Opinion - Vashon-Maury Island

State needs to address tax issues to fix King County budget

How would cutting 100 sheriff’s deputies affect police response times? How would a reduction of 30 deputy prosecutors impact our ability to put criminal suspects on trial? These are examples of the grim decisions facing King County citizens and lawmakers as we confront a $68 million budget deficit for 2009 and a possible $80 million shortfall in 2010.

Eric Horsting stepping down after run as arts editor, sports editor, reporter...

Last August, after a brief vacation, I returned to The Beachcomber with a gift for Eric Horsting, who had steered the ship in my absence. It was a smooth, pale-gray rock with a poem on it, and it seemed the perfect token for this man who loves poetry and is rock solid and dependable.

Fighting Glacier

To some of us, it may seem like tilting at windmills to take on Glacier Northwest. The company is huge, rich and relentless. It also, obviously, has a keen financial interest in the tons of sand and gravel that lie beneath its arsenic-laced soil — a commodity that has proven to be quite valuable in booming Pugetopolis, where new development means new roads and new roads mean a hunger for gravel.

Often shunned, horsetail actually has an abundance of medicinal benefits

Many plants that are maligned as weeds are actually highly beneficial, with a long history of use by humans. After hearing about a friend’s determination and challenges in eradicating horsetail from his yard and listening to his children mimic his “I hate horsetail” mantra, I felt compelled to point out the practical and important uses of this botanical oddity.

Stretch your shrinking dollar by enjoying a ‘staycation’ at home

I predict the next edition of Webster’s Dictionary will contain a word born from this economic period: ‘staycation.’ You’ve likely heard this new word beat to death by the media as the answer to the cost-prohibitive summer vacation of 2008. Instead of paying skyrocketing fuel costs to jet or drive off to get away from it all, many of us are planning to hunker down in our own domains for a long staycation.

The hottest months of the year can be busy and stressful

“You can always tell the English. You can always tell the Dutch. You can always tell Lubahn’s class, but you can’t tell much. Thank goodness it’s Friday!”

Workers are Vashon’s backbone

t And what if they all went on strike?

Vashon mother considers miracle of new baby

On March 28, with six weeks to go until my due date, my midwife worried that the baby’s growth had slowed. She ordered an ultrasound. The technician started out chatty as she squirted goo on my tummy and flashed grey blobs on the screen. Then she fell silent. The doctor, too, looked gravely at the screen and didn’t say anything. They sent me straight to the hospital, sheet of indecipherable medical jargon in hand.

Summer can be mischevious, dangerous time for Vashon kids

Kids are rejoicing. Parents who work outside of the home are scrambling to piece it all together. And a new energy has already, it seems, come to the Island.

Abundant Vashon deer could be profitable if domesticated

The pea sprouts are about 10 inches high now. Noticing this, I decided I’d better patrol the perimeter of the deer fence that was erected after one summer when we got home to find the deer had eaten every single pea plant down to the nub.