THEATER AT THE MOVIES Vashon Theater brings new offerings for fall. Page 12
NEWS | Man arrested after shooting gun in a house. [3] COMMENTARY | Everyone is responsible for road safety. [6] ARTS | VAA’s annual auction will be ‘out of this world.’ [13]
A HILLY RIDE More than 250 cyclists take on Passport to Pain Page 16
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2014
Vol. 59, No. 38
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Saving fish, protecting the environment
Some hope to see island go ‘Salmon Safe’ By SARAH LOW Staff Writer
In the coming week, representatives from the environmental organization Stewardship Partners will visit the island twice with information about their Salmon Safe certification program, part of an effort to get more island farms and other organizations to consider their environmental impact, not just on the island’s salmon streams, but on Puget Sound in general. With help from a grant from the King Conservation District, Stewardship Partners has already certified five island farms as Salmon Safe, meaning their practices protect water quality and fish habitat. Now, islander CC Stone is leading an effort to get more farms and other entities on Vashon certified. She has organized a community meeting for next Monday with Stewardship Partners, and Salmon Safe representatives will also be at this Saturday’s Farmers Market. “I think that this is something that everyone can get on board with,” Stone said. “This could be a first step as a community to take care of the things that we treasure.” Salmon Safe is a well established eco-label offered by an Oregon nonprofit of the same name. The Pacific Rivers Council of Oregon began the project of creating
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As school begins, many consider new findings on teen sleep By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Natalie Martin/Staff Photo
Joe Yarkin owns Sun Island Farm, one of five Vashon farms that have already been certified under the Salmon Safe label. guidelines for land management practices in 1995, after researching and documenting the relationship between farmland management and stream health. Since then, the campaign has expanded to include vineyards, golf courses, urban
developments and park systems, and has created a partner network of Salmon Safe certification organizations that extends from British Columbia to California. The organization has certified over 60,000 acres of agricultural and urban
land, and the Salmon Safe brand can be seen on items in over 300 grocery stores. Having already certified Plum Forest, Sun Island, Hogsback, SEE SALMON SAFE, 11
Group explores new route for local economic development A public development authority could take on a variety of projects By NATALIE MARTIN Staff Writer
A group of islanders is exploring the idea of creating a public development authority on Vashon, something they say could stimulate economic growth and possibly lead to the development of the K2 building. Those involved call a public development
authority (PDA) a “quasi-governmental” entity that would be formed by King County to do work on Vashon. A PDA is a government-owned corporation that cannot levy taxes and does not have power of eminent domain. On Vashon, a PDA would be overseen by a board and could enter into public-private partnerships, purchase property and lease it, issue tax-exempt bonds and — in what those involved say could be a huge boon for the island — could access local, state and federal funds not available otherwise. Though there are currently no other public development authorities in unincorporated King County, Seattle’s Pike Place Market, the Seattle Art Museum and King County 4Culture
are operated by PDAs. “What we are hoping to accomplish with this is to have it be an economic development engine,” said Jacquie Perry, an islander who is closely involved with the group. “It started in regard to K2, but as we added people we started having more conversations about what it is we want.” Perry, who moved to Vashon in 2007, is a former advisor with Washington’s Small Business Development Center and has owned several small businesses herself. When she moved to the island she naturally SEE PDA, 22
Ask parents of teenagers how it is to get them up and out the door on school mornings, and the answers, nearly invariably, come back the same: difficult, frustrating, stressful. Now, an increasing number of people — parents, health care professionals and educators — are taking notice of the science of sleep and are speaking out about school start times for teens. Just last month the American Academy of Pediatrics weighed in, calling sleep deprivation among middle and high school students a public health problem and stating that based on extensive research, middle and high schools should delay their start times until 8:30 a.m. or later. On Vashon, where the middle and high schools begin at 8 a.m. — later than many schools start and later than the start times just a few years ago —school district officials say they are familiar with the science that indicates teens who do not get enough sleep are at risk of a variety of health and academic problems. But, they say, many districts, including Vashon, face fiscal and logistical challenges when trying to align start times accordingly. “We have long known this to be true,” Vashon High School Principal Danny Rock said about the benefits of later starts. “We do not structure school as a society based on what we know will help students learn. We have not structured school to meet their physiological needs. We have compromised our students’ physical needs for other needs and values.” Math teacher and coach Andy Sears spoke to some of those needs SEE SLEEP, 14