By Caitlin Rothermel You are probably outsourcing too many of your health care decisions, and your health plan is one of the biggest drivers of both the costs and choices you are and are not allowed to make. It’s no secret that the price of Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans is increasingly untenable. It’s…
By Andy Valencia Unless otherwise noted, all photos courtesy of CAL FIRE I was in Cafe Luna and overhead a discussion about prison inmates being forced into firefighting in California. It’s a small world, as I have a nephew – I’ll call him “Ben” because that’s his name – who was in the California state…
By Caitlin Rothermel This spring’s 2025-2026 session of the Washington state legislature has pushed the envelope in terms of how much state government should spend and how little the public needs to be involved in the process. The final 1,366-page 2025-2027 proposed operating budget totals $77.9 billion and was released with barely a day to…
By Andy Valencia The Russia-Ukraine war has touched millions of lives. Who can make sense of lives being disrupted at such a scale? But the Loop had an opportunity to interview a remarkable young woman from Ukraine who literally heard the first shots of the war. Currently living on Vashon, she gave us a peek…
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced a long-term goal to convert its ferry system, the world’s largest,* from antiquated diesel propulsion to an all-electric carbon-negative fleet by 2034. The announcement comes in the wake of a U.S. carmaker’s pending acquisition of Danish manufacturer Traekke-Benet A/S, dubbed “the Tesla of ferries” by the British…
By the Vashon Loop Editorial Board Try as we may to deny it, there is a problem, and we know it. Vashon has an oxygen (O2) crisis, and our situation may actually signal an unrecognized issue for the entire region. The world first took notice of greenhouse-gas-induced climate change in the 1970s. We were asked to…
Control, Acrimony & Taxes! By Caitlin Rothermel Washington state politics are absolutely lit this year. To start, we are broke. As a state, we are broke. Only after the November election did we learn that Washington has at least a $12 billion deficit – maybe more like $15 or $16 billion. On his way out the door,…
People can be sneaky, especially when they’re doing something they oughtn’t. Imagine if you were one of these sketchy people, and found that somebody honest was looking at your actions, talking to people, and in general collecting evidence against you. You’ve “done the crime,” and now you’re going to “do the time.” Or maybe not….
By Caitlin Rothermel Will you pick a word for 2025? Choose a word that captures what you want to aim for this year. Applied well, one meaningful word can act like an anchor, helping to focus your thoughts and align your subconscious mind with your intentions. Different than new year’s resolutions, which force you onto…
Investor and Warren Buffet partner Charlie Munger famously said, “Show me the incentive, and I’ll show you the outcome.” The quote serves as a rule of thumb when thinking about business and performance metrics, shorthand for how human behaviors can be profoundly altered by what at first glance may appear to be minor changes. Recently,…