“The setting will be Island Center Hall, but the sound is urban.Cabaret singer Deborah Cheadle will transport the audience at her May 4 performance to a hole-in-the-wall piano bar in New York City, with songs of love, loss and longing.I’ve always been drawn to songs about the difficulty we have opening our hearts, said Cheadle, a long-time island resident. Here, I’m actually telling very specific stories about my thwarted love attempts since eighth grade.She regards cabaret as primarily a storytelling form, one in which the lyrics are key and the show is shaped thematically. It’s analogous to constructing a theater piece. But unlike the actor, who functions at a remove behind theater’s fourth wall, the singer makes an intimate connection with the audience. “
“Closing buildings and going to the voters for more money are among the suggestions of a group looking at school district funding for the coming year.The District Budget Advisory Committee – comprised of school staff, parents and community members, serving as advisors in budgeting for the coming year – discussed those and other options with the school board April 26.The district, still coping with current budget problems caused by falling enrollment and fixed operating costs, could face another revenue shortfall of $1 million next year, with possible cuts in the state education budget, underfunding of Initiative 732, and higher utility costs. “
“Radar loves a blind corner. The crest of a hill will do just fine, too, as a driver on New Brooklyn Road is about to find out.Coming into sudden view from the direction of Mandus Olson Road, a Volvo zips over the hill, greeted by the sight of Bainbridge Police Officer Rob Corn. On the latter’s dashboard, a small radar unit clocks the vehicle’s speed and – click! – locks on.I’ll take 58 in a 40, Corn says as the vehicle goes past, its driver tapping a belated foot to the brake. The red-and-blues light up, Corn does a quick U-turn, and a minute later he’s chatting to the driver through her rolled-down window. “
“The blooms have done their part. Now the Vrooms will see whether Bainbridge flower-buyers will support their dream of a family-owned greenhouse operation.Herman and Elizabeth Vroom have 300 hanging floral baskets for sale at their Faylee Greenhouses, which opened last week. And while their product may come naturally, that’s not the same thing as easily.There is a lot of labor involved, Elizabeth Vroom said. Every day I start at 5 or 6 in the morning, and it takes me five or six hours to water, deadhead and check the plants for insects.Although the greenhouse will sell some bedding plants – mostly annuals – the principal product will be hanging baskets, arrangements of plants and flowers growing in baskets made out of moss. “
“It would be hard to miss: Loud calls for better traffic control and tougher enforcement have come from around the island over the past year.Even in today’s Letters column, south-end parents and a Winslow-area resident, faced with the proliferation of vehicles traveling at speed on their neighborhood roadways, weigh in with the oft-repeated concerns for the safety of children, pedestrians and other motorists.Now, with the designation of Bainbridge Police Officer Rob Corn as the department’s full-time traffic officer (reported elsewhere in this issue), tougher enforcement is here. “
“Zoning is nothing more than a matter of political will. Within the legal give-and-take of land use regulation, long-established principles of property rights, and general public sentiment, what today’s city council thinks is already too-high density can turn into tomorrow’s subdivision. Sometimes, vice versa.To that extent, even without the extension of sewer service to four south-end island neighborhoods – Pleasant Beach, Emerald Heights, Point White and Rockaway Beach – there are no guarantees that future generations won’t see more houses there than crowd the shoreline today. “
“Amid heated charges of intentional delay, a short-handed City Council Wednesday tabled for two more weeks discussion of a Comprehensive Plan amendment that could bring sewer service to portions of the south island.The council’s 3-2 vote puts off action on the proposal past the council’s self-imposed deadline of May 1 to approve language and send it to the city Planning Commission. “
“In Bainbridge, as elsewhere, retail establishments come and go. New uses are made of old spaces, and new owners replace old faces.Then there’s the Berry Patch. It’s been doing the same business for 30 years — 22 in the same location. And from the outset, it’s been Jane Pomeroy’s store.My customers allow me to keep enjoying the job, she said. When they buy something from me, they have allowed me into their home. They don’t become customers, they become friends to me.The store was the first tenant in the Winslow Mall, and the only one still under original ownership. In fact, Pomeroy doesn’t think there are more than one or two stores on the island that have endured unchanged as long as hers. “
“Four months after a lawsuit threatened the deal, the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority will finally close the deal to buy the apartment building at 550 Madison Avenue from long-time owner Vicki Holmstrom of Kingston.The purchase means that the building’s mostly modest-wage tenants will be able to stay in the 13-unit complex at rents adjusted to their income. “
“State securities regulators have charged Bainbridge Island’s Health Maintenance Centers and owner Kevin Lawrence with selling some $9 million in unregistered stock, saying the company misrepresented facts and misled investors.The state issued a cease-and-desist order April 9, forbidding any more sales pending further investigation by the state. The order was released to the public online, posted to the web site maintained by the Securities Division of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. “
“If county voters approve a sales-tax hike for Kitsap Transit next month, fares will drop, service will improve and maybe that mad dash off the ferry will become a thing of the past. If they turn it down, though, the transit district lines may be redrawn to exclude parts of the county, and service in the excluded area will be sharply diminished. You do have people running off the ferries now during the commuter period to get a seat on the bus, said Kitsap Transit Executive Director Dick Hayes.If the levy passes, we will be able to add buses to those routes, so one can take off when it is full and another can wait for those who want or need a little more time to get off the boat and onto the bus. “
“Viewing the Welcome Wagon quilt to be raffled on the Fourth of July, one may not be surprised to learn that it was designed by a mathematician. The overall bold pattern, comprised of a wealth of detail, is a geometric wonder.I started with grid paper, quilt designer Linda Johnston said. I chose lighthouses and water because of where we live. “
“While growth may have its downside, economic development is critical to maintaining Bainbridge Island’s community vitality.So says Zoltan Szigethy, executive director of the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council.When I was working in Seattle, I spent very little time here as a community participant, said Szigethy, an island resident since 1972. It’s not just the work, it’s being part of the community.Szigethy has asked the city to join the EDC at a cost of $20,000 per year. After hearing his presentation at its last meeting, the council is likely to approve the request this week. “
