Local News for 3/11/22
Brewocracy Now with John Mauro ~ 3/10
This week on Brewocracy Now, City Manager John Mauro and KPTZ’s were joined by Port Townsend Police Department ‘s newest officer, Kamal Sharrif. Officer Sharrif comments on joining the Department from his previous assignment in King County, provides insight into the intricacies of policing, and the skills necessary to effectively and compassionately protect the public.
Local News for 3/10/22
Nature Now #557 Raptors
(Airdate: March 9, 2022) Mary Robson interviews Gary Bullock and Bob Boekelheide about a winter survey they conducted. They explain what they found and how raptors fit the balance of nature.
Local News for 3/09/22
#196 Artis the Spoonman, Musician
(Airdate: March 8, 2020) Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Artis the Spoonman, a talented and eccentric musician. After dropping out of school in the 10th grade, Artis spent a few years in the Navy. He says his two goals from childhood were being a musician and seeing the world. He figures he’s accomplished that. Artis has played with the likes of Frank Zappa and showcased his spoon-playing skills on the David Letterman show (among many TV appearances). Over the years he’s played gigs all over the world. He’s as comfortable busking on the street as he is playing with the Seattle philharmonic in a white silk tuxedo. Artis is proud of his “heritage in the hippie world” thanks to his free-spirited Mother. A Northwest native, Artis was a fixture at the Pike Place Market in Seattle for many years. But he ended up here in Port Townsend a few years ago. He loves it here but he’s worried about gentrification. After all, he’s not all that gentrified.
Filter Terminus – continued
The inaugural show was set to be June 5. A week before that, George Floyd was murdered and our country said enough to police brutality. We pivoted the first show and talked to Sean Vinson, founder of Black Lives Matter of Jefferson County about how we can create change at a local level, and acknowledge the pains and cruelties of racism that continues to permeate our society.
The word of 2020 was “pivot” and, oh boy, did I pivot. I pivoted all over 2020, as did Filter.
The show was great. I hardly missed an episode until my mom died in a tragic accident on March 6, 2021.
I took a week off but then decided to process some grief through an episode of the show. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life, that March 19, 2021 episode. I played her favorite songs and the songs that remind me most of her.
Around the time of my mom’s death, I was granted split custody of my kiddos and this was some serious light in the darkness.
But as school time rolled around and Jo, my eldest, started in Kindergarten, I was suddenly unable to make certain Fridays work for the Filter time slot from 1-3pm. Our schedule quickly devolved into every other week. The quality of the show didn’t suffer in my opinion, but we all knew that the loss of consistency was not a benefit to KPTZ or the show itself.
So now in the beginning of 2022, I decided to put it to rest. It didn’t have anywhere near the 99 year lifespan I imagined it would. When it began, I thought I’d live in Port Townsend for the rest of my natural life! I have since moved to Kingston and Edmonds. I split time between the houses with kids and stepkids and lovely fiance Louisa Cranston (a frequent guest on the show). We are proudly bicoastal.
I hope I can do some more work in radio someday. I will still be subbing for KPTZ hosts from time to time, and maybe I’ll even do a special episode of Filter once in a while.
Being asked to create Filter was one of the greatest honors of my life. I don’t think I used even close to half of the ideas I had for it. There were some periods in its lifespan where it was one of the only things keeping my head afloat. And all of you there listening with me, you were a part of that.
Thank you for listening and stay tuned! -Paul
Local News for 3/08/22
PT Heritage Association
(Airdate: March 8, 2022) The Port Townsend Heritage Association is coming out of COVID-19 and putting on the Port Townsend Victorian Heritage Festival for 2022, on April 29, 30 and May 1. KPTZ’s Missy Nielsen talks with board president Tracy Wirta and board member Kathy Knoblock about what’s going on. Learn more about how to get involved!
County Public Health Report ~ 3/07/22
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.
Public Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry today said Jefferson County’s COVID-19 case numbers continue to drop. She announced that our documented case rate is 385/100,000 with a 10% positivity rate. “This week, we are transitioning from the pandemic phase of our response to the endemic,” Dr. Berry said. “In the endemic phase, we are transitioning to a period where where don’t think COVID-19 is going to overwhelm critical parts of our infrastructure.” She said our society will be able to function with this level of disease right now. She noted Jefferson is moving toward “not mandating” masks in indoor spaces, but rather “recommending them.” The reason: our case rates are still relatively high. “So right now, in Jefferson County, if you walk into a room with 25 people and you’re all unmasked, there is a 17% probability that one of those people has COVID-19,” she explained. “And so that’s why we still recommend you wear a mask because that’s a pretty high probability that someone has COVID-19. When we see those case rates continue to go down, when they get to less than 100 cases per 100,000, that probability goes down to 5%. And so that’s why we think it’s reasonable to start unmasking when we get to that rate.”
Director of Emergency Management Willie Bence said DEM efforts are focused on an after-action review of Jefferson’s COVID-19 response. His team is restocking KN95 masks in some stores and will continue as long as the state program is making them available. If you are looking for a booster dose, are homebound, or have limited mobility, call 360-344-9791 and leave a message. Bence said his team is “happy to come and pay you a visit.” Vaccinations are increasing at about 1% a week. There is a rise in vaccinations for kids in our community. Currently 53% of middle- and high school-aged kids are fully vaccinated.
Submit your Public Health questions to Dr. Allison Berry and 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.
