BURTON BIKE SHOP Local man opens new bike shop. Page 5
FRIDAY GALLERY CRUISE Island artists display work during First Friday. Page 10
Boeing in Puget Sound:
A Century of Partnership
BEACHCOMBER See pages 14-19
VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2015 Vol. 60, No. 44
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Fixing aging ferry fleet will be long, expensive process
State transportation package passed earlier this year gives ferries more than $600 million over 16 years By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Anneli Fogt / Staff Photo
Students board the Issaquah Friday afternoon. The boat was back in service after being taken out for nearly three days for repairs earlier in the week.
Islanders were left waiting in line for ferries for hours last week after the Issaquah was taken out of service due to an electrical issue. More than just a frustrating inconvenience, the incident was indicitive of the larger problems facing the state’s aging ferry system. Washington State Ferries (WSF) currently has 24 ferries, nine of which are between the ages of 40 and 60 years old, according to the WSF website. The aging vessels are in need of being retired and replaced, but building nine new boats comes with “a huge price tag,” according to WSF chief Lynne Griffith, and the department is under “instruction from the legislature to be in a sustaining plan,” not expanding. The department did receive $602 million in July as part of the state’s sweeping transportation package called Connecting Washington, and $122 million of the package funds will be used to build a fourth Olympic-size ferry for use on the Bremerton/Seattle and Anacortes/San Juan routes. Olympic-class boats are the fleet’s newest class with the first being introduced to service in SEE FERRY FINANCES, 26
75¢
For athletic fields, water consumption and conservation raise questions By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Editor’s Note: This story is the second in a two-part series focusing on water use at the island’s athletic fields. Last week, The Beachcomber looked at the VES Fields; this week the focus is on the school district’s fields. The Vashon Island School District is the largest water user in Water District 19, and while some are urging the district’s schools to increase their conservation measures, others say the district is doing all it can to be water wise while maintaining its athletic fields. The issue of water use arose at last month’s school board candidate forum, when Water District 19 commissioner Jenny Bell told those gathered that the water district as a whole decreased its usage over the last 10 years by 16 percent, while school district usage
went up by 11 percent in that time. Additionally, water district records show that in recent years during peak summer months, the school’s water consumption has sometimes reached nearly one-quarter of the entire water district’s usage. “So there is a lot of fire and water,” Bell told those vying for a seat on the board, “and I want to know specifically where you stand on this issue.” In response, most candidates spoke about education and furthering reduction efforts, but current school board member Laura Wishik focused on the necessity of irrigation, saying the majority of the water the school district uses is to water the fields, which are used extensively by both the community and the schools. “If you beat the heck out of them without watering them, guess what, you don’t SEE WATER, 27
Local composer creates musical score for film honoring veterans ‘And We Were Young’ will play at the Vashon Theatre on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11 By JULI GOETZ MORSER Staff Writer
From all appearances, Jason Staczek has a pretty sweet life. He composes music for films and other
media from his Vashon home studio, The Pumpkin Palace, surrounded by tall Douglas firs. He has a young family and enjoys living in the island arts community. He’s also never had to serve in the military or face live combat, so when Staczek recently scored “And We Were Young,” an animated documentary film about World War I, his understanding of what it means to go to war deepened. That experience
motivated him to show the film on Veteran’s Day at the Vashon Theatre as a benefit for island veterans. “And We Were Young” is the brainchild of Montana filmmaker and history buff Andy Smetanka. The film animates the oral histories of soldiers who fought in the war and marks the centenary of the U.S. entry into World War I. Staczek said Smetanka did all the animation from his tiny studio, SEE VETERAN’S DAY MOVIE, 22
Courtesy Photo
Animated soldiers can be seen walking among trees in this screenshot from “And We Were Young,” a film about World War I scored by local composer Jason Staczek.