review (DPER). “That will help us tailor the language we then propose to the council.” Meanwhile, Bakkhos Holding, the company that is close to purchasing the K2 building, is inviting islanders to attend its own public meeting on Vashon this week. At the meeting, scheduled for this Thursday, Bakkhos representatives will discuss their plans to grow marijuana and make Edipure-brand edible pot products at the K2 building, as well as answer questions and hear comments or concerns, said Dan Anglin, a spokesman for the company. Bakkhos is under contract to purchase the building, according to Anglin, but has not yet closed on it. Anglin said the company wanted a chance to talk to islanders
SEE FAIRIES, 26
SEE K2, 27
Investigators unable to find proof of profiling after spring incident Sheriff’s office concludes racial profiling investigation of two deputies By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
A King County Sheriff’s Office investigation into alleged racial profiling on the part of two Vashon deputies has found insufficient evidence to prove or disprove a grievance filed by an African American man last spring.
Recently released documents from the investigation show that while the complainant believes deputies treated him harshly because of his race when they were responding to a call about his presence at Jensen Point, the deputies involved say they thought their interaction with the man went well. One deputy, in fact, reported that he had wished at the time that a recruit had been present to see how good contacts with the public are made. With accounts from both sides conflicting, authorities said they looked for other individuals who had first-hand knowledge
of the incident but found no one, leading to the official finding of “non-sustained.” “We conducted interviews of everyone that was involved,” Sheriff John Urquhart said in a recent email to The Beachcomber. “Then we looked for independent witnesses to the incident. We found none. The end result was a non-sustained finding.” Last May, Kenneth Richard, an employee with a Seattle company that contracts with the post office, filed the grievance with the the sheriff’s office shortly after deputies spoke with him at the beachfront park in Burton. At the time, Richard said, his job
required that he bring the island’s mail over in the morning and take the outgoing mail off the island at the end of the day, giving him free afternoons that he often used to study in his truck at the park. But on May 21, he said, deputies approached him about his presence there and told him that some of the girls on the crew team were intimidated by his presence. Richard reported then that the deputies dealt with him in an aggressive manner, asked him several times if he had a gun in the truck SEE INVESTIGATION, 28