| Dr. Locke’s COVID-19 Update – Mon May 4th – 9:45 a.m. *Online* Weekly COVID-19 weekly update with Jefferson County Public Health Officer, Dr. Thomas Locke at today’s meeting of the County Commission. To watch live or recorded videos of the entire 9 a.m. Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting, including the 9:45 a.m. COVID-19 update, go to the website for videos of meetings. You can choose “Streaming Live” or, if viewing later, “Recorded.” You can also listen live to Dr. Locke at 9:45 a.m. on KPTZ or find listen to Dr. Locke recorded on KPTZ home page. Recycling in Jefferson County – what is and is not recyclable, and why?” – Mon May 5th *Online* This Climate on Tap session will cover our unique source-separated recycling program in Jefferson County. Learn where our recycling goes, and what it becomes. Understand the history of recycling in our county and why we have been ahead of the curve for 30 years. The class is held via the FinnRiver Incider Space. Check their web site for information on how to sign up and get the Zoom link. Held on the first Monday of the month, Climate on Tap is co-sponsored by Local 20/20 Climate Action and Jefferson County Public Health. For further information email Laura Tucker or call her at 360-379-4491. Home Composting 101 Class – Wed, May 6th 7-8:30 p.m. *New* Celebrate International Compost Awareness Week… and turn your food waste into treasure! Join fellow Jefferson County citizens for an engaging online workshop with instruction on how to create and maintain a healthy compost system with food and yard waste. Access the class session on Zoom by phone, computer or tablet device . Register here. Thanks to sponsorship by Jefferson County Public Health, Jefferson County Public Works and the City of Port Townsend Public Works, the worship fee is only $25. This includes instruction, support materials and an Earth Machine composter (a $125 value). One per household, please. Participants must attend the full workshop to receive their composter. Additional family members and/or friends may attend at no charge with one paid registration. Questions? Email Laura Tucker or call 360.379.4491. Date and time: Wednesday, May 6th at 7-8:30 p.m. Coffee with City Manager Mauro – Thurs May 7th- *KPTZ 91.9FM* Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro has moved his weekly coffee meetings with the public onto KPTZ’s Discovery Road, hosted by Tim Quackenbush. This week John Mauro will be taking questions from 10:00 -10:30 a.m. Call in on 360.215.7270 or submit your questions to John ahead of time by email here. If you’re unable to listen live, the conversations will be posted on the Discovery Road page. iNaturalist BioBlitz at Fort Worden State Park – Sat May 9th – *New* The goal of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s third annual iNaturalist BioBlitz is to document as many living species as possible within a 24-hour period in Fort Worden State Park. This year, participants can enjoy the entire experience within social distancing guidelines and people at home can follow along throughout the day by watching the results roll in. Everyone is welcome to participate. Sign up for a free iNaturalist account here or use the iNaturalist app downloadable from Google Play or from Apple App Store. All of the observations that you make in Fort Worden State Park during the BioBlitz will be automatically added to the PTMSC iNatualist BioBlitz page. PTMSC staff and volunteers will be online to review your observations as they are uploaded and help you identify what it is you saw. Volunteers at home can also help with identification. Anyone with an iNaturalist account can review any observation on our BioBlitz page and help identify it. More info here. Farmers Market – Sat May 9th – Uptown PT *+ Online” The Port Townsend Farmers Market is open! The Saturday Market in Uptown PT is laid out without a middle row and ten feet between vendors booths. A limited number of shoppers at a time are admitted through a single entrance. Handwashing and hand sanitizer are available. Market vendors, staff and volunteers wear masks. Food is bagged or arranged so shoppers only touch food they are purchasing. Now the market is also online! Place your order online here by 1pm Thursday and pick it up during market hours. Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Location: Uptown, Tyler Street. Powerful Tools for Caregivers Online Class Starts – Mon May 11th *New* Are you taking care of a vulnerable family or friend with Alzheimers? Or someone who has high medical or daily living skill needs? Do you know someone who is a family caregiver? Covid 19 and the Stay-at-home orders have particularly impacted family caregivers. Most are vulnerable adults taking care of even more vulnerable adults. Each Moment Counts is offering a free, online, evidence-based weekly educational and support program beginning May 11 and continuing for 6 weekly sessions through June 22. Limited seats are available. Class is free to most family caregivers. Click here for details and registration are here. Questions? Email Margaret Taylor or call 360.385.1029. Dates and Time: Mondays 10-11:45 a.m. beginning May 11th and ending June 22nd (6 weeks). Permaculture Homesteading Internship – June 18th-October 2nd*Update* Join The Dirt Rich School for a three-month Permaculture Homesteading Internship! The Dirt Rich School is an educational permaculture farm and modern homestead that shares radical land-based living and practical alternatives to capitalism. They believe in sharing the skills and knowledge to reconnect with the land and invite others to join in. Check out the website for more information. Email Kateen with questions about the application and sign-up process. Duration is June 18 – October 2nd at The Dirt Rich School at Compass Rose Farms, 1463 W Uncas Rd, Port Townsend, WA. |
| Community Notices Local 20/20 COVID-19 Resources l2020.org/COVID-19/ *Updated* Ten local organizations come together to contribute to this page. It’s by the community and for the community. This week you’ll find updates to the grocery list (Aldrich’s is now closed, so sad!), updates to the restaurant list, and a relatively new link to guidance from the Sheriff’s office regarding violations of the Governor’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order. Other recent updates include prescription delivery options county-wide, and resources for managing anxiety and stress. Did you know… The WSU Extension Master Gardener Seed Library is offering their community seed inventory to new members by mail. You can support local retail businesses by using their online shopping options, including to buy gift cards for future use; the Chamber of Commerce has a new list here. Masks are still needed, see the county’s How to Help page The Dept. of Emergency Management puts together a new situation report each weekday that tells you all about COVID-19 in Jefferson County? Find it at the top of the page. There are a variety of links for giving or receiving assistance on the page, see the Assistance section on the left. There is free wifi available at libraries and community centers. There are several groups working seriously hard to make sure that food assistance is available. Food bank info is changing rapidly and it’s all captured in our Meal Program list. You can also find out about growing your own food and how to give help and get help with housing, business, unemployment, mental health, and more! Just Soup Helps Feed our Hungry Neighbors *New* Just Soup knows people are hungry and in need. Pre-COVID, the group served about 120 guests as St Paul’s Episcopal Church (1020 Jefferson St in PT). Recently only 52 guests showed up for curbside service. On Tuesdays and Fridays between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Just Soup lunch bags with hot soup, bread, fruit, a granola or protein bar (or similar item), a spoon and a napkin are available. For curbside pickup, enter the rear parking lot from Franklin Street. If you’re driving, stay in your car. If walking or biking, stay distanced in line. Consider picking up soup meals for homebound neighbors and friends. This information also appears on Local 20/20 COVID-19 Resources Meals Page here. The Peninsula Daily News featured Just Soup on the front page on April 27, 2020. Virtual Tour of Recovery Cafe *New* Join Dove House staff on a virtual tour of Recovery Cafe – a beautiful, safe, warm, drug-and-alcohol-free community where everyone is welcome to find peer support for recovery (and we’re all in recovery from something). Here’s avideo of a 3D rendering of the design of the remodel. And click here for a virtual tour of Recovery Cafe Jefferson County at 939 Kearney St, Port Townsend. For more information about this program, how we’re navigating the pandemic, or an update on construction timeline, visit www.recoverycafejc.org or email Brian Richardson or call him at 360-821-1985. The COVID-19 Emergency Fund *Update* So far this year, the local community has donated over $385,112 to the Jefferson Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. And $292,808 has already gone directly back into the community in the form of grants for projects that meet urgent needs. See the list of recipients and learn about the funded projects here. The COVID-19 Emergency Fund supports local nonprofits and community-serving government agencies that help meet basic human needs and facing their own financial hardships. Anyone can make a donation by giving to a general fund or directly to one of the local organizations who has registered with the campaign. Organizations that want to have needs posted can email Jen Kingfisher or call her 360.385.1729. Vote in PT Wearable Art Mask Contest by May 8th *New* Vote for your favorite submission in the Wearable Art Mask Contest. It’s pure fun to participate. There’s no fee and voting is open to all ages. Vote here through May 8th. First Prize $1,000; Second Prize $500; Third Prize $250. Port Townsend’s Wearable Art Show (rescheduled for May 8, 2021) began in 2010 as a fundraiser for the Jefferson Community Foundation’s Fund for Women & Girls, whose mission is to create a world where girls and women are safe, secure, equal and empowered. For more on masks – and ones that actually conform to health criteria – see piece that follows Resilience Readings. Webinars on Community Gardens and Small Farms *Update* Cultivating Success Sustainable Small Farms Education presents weekly free webinars from WSU and partners. Next topics are “Local Food System Businesses” on Tues, May 5: “Selling Your Products on Etsy” on Mon, May 11; “Fundamentals of Produce Safety: Part 1″on Tues, May 19 ; “Fundamentals of Product Safety: Part 2” on Tues, May 26 ; “Taking Eggs to Market: Safe Egg Handling & Delivery” on Tues, June 2. All sessions are at 11 a.m. Register here. Tutorial on Zoom use here. Earth Day BEARTH Day sound recording release In honor of this year’s 50th Earth Day, artistic collaborators from near and far shared sound recordings that convey compassion for the planet and all beings. Members of Local 20/20 Resiliency of Heart group and friends contributed short recordings of sounds, poems, wishes, and words of praise. Working in the sound studio, Adrianna Santiago wove these contributions together into a collaborative work for an Earth Day release. This remarkable piece is now available in an mp3 file here for our listening pleasure. Artists’ names and works are listed here. Host a Meeting on the Local Housing Emergency The Housing Solutions Network offers a free 1-hour program on Zoom and the opportunity to convene a group to learn about Jefferson County’s housing emergency. Participants watch a 13-minute video about the local housing crisis and explore and cultivate solutions in a facilitated conversation. HSN will provide the Zoom invitationand link, support to access Zoom for those who need it, facilitation of the discussion, and any follow up that participants may want. To initiate a screening watch the video trailer and contact Justine Gonzalez-Berg. Seeds by Mail from the WSU Seed Library *Update* The WSU Extension Master Gardener Seed Library offers seeds by mail to new members. Gardeners borrow seeds, grow plants, and return the seeds from some of your plants at the end of the season. To become a member, visit the website to see the seed inventory and fill out a form. No payment is necessary, however monetary or stamp donations are accepted. Please also support professional seed companies, local seed vendors and nurseries for community seed resilience. Questions? Email Seed Library here. Solstice Family Farm Internships Available *Update* Solstice Family Farm is a 33-acre homestead farm on Beaver Valley Road in Chimacum. They grow produce, eggs and animals for market, and much of what they need for their table. They seek two enthusiastic interns to work now through November, to learn growing techniques for vegetables, fruit, meat and eggs, orcharding, pasture management, animal husbandry and other sustainable agriculture skills. In exchange for 21 hours of labor and 4 to 8 hours of feeding and chores per week, interns receive lodging, a row in the vegetable garden and the opportunity to enjoy surplus produce and eggs. For details, visit the farm website or call Jennifer White 360.215.0786. LION Emergency Loan Program LION, the Local Investing Opportunities Network, has established a new loan program for Jefferson County businesses and non-profits needing funding to deal with the COVID-19 emergency. The loan application and instructions are downloadable here. LION welcomes inquires from people who would like to become a member and increase the resiliency of our local community. LION is affiliated with Local 20/20 and EDC Team Jefferson. Information is on the LION COVID-19 Emergency Loan Program website. Email Brian Kuhor call him at (360) 379-4693 for further info. Download Port Townsend Walking Times Map Local 20/20 Transportation Lab‘s popular walking times map is downloadable here. It provides approximate travel time on foot between points. Estimates are based on an average speed of 3 mph. Walking is healthy, social, fun, costs nothing, keeps your carbon footprint small and allows you to maintain social distance. Use the map to find new routes across our beautiful town. Emergency Text Alerts from Jefferson County Sign up to receive Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management’s emergency alerts by text on your mobile phone and/or by email. NIXLE messages provide crucial information in an emergency & are sent directly to your text-enabled device and/or email. The sign up web page also has information about other alert and warning systems, including the tsunami warning system and the WASDOT alert system. A Tool for Neighborhood Organization *Updated* Nextdoor is a private social network for neighborhoods. Use this link to join one of 59 Nextdoor Neighborhoods (NDN) in Jefferson County. Currently there are 10,797 subscribers, with many new members joining each day. Email Pete Hubbard with questions or comments. Library Resources A to Z Bookmark this Jefferson County Library page to access to a HUGE number of free resources from A (Academic Search Premier, Ancestry.com, and Automotive Resources) to the Washington Anytime Library with its e-books and audiobooks. In between find Kanopy for three free full length films per month plus unlimited Kanopy Kids and The Great Courses. ProQuest takes you to scholarly journals, dissertations and theses, books and videos. (A feature that limits searches to peer-reviewed material yielded 503 studies for the search term COVID-19.) Classes? Try Mango for languages, Lydna.com for computer skills and more. You don’t even need a library card to access the Khan Academy for homework help from pre-school up through advanced placement and test prep. If you have trouble logging in, call 360-385-6544 Mon-Fri between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to get help from a librarian. Calling Local Photographers! Local 20/20 Weekly Announcements invites local photographers to submit images that capture the character of our community and its natural setting. For the opening photo of each weekly email, we seek local color, horizontal (“landscape”) orientation, and jpeg format. Please no children, pets or recognizable faces. Kindly send to events@l2020.org. Please include your name in the jpeg filename. We are an all-volunteer non-profit, so compensation for your talent and generosity is a photo credit and our profound thanks. |
| Resilience Readings Do you have readings, podcasts or videos to share that are aligned with our Local 20/20 mission? Please submit them here for consideration. Fraying Food System may be our next Crisis Here on the Olympic Peninsula many of us feel a little exposed due to our reliance on food supplies that come by truck over a floating bridge or via ferry or by a twisty long two-lane road. Richard Heinberg, a classic systems thinker explores the multiple weak links in the supply chain with this comprehensive but concise essay. As Heinberg describes, “For better or worse, this is likely to be a historic moment of change for our food system.” Please read this article and give thought to what we want our food system to look like in the post-COVID times. Its time to prioritize food system resilience. Barter, Hours Banking and Skill Shares *New* Current information on bartering, time-banking and skill shares appear in the May newsletter from Zero Waste Washington. The age old tradition bartering has scaled up in Bellevue with BizX. Timebanking has a century plus of experience in exchanging time credit among those who offer skills or resources to someone in the network. Contemporary platforms include TimeBanksUSA,hOurworld, and TimeRepublik. In Washington, West Seattle, Seattle’s Belltown, Kirkland, and Spokane have timebanks and can help. For skillshare see Hands on Skill Share an annual event of Sustainable NE Seattle, a Transition Initiative. Email Kami for info. Other issues Zero Waste is working on are here. A Light at the end of the COVID tunnel? *New* Patrick Holden of the Sustainable Food Trust asks whether the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel is a new awareness of the need for resilience in our food system or is it simply the light of the train that is the globalized system. This article argues that we must move away from a centralized food production system and towards local production and processing. The author likens making these kind of changes as analogous to reversing a supertanker with its huge forward momentum, and that this indicates the the change will have to be initiated by citizens as opposed to governments. Holden offers food for thought, and the kind of thought that is organically springing up in localities all over the world. Find the article here. The Sequel: a David Fleming movie The visionary thinker and economist David Fleming used the term “Climacteric” to describe the set of converging crises that would punctuate the era of market capitalism. His thoughts and essays were gathered into a dictionary called “Lean Logic”, edited and published posthumously by Shaun Chamberlin. Chamberlin also out out an interpretive book based on Fleming’s works, “Surviving the Future: Culture, Carnival and Capital in the Aftermath of the Market Economy.” This book was the focus of a Local 20/20 discussion group last year. Fleming’s prognosis for how to reorganize after the end of this era was localization. And while transitioning to a system of localized everything when we’re still a global culture seems near impossible, in Fleming’s words, “it has the decisive argument in its favor that there will be no alternative.” Recently a film has been released describing some of the key concepts of Fleming’s work and how they’re being implemented around the world. You can find “The Sequel” here. Its offered by Vimeo for a $2.99 rental fee. Four ways COVID-19 will change Food Systems and Food Security Another great food-focused article! Humans are social animals. No man is an island. Food is social. Author Wayne Roberts places our food system into context with regards to the nature of our species and the dysfunctional nature of how we manage food, health care, and much of our society. I especially like the call to recognize the value of our food system workers, to acknowledge that in our current crisis the average grocery worker is a super hero. Take some time to think about our local food system, link to the article is here. Weeds we Like to Eat Foraging skills are fun to learn. How to work chickweed and miners lettuce into the spicy arugula for a salad. Its always good to know what exactly is growing around us, and that’s especially so in these times. Read this article from author Kara Stiff and learn about what’s available to eat all around us. |
| Do-it-Yourself Face Coverings that Work *New* It looks as though we’ll all need masks for a while. Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management gives clear criteria for community masks and hospital masks and calls on volunteer makers to help meet ongoing need. DEM states that “there are many designs that can be made the meet the above criteria” and offers examples of designs for community masks and hospital masks. The Center for Disease Control’s page on DIY cloth face coverings has updated information on how a mask should fit to help makers tailor to individual faces. The site also offers print and video instructions for sewn and non-sewn masks in a variety of designs and fabrics. A DIY breathable pleated mask that uses non woven fabric as the inner layer and includes a pocket for an additional filter likely meets the hospital mask criteria. The Washington Post has clear instructions for a three layer non-pleated cotton community mask. Forbes magazine continues to update its March 20th article Calling All People Who Sew And Make: You Can Help Make Masks For 2020 Healthcare Worker PPE Shortage with a host of new resources. As for video instructions, Michigan’s UnityPointHealth has an easy-to-follow 18-minute Instructional video for sewing the Olson mask (COVID-19). “DIY face masks in 10 seconds & improve cheaper masks” is an amusing and useful 4:28 min how-to video. In February, the South China Post circulated a 2-min video of a emergency mask plus face shield made of materials most folks have at home. More sophisticated approaches to masks and face shields come from HP Inc. and their global partners, including in Washington and Oregon. They are mobilizing 3D printing solutions and have made 3D Covid-19 models free to download. |
| Local 20/20 Mission Working together toward local sustainability and resilience – integrating ecology, economy and community through action and education. |
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