BIKE SHOP STRUGGLES Longtime shop may close its doors. Page 4
NEWS | VoV launches fundraiser for FM radio station. [3] SPORTS | Junior rowers bring gold back from Canada. [15] COMMUNITY | Challenge yourself to better health. [18]
ARTISTS AT HAND Meet artists in their studios on annual tour. Page 12
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014
Vol. 59, No. 18
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Bus cuts are down the road for Vashon Reductions not as drastic on Vashon as other places Staff Writer
By NATALIE MARTIN Staff Writer
Susan Riemer/Staff Photo
Bus riders at the north-end ferry terminal load a bus on route 118, which is scheduled for service reductions, according to a Metro plan. The proposition, however, was defeated last week, with 54 percent voting no in the April 22 special election. Following its defeat, Metro’s General Manager Kevin Desmond said that while the agency had hoped to avoid service reductions, it would move
ahead with the cuts. Because of improved sales tax revenue forecasts, Metro now plans to cut 16 percent of its service, instead of the anticipated 17 percent, and has put forward a plan accordingly. “We must now move forward
to reduce the system to our revenues, as any enterprise must do,” Desmond said. Metro has proposed completely canceling 72 routes countywide and revising or reducing 84 routes, with initial SEE BUS CUTS, 19
Motorcyclist killed in accident on Vashon Highway Victim was a West Seattle man who enjoyed going for rides on his bike By NATALIE MARTIN Staff Writer
A West Seattle man riding his motorcycle on Vashon on Saturday was killed when he was struck by a vehicle on Vashon Highway near the north end. Patrick Lajko, 62, had stopped to make a left turn when he was hit from behind, according to Sgt. Cindi West, a spokeswoman for the King County Sheriff’s Office. The accident occurred at about
Two companies look to open pot stores on island Results of lottery for licenses will be announced this week
By SUSAN RIEMER
In the wake of last week’s failure of Proposition 1, some Metro bus cuts will come as early as this fall, while others, including those on Vashon, are not slated until September of next year. Unless a funding solution is found before then, Vashon’s bus routes will likely see slight service reductions. King County Metro announced last fall that without a new source of funding, it would have to reduce countywide bus service by 17 percent. After the state Legislature failed to pass a transportation bill that would have made way for additional funding, earlier this year the King County Council, created the Transportation and Benefit District, which put forth Prop. 1. The measure, if approved, would have provided $130 million in annual funds for buses and road maintenance and repair in King County. The measure called for a $60 car tab fee and one-tenth of a percent increase in county sales tax.
75¢
4:30 p.m. Saturday on the 12500 block of Vashon Highway, outside Palouse Winery. Lajko was headed northbound. The incident was the first traffic fatality on Vashon in a little over a year, said George Brown, assistant chief at Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR). Bystanders and emergency responders from VIFR were
Two off-island companies are apparently vying to set up recreational marijuana retail stores on Vashon, taking part in the state’s lottery for 11 licenses for such stores that will be granted in unincorporated King County. Applications were submitted to the state Liquor Control Board for marijuana shops that would be located at Courthouse Square and at the former Vashon Family Practice building in Vashon town. Last week the LCB held a lottery for 334 licenses it plans to issue for marijuana retail shops statewide. Eleven of those licenses will be given in unincorporated King County, which saw about 35 total applications. Results of the lottery will be announced on Friday. Mikhail Carpenter, an LCB spokesman, said he couldn’t confirm that the two Vashon applications were a part of the lottery. However, according to documents obtained from the LCB, applicants for both locations submitted the documents required to be pre-screened and enter the lottery, including proof of state residency and proof of rights to the identified properties. Carpenter said that of about 2,100 retail applications the state received, 1,700 applicants made it through the prescreening process. In a complex lottery completed by the state last week, random numbers were assigned to applicants in 76 cities and counties where there were more applications than there are licenses available. “We’re not having one great big lottery. We’re having 76 little lotteries in jurisdictions where it’s appropriate,” Carpenter said. Being selected in the lottery doesn’t guarantee a license will be granted. Businesses must still complete the application process — providing financial information and business plans — and everyone
Natalie Martin/Staff Photo
SEE ACCIDENT, 13
The accident scene on Saturday.
SEE MARIJUANA, 20