“An island-wide game has begun. All one needs to play are intellectual curiosity, desire to widen one’s circle of acquaintance, and willingness to entertain new ideas – and perhaps doff some old ones. The name of the game is Culture and the American Character, a five-month humanities inquiry sponsored by the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council. The objects are to identify American values by examining popular culture, and to determine how those constructs relate to Bainbridge.Since self-knowledge is the ultimate goal, everyone who plays wins.We made the inquiry multidisciplinary to reach different people, said Kathleen Thorne, program coordinator for the Arts and Humanities Council.If you don’t want to read, you can see a film, she said. If you don’t like movies, there’s the online discussion. We’re looking to ensure the broadest possible participation. “
“A Seattle development company purchased the Winslow Landing property at a bankruptcy court auction Thursday.Security Properties outbid Bainbridge Holdings and principal Gale Cool, who had been spearheading the plan to develop the prime property immediately north of the Winslow ferry terminal.They’re a good outfit, Cool said Thursday as his own bid for the property failed. I’m sure they’ll do a good project.Security Properties is the developer of Poulsbo Place, a highly praised village-style project in downtown Poulsbo on the site of what had been a ramshackle collection of World War II row houses. The sale apparently scraps the current development plans for the 4.33-acre parcel north of the ferry terminal. “
“Take longer showers!Leave that garden hose running!Flush, flush away!Indeed, it’s hard to know just how to respond to a long-awaited consultant’s report on the island’s water supply, which says Bainbridge Island has enough water to meet residents’ demands well into the future. “
“Contrary to concerns that Bainbridge Island’s growth is outstripping its water supply, a detailed new study shows that the island has an abundance of good-quality underground drinking water lying relatively close to the surface.We have our soggy climate to thank.The study, by consultant Richard Warren of the Seattle engineering firm of Kato and Warren, shows that rainfall is providing the water-bearing aquifers under the island with almost six times as much water annually as is being used.In terms of total available groundwater, it looks like the island can reach the goals it set for itself, Warren said. “
“Islanders who know Sue Hylen as the park district’s energetic cultural arts supervisor might wonder how she found time to write Double Exposure. In the midst of a busy life I just said ‘I must do this,’ Hylen says. Plus, I work with a lot of artists, and this puts me inside the process they go through. The publication is Hylen’s first, although her writing has appeared in Exhibition Magazine, Stone Country and Spindrift, among others.Hylen, who turns 50 this year, calls the book her mid-life adventure. “
“On a chilly December morning, Ed Smith was hot on the trail of his quarry – valuable books. As with most hunters, there were hits and misses.The big one got away – a book of Edward Gorey illustrations. The auction opened at $5,000, but within minutes, the bidding topped $40,000 – too rich for Smith’s blood. Sale price – $47,500.Next up was an inscribed first edition of From Here To Eternity. Another miss.But then the morning’s catch – a first edition of The Naked And The Dead, inscribed by author Norman Mailer. Smith’s bid of $1,400 was a winner. “
“Islanders like their mayor.Even if they don’t like the mayor at any given time, they do seem rather fond of the office. We were struck by that notion as we looked back over the past two mayoral elections. While most city council races draw no more than two candidates per seat, 11 hopefuls for the mayor’s post have come forward in the last two campaigns alone – five in 1993, six in 1997. Business people, tutors, contractors, retirees, hay haulers, gas station attendants – all manner of citizens have put themselves before the voters for the chance to swing the gavel as titular head of island government. What’s the draw? “
“Tom and Kathleen DeVange wake daily to the beeping of a truck’s back-up alarm, vehicle doors slamming or the persistent throb of diesel engines. The noise comes from a nearby shed at the southwest corner of the Bainbridge High School grounds, just 30 feet behind the DeVange home on Whited Place. If we had known that we would wind up with a heavy equipment maintenance depot virtually in our back yard, we would never have bought (our) property, Tom DeVange said. DeVange described the noise problem to the school board at its Dec. 14 meeting, and asked the district to honor an 11-year-old promise to be quiet. “
“We saw it in the corner of the neighbor’s garage just the other day – its little maw, as always, agape in anticipation – perhaps sensing that its day was almost here. For, with the countywide burn ban set to go into effect this coming Monday, the little 8-hp machine was about to make its owner the most popular gal in the neighborhood.I still haven’t decided on a fee, she told us coyly.Chipper owners, you’re suddenly very hip.We expect a lot of new relationships to spring up – neighborhood feuds wane, petty grievances forgotten – with the advent of the countywide burn ban, Kitsap County being the last corner of Washington to come under the state’s Clean Air Act of 1990. “
“Claiming that he still has a valid purchase contract, local realtor Craig Clark has sued to block the county housing authority’s purchase of the 550 Madison apartment building.Named as defendants are Vicki Holmstrom of Kingston and her husband, the building’s sellers.I want to be reasonable and fair, but someone has to acknowledge the very real time and money I spent in going after something like this, Clark said Friday. “
“She sees, therefore she shoots.Photographer Jill Myers thinks of the camera as a natural extension of her eyes. I love the challenge of taking a photo of something that captures a different view, Myers says. I see things differently.Viewers will see familiar places through Myers’ distinctive lens when her photographic exhibit opens Jan. 7 at Pegasus Coffeehouse. “
“In the long run, the loser in the presidential election may be the environment, says Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge Island).With the president and vice president both coming from an industry (oil) that has not been in the forefront on environmental issues, we won’t see leadership from the White House on issues like global warming, Inslee said.After a short ski vacation in eastern Washington, the third-term congressman (he served an earlier term in the 4th District) met with his staff Thursday on legislative strategies for the upcoming term.The issues that will occupy Congress, Inslee said, will be taxes, education and health care. In all of those area, he thinks some action will occur. “
“The block was ripe for redevelopment.Situated in the heart of a thriving downtown district, flanked by a popular five-story shopping mall and minor transit hub and surrounded by other high-profile retail outlets, it was a prime location for a posh department store.There was only one catch – the next block was closed to car traffic, forming a pedestrian mall with an adjacent park.Ah, the developer said, but we need drop-off traffic. Reopen the street, or we won’t redevelop the block.And, as readers will recall, the Nordstrom family prevailed; Seattle’s Pine Street was reopened between Fourth and Fifth, and in went a new flagship location for the hometown department store empire.We thought back to this debate from a few years ago, as several islanders try to rally support (reported elsewhere in this issue) for closing off part of Winslow Way with a goal of improving both commerce and personal interaction. “
