MAKING MUSIC Vashon Opera presents ‘Elixir of Love.’ Page 12
COMMUNITY | Photographer shares inspiration. [11] NEWS | Vashon’s property values continue to rise. [3] ARTS | Galleries will offer First [10] Friday festivities.
TAKING A JOY RIDE Local drag racer places in national event. Page 14
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 Vol. 60, No. 35
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
To stem tide of HIV infections nationwide, local artists get to work
Fighting fire Vashon firefighters join the effort in Eastern and Central Washington
By SARAH LOW For The Beachcomber
Brett Kranjcevich Photo
A member of a hotshot crew works on Twisp River Road last month. VIFR firefighter Brett Kranjcevich took this photo while he was working there as part of a South King County Strike Team. By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
W
hen fire surrounded their home near Chelan last month, Avé and Drew Dover packed their cars to evacuate, but in an effort to save their property, Drew began clearing fire lines with his tractor while the flames encroached. As the situation grew more dire — no electricity or water, thick smoke in the air and the fire advancing — Drew, a former Green Beret and registered nurse, insisted on staying. Unwilling to leave her husband behind, Avé said she had resolved that they would remain and fight the fire with one lone neighbor. As they gathered in the driveway, help arrived without warning, as a Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR) vehicle pulled in. “I was shocked to see
‘Vashon Island’ on the truck,” Avé recounted by phone last weekend. “It was like a little miracle — if not a big miracle — to see the Vashon truck all the way at our ranch.” The team included two island firefighters, Brett Kranjcevich and Wesley Paulsen, and a third firefighter from Bothell. They were in the area as part of a South King County Strike Team mobilized by the state to protect homes and other structures. The group’s arrival on the Dovers’ doorstep began with a text message, according to Kate Davidson, one of the Dovers’ two daughters living on Vashon. The five Dover siblings had been sending worried messages back and forth as the Chelan-area fires raged and none of them could reach their parents, she said. One of her brothers then drove from Seattle, SEE FIRE, 19
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Courtesy Photo
Chelan-area residents Avé and Drew Dover credit VIFR firefighters Brett Kranjcevich and Wesley Paulsen, among others, with saving their Antoine Creek home. The Dovers’ daughters, Kate Davidson and Libby Dover, live on Vashon with their families.
As the number of young people in the United States diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is on the rise, three island artists are participating in a national campaign to stem the tide of this tenacious but mostly preventable epidemic. Leah Mann and Ela Lamblin — the husband-and-wife team behind the performance art of Lelavision — and composer Jason Staczek are creating a live performance and video aimed at education and prevention. With funding coming from the Elton John AIDS Foundation and a Kickstarter campaign that will begin next week, the works are slated to premier on World AIDS Day in December. “It’s all so preventable,” Mann said, noting that unprotected sex continues to be the leading cause of HIV infection. “We have to be able to normalize these conversations and lessen the stigma for young people.” Locally, King County has experienced a decrease in new youth (specified as ages 13 to 24) diagnoses, with 33 in 2013, down from 42 in 2012 and below 40 for the first time in over five years. But this is an anomaly compared to the national statistics. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 9,961 youth were diagnosed with HIV in the United States in 2013. More than 8,000 of those cases occurred in those aged 20 to 24 — the highest number of HIV diagnoses of any age group. At the end of 2012, it was estimated that 62,400 youth in this country were living with HIV, and over half of them were undiagnosed. With the highest increases seen across the southern states, the Elton John AIDS Foundation chose to partner with the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta (CFGA) to fund youth-oriented intervention programs, some of which will have a national reach. That’s where Mann comes in. In January, the CFGA dispersed some of the money it received from the Elton John foundation to a youth outreach organization called Moving in the Spirit — a program that integrates dance instruction with performance, leadership and mentoring opportunities for kids ages 3 through 18 in the Atlanta area. Mann co-founded the program over 20 years ago and is still involved as its artistic director emeritus. “They basically commissioned a (performance) work as an intervention piece,” she said. “Something that could travel and speak directly to young people. So they called me.” The challenge was a steep one, but Mann was undeterred. Just one month into the project, however, her own nephew died of heart failure resulting from undiagnosed AIDS. “It came as a total shock,” she said. “He was a young, SEE HIV, 18