“In a mock election by Bainbridge High students last fall, a map in school hallway showed that every state went to Al Gore or Ralph Nader.In fact, senior Alysha Perisho concedes, Bush only got about 10 percent of the vote.Given those results, starting a Kitsap County chapter of the group Young Republicans might seem like an uphill battle. But, as co-organizer and 31-year-old Bainbridge resident Kirsten Scheffler says, You gotta start somewhere.Josh Wymer, 21, of Poulsbo sounds a positive note.We want to articulate our message and facilitate debate, Wymer says. We don’t expect an easy road, but I don’t see any reason why things can’t change. “
“I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky.The love of the sea that moved poet John Masefield animates the life and music of Matthew Moeller. Moeller, who performs his Rollicking Tales of the Sea April 22, has spent much of his life singing about, working near and living on the water. When Moeller sings about clambering up the rigging, the audience can be assured that Moeller has done it; in 1993, he crewed on the Lady Washington, a square-rigger out of Seattle.It was the first time I was exposed to real sea music – not as entertainment, but as work songs, Moeller said. I was already fairly hooked by the music and by the tall ships, but I hadn’t heard the rhythm of the music used to drive the work on deck, before. “
“Drivers, they say, are traveling through school zones at highway speeds.And with a recent traffic study to back them up, some Bainbridge parents are organizing and hope to find solutions by this fall.Speeding is an island-wide issue, but we believe schools have to be at the top of the list, said Althea Mallove, one of the organizers of an informal group calling itself the Parents for Safe School Zones.A report by a Bellevue traffic-consulting firm – released in March, based on data collected last fall – showed that on North Madison Avenue near Wilkes Elementary School, 99 percent of vehicles exceed the posted speed limit of 40 mph. At least 15 percent were clocked in excess of 62 mph.The situation was nearly as bad near Blakely Elementary School, where 15 percent of drivers topped 45 mph on Blakely Avenue, and 15 percent raced down Baker Hill Road at 66 mph or better.The actual situation may not be quite as alarming as those numbers indicate, according to Bainbridge Island Public Works Director Randy Witt. “
“What some insiders label an ego-driven impasse over a $10,000 traffic study has once again delayed an increase in ferry fares. And the fight, which is costing the ferry system some $400,000 per week, shows no signs of ending.The state Transportation Commission was poised again Thursday to implement the 20 percent fare increase that had been recommended by the Tariff Policy Committee and received strong support from the ferry riders. But it adjourned without acting because the legislature has not yet given the go-ahead.What concerns us, is that time is money and with each day passing, the hole in the ferry budget increases, said Transportation Commission chairwoman Connie Niva. “
“We were all set to use this space to remind readers that Earth Day is coming up, and to round up the various eco-boosting activities that are lined up.Then readers Kat Gjovik and Virginia Davison, backing the revamped Adopt-A-Road program, dropped off a letter that did just that. So we’ll give them the floor: “
“The Washington State Patrol is investigation the apparent death of a Seattle man who fell from the ferry Puyallup Sunday evening, and is continuing to look into the circumstances that led up to the incident.The man, who is presumed drowned but whose body has not been recovered, was identified as Anthony W. Reed, 30, of Seattle. “
“While decrying the financial problems facing the State of Washington, the legislature won’t accept a helping hand.Almost three weeks after the state Transportation Commission was ready to approve an across-the-board fare increase, the state Legislature has still not approved a measure to allow the increase to take effect. “
“Afew weeks ago on these pages, we explored the eccentricities of the island’s road grid, a system in which every street outside Winslow is Northeast, even if it’s neither north nor east.Absurdities, we noted, pop up in areas designated by their relative position on the island – South Beach, West Blakely – and when you think about it, in certain other descriptive designations (NE Sunset Avenue? Last time we checked, the sun went down in the west, where the street is). While it’s not the most pressing of issues, we have been an all-island city for what, a decade now, and this sometimes nags at us. Seems like the map should at some point formally acknowledge our citydom, and let us throw off the yoke of a system that is outdated and confusing. “
“The tennis club wants to put on weight and make some waves.In what would be a major expansion, the Bainbridge Island Racquet Club on Koura Road wants to add a fitness center and two swimming pools to its tennis and racquetball courts.Our approach to tennis has been to be family friendly and welcoming, said club owner Ted Eisenhardt. We want to take that same approach and integrate fitness and swimming.The aquatic complex Eisenhardt envisions would have a 25-yard-long lap pool with perhaps four lanes, and an irregularly shaped fitness pool for water aerobics. “
“Crews began clearing a Sands Avenue parcel this week, to make way for the island’s next ball field complex.But progress for local youth sports programs comes at a cost for the neighbors, among them Sands Avenue resident Frank Forencich.I’ve been losing business all week, said Forencich, who operates a massage and personal training business on his property within view of the site. Nobody wants a massage when the chainsaws are going.Forencich said he and others have expressed concerns over the ball field plan, and were surprised by the sudden appearance of equipment this week. Signs went up on several nearby trees, protesting the irony of the clearing a week before Earth Day. “
“To the Bainbridge Island Harbor Commission, an anchorage plan would legitimize and preserve the liveaboard community in Eagle Harbor.The reason we are here tonight is because you have made your case, harbor commissioner Betsy Peabody told a half-dozen harbor liveaboards and their allies at Tuesday’s commission meeting.We want to preserve that use, but to do so, we need a level of management.But to the audience, any form of regulation looked like a potential infringement on their ability to live as they please.Why can’t we rely on personal responsibility? asked audience member Jim Randall, who is restoring a boat on which he plans to live. “
“The 21 freeholders drafting a new charter for Kitsap County government have finished the preliminaries and are getting down to business, the island’s two elected representatives on that group say.We’ve been through the procedural process – which took a little longer and was a little rockier than I thought – and now we’re in the midst of two months of education, said Andy Maron, former Bainbridge Island mayor and city council member.The freeholders will begin taking votes on various issues at a meeting beginning at 8:30 a.m. today at the Givens Center in Port Orchard. “
“Preservation of open space tests positively in a Bainbridge Island public-opinion survey.So positively, in fact, that Mayor Dwight Sutton is considering upping the ante on a bond issue to acquire open land from $5 million to $7 million, or even higher.The poll, showed that 58 percent of the people would support a $10 million bond issue, Sutton said. For a $7 million issue, support was 63 percent, and it was even higher for a $5 million issue.The telephone survey of 350 houses, – commissioned by the city March 14 at a cost of $15,000 – was conducted April 6-8 by a polling organization working for the Trust for Public Lands. Results were announced at a Sunday meeting of island groups involved in land preservation. “
