(Airdate: July 28, 2021) Host Debaran Kelso is joined by guest Geoff Hammerson for a discussion about the woodpeckers of the Olympic Peninsula (Part 1 of a two part program).
#526 Woodpeckers of the Olympic Peninsula, part 1
Local News for 7/28
Transitional Housing in Jefferson County
On this week’s Compass, hosted by Chris Bricker, airing Monday July 26 at noon and 5pm on KPTZ, and also available as a podcast through KPTZ’s podcast page: A “Good Idea” has taken legs here in Jefferson County – namely, the creation of a dozen transitional Tiny Houses (or Wooden Tents) now occupied by some of our County’s homeless neighbors. It has become a community where its temporary residents can now have an address, a comfortable place to sleep, and doors they can lock behind them. This seminal effort to construct a group of transitional housing units was transformed into a village called Peter’s Place, named after one of the catalysts for the first “Community Build,” Peter Bonyun. Since then, a much bolder undertaking has taken place. With additional expertise, collaboration, relationships and contributions, a new batch of homeless shelters has been constructed, to be placed as a Village called “Pat’s Place,“ within the city limits of the Port Townsend community. Listen and learn more about “big picture’ solutions for the homeless crisis, and about a very special “Open House” on July 31.
Seventh Haven Housing Project
(Airdate: July 26, 2021) Attention Please! was on hand at the ground-breaking ceremony for Seventh Haven, the first new publicly-supported affordable housing project to come to Port Townsend in many years. KPTZ’s Steve Evans talked with Olympic Community Action Program Executive Director Cherish Cronmiller about how the project came about, and who it will benefit.
Kate Dean
(Airdate: May 7, 2021) Kate Dean on the Hadlock Sewer Project.
Wendy Davis
(Airdate: April 23, 2021) Wendy Davis on the future of take out in Port Townsend.
Grace Love
(Airdate: April 23, 2021) Grace Love with updates from Nadine’s Kitchen
County Public Health Report ~ 7/26
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, along with Dr. Tom Locke, who has stepped back to serve as Deputy Public Health Office. Also Willie Bence, Director, Director of Emergency Management, gave a report. The summary was provided by and used with the permission of Jefferson County Government.
On Monday, Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry told the Commissioners and KPTZ listeners there is a significant rise in COVID-19 cases in Washington State. Cases are up 133% and hospitalizations are up by 10%.
Because of this uptick in cases, Berry recommended a return to masking, regardless of vaccination status. “Any place where you are going to be spending time around people and you don’t know their vaccine status, we recommend masking up.” She mentioned the office, grocery stores, movie theaters, and churches as examples. “This (uptick) is really driven by the Delta variant,” Berry said. “We have not seen Delta variants or at least not diagnosed yet locally, but we certainly anticipate that it’s likely here and just hasn’t been caught yet.”
Jefferson County is up to 493 cases, or 72 per 100,000. Berry reported the newest cases are being driven by unvaccinated people in Jefferson County, mostly gathering indoors, at social gatherings, and traveling. Jefferson has a 66% fully-vaccinated rate; with those who are 12 and older, the rate climbs to 71%. Vaccinations are available at Jefferson Health Care and the Safeway, QFC, and Tri-Area Pharmacies. “The key message I want folks to know is that we’re seeing a dramatic rise in cases. If you haven’t gotten vaccinated yet, now is really the time to do it,” Berry said.
Emergency Management Director Willie Bence addressed the possibility of wildfire smoke coming to Jefferson County. Bence said while we haven’t had any smoke yet this year, fires are growing across the Pacific Northwest. “People should consider how to protect themselves from smoke if it does come here,” he said. You can check on the air quality by going to https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/. Another good website to get wildfire information is https://www.dnr.wa.gov/Wildfires.
Submit your Public Health questions to Dr. Allison Berry 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.
Compass for 7/24/21
A “Good Idea” has taken legs here in Jefferson County – namely, the creation of a dozen transitional Tiny Houses (or Wooden Tents) now occupied by some of our County’s homeless neighbors. It has become a community where its temporary residents can now have an address, a comfortable place to sleep, and doors they can lock behind them. This seminal effort to construct a group of transitional housing units was transformed into a village called Peter’s Place, named after one of the catalysts for the first “Community Build,” Peter Bonyun. Since then, a much bolder undertaking has taken place. With additional expertise, collaboration, relationships and contributions, a new batch of homeless shelters have been constructed, to be placed as a Village called “Pat’s Place,“ within the city limits of the Port Townsend community. On this week’s Compass, we learn more about “big picture’ solutions for the homeless crisis, and about a very special “Open House” on July 31.
PT Film Festival 2021
(Airdate: July 21, 2021) Larry Stein speaks with Janette Force, Executive Director of the Port Townsend Film Festival, about plans for the Fall Festival, Sept 23-Oct. 3. The Festival will be largely virtual, as it was last year, but 8 films will be screened to live audiences in the American Legion Hall, Sept 23 – 26. Outdoor films will also be back on Taylor St. Sept 23 – 26. Details of film schedules and tickets will be available soon at www.ptfilmfest.com.
