BIDDING ON KIDS As Harbor School grows, auction will support travel. Page 5
NEWS | VYFS ends its addiction recovery program. [4] COMMUNITY | Guide dogs go to college. [13] ARTS | Vashon singers will [10] perform at Benaroya.
PLAY BALL Spring sports begin on Vashon. Page 14
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014
Vol. 59, No. 13
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Cookstove effort takes off with new factory Marijuana company Plant opening may back out of K2 is a landmark moment for Burn
Spokesman says county council is taking too long
By NATALIE MARTIN Staff Writer
At a large factory in Nairobi, Kenya, about 300 Kenyans will soon begin building small, black cookstoves that one islander hopes will alter the face of Africa. “It’s game changing,” said Peter Scott, a Vashon resident and the president of Burn Manufacturing Co. For Scott, who returned to the island last week after spending four months in Kenya, the factory’s opening earlier this month was a watershed moment. It means that Kenyans will soon begin mass producing a stove that was designed on Vashon and that will combat what many consider a global crisis — the growing number of deaths and rapid deforestation resulting from the inefficient charcoal-burning cookstoves used in many African homes. About 2 million people,
By NATALIE MARTIN Staff Writer
Natalie Martin/Staff Photo
Peter Scott, president of Burn, stands in the company’s design lab at the Sheffield Building. Behind him Burn employees and interns test cookstove prototypes. mostly women and children, die each year from upper respiratory disease due to indoor cooking smoke. What’s more, East Africa is facing an ecologi-
cal crisis from all that charcoal: It takes seven tons of wood to make one ton of charcoal, leading to rapid deforestation and a lack of sustainability that will cre-
ate more crises down the road. It’s an issue that Scott and a team of engineers SEE BURN, 19
The company attempting to purchase the K2 building and transform it into a factory to produce edible marijuana products may give up its effort on Vashon, a spokesman for the company, Bakkhos Holding, announced last weekend. Dan Anglin, who is also a managing partner with EdiPure, wrote on Facebook on Saturday that unless King County moves more quickly to amend its comprehensive plan to allow marijuana business at K2, Bakkhos will back out of its contract to purchase the property. In an interview Monday, Anglin confirmed the development and said he recently learned the council’s consideration of the Vashon Town Plan amendment that would allow marijuana business
within the boundaries of plan would take longer than Bakkhos originally expected. What’s more, the process to obtain a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the property could take 6 to 12 months, he said. Adding time for construction, that puts a potential opening date for the business far beyond what Bakkhos is willing to consider, he said. “This decision is based solely on the fact that we have no idea when the county will actually take the vote on fixing the issue, and how long the CUP process will take,” Anglin posted in a comment on Facebook Saturday. He went on to write “We love the Island, but the time has come to find a plan B.” County officials, however, say they’ve not recently changed their message about how long the process to open a marijuana business at K2 will take and so far there have been no delays. SEE K2, 20
OFFICIALS GATHER TO CUT RIBBON AT NEW CENTER A standing-room-only crowd of islanders and King County officials turned out last Thursday for a ribbon cutting at the new Vashon Rural Services Center on Bank Road. The newly remodeled center, which opened last month, houses a variety of King County Services, including a sheriff’s precinct office complete with jail cell, a district court courtroom and space for King County permitting and licensing services. The services had been located south of town. Kathy Brown, the facilities management division director at King County, opened the ceremony with good words about its partnership with Vashon Island Fire & Rescue, which helped bring the project to fruition. With the office now in town, she said “services will be delivered as easily as possible every day.” An additional benefit, she noted, is that when the building is not in use for county purposes, community groups can rent it out for their needs. Among the speakers was Chief Presiding Judge Corinna Harn, who said that her most memorable and meaningful moments as a judge have come on the island. “I can’t tell you how important it is for us to have a presence in this community,” she said. King County Councilmember Joe McDermott also addressed the crowd and assisted with the official ribbon cutting with a supersized pair of scissors. Pictured, from the left, are Brown, Chief Deputy Anne Kirkpatrick, McDermott and Harn. Photo by Natalie Martin, story by Susan Riemer