Event to honor overdose victims, boost awareness

Several area organizations have teamed up to support International Overdose Awareness Day, which brings attention to issues surrounding substance use disorders (SUDs) and overdose deaths, and allows people to grieve. 

Organizations and agencies including OWL360, Jefferson County Public Health, Safe Harbor and Discovery Behavioral Health, Behavioral Health Consortium, Shop Kalma, Believe in Recovery, and Recovery Cafe are part of the free, all-ages community event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, to raise awareness, reduce stigma and shame, and honor and celebrate the lives of loved ones lost to overdose. 

Overdose is the leading cause of death for people ages 18 to 45 in this country, with more than 100,000 deaths in the 12-month period ending in March 2024. “Many of us know one of the 100,000, some of us know more than one, and some of us may know dozens,” said Sonia Frojen of OWL360. “Among this group are our children, siblings, parents, grandparents, cousins, non-blood relatives, and friends.”

OWL360 was awarded a grant from the Olympic Community of Health to address and reduce stigma of those community members with a substance use disorder through community-wide education, youth/young adult engagement, and through policy and systems change. 

Events will be held on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Nest at 1119 Lawrence St., with 12 p.m. time for public sharing. A memorial walk to Recovery Café at 939 Kearney St. will follow at 1 p.m., with lunch at 2 p.m.  All ages are welcome.  

Wanted: New tow plan for retired ferries

Retired ferries Elwha and Klahowya were still at the Washington State Ferries’ Eagle Harbor Maintenance Facility as of Aug. 27 after returning to port Aug. 19 shortly after tow equipment failed.

“The purchasers continue working to facilitate a Coast Guard approved tow plan,” Dana Warr, a spokesperson for WSF, said Aug. 16

The two boats were sold to Nelson Armas of Ecuador for $200,000. The new owner plans to recycle the ferries at a steel mill recycling facility in South America. The sale of a third decommissioned vessel, Hyak, which is docked at the Kingston terminal, is still in progress.

The two vessels each spent more than 50 years as part of the WSF fleet. The 144-car Elwha and Hyak are two of four Super-class ferries built in the mid-1960s. Elwha mainly served the Anacortes/Friday Harbor/Sidney, B.C. route before being retired on April 8, 2020. Hyak, which was decommissioned on June 30, 2019, was primarily used on the Seattle/Bremerton route and is now docked at the Kingston terminal.

Built in 1958, the 87-car Evergreen State-class Klahowya mainly served the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route. It moved to the San Juan Islands inter-island run in 2014. When Klahowya was decommissioned on July 1, 2017, sister ship Tillikum replaced it on the route.

The final two Super-class ferries, Kaleetan and Yakima, are still in service.

Lands commissioner race getting hand recount

A hand recount of votes cast is underway for the state lands commissioner race, triggered by the slim 51-vote victory by Democrat Dave Upthegrove over Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson.

In Washington the top two finishers go on to the general election. Jamie Herrera Beutler took the top spot in the primary for state lands commissioner, hence the runoff between Upthegrove and Pederson.

In all, some 1.9 million people voted in the Aug. 6 primary, which included races for governor, attorney general and congressional seats as well as races for other state and local elected offices.

All other results were certified by the Washington secretary of state’s office on Aug. 22. Hand recounts are required in statewide races if the difference is less than one-quarter of 1% of the total votes cast for both candidates and less than 1,000 votes.

Primary turnout was 40.9% this year, a significant drop from 2020, the last presidential election year, when it was 54.4%. In Jefferson County, which has 27,779 registered voters, some 16,105 cast ballots, or 58%. 

Ballots for the Nov. 5 general election will be mailed to eligible voters by Oct. 18. People can register to vote or update their registration in person any time before 8 p.m. on election day.

Marina office moving 

The Point Hudson Marina and RV Park Office closed on Aug. 20 to move to its new office at Cupola House at 380 Jefferson St.