June 2023 issue

Posted

Having trouble viewing this document? Click here to download the PDF.

In this issue

  • Embrace the Compost — Your Garden Will Thank You and So Will Your Food Waste

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    When we built our vegetable garden more than a decade ago, complete with raised beds and an 8-foot tall fence, it included three compost bins. We hailed from Seattle with a small yard. The only thing …

  • What to Watch for This Month in the Skies, Trees and Waters

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Venus has phases, like the moon. Our neighbor planet is putting on a show these days, high in the western sky, the first point of light to appear as sunset fades. On June 4 it will reach its greatest …

  • Simple Brownies and Other Chocolatey Things That Are Good to You but Not for You

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Brownies. It’s hard to remember a time when the thought of biting into one didn’t make my mouth water. Personally, I like mine dense and fudgy. Nuts are nice, but totally optional. My mom …

  • Reading William L. Shirer, or Why I Miss the 20th Century

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Maybe you miss it too. Or maybe you just missed it, or missed most of it. Not that it was all lollipops and moonbeams. There was plenty of horrible stuff. But looking back, a lot of important things …

  • Luke Grunberg Named New KP Middle School Principal

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    For the first time in a long time, Key Peninsula Middle School will have a new principal at the helm. The Peninsula School District announced in April that KPMS Assistant Principal Luke Grunberg …

  • Candidates File for Local Posts in Aug. 1 Primary Election

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Nine candidates filed to run for positions in three local races for the Aug. 1 primary election affecting the Key Peninsula. The winners will move on to the general election Nov. 7. One spot on …

  • Peninsula Hawks Scholarship Fund Awards Another Record Amount to PHS Seniors

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    One hundred and fifty-one graduating Peninsula High School seniors received $411,490 in scholarships at the Peninsula Hawks Scholarship Fund award ceremony May 24 held at PHS, up from 131 students …

  • Fresh Perspectives and Funding Follow 26th District Legislators Home

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    The 2023 Washington State legislative session welcomed in-person politics back to Olympia for the first time since 2020, when the legislature adjourned days before statewide COVID-19 restrictions …

  • First Cycle of Septic System Inspection Program Concludes in June

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    In 2021 homeowners on the Key Peninsula began receiving letters informing them they were required to have their septic systems inspected. The two-year process to notify all homeowners in the …

  • Penrose State Park Reopens for Day Use, Camping to Follow in August

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Penrose State Park on the west side of the Key Peninsula near Home reopened for day use only May 15 after being closed to the public Jan. 16 for extensive repairs to its septic system. The campground …

  • Budget Cuts: Elementary Schools Prepare for a Future With Less

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Declining enrollment across the Peninsula School District and a $12 million deficit for the 2023-24 school year are to blame for eliminating five dean of student positions at area elementary schools, …

  • Harmony on Horseback: Local Teen Competes for Spot on U.S. Equestrian Team

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    It seems like a circus act, but it’s in a barn. It looks like gymnastics, but there’s no mat. It feels like figure skating, but it’s on dirt. It’s kind of like dancing, but …

  • The Heart of a Survivor: Blood, Courage, Triumph

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Mary McGriff looks like she may blow over in the breeze. The 5 foot-2 inch, 100-pound 60-year-old Vaughn resident walks slowly because of a bad hip. Her shoulder movement is a little stiff and her …

  • Trial Begins for Vaughn Couple Murdered in 2020

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Jury selection began May 1 in the trial of Ezra Ralston and Sean Higgins for the murders of Ted Ralston, 71, and Joanna Gormly, 73, in their Vaughn home in 2020. Testimony began May 11. The trial is …

  • Public Weighs in on Burley Lagoon Geoduck Farming

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    More than 100 people gathered May 22 for the first opportunity to speak publicly about a Taylor Shellfish Co. application to convert part of its current oyster and clam bed farms in Burley Lagoon to …

  • Out & About June 2023

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

  • Homecoming

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    If I was indoctrinated into anything during my years of public school, it was the right to a long summer vacation.   I remember the countdown to the last day each school year with the …

  • Letter from Ukraine

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    I have been in Ukraine all but 11 weeks since March 2022, most of it volunteering for K9 Rescue International. I’ve rescued and evacuated animals. Brought food to the hungry. Traveled through …

  • A Farewell to High School

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    I always wanted to be in high school. The Disney Channel glorified high school life and I couldn’t wait until that was me. The life of a high schooler is a roller coaster ride, there are …

  • A Word to Our Graduates

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    These are momentous days in our household. This spring four of us are graduating — from grad school, from college, and the two youngest from Peninsula High School. I have mixed feelings about …

  • Against Food

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    As I write this I have not put food in my body for over 48 hours. Over the last three months, I have been intermittently fasting — going up to three days with no food — and I feel …

  • No Nukes: Carbon-free Electricity

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    We pay about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity in Washington state, much less than the national median of 15 cents per kilowatt-hour. Here I’m just comparing the electricity costs, not the …

  • Compound It!

    Wednesday, May 31, 2023

    Riddle me this: What do iceboxes, typewriters and videotapes have in common? Outdated technology, right? …

  • Wallace Herbert Smith

    Sunday, May 28, 2023

    Walter Herbert Smith was born Oct. 21, 1936, in Seattle, to Herbert and Ruth Smith. He died May 2 in Palm Desert, California, surrounded by his loved ones. He lived in Vaughn.   Walt …

  • William Irving Trandum

    Sunday, May 28, 2023

    Creative, musical and intellectual with a deep love for family, Bill Trandum died peacefully at Evergreen Hospice in Kirkland April 24. He was 82 years old. Mr. T was an enormous character who …

  • Richard Lee Marshall

    Sunday, May 28, 2023

    Richard Lee Marshall entered the world a happy baby and enjoyed an idyllic childhood filled with joy and happiness that became a large part of who he was. Born Nov. 25, 1953, in Bremerton to Melvin …

  • KP Historical Society Honors Local Veterans With Year-Long Exhibit

    Sunday, May 21, 2023

    The Key Peninsula Historical Society will honor local veterans all year in 2023 with an exhibit at its museum in the KP Civic Center.


UNDERWRITTEN BY THE FUND FOR NONPROFIT NEWS (NEWSMATCH) AT THE MIAMI FOUNDATION, THE ANGEL GUILD, ADVERTISERS, DONORS AND PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT, NONPROFIT LOCAL NEWS