BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2015
Vol. 60, No. 23
Accident victim had turned his life around, encouraged others
75¢
Rally spotlights school funding troubles By SARAH LOW Staff Writer
By NATALIE MARTIN Staff Writer
Kenny Sudduth is described by those who knew him as a fun-loving man who had a genuine care for others that was perhaps fueled by his own life’s struggles. While his 48 years were marked by his father’s death, his own drug use and time in jail, friends and family say Kenny had his life in order and was looked up to by many when he died tragically in a single-car accident last month. “He had some tough times in his life, but he had turned himself around,” said his Megan Hastings Photo mother, Rebecca Parks. Kenny Sudduth “He touched a lot of lives.” Kenneth Andrew Sudduth was born on May 1, 1967, in Sacramento, but moved with his family to Vashon when he was 3. On Vashon, his mother met and married Bill Sudduth, who adopted Ken and two of his brothers. The couple had three more children, and Kenny was part of a sprawling Sudduth clan that included many extended family members on the island. Kenny enjoyed growing up on Vashon and was SEE SUDDUTH, 32
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Angry with state lawmakers’ lack of progress on education funding, Vashon’s teachers took to the streets with a rally in town on Saturday in an effort to send a message to Olympia. “Apathy is the worst thing that could happen,” said Martha Woodard, president of the Vashon Education Association (VEA), the local teachers’ union. “Voters’ voices matter. We want to get the message out to the community so that our representatives know that people are still paying attention.” State lawmakers are currently embroiled in a marathon second special legislative session called by Governor Jay Inslee at the end of May, tasked with passing a state budget. The budget must address education funding as mandated by the state Supreme Court’s McCleary decision of 2012, when the court ruled that the state had failed in its constitutional duty to fully fund basic education. And while an additional $1 billion was added for education
Natalie Martin/Staff Photo
More than 50 teachers, administrators, parents and students held an hour-long demonstration in town on Saturday. during the 2013-15 legislative session, lawmakers were ordered by the court to draft a plan for how they intended to meet the 2018 deadline to fully fund public schools. That plan was due at the
end of April of last year, and the Legislature has yet to produce one. “Education funding is really complex,” said State Senator and leader of the Senate Democrats Sharon
Nelson (D-Maury Island). “There are so many levels and so many pieces. … It takes a lot of work.” It’s work that many say SEE RALLY, 31
Building a successful restaurant
Popular eatery marks a decade on Vashon By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Once every month a group of island women gathers for breakfast at The Hardware Store Restaurant to enjoy each other’s company and support one another through life’s highs and lows. They meet there because of its good food and service, according to member Vicki Clabaugh, and for another reason as well. “It’s the hub of the community,” she said. The restaurant opened in the heart of town a decade ago, on Aug. 1, 2005, after owner Melinda Powers spent two years working to transform the former Vashon Hardware Company — in business from 1890 to 2003 — into a restaurant. At the time, Powers said she wanted to create a place for people
to come together and share good food. After 10 years, she says that is still the mission that she and her 50-member crew share. “We feel good about staying true to the vision of creating a gathering place for the community,” she said in an interview last week. It takes more than vision to keep a restaurant afloat, though, and according to the National Restaurant Association, 30 percent of restaurants fail in their first year and another 30 percent in the next two years. While it may look easy at the big and often busy restaurant, Powers said, it takes a lot of work to keep the business running smoothly. At 62, she works seven days a week in some capacity, Natalie Martin/Staff Photo
SEE RESTAURANT, 12
Owner Melinda Powers said she finds her long hours at the restaurant invigorating.