SCOTTISH SONG Scottish poet to be honored through song. Page 10
NEWS | Island teen fundraising for social justice trip. [5] COMMENTARY | Farmers market has untapped potential. [6] SPORTS | VHS boys’ basketball [14] 10-2 so far in season.
SPRING CREW Registration now open for juniors’ spring season. Page 13
BEACHCOMBER VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
Vol. 61, No. 2
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
75¢
Sheriff’s office Honoring the past: Making art for history’s sake to hold public meeting tonight SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Law enforcement officials will address islanders’ questions, concerns about policing on Vashon By SUSAN RIEMER Staff Writer
Two representatives from the sheriff ’s office will hold a public meeting on Vashon Wednesday night with the goal of increasing communication and building relationships with islanders. Captain Ted Boe, the operations captain for the King County Sheriff ’s Office Precinct 4, which includes Vashon, and Sgt. Jeff Cunningham, Vashon’s liaison to the office, will lead the meeting. The focus will be on general operations and current crime statistics on the island, officer conduct and the complaint investigation process, and citizen rights when interacting with the police. There will also be time for a general question-and-answer session, Boe said, noting the meeting is also intended to be a time for community members to speak up about what kind of policing they would like on the island. “We are interested in having an open dialogue,” he added. The idea of a community meeting came up recently when an islander reached out to him on behalf of residents who had questions and concerns about policing on Vashon, Boe said. He and Cunningham came out to the island, met with the group and determined a community meeting would be a good idea — one they hope to repeat on a quarterly basis. “It was really apparent that there is information sharing that we are failing at. This seemed like an opportunity to address that,” he said. In addition to Vashon, Precinct 4 includes Skyway, White Center, Kent, Boulevard Park and Federal Way. In some of those communities, Boe noted, there are storefront police stations and community service officers, who serve as liaisons between various community groups and the sheriff ’s office, but Vashon does not have those same kind of networks, making communication more difficult. Vashon’s crime rate is significantly difSEE MEETING, 11
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n its current special exhibit, the Heritage Museum is showcasing the craft of former islander Marshall Sohl, who told the history of Vashon and its people by rendering it meticulously through wood burning and painting.
Called “Marshall Sohl: You Cross over the Frame into Knowledge,” the show features more than 20 large wooden storyboards and approximately 40 paddles that Sohl created from the 1970s until his death in 2002, along with several personal possessions and photos. Many islanders remember Sohl, who frequently rode Vashon buses and cut a striking image in town with his long flowing white beard and hair, duct-taped shoes and a stuffed duffel bag — both on display as part of the show. Island historian Bruce Haulman and videographer Peter Ray curated the Susan Riemer / Staff Photo exhibit; it was Haulman’s idea, and Ray, At the Heritage Museum, Peter Ray, one of the two curators of the speical exhibit, examines the long intrigued with Sohl and his work, was quick to say he would assist when
paddles Marshall Sohl created, many of them from cast off cores of K2 skis. Long intrigued with Sohl’s work, Ray said, “You could do a feature-length documentary on one of these boards.”
SEE EXHIBIT 19
Beloved clinic doctor, a man of varied talents By ANNELI FOGT Editor
Decades of practicing as a family medicine physician at Vashon’s largest medical clinic have allowed Michael Kappelman the chance to do a little bit of everything, from delivering babies to treating traumatic injuries and dealing with the ailments that come with old-age. Beloved by his patients, Kappelman’s last day as a doctor on Vashon was Monday, Jan. 4. “He’s definitely just a good guy. He’s a hard worker,” Bob Youmans, who has been a patient of Kappelman’s since the beginning, said. “He took (his work) very seriously, and he was always such a joy for us. It’s hard to see him go.” Islander and Columbia University Professor Emeritus of Clinical Medicine Yale Enson said that he has been seeing Kappelman for six years and has always been impressed with how the doctor handles his patient load. “I wish I would have trained him because I would be so proud,” Enson said. “He’s so empathetic, and he’s a healer. ” Longtime colleague and fellow clinic doctor Gary Koch hired Kappelman in 1983 and then worked with him for Kappelman’s nearly 33 years at the clinic. He said that Kappelman was fastidious and set the bar high.
“He set the standard to which all physicians should be measured,” Koch said. “I’m not just talking about on the island. I’m talking about everywhere. He’s that good. There is nobody more dedicated or thorough, and we all attempted to meet that standard.” Koch said he and Kappelman went to the same medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, but didn’t know each other before working together on Vashon. “He lived here (at the clinic) because he was so dedicated and wanted to get everything done,” Koch said. “He would be here all hours, and if I’d be here, I’d walk down the hall and ask him a question. We kind of thought alike. We’re going to miss him, no question.” The doctor who has become so loved in the community says he will definitely miss the clinic, but will stay on the island and may even take on some part-time fill-ins at the clinic. But, Kappelman says he has no shortage of hobbies to occupy his time. Arriving for a Friday interview at The Beachcomber, Kappelman showed up with a Anneli Fogt / Staff Photo puppy he is training to become a seeing eye dog through Vashon High School’s Eyes of Dr. Michael Kappelman retired as a family SEE KAPPELMAN, 18
practice physician last week and has been working on training a seeing eye dog.