Since these truly feel to be the dog days of August, I’ll take another swing at a collection of “Sub Blurbs” by covering several topics.

GRAPE GROWER: Catherine Hinken Jones, Inglemoor High and Washington State University grad who’s been a familiar face at Yakima Fruit Market over the years, is back in Pullman. She will seek a master’s degree over the next two years in horticulture, specializing in the field of viticulture. Following graduation from WSU, she served an internship with Columbia Winery in Woodinville. She headed east this month armed with a $3,000 scholarship in viticulture and enology provided by the Woodinville Rotary Club. The funds were raised during a daylong Earth Day celebration in April, culminating at the Monte Villa Farmhouse with a dinner created by Leigh Henderson and Gretchen Benson of Alexa’s.

ED DIRECTOR: 21 Acres has its first education director. He is David Muehleisen, who comes to the Sammamish Valley-centered program from Evergreen State College and WSU. Notes 21 Acres president Gretchen Garth, “Dave, with his experience at WSU and currently at Evergreen, is uniquely qualified to help us work with the high demand of community colleges, universities, K-12 prioritizing sustainable curricula.  We are spending many hours helping — probably a dozen or more higher-ed and local community entities along with other levels of education, which will eventually help us segue deeper into sustainability.”

Located in Woodinville at the northerly most point of the Sammamish Valley, the 21 Acres Center is an innovative, community-driven project that  serves as an agricultural and environmental learning center for people of all ages. 21 Acres educates both young and old about where our food comes from and how locally grown food plays a crucial role in a sustainable lifestyle.  

RICKETTS GONE: All of the demolition commotion across the street from Bothell’s downtown Safeway store and the landmark Ranch Drive-in was the removal of a landmark school — Ricketts elementary. The one-story brick building once housed Bothell’s early day grade school and was named for school board member Dr. G.E. Ricketts who maintained a dental practice across the Bothell-Everett Highway (State Route 527). Dr. Neil McGee carries on the dental tradition; the Reporter offices are located there, too.

The demolition was carried out by the Northshore School District, which continues to own the property although a memo of understanding has the property possibly going to the city of Bothell under the auspices of a downtown revitalization program.

Anderson School still stands. This historic two-story brick building next to the public swimming pool is buttressed by a cafeteria, gymnasium and locker rooms for visiting athletic teams competing on nearby Pop Keeney Field.

Those anxious for the school district or the city to find a revitalized use of the Anderson School property were a bit shocked to think that this historic building had already been lost to Bothell history.

The school district leveled Ricketts to avoid costly ongoing maintenance of the abandoned structure. Its most recent use was as headquarters for the school district administration. The district purchased a building in the North Creek Valley next to Monte Villa farm and relocated all of its scattered offices into that central location.

HEALTH CARE: Kenmore resident Lance Dickie had a very insightful look at universal health care in a recent column he writes for the Seattle Times. If you have followed this subject closely during this year of presidential politics — and few haven’t — you have probably noted that more and more health-care professionals, yes, doctors, support national health insurance. Two points in Lance’s article jumped out:

“Single-payer health insurance is about who pays the bills, not who provides the medical care.”

“Doctors are fed up with the hassles and billing refusals by different people at different (insurance) companies with different procedures.”

Now, those facts seem to cover what most laymen can identify as the basic issues polarizing the debate over the condition of America’s health-care system and the inability for many individuals to afford access to it.

John Hughes was owner-publisher of the Northshore Citizen from 1961 to 1988 and is active in local nonprofit organizations.