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806 5th Street, Mukilteo, WA 98275 www.edmondsbeacon.com Volume XXIX Number 18 Feb. 20, 2014

Many of us have fond memories of family road trips – loading up the

station wagon and heading off to exciting adventures.

But how many can claim to have done it via sled, behind a dog team?

Jan Steves and her daughter Nicole Johnson will be in that exclusive club fol-lowing this year’s 42nd Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Regular readers of the Beacon have fol-lowed Steves’ Iditarod adventures the past two years. The Edmonds woman is gear-ing up for her third Iditarod.

This time, she and her sled team will have company – at least for the Ceremo-nial Start on March 1.

Nicole Johnson, a 2000 graduate of Ed-monds-Woodway High, will ride with her mother about 11 miles from Anchorage to the Campbell Airstrip in Anchorage.

On March 2, Steves will continue on with her team of Alaskan huskies, mush-

ing more than 1,000 miles from Willow to Nome.

Johnson is actually making the longer trip, albeit in a bit more comfort. She will fl y in from Vienna where she is working on an art project. (See accompanying

story.)Mother and daughter have been living

their dreams, thousands of miles apart; both are excited that their paths are cross-

Council deadlocked on fi lling vacancy

see COUNCIL page 5 X

see IDITAROD page 16 X

Jan Steves gears up for 3rd Iditarod

Jan Steves of Edmonds shares some affection with Spot and Chad while in Alaska training for her third Iditarod, which begins March 1. Of the many dogs that live with her in Willow when she’s in training, this pair, Steves said, “are absolutely love bugs.”

As trips go, Nicole Johnson’s upcoming fl ight from Vienna,

Austria, to Anchorage, Alaska, shouldn’t be too tiring – just under 5,000 miles via the North Pole.

Still, it’s the trip of a lifetime for the 2000 graduate of Edmonds-Woodway High School; she’s going to join her mother, Jan Steves, for the ceremo-nial beginning of the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Steves is training for her third Iditarod, a 1,000-mile race from

Anchorage to Nome, commemorating the 1925 serum run to Nome that was ordered when a diphtheria epi-demic threatened the populace and no planes were available to deliver the medicine.

Mother and daughter are both following their dreams, each calling the other an inspiration.

While Steves travels widely between Iditarod races to talk about her ad-

From Alaska to Austria, mother, daughter follow their dreams

see JOHNSON page 16 X

It’s the rare and lucky person who ! nds a way to turn an avocation into

a vocation.Randall Hodges is among the lucky

ones. Passionate about hiking in the great outdoors and shooting photo-graphs of the wonders he sees, Hodg-es has become a world-renowned landscape photographer.

His work has been published more than 3,200 times, including more than 300 covers in such diverse pub-lications as Seattle Magazine, North-west Travel, Nature Photographer

Photographer combines ‘old school’ focus with digital age

BY PAUL ARCHIPLEYPUBLISHER@YOURBEACON.NET

see GALLERY page 12 X

Photo courtesy of Randall Hodges

After 47 ballots ended in deadlock Tuesday, the Edmonds City Council decided to postpone voting until Feb. 25 to fi ll its vacant seat.

The second week of voting pro-duced the same results as the fi rst: a 3-3 deadlock between Steve Bern-heim and Stephen C. Schroeder.

The councilmembers have been unable to reach a consensus on any one of the 14 applicants. Three of the six councilmembers, Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, Joan Bloom and Lora Petso, have consistently voted for Bernheim from ballot No. 1 to ballot No. 47.

Council President Diane Buck-shnis and councilmembers Strom Peterson and Kristiana Johnson have nominated seven different applicants during the process.

“I think they’re all qualifi ed and bring different levels of experience and qualities to the table,” Johnson said.

Some members of the council are divided over what type of candidate would be the best fi t for the posi-tion – one with past experience on the council or a new face with fresh ideas.

“None, besides Ron Wambolt and Steve Bernheim, have a proven track record,” Fraley-Monillas said. “Both have been elected to council before.

“We know what we’re getting. He’s been on council before, and he really works well as a team.”

Fraley-Monillas said Bernheim is “the compromise candidate.” While Bernheim is not her fi rst choice, she said that he would be the good

second choice for everybody.During talks between her and

councilmembers Joan Bloom and Lora Petso, they each had other candidates in mind but knew their respective candidates would not receive a majority vote.

Bernheim said he felt he did a good job when he was previously on the council and is willing to do it again.

“My main motive in volunteering for the position is to present an alternative to people who have never served in this position,” Ber-nheim said. “I thought it would be a good idea to have an experienced person.”

Schroeder, the other leading applicant, said after last week’s meeting that the process could be handled in various ways.

“Right now, they’re deadlocked, and they’ll compromise at some point and somebody will get chosen,” he said.

Buckshnis and Peterson have both served on the council with Bernheim.

“Steve and I agree on a lot of issues,” Peterson said, “however, he was very divisive at times, and that’s quite obvious with 47 votes.”

Peterson would like to see someone come to the council “with a fresh set of eyes and no precon-ceived notions.”

Buckshnis said that she respects Bernheim, but as a former councilmember he already has an established constituency.

“My opinion continues to be that the two former councilmembers have already established constit-

BY LAURA DANIALIREPORTER2@YOURBEACON.NET

BY PAUL ARCHIPLEYPUBLISHER@YOURBEACON.NET

Randall Hodges captures summer fl owers in a meadow at sunset. To obtain the rich colors, he uses a tripod, small aperture and long shutter speeds. “The wind is not my friend,” he said.

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BEACON BEACONHONEY?

Northwest bears are waking from their slumber

www.edmondsbeacon.com

BEACON BEACONVolume XXIX Number 18

BEACON BEACON

their slumber

Volume XXIX Number 18

BEACON BEACON BEACON BEACONHONEY?

Northwest bears are waking from their slumber

www.edmondsbeacon.com Volume XXIX Number 18

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16 - Edmonds Beacon www.edmondsbeacon.com February 20, 2014

ing again.“It will be so incredible to share

with my daughter my Iditarod,” Steves said. “Having her in my sled bag traveling down the trail together will be an experience and a memory of a lifetime for me.

“My daughter is my inspira-tion. She is truly following her dream.”

Johnson says the same thing about her mother.

“My mother always encour-aged me to follow my dreams,”

Johnson said. “Now, in her 50s, she is following hers.

“She is an inspiration and a shining example of how it is never too late to pursue your pas-sion.”

Steves’ third Iditarod may be the most challenging, but for an unexpected reason. The jet stream that has delivered a fero-cious winter punch to America’s heartland and East Coast has also given Alaska a mild one, with unseasonably warm tem-peratures and too little snow.

Steves said training has been a challenge. Several days of hard rain have washed out river and creek crossings that limit trail access.

With no new snow and warmer temperatures in January, Steves and the other mushers have had to truck their dogs in search of snow and good training trails.

And because of the poor con-ditions, organizers considered moving the start from Anchor-age to Fairbanks, a change that has happened just once before, in 2003.

On Monday, they decided to stick with the traditional route, although the 70 mushers and their teams will take an overland trail that avoids nearly all of the icy river conditions and that will be groomed to offset poor condi-tions and improve safety.

Still, some Iditarod racers ex-pressed concern about the condi-tions. Veteran DeeDee Jonrowe wrote on her Facebook page … “we need snow, safe trails for our teams, and lots of God’s bless-ings. I must say I am nervous.”

Steves said a sponsor has offered to provide her with a

helmet that snowboarders are wearing at the Olympics; she plans to accept.

“The ground is frozen hard, and there’s no fresh snow,” she said. “It’s a little scary.”

But Steves said organizers are working to ensure the safety of the dog teams and their mushers.

Even if the ride is a bit rough this year, Steves will be eat-ing well. She said Demetris in Edmonds is sending some food, including bacon-wrapped dates.

“I love the bacon-wrapped dates,” she said. “Those will be absolutely incredible on the trail.”

She’ll heat them up in special sealed bags, then use the boiling water to thaw her dogs’ meals.

Whether on the trail or home in Willow, the dogs eat plenty, too. Steves said they go through a ton of dog food in about 45 days.

But on the trail, the huskies will have to work harder this year. Because of conditions, Steves will probably use a 14-dog team, two less than usual.

“Every year, the trail is differ-ent,” she said. “I’m just more concerned this year about the trail conditions.”

Heading out Tuesday for a 30-mile workout with her dogs, Steves said the family “road trip” is more on her mind, thanks to the arrival of her daughter.

“I haven’t seen Nicole in two years,” she said. “I can’t wait to wrap my arms around her.”

To watch Steves in this year’s Iditarod, go to her website at: www.jansteves.com or follow her blog at: http://livingmydream2.blogspot.com

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Jan Steves and her dog sled team travel across the bleak beauty of the Alaska wilderness while training for the Iditarod.

It’s a selfi e, of sorts, a photo Jan Steves took of her dogs while traveling on a trail in Alaska’s outback.

ventures to school children, retirees, corporate groups and others, Johnson is logging a boatload of miles herself, bringing her passion for art to underprivileged people around the world.

After gradu-ating, Johnson headed to New York City in 2002 where she teamed up with other artists and founded the Free Art Society, whose mission, she said, proposes that making art is a common human impulse, essential to building communities, and based on the principles of freedom, beauty and under-standing.

Last summer, Johnson and Brazilian artist Pérola Bon-fanti created 13 Portals, an in-teractive street art experience in New York’s East Village.

Johnson also launched Hearts of the World, a project that brings art to underprivi-leged children while promot-ing greater understanding between cultures.

So far, that effort has taken her far afi eld, including Chi-na, Japan, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil.

Determined to take art to

the four corners of the world, Johnson has painted giant murals in Los Angeles, trains in Valparaiso, Chile, rick-shaws in Asia, fl at-top fi shing boats in Rio de Janeiro and a tram in Naples, Italy.

Now in Vienna, she is again collaborating with Bonfanti, this time on “The Aces of Perception,” a project combin-ing public art and technology that will debut on the streets of Vienna’s Museumquartier, considered one of the largest cultural areas in the world.

Despite all that travel, Johnson can’t wait to get to Anchorage to support her mother’s dream.

“She is an inspiration and a shining example of how it is never too late to pursue your passion,” Johnson said.

“I am so honored and excited to be there for her.”

Steves is likewise thrilled.“Words are really hard to

fi nd to describe this,” Steves said. “It means so much to me.”

Based on Johnson’s other travels, it should be no sur-prise if this trip results in an art project as well.

To learn more about her work, visit: www.Nicoli-naART.com; www.HeartsOfT-heWorldProject.org; and www.TheFreeArtSociety.com

– Paul Archipley

Nicole Johnson

X from JOHNSON page 1

X from IDITAROD page 1

Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self (second from left) meets with Donna Wilson (third from left) and a delegation from United Way of Snohomish County. Others in the picture are Tiffany Litz of Mill Creek and Lark Kesterke of Mukilteo.

Photo courtesy of Lilia Nieto

X from BREAKFAST page 15

policy for Washington families.”Wilson and other volunteers

urged lawmakers to expand early learning opportunities and to support an exciting program

called “Breakfast after the Bell.”Children eligible to participate

in school breakfast programs usually have to eat in the caf-eteria before school begins, when their peers are playing outside or socializing.

Several schools across the country, recognizing the stigma that might be attached to this, have made breakfast part of the school day and available to every child. Together, these new mod-els are known as “Breakfast after the Bell.”

“Working with lawmakers to ensure our children succeed in school is a key strategy for us,” said Dennis G. Smith of Stanwood, president and CEO of United Way of Snohomish County.

“We look forward to working closely with Rep. Ortiz-Self,” said Katrina Ondracek, vice president of public policy and community initiatives for United Way.

“We share her goal of ensuring that every child has the opportu-nity to succeed in school.”

The same day that Wilson was in Olympia, the Washington State House of Representatives passed Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self ’s legislation to gather statewide data on how family stressors af-fect academic performance.

“I believe children come to us with multiple needs, and many of them with traumatic experi-ences,” Ortiz-Self said in a state-ment. “We know hungry and hurting children cannot learn to capacity.”