Local News for 3/23/22
Joe Euro Candlelight Concert on KPTZ
KPTZ partners with Trinity United Methodist Church‘s Candlelight Concert series to present finger-style, Neo-Classical guitarist Joe Euro, live on the radio! Port Townsend’s own Joe Euro will be performing on Thursday, March 24 from 7 to 8pm. This radio concert is also being presented as an in-person event at Trinity United Methodist Church. More info here.
Local News for 3/22/22
#197 Becky Steffens
(Airdate: March 22, 2022) Becky Steffens, Physical Therapist. Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Becky Steffens, a Physical Therapist with Jefferson Healthcare. Becky grew up in rural Iowa in an agricultural town of about 100 people. But this farm girl wanted to get off the farm and travel. She was fascinated by the medical world. But after working part-time as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) as a student, she realized nursing wasn’t for her. But there are other opportunities in the medical field – if you are willing to work hard to get there. You might not realize it, but physical therapy certification requires a doctorate these days. But Becky didn’t let that – and a mountain of student debt – hold her back. After graduation she first became a “traveling physical therapist” zigzagging across the country on assignments. That helped her see the country. Traveling physical therapists also make more money than full-time staff people. She really wanted out from under that debt load. Port Townsend was one of her stops but it really caught her attention. Now she has joined Jefferson Healthcare full time. Her start date at Jefferson Healthcare was supposedly March 2020. She had already moved here when the job was put on hold due to the pandemic. Single and new in town, she threw herself into working for the Food Bank. When the worst of the crisis eased she started with Jefferson Healthcare. She loves working one-on-one with patients on their road back to mobility and health.
Northwest Maritime Center Connects People to the Sea
In March, KPTZ celebrates the Northwest Maritime Center (NWMC). In the broadest sense, they’re a nonprofit organization that engages people in the powerful experiences of the sea, to make them stronger people, connect them and their communities to the blue parts of the map and, in so doing, authentically address the larger issues of our world.
The Northwest Maritime Center’s roots are in the golden age of the Wooden Boat renaissance of the 1970s when an intrepid group of “Back to Sea” hippies created the Wooden Boat Festival. Since then the NWMC has added programs, events, publications, and expanded their campus. They’ve helped revitalize school districts, are helping connect communities of color to experiences on the water, helped birth and sustain great ideas like the Port Townsend Maritime Academy, and crystalized delightfully bad ideas like the Race to Alaska. Today they have over 2,000 program participants annually and tens of thousands more that engage in-person and online through the Wooden Boat Festival and their adventure races, and another 20,000 people who read 48° North every month (a regional sailing magazine that joined the Northwest Maritime Center family in 2018). All told, there are around 60 employees who work at the NWMC year round, another 40 or so that are added during the summer, and over 700 volunteers who support their events and initiatives throughout the year.
“It’s a beehive down here, and regardless of your age or depth of interest in maritime activities, there is something for you here,” says Jake Beattie, Executive Director. You’ll find students as young as 5 and as old as 80. The NWMC hosts trainings for the most senior professional mariners and also opens the waterfront for people who just want to have their morning coffee in the breathtaking beauty and sounds of waves on the beach. NWMC offers maritime and boat-building classes. They celebrate the spirit of adventure during Race to Alaska and SEVENTY48 in June, and at the Wooden Boat Festival in September. And if you’re looking for a way to get involved and give back to the community, the NWMC offers a multitude of ways to volunteer. All are welcome at the NWMC. Learn more here.
County Public Health Report ~ 3/21/22
The following is a summary of the presentation during the Public Health briefings at this week’s Board of County Commissioners meeting made by Jefferson and Clallam County Public Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry. Also Willie Bence, Director of Emergency Management, gave a report. The summary below was provided by and used with the permission of Jefferson County Government.
County Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry today said case rates in Jefferson have reached the low risk threshold. Jefferson’s case rate is 71/100,000 with a 2.9% positivity rate. This information now will be updated Tuesdays and Fridays. She said most people can safely unmask in indoor spaces if they are at low risk for severe disease. For those who are at a higher risk for severe disease – which Dr.Berry points out is a “decent proportion” of our community – she suggests continued masking until we get below 50 cases per 100,000 threshold. She believes that will occur by next Friday.
Dr. Berry addressed the BA 2 sub-variant of COVID-19 – a more contagious version of the Omicron variant – that now is prevalent in the UK. Cases there are up 79% and hospitalizations are up 40%. She believes the relaxed mitigation measures combined with waning immunity have caused BA2’s transmission to spike. The UK is considering a fourth vaccination. The FDA Advisory Committee is reviewing data and on March 30 will make a recommendation about another dose in the U.S. Jefferson does not have any of the BA 2 sub-variant, however, Clallam has had its first case. In Washington, about 9% of the specimens are BA 2.
Director of Emergency Management Willie Bence didn’t address COVID-19 during his weekly address to Commissioners. He spoke of the high temperatures expected this summer due to climate change. He discussed the possibility of cooling centers being opened in Brinnon, Quilcene, Chimacum and Port Townsend. In order to stay informed, the NIXEL alert system texts important local information during an emergency. Bence said everyone should be getting the alerts. Cooling centers will be one bit of info pushed out on the system if the situation warrants. To sign up: www.jeffcoeoc.org. The link is on the right side of the page at the top.
Submit your Public Health questions to Dr. Allison Berry and to Willie Bence by emailing [email protected]. Note: The weekly deadline for these to be submitted is on Fridays at noon, to be answered at the following Monday’s BOCC meeting.
Wood Exhibit at Historical Society
(Airdate: March 21, 2022) “Wood”, the current exhibit at the Jefferson Museum of Art and History, is the topic of this week’s Attention Please!. Guests are Shelly Leavens, Executive Director of the Historical Society, Ann Welch, co-curator of the exhibit, and artists in wood Annalise Rubida and Seth Roland.
Local News for 3/18/22
Community Tides ~ 3/18
On alternate Fridays during the noon hour, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and co-host Siobhan Canty, President &. CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, meet to discuss new developments, new paradigms, and the new normal as we roll into the months ahead. In this edition of Community Tides, Chris and Siobhan speak with Kate Ingram, General Manager of KPTZ, about her vision and the roll KPTZ continues to play in the lives of our communities here on the eastern Peninsula and beyond.
The station is celebrating KPTZ’s tenth year, and Kate points out the incredible strides our station has taken in that comparatively short amount of time. She herself has brought amazing credentials to her job, and our talented KPTZ volunteers, Board, and Staff have helped to paint a radio picture that has captured the imagination, support, loyalty and growth of our listenership. Thanks to hard and dedicated work “behind the scenes,” the move to our brand new “Studio 305” at Fort Worden is eminent, and exciting new programming is in the works.
WordSongs
A new show debuts of KPTZ this Friday March 18 from 1-3pm: WordSongs with host Ward Serrill, aka DJ WAS. You may have caught a few of Ward’s guest shows in January and February on KPTZ! WordSongs is dedicated to the poetics of music and the words that flow with the soul. DJ WAS will travel down a musical river of lyrical discovery, bringing the best from singer-songwriters new and old, famous and obscure. Good lyrics, no matter the style, Fridays on KPTZ.
