One week before winning this year’s NFL Super Bowl, Jody Allen, long-time manager of the Estate of Paul G. Allen, a family trust that owns the Seattle Seahawks, issued a statement saying the team was not yet for sale. On February 18th, only ten days after a triumphant victory in Super Bowl LX, the estate…
Olympia lawmakers are poised to begin discussions of a proposed “Equitable Ferry Initiative,” with plans to pursue legislation in 2027 to increase revenue while balancing personal responsibility among Washington State Ferry system users. Washington State is unique in that its ferries are part of the state Department of Transportation highway system. Known as the “marine…
By Andy Valencia The Loop received a question about all those double power poles you’ve been seeing for years along Vashon Highway and other roads on the Island. It’s twice the visual impact, and how hard can it be to switch to the new pole and remove the old one? Why are the old ones…
By Marc J. Elzenbeck North America was raised on Sheriffs standing up for the rights of their constituents, for modest pay plus risk to life and limb. Hollywood regaled us with their tales, often in Western movies. As the highest law enforcement officer in a county, Sheriffs had a tough job. Sometimes they had to…
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that a rifle cartridge commonly known as the Springfield Thirty Ought Six (.30-06) was used last month to assassinate a prominent conservative activist during an outdoor rally at a Utah college. Online pushback against this statement began immediately and continues to thrive, with an ongoing cottage…
By Caitlin Rothermel It’s time to talk about COVID booster shots and the implications of encouraging their use. Before I go there, it’s important to first summarize some vaccination policy changes that have occurred at the federal and state level. On October 6, 2025, the CDC officially voted to shift COVID-19 vaccination guidance for all eligible U.S. residents…
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…