(Airdate: March 28, 2022) This week on Attention Please! host Steve Evans is given a tour of Discovery Bird Rescue by Cindy Daily, the amazing woman who has spent up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week for 13 years (without pay) to build a showcase hospital, rehabilitation center, haven, and conservation educational center for the wild birds of the Olympic Peninsula and beyond.
Today on Brewocracy Now KPTZ host Tim Quackenbush was joined by City Manager John Mauro and Cherish Cronmiller, Executive Director of OlyCAP. Topics discussed included an update on the 43-unit affordable housing project called 7th Haven, OlyCAP’s work with other non-profit partners, and the upcoming open house to discuss the “streateries program.”
(Airdate: March 22, 2022) Working in partnership with land and farming partners, along with grassroots and organizational allies around the region, The Chimacum Center works towards cultivating relationships, sowing sustainability and growing a more vibrant and equitable rural community. Through land-based interconnection, arts, advocacy, and education their vision is broad and their impact deep. Host Missy Nielsen talks with Executive Director Melissa O’Neill about the vision they have for our community and the place we all call home.
(Airdate: March 23, 2022) Nan Evans talks with Maggie Baker and Suzy Elbow, this year’s AmeriCorps Service Members who are sponsored by the Friends of Fort Worden. Learn about their care of the parks natural resources, their public education activities, and about the Port Orford Cedars found up near the bunkers this past year.
(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.
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.
(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.
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.
Today City Manager John Mauro and KPTZ’s Tim Quackenbush were joined by Jim Novelli, Executive Director of Discovery Behavioral Healthcare. Mr. Novelli explained the how the organization interacts with local governments with the goal of providing comprehensive mental health services.
(Airdate: March 16, 2022) Yellow rope used for growing oysters in places like Willapa Bay often ends up as marine debris along Washington’s coastline. Host Aaron Barnett chats with Nicole Baker of Net Your Problem LLC who is in business to help solve the marine debris problem by collecting ropes, fishing nets and other plastics found on beaches for processing and eventually a new life as a raw material for new recycled plastics.
