Like Cavatina
To the editor:
A couple of weeks ago I read an article in the printed version of the Bainbridge Island Review regarding plans for the Cavatina Concert Hall to be developed by the ferry station.
The article was strongly against this potential development, and it sounded like the author was speaking on behalf of all BI residents.
Consequently, as a BI resident and homeowner, I wanted to set the record straight and publicly state that there are a great number of BI residents (probably even a majority) in favor of this development (concert hall) and looking forward to bringing more opportunities of this nature to the island.
Jesse Valle
Bainbridge Island
A good hospital
To the editor,
I am writing to express concerns about the volume of negative press that has been published about St. Michael Medical Center. While the facility certainly has some issues, the recent barrage of articles has been incredibly slanted. This includes inflammatory, borderline inaccurate, headlines, reprints of the same information, and little positive information about the great care the facility and its staff provides our region. It is our local journalists duty to inform the public with facts, and while facts have been published, an excess of hearsay and opinions have fueled a fire instead of looking to find solutions.
I had two surgeries at St. Michael in 2022 and on both occasions I have been treated with respect and the highest level of care I could imagine. From the greeters to the reception workers to the highly skilled nurses and doctors, I was treated as if I were their own daughter, sister, friend. The facility has also won many awards for distinguished care.
My ask is that you take a minute to reflect on missed opportunities to be part of the solution. Perhaps an article on the salary and benefits the staff there receive to encourage community members to want to work there and assuage staffing concerns, or a feature on the awards they have worked hard to achieve through provision of the highest caliber of care, and followups on the tangible solutions they have implemented to address issues are in order.
Melanie Danuser
Silverdale
History reminder
To the editor:
Some people wish to sanctify our past as if it our race, nation or culture has divine mandate while others want to completely destroy it in some headlong “cancel culture” rush to create a future where nothing is sacred. Both are born of vanity because every human institution was created by human beings acting out of ambition. Every single one of us possesses pride, anger, indifference and greed. Whenever we fail to recognize this in ourselves, we guarantee its fruits, and the principal fruit is violence.
The actions of Charles Wilkes and the history of his island are linked, for better or for worse. Keeping his name on an elementary school reminds us of our history whether we like it or not. Erasing a name does nothing to erase whatever good or harm he has done any more than we can erase the good or harm that every single one of us has done.
Francis Jacobson
Bainbridge Island
