By Orca Annie Stateler In the grip of the pandemic, Tlingit artist Odin Lonning painted four square panels for the Open Space Arts and Community’s public outdoor mural project. From openspacevashon.com: “Attention! Artists at Work” is a jobs program led by Open Space in partnership with local nonprofit organizations. The goal of the program is…
School Bond Daze
By Marc J. Elzenbeck It’s that time in the decade when a school district’s thoughts naturally turn to bonds, and next February, the Island will be asked to approve a $19.5 million capital raise. The math works out to a 20¢ increase per $1000 of King County-assessed property values. Those property values went up a…
Covid – What’s On Your Mind?
COVID-19 is one of the biggest challenges we face today. As such, it deserves our utmost attention. But talking about anything related to COVID-19 has become progressively harder. What’s an independent newspaper to do? At The Vashon Loop, our decision is to turn to you for guidance before we start including this coverage. Readers, neighbors,…
It Is Reasonable To Be Skeptical
Have you heard about the “bivalent” and “monovalent” COVID vaccines? These are the old and new versions of the Pfizer and Moderna injections. The original injection is monovalent because it contains messenger RNA (mRNA) for only the Wuhan strain of SARS-CoV-2. The bivalent booster has mRNA from the Wuhan strain and the Omicron strain variants BA….
When We Embrace Death
Who among us can say, “I embrace death?” There are only two experiences all humans share in common. Birth and death. Since our earliest beginnings, humans have managed to deal with, avoid, celebrate, flee, focus upon, ignore, formulate theories, and flagrantly seek to deny these two inevitable events with exquisite creativity. Proving one thing: Birth…
Home Maintenance, Series #1 – What Goes in Must Come Out…
Many people who move to Vashon Island are unfamiliar with rural living and landowner responsibilities. Whether you’re from a small town, big city, or suburb, who provides your drinking water and manages your sewage matters only when the tap won’t work or the toilet floweth over! Here on the island, it’s a bit different. On…
Horseradish & Fire Cider Recipe
Local horseradish is in, and so are all the ingredients (including Ball gift jars) to make your fire cider vinegar remedy for winter’s woes and health. We owe a big thanks to Rosemary Gladstar for bringing her fire cider concoction to the forefront and sharing her recipes for all to use for health. Use her…
WA Trails Association Comes to Vashon
Trails are incredible for a reason! Humans clear them, protect them, design them, and otherwise bring them into being, and all of this is usually done by volunteer teams working together. Want to spend a day on the trail, in the company of awesome folk, under the gracefully swaying branches of colossal trees as fall…
Scone-Loving Author Searches for Treasure on Vashon Island – Needs Our Help!
The title says it all, and if you enjoyed some freshly baked Fisher Scones in the Thriftway parking lot this past weekend (October 7-8), then you already know all about it! If not, perk up your eyeballs and read slowly – so you don’t miss a single clue. Yes, it’s true! The famed author of,…