“Last week was homecoming for Jim Walkowski II – he’s returning to the Bainbridge fire department where he grew up, and which he doesn’t plan to leave again.Walkowski was selected as operations chief to replace the retired Kirk Stickels. Last week, he moved into his office as interim chief Ken Beach moved out.I started in this department as a cadet when I was 15 and a half, Walkowski said, and my plan is to retire at this department. “
“Controversy over the mixed-use project planned for the former Doogals site escalated this week, as two members of the planning commission publicly called for city Planning Director Stephanie Warren’s resignation or dismissal.We need a new director. I think that should be part of this whole conversation, said Sean Parker, an architect and planning commission member.Parker and architect Peter Brachvogel announced last Friday that they would boycott commission meetings, to protest Warren’s decision to impose new conditions on the Re-Doogals project after the planning commission had given its approval. “
“The crowd was, depending on who you asked, somewhere between 300 people and 3,000. As de facto chroniclers of Sunday’s Take a Stand Against Hate rally, we’ll put participation at about 1,000 – an excellent turnout, of which Bainbridge Island should be proud. Perhaps the better measure came not through numbers, but rather volume. To the beat of ceremonial drums, marchers for unity and tolerance on this island set off from Eagle Harbor Congregational Church, heading down Winslow Way to make a loop around Town and Country Market and back past Waterfront Park. “
“The United States Congress, Sen. Patty Murray says, helps those who help themselves.And because the Washington State Legislature did nothing about transportation – doing nothing, we would add, being a charitable description of its accomplishments – Murray was powerless to help her home state, even from her position as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s transportation subcommittee. “
“How does Bainbridge respond when hate comes to town?After the initial shock of finding cemetery vandalism and racist graffiti, Jing Fong and Karen Ahern mobilized the community. The two helped organize the Aug. 19 rally and march billed as Take a Stand Against Hate Violence, enlisting 22 island organizations. We wanted to send a clear message, Ahern said, that Bainbridge stands united against hate violence, that an attack on one is an attack on all. “
“The Bainbridge Island City Council says it wants diversity and affordable housing, but its actions undermine those goals, Tom Hofferber says.He hopes to reverse that trend by winning the north ward city council seat being vacated by Liz Murray. He will face planning commissioner member Deborah Vancil, who was first to declare candidacy for the seat. “
“Bainbridge Island made its best pitch Thursday for transferring the Wyckoff property into public ownership.And judging from Sen. Patty Murray’s comments, that pitch was a strike.It is a beautiful location, and clearly important to Bainbridge Island, she told local officials and citizens after a presentation at city hall Thursday afternoon.There are legal issues to work on, but I’m delighted to help in any way I can. You have my commitment to work with you.The problem, most parties agreed, is prying loose the property on the south shore of Eagle Harbor from a court-supervised trust. “
“When Harvest Moon read about Mary Sam – an early 20th century Native American living on Bainbridge – she realized how alike they were. Sam and Moon were both accomplished basketweaver, Moon discovered.The two were native women raised away from the families they were born to, and both moved between the native and white worlds with ease.The discovery gave Moon extra incentive to play Sam onstage, as she does Aug. 20. “
“Deep violet, sunny yellow and serene blue drench the luscious plates in Leatrice Eiseman’s new book Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color, which she reads on Aug.16 at Eagle Harbor Books. “
“The model – dressed in shades of blue and gold with floral scarf to match – waltzes down the runway to Has Anybody Seen My Gal, not at all impeded by her cane.The audience, mostly seniors, applauds as a pianist segues into the next number. Does anyone out there think old people are old? announcer Marjorie Hallowell asks. They are getting younger every year. The cheers that follow from the audience of 50, at Bainbridge Senior Center’s annual fashion show and tea, are robust. “
“A highway collision that claimed the lives of two motorists Sunday evening may be blamed on driver inattention.Police say a 52-year-old Sunrise Drive man – whose name was still being withheld Tuesday, because relatives could not be located for notification – might have been reaching for a water bottle on the passenger’s side floor when his vehicle veered across the centerline and struck an oncoming car. “
“Twenty-four times a day, a ferry pulls into the Bainbridge dock. Each time it does, it potentially carries a cargo of money for the island – money in the form of tourist dollars. A lot of merchants on Winslow Way aren’t certain tourism does them a lot of good, said Jack MacArthur, executive director of the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce. But when I had an antique store, our business was 35 percent higher from May to September than during the rest of the year.Team Winslow’s Sandy Martin did a one-shot survey, and found even more striking results.We asked two local businesses to keep track for one weekend and a weekday during May, she said. On the weekend, they found that 50 percent of their sales were to non-islanders, and on the weekday, it was 30 percent. “
“Rena Clough helped deliver Casey Skelton during the ambulance ride to the hospital. I was in the back with mom, dad and baby-to-be, Clough said, Suddenly we were mom, dad and baby born. I call him ‘Freeway Casey’ because he was born on highway 5.Clough relates the story of her baby and other tales from 20 years of her work as an emergency medical technician for a young audience at Eagle Harbor Books, at 11 a.m. Aug.11. “
