“If an islander shoots it, they will show it.Movies made on Bainbridge or featuring islander talent will be arrayed for the Third Annual Celluloid Bainbridge Film Festival, Feb. 25 at Lynwood Theatre.Every year, kids come up to me and say, ‘I hope you are going to have this next year, because I want to make a movie,’ said Kathleen Thorne, program coordinator for the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council. “
“The last words one hears before shooting into the sky – in a basket, no less – are not reassuring:It’s very rare that someone falls out.But the words come with a wry grin from the operator, and seconds later, one is at the end of a 100-foot ladder, at eye level with a nearby cell-phone tower and looking down on a good portion of the central island.Local firefighters took their own turns in the basket last week, as the department tried out a sophisticated ladder truck under consideration for purchase. “
“Dick Allen had spent a career in the home-building business, working for other people. In 1995, he and wife Marilyn decided to take the plunge themselves, designing, building and marketing the close-in Hillandale development, off Weaver Road north of Wyatt Way.I’d never had the willingness to take the risk before, Allen said. But I had read someplace that when people got older, what they regretted most was that they hadn’t taken enough risks. So we decided to do it.Not only was Hillandale a commercial success, but it has received critical plaudits as well. “
“Barbara Berger is known for her children’s books, but Bones, the essay she reads at Eagle Harbor Books Feb. 22, was written with adults in mind. Bones is published as part of a new anthology, Healing, with authors Anatole Broyard, Oliver Sacks and Tracy Kidder among others.Children’s-book authors hate it when people say, ‘When are you going to write a real book?’ Berger said. I never did regard children’s books as a training ground – but the truth is, during 20 years I have learned so much about writing, about story. “
“Rep. Phil Rockefeller (D-Bainbridge Island) wants to save the ferry system by taking it out of the Department of Transportation and dedicating a portion of the gas tax to the system.And while the measure would adequately fund the current level of ferry service, the price tag – almost 30 percent of general state highway money – may make it a tough sell in the legislature.This part of the highway system is in dire straits, Rockefeller said, and the gas tax is quite literally the only source of money out there. “
“Phil Rockefeller has taken the helm and set sail, and we’re happy to bid him a smooth voyage.Readers will recall that two weeks ago in this space, we took the Bainbridge Democrat to task for failing to step up with a solid plan to save our ailing ferries. At that time, we chided Rockefeller and fellow Rep. Beverly Woods of Poulsbo for frittering away their days in Olympia haggling over the level of proposed ferry fare hikes, while the real issue – finding a new and stable funding source that will replenish the ferry system’s depleted capital budget – languished for want of attention. “
“The snow was scenic, the moisture content badly needed, the inconvenience minimal.It was the perfect storm.The eight inches of wet snow that blanketed the island Thursday night and into Friday morning was the largest snow event since the thousand year slush of 1996-97 dropped two foot-deep loads on the area over a few days.This time, everyone was ready.We mobilized early and quickly, and stayed ahead of it, said Lance Newkirk, Bainbridge Island’s assistant director of public works who took charge of the snow-removal efforts.City crews had plows on Highway 305 by 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Newkirk said, and worked all night on the highway lanes and the island’s major arterials.Newkirk said the department had four large and two small plows on the job, the latter used for critical parking lots at the ferry terminal and city hall, and to clear some heavily traveled sidewalks. “
“It’s the tree that came home.A 92-foot beam, milled from the heart of a massive Puget Sound Douglas fir, was reclaimed from a Montana mine and flown from Seattle to Bainbridge Wednesday.This has got to be one of the biggest ones, Bainbridge historian Andrew Price said as the beam came to earth at the Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center. This is one beautiful, big timber from a tree hundreds of years old.Suspended under a hovering Boeing Vertol helicopter high above the PSELC site north of Blakely Harbor, the beam briefly resembled the 19th century nickname sawmill workers gave the big logs – Port Blakely toothpick.Perspective shifted rapidly to reveal the timber’s true proportions as the helicopter descended, blowing dust and debris into the faces of hardhat-clad onlookers and depositing the 9,000-pound beam into place.Thirty-five people clambered onto the timber for a snapshot, in a moment that was a flashback to sepia-tinted photographs of loggers perched atop felled giants. The spirit animating this snapshot was conservation, not exploitation, however.We brought this tree back to Bainbridge as a model of the difference in forest use 100 years ago and today, PSELC Executive Director Thane Maynard said. We don’t need to cut old growth – we can use smaller trees from sustainable forests and still build what we need. “
“Although still hoping for a settlement, the Bainbridge Island School District is readying for a June trial over what it claims are defects in the construction of Woodward Middle School.School board member Bruce Weiland, an attorney, said the obstacle to resolving the dispute is that the various defendants can’t agree on how to apportion fault.Not even the defendants try to say with a straight face that there is no problem with the school, Weiland said. “
“How’s this for a shakeup in your morning commute? Bainbridge Islanders can show support for the ferry system by taking part in a sail-in to the state Legislature, Feb. 22.On that day, a boatload of ferry backers will sail from Bremerton to Olympia on a chartered fast-ferry-type vessel for a noon rally at the state capitol, with a round of afternoon of meetings with legislators also slated. The group will include commuters, business people, local elected officials – anyone with a stake in the viability of our cross-sound highway and a day to spare. “
“Kitsap County Commissioner Tim Botkin wants to raise most ferry fares even higher than the 20 percent increase already proposed, to moderate increases in passenger-only fares.And even though the plan would cost Bainbridge riders extra money, it is finding support among some island officials, who think preserving and expanding the passenger-only system has substantial long-range benefits.Right now it sounds like we’re punishing ourselves, said Bainbridge Island Mayor Dwight Sutton. But this plan could put money down towards service to Kingston and Southworth. The Tariff Policy Committee chaired by islander Alice Tawresey had recommended increasing ferry fares to the point that 80 percent of ferry operating costs are recovered from the fare payers at the end of six years, up from the current 62 percent. “
“Chamber of Commerce executive director Jack MacArthur will retire at the end of September and begin splitting his time between Bainbridge Island and Palm Island, Fla. “
“As police combed the area for Robert Bob Rockwell, friends called the elderly man’s disappearance unlikely, even weird.He’s not the kind of person who would wander off, said Billy Berry, who came from Silverdale Thursday morning after hearing that Rockwell was missing.He’s a homebody, Berry said. It’s all that we could do to get him to go out to dinner with us.An intensive 18-hour search ended Thursday afternoon when the body of Rockwell, age 92, was found in a thicket near his Euclid Avenue home, a few feet from a steep bluff overlooking Puget Sound.His body was taken to the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office, where an autopsy was to be performed yesterday. Police said there was no evidence of foul play. “
