Bank Road Southwest on Vashon Island will be closed in the 9200 block for up to three weeks beginning Tuesday, Feb. 21. During the closure, crews will be replacing an old, deteriorating drainage pipe underneath the roadway that is starting to cause damage on the road surface.
Did that headline scare you? Good. I’m glad. That was the hoped-for effect.
No, it hasn’t actually happened... yet. Which probably qualifies the above headline as the worst sort of sensationalist journalism, for which I apologize. But only a little. Because even shrieking "Fire!" in a crowded theater is permissible if you have legitimate reason to believe it’s about to happen. But before I get to any legitimate reporting, let me indulge in a little more sensationalism while I have your attention.
October 3, 2011, 5:13pm, SeaTac Airport. The British Airways jet touches down, Amanda Knox is home and our collective breath is released, but our joy was tempered with thoughts of Meredith Kercher’s family.
Standing on the deck of a ferry, I had the unexpected pleasure of watching that jet fly over Seattle and drop below the treetops as it descended onto the tarmac, later I would learn that Amanda was remarking how "surreal" it was to see home. She’s right. Her plight affected many of my friends and throughout this ordeal we chanted, "When her plane touches down at SeaTac, then it’s over."
Jack Randal, an 83-year-old man missing since Wednesday evening, was found Saturday afternoon in a home on Luana Beach Road. The owners of the home are away on vacation. Randal was found after the daughter of the homeowners went to check on the house.
Congressman McDermott invites residents, business and community leaders in the Vashon-Maury Island community to meet with him at The Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie for a cup of coffee and to exchange thoughts on current issues in Congress and/or to request help with issues with the federal government.
The Search and Rescue team has been searching today for an elderly Alzheimer’s patient wearing tennis shoes and red pajamas. He was last seen Wednesday evening around 6:30pm near Engel’s Gas Station on Maury Island walking on Dockton Rd. He lives near Portage on Maury Island with his son Jory Randles. The Search team has not found him yet and have just called off the search for the day due to darkness.
If you are out in the community, please keep an eye out for him. His name is Jack Randal, he is a white 87 year old male, has white hair and a white mustache. He is approximately 150 lbs. and 6 ft tall. If you live near the area where he was last seen and have any out-buildings on your property that he might be able to take shelter in, please check them to see if he might be there.
Last scene: Engel’s Gas Station area on Dockton road, last 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, wearing red pajamas
Call 911 and asked for the information to be passed to the Search Command post.
The Vashon Island School District announced Thursday that it would close schools on Friday — the third consecutive day this week--due to weather conditions. All programs, activities and building use is cancelled. Following the School district the Vashon Park District will also be canceling all events and activities for Friday. The Harbor School is also closed Friday
Most of Vashon remained Iced in Thursday after the morning Ice/Snow mixture weighing down tree branches on roads and Power lines across Vashon Maury Island. It is estimated that most or all of Maury Island is without power. Also, most or all of south end is without power from around 220th St south. Other outages are being reported island wide. Although there are crews working to restore power on the island, PSE encourages customers to plan on being without power until at least Friday and perhaps longer, depending on weather conditions
First snow now an ice storm has canceled schools and meeting on Vashon. Many island businesses remained closed for a second day in a row. Many people found themselves Iced In when they woke up Thursday Morning. Roads still closed on Vashon include;
SW 268th St. between 99th Ave SW and 94th Ave SW
103rd Ave SW (Also known as “Ferry Hill”) between Vashon Hwy SW and SW 112th St. 87th Ave SW between SW Cemetery Rd. and Dockton Rd. SW
Vashon got a Snowday, when a much anticipated Wednesday morning snow storm brought 6-8 inches of Snow to Vashon-Maury Island. Vashon Schools closed both Wednesday and Thursday.
The National Weather Service has reduced the snow forecast to a total
daytime accumulation today of 2 to 4 inches, about one-third the
amount forecast last night for the 24 hour period. However, a new
feature in the latest forecast is wind. The forecast is for blustery
wind, 11 to 14 mph increasing to between 23 and 26 mph.
Vashon Island School District will be closed Wednesday, January 18th, due to predicted snow accumulation over night and tomorrow. All
programs, activities and building use is cancelled.
The Vashon Park District has also canceled all classes and programs.
Vashon Waits for Snow. Vashon got its first taste of snow over the MLK holiday weekend when snow showers deposited from a trace to 3 4 inches. Some areas had little snow. Freezing tempters made many of Vashon’s side roads dangerous. Plowing kept the main highway and road to the ferry dock clear. 103rd Ave near the North-end ferry, otherwise known as ferry hill, is treacherous making access to the Ferry Park and ride lot tricky.
Vashon got its first taste of Snow for 2012 over the weekend with amounts ranging from none to two to four inches. More snow is predicted to fall Tuesday into Wednesday with up to a foot of snow predicted before rain comes in Thursday. Wednesday looks to be the worst day with snow fall predicted up to seven inches. Most snow fell in the center and north end of Vashon leaving some side streets slick and hills a challenge. Below is an update from Voice of Vashon Standing by.
Voice of Vashon received a major grant this week from Puget Sound Energy Foundation. The $15,000 grant will fund the final phase of development of the Island’s emergency broadcasting system on 1650AM. At the presentation ceremony, held Wednesday at the Voice of Vashon studios at Paradise Ridge,
A power pole at the intersection of Dockton Rd. and Point Robinson Rd. broke near the top when a car hit a support pole breaking a guy wire supporting the larger pole. The top 30 feet of the pole with the high voltage lines were left dangling in the air, knocking out power to Vashon-Maury Island. Power was restored to most of Vashon Island within seconds, with the help of automatic switching gear. Left in the dark was Maury Island, 1728 PSE customers were without power the rest of Saturday night with estimates that the power would be back on by Sunday late noon.
Failing septic systems that potentially pollute Vashon Island marine waters as well as other parts of Puget Sound are required to be fixed by July 1st, 2012 under Marine Recovery Area law enacted by the State Legislature in 2006. The law, described in RCW Chapter 70.118A, requires inspection of on-site sewage disposal systems and repairs to failing systems in Marine Recovery Areas in order to restore and preserve the health and safety of Puget Sound waters, our ecosystem, and our marine life.
Now there are no excuses to be late for winter holiday celebrations. Washington State Ferries (WSF) today launched a new feature that provides customers the estimated time of arrival (ETA) for vessels throughout the system.
Thank You Vashon voters! It was impressive to have such a large number of registered voters cast their ballots.
Thank you for the encouragement, support, and your votes to retain me as one of your fire commissioners. It is an honor to serve our community, and I am thankful for your confidence in me. I’ll do my best to make you proud.
On Monday, Nov. 21, the Vashon Maury Island Community Council will host three speakers: Sergeant John Hall of the King County Sheriff’s Department, who will discuss the drug, crime and safety issues on the island; real estate agent Jean Bosch, who will explain house sales and foreclosure statistics; and Paul Reitenbach, King County Councilman, who will take comments and answer questions about the draft of the King County Comprehensive Plan. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at McMurray School.
Selective thinning of young Douglas fir trees and harvesting a stand of mature red alder in Vashon Island’s Island Center Forest (ICF) will help improve overall forest health and also provide income for additional land-management activities on the 363-acre forest.
King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks staff and the Vashon Forest Stewards will share information on these proposed forest-management activities at the Nov. 15 Friends of Island Center Forest meeting
October 20, 2011. Vashon Island, my house, 4:40am. This is the last article in the Amanda Knox series; she is home, looking to the future and Vashon has been euphoric for the past few weeks. When she visited Thriftway recently, she received hugs and accolades from the folks who saw her at the store. No I haven’t seen her; I’m not her personal friend, but felt enormous relief to see her at SeaTac surrounded by her family. Someday, if it’s meant to be, I’d love to give Amanda the biggest hug, but I’m completely fine just having her home. To tell the truth, all I need to be happy is to see her hugging her Dad and Mom.
October 4, 2011, 5:13pm PST, SeaTac Airport. The British Airways jet touches down and Amanda Knox is home! Those are the words that I have wanted to print for years.
October 3, 2011, 1:30 am PST, Raffaele Sollecito’s statement to the court: “I never hurt anyone, never in my whole life. The charge against me, it was so outlandish that I thought that it could disappear within a little amount of time, everything could be clarified. But this did not happen and somehow I had to endure and go on day by day and I’ve been living a nightmare.
VashonBePrepared and the Carnation-Duvall Citizen Corps Council were both honored with the first-ever Executive’s Awards for Community Preparedness.
"When storms knocked out power and blocked roads last winter, I saw first-hand how members of VashonBePrepared jumped into action to open warming shelters and deploy a ‘bucket brigade’ to distribute fuel for generators – keeping Island residents from suffering in the cold,"
Most of the Alaskan Way Viaduct will close for nine days beginning Friday, Oct. 21. Want to know how to maneuver through the maze and on and off the West Seattle Bridge? Come to the Vashon maury Island Community Council at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17. A representative of the Washington State Department of Transportation will discuss the implications of the closure especially on the use of the West Seattle Bridge. The meeting will be at the McMurray School.
As most know by now, the news on the budget front is not good. The revenue forecast for the 2011-2013 biennium (July 2011-June 2013) dropped last week by $1.4 billion. That is a significant drop given that the general fund budget, which funds education among other programs, is $32 billion. There is pessimism regarding the November revenue forecast which may bring revenues down again. The Governor and Legislature are probably looking at a $1-$2 billion deficit in the current biennium. For this reason, the Governor has announced that she will call the Legislature back into special session November 28th in advance of the regular session that begins in January.
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