Key Peninsula News

09/02/2024

Chris Rurik, the KP's resident naturalist, takes us on a tour of the Burley Lagoon. This month he examines it at low tide.

"The productivity of the lagoon is stunning. The glistening bulbs of contracted anemones await the tide, each in a perfect mudhole."

08/31/2024

Forest Friends of the KP, the community’s first licensed full-time preschool, plans to open its doors to two classes of 15 children in October.

Forest Friends of the KP, the community’s first licensed full-time preschool, plans to open its doors in October.

08/29/2024

The September edition of the Key Peninsula News is live now online!

Two Waters Arts Alliance hosted its 9th Annual Key Center Art Walk Aug. 2. This year the event boasted 58 vendors including 45 artists; three separate stages located on both sides of KP Highway, with …

08/28/2024

Key Peninsula Voices: José Alaniz

Every year by mid-spring, you see them erupting all over the KP and surrounding area: the golden flowers that bedazzle. A couple of years ago, I took note of them as we were driving back from …

08/27/2024

Key Peninsula Voices: Meredith Browand

The physical act of mothering is finite. My children won't forever be living in my house and needing me in these ways.

08/26/2024

Key Peninsula Voices: Ted Olinger

Years ago when our last cat died I unilaterally declared to the family we were never getting another animal.

08/25/2024

Key Peninsula Voices: Grace Nesbit

Well, it’s official, my freshman year at Washington State University has wrapped up, and I can gladly say I passed all my classes. I was never quite sure what college would look like for me. …

08/24/2024

Emma Stafki, Key Peninsula native and local filmmaker, along with her sister Annie make films that make a difference.

https://keypennews.org/stories/echos-of-the-sound-emma-stafki-local-filmmaker,8138

08/22/2024

Geoduck Farci - It’s somewhere between sausage, clam, and something else entirely. Link to a printable version of the KP Cooks article is in the comments.

Every food you eat is located on a spectrum between the familiar and the unusual. Favorite foods should always be the same, especially at breakfast. Every morning, it’s gotta be Pop-Tarts, …

08/21/2024

Gayle Franklin Brewer: June 1, 1938 - July 6, 2024

Gayle Brewer, age 86, passed away peacefully at home in Yakima on July 6.

08/20/2024

"As I tramp through one of our diverse local forests, in scattered patches of sunlight, I find all sorts of color. The sunset-orange of madrona bark, peeling to reveal the tree’s chartreuse skin. A continuum from pinot gris to malbec in clusters of salal berries. I even find the ghostly white of Indian pipe, a parasitic plant without chlorophyll." - Chris Rurik

The vibrant diversity and unique adaptations of the Ericaceae family, a group of plants thriving in nutrient-poor environments with the help of specialized fungi, bring color to northwest forests.

08/19/2024

"Dry is the Pacific Northwest summer, and that should not come as a surprise. Nonetheless, I always take spring rains for granted in the management of landscapes, which in turn encourages a sort of amnesia to set in over my faculties to decipher an appropriate watering regimen for my garden."

It is funny to think that just two months ago I was cursing the persistent rain clouds in the June sky blocking some much- needed Vitamin D, and now I sit under a clear blue yonder praying for a …

08/17/2024

The Key Center institution will remain in operation during a gradual transition to new ownership even as the former owner moves on.

After nine and a half hours a day, six days a week, for 15 years, Chuck Ellis is ready for a change.

08/15/2024

Remnants of WWI-era wooden ships are visible during low tide near Minter Creek, evoking a bygone age.

Henderson Bay is home to nearly 100-year-old steel remnants of burned World War I-era wooden ships that help tell the story of Tacoma’s shipbuilding boom during that time.

08/14/2024

Howard Thomas Smith: August 28, 1950 - May 31, 2024

Howard Thomas Smith peacefully passed away May 31, 2024, in Tacoma surrounded by his loving family. He was 73 years old.

08/13/2024

Part two of a closer look into the legend of how the Filucy Bay got its name. A link to part one is in the comments.

It may be the misreading that launched a thousand theories, leaving storytellers, historians, and the entire community in Filucy Bay with a riddle on their hands.

08/12/2024

KP Reads: Compelling, persuasive, and unsettling, "Caste:The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson ought to be required reading for every American.

Compelling, persuasive, and unsettling, "Caste" ought to be required reading for every American.

08/10/2024

The women of the Vaughn Garden Club have bonded over the shared love of plants for nearly a century, a shared focus responsible for the club’s endurance.

For nearly a century, the Vaughn Garden Club has connected a group of women through their love of gardening and the Key Peninsula.

08/08/2024

Ashley Platt and Anna Cashion have their sights set on the 2028 and 2032 Summer Olympics in sprint canoeing.

The Sprint Canoe competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics takes place August 6 through August 10 at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Local teens have their sights set on the 2028 and 2032 Summer Olympics.

08/07/2024

Beverly Bier-Pedersen, a Key Peninsula character, died peacefully of lung cancer July 7 following brief hospice care. She was 82 years old.

08/06/2024

In Lisa’s column last month, “Willingness and Commitment,” she wrote about a gathering of people from different political tribes talking about stuff that matters.

Some readers appreciated the call for dialogue, but others asked why they should be expected to talk to anyone obviously out to destroy the country, our state, or community, in their view.

In Lisa’s column last month, “Willingness and Commitment,” she wrote about a gathering of people from different political tribes talking about stuff that matters.

08/05/2024

Five candidates for Congress described their experiences and plans while answering questions at a Key Peninsula Civic Center forum June 28 before a crowd of about 150.

Primary ballots must be postmarked no later than August 6 or placed in a ballot drop box by 8 p.m.

Five candidates for Congress described their experiences and plans while answering questions at a Key Peninsula Civic Center forum June 28 before a crowd of about 150. The candidates …

08/04/2024

The KPFD board of commissioners answered questions about its 2021 property purchases before the August maintenance and operations levy vote.

Primary ballots must be postmarked no later than August 6 or placed in a ballot drop box by 8 p.m.

The KPFD board of commissioners answered questions about its 2021 property purchases before the August 6 maintenance and operations levy vote.

08/03/2024

Preparations for the controversial work to breach a fish barrier in Whiteman Cove began last month after years-long negotiations between the DNR, YMCA, and Squaxin Island Tribe.

The long-anticipated restoration of Whiteman Cove is set to begin after years-long negotiations between the DNR, YMCA and Squaxin Island Tribe.

08/01/2024

The August 2024 edition of the Key Peninsula News is now live online!

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

07/30/2024

Key Peninsula Voices: John Pat Kelly

I received a message in February from Key Peninsula Firefighter-Paramedic Adam Morse about an opportunity. In my campaign for fire commissioner last year, I didn’t get the endorsement of his …

07/29/2024

Key Peninsula Voices: Mark Michel

It has been over a year since I retired from a 35-year career. I feel very fortunate and am thankful to have had a job I enjoyed. It’s a cliché, especially since I was a pilot, but all …

07/28/2024

Key Peninsula Voices: Jack Dunne

I wanted to understand myself, my family, and all the rest of us. It seemed to me that my only chance was to understand all the rest of life, to see who we are by seeing who we are not.

07/27/2024

Key Peninsula Voices: Jonas Koller

Youth sports are more than a way to keep kids fit and healthy. They offer kids a place to connect with their communities and develop those happy memories. Youth sports also are a path for kids to learn values such as hard work and respect through competition.