A driver who crashed his car seconds after he was clocked doing 87 mph on the highway was arrested after allegedly fleeing the accident scene on foot late Saturday.
Police say a 43-year-old Bainbridge Island man was behind the wheel of a 1986 Ford Taurus that rear-ended a VW Jetta at 11:16 p.m., north of the 305/Sportsman Club Road intersection.
The accident occurred as officers attempted to catch up with the Taurus, having observed it racing southbound near Koura Road at more than 30 mph over the posted limit, Bainbridge Traffic Officer Rob Corn said. No injuries were reported in either vehicle, and the suspect driver allegedly fled the scene on foot.
A search of wooded areas near the crash scene proved fruitless, but the suspect was found an hour later walking along the roadway, Corn said. He was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run of an occupied vehicle, reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, and driving with a suspended license.
He was booked into the Kitsap County Jail on $20,000 bail, and faced extradition to Arizona for an outstanding felony DUI charge there, police said.
Corn described the weekend as “busy” for Bainbridge patrol officers, who made four DUI arrests. Three of the drivers arrested had previous DUI convictions.
Officers have made 20 DUI arrests on island roadways so far this year.
– Douglas Crist
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***Moriwaki named to Rep. Inslee staff
Bainbridge Island resident Clarence Moriwaki will take up the post of Rep. Jay Inslee’s special assistant for Kitsap County, the congressman announced last week.
Retiring from the part-time post is Fran Moyer, who has held the position for four years.
“I am proud to introduce Clarence Moriwaki as special assistant to Kitsap County,” Inslee said in a news release. “His background and commitment to this area are outstanding, and we’re lucky to have secured him on behalf of Kitsap residents.”
Moriwaki serves on several local boards, including the city’s Wyckoff Acquisition Task Force and the Marge Williams Center. He also was spokesperson for the Take a Stand Against Hate Rally, and serves on the Bainbridge Island World War II Nikkei Internment and Exclusion Memorial Committee.
Moriwaki was most recently employed by Sound Transit, and is the former media and public spokesperson for Gov. Mike Lowry. He has worked for several different levels of government from local to federal, and was a city council member from Tukwila in the 1980s.
Inslee said Moriwaki’s background and commitment to the community make him an ideal replacement for Moyer, who has been a great asset to his staff.
“I am very sorry to see her leave my office, but we wish her great happiness in her well-deserved retirement,” Inslee said. “Knowing Fran, I am certain we’ll continue to work with her on a regular basis; she will not be able to resist the pleas of some lucky civic volunteer organization.”
Moyer, a North Kitsap resident for the past 10 years, was the vice chair of the 23rd District Democrats when she was asked to join Inslee’s staff in 1999.
Moyer said she intends to do some travelling, spend more time with her grandchildren and putter in her garden.
But her retirement will also include work with the board of the Kitsap County Democrats and the Kitsap County Community Resources board to name a few.
“Just because I’m retiring from congressional life doesn’t mean I’m retiring from the life,” she said.
North Kitsap Herald staff writer Carinna Stanton contributed
to this report.
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***Urban foresters hold arbor event
The Community Forestry Commission celebrates Arbor Day this Saturday with a community workshop, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hyla Middle School.
Entitled “How Do We Work Together to Make a Place for Trees,” the event includes a commemorative tree planting at 10 a.m., a native tree identification walk and the kick-off of an islandwide “Champion Tree” contest to find significant native trees around Bainbridge Island.
The public is invited to attend the gathering, where participating families will receive a free fir or cedar to take home.
For information or special accommodations, call Stacy Peterson, 842-2552 or speterson@ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us.
The city will also commemorate Arbor Day with a tree planting today at Sakai Intermediate School. Mayor Darlene Kordonowy will make a short presentation and plant a tree supplied by Bainbridge Gardens with the school’s fifth graders. Information: 789-5668.
Sakai student Neil Bjorklund recently won first place in the Washington State Arbor Day poster contest sponsored by the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association. Bjorklund’s poster on the theme “Trees are Terrific…from acorn to oak!” will be entered in the national contest; the winner will be announced April 25.
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***IFC collects kits for Iraqi families
The Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap Interfaith Council is supporting an appeal by the American Friends Service Committee for donations of family-size health kits, to help in efforts to relieve the suffering of people in Iraq.
IFC is encouraging local congregations and their members to collect and assemble kits that contain each of the following, packaged individually in either two-gallon zip bags or plastic shopping bags: four bars of soap; one plastic bottle shampoo (13-24 oz. size or 450-830 ml); one tube toothpaste (min. 8 oz. or 100 ml); four adult-size toothbrushes left in packaging; one hairbrush; one wide tooth comb; one fingernail clipper; one box adhesive bandages (min. 40, assorted sizes preferred).
Donors are asked to assemble the kits by April 24. An additional donation of $5 for each kit to help pay shipping costs is welcome.
The Agate Passage Friends Worship Group will coordinate collection of donated health kits in this area, and will send them on to AFSC, whose representatives will then distribute them in Iraq in cooperation with international and local aid organizations.
For further information on where to deliver kits, contact Elizabeth Zwick at 780-2892.
