“It was the truly international murder case that captivated the world.” This is how People Magazine described the media circus surrounding the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher in the home she shared with Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy. Across the globe, millions watched, wondered, gossiped, and guessed at what truly happened on that…
Throughout the world, across time and place, cultures recognize a Tree of Life. The Tree may grow as a specific species, or express as an archetypal form, yet the gifts this Tree bears are not only of physical abundance, but of sacred relationship, generosity, promise, and well-being. Here in the Salish Sea (Puget Sound) region,…
Since its inception, The Vashon Loop has been two things: free to all and primarily supported by the Vashon business community. We aim to keep the first and change the second, and we are asking for your help to do this. Our reasoning is simple: The past three years have been extremely challenging for small…
The Vashon Loop has a fun series called, “What Brought You to the Island?” Such arrival stories often include surprising and unique details, but there is also a common thread – a desire for community. What is community? Is it the mere presence of other human beings? Is it the roads, mailboxes, parks, and stores?…
When people talk about “trusting the experts,” what they’re really talking about is delegating decision-making to someone else. Sometimes this makes sense, sometimes it doesn’t, but in all cases … it’s an illusion. Our decisions are always our own, including a decision to follow another person’s lead. Life is challenging. Anyone telling you it isn’t…
Reflections on the SPJ Code of Ethics As a receiver of information, a reader of newspapers, a browser of magazines, a participant in social media platforms, a subscriber on YouTube, Rumble, Substack (and other platforms), a listener of radio shows and an all-around consumer of media … what does honesty look like to you? Isn’t…
Autumn is here, and like always, it brings big changes to the amount and quality of daylight on the Island. These seasonal transitions can be intense – especially, it is said, for people who live in the forest and on the Westside. The twilight and eventual darkness become a constant companion, with a presence that’s…
Money. Hold-in-your-hand coins. Pull-out-of-your-wallet cash. Circles of metal that last decades, centuries and millennia … matter. Not only are coins “literally” matter, but they offer an experience, a record of human society, an imprint on our lives and tactile memories that no electricity-dependent, Virtual Reality method of accounting or digital currency can offer. A child,…
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,…