“We’re feeling a little low on the admonishment scale today – what, like we’re supposed to have the answer to everyone’s problems? – so we’ve decided to don our ombudsman cap, reach into the mail bag and try to answer a couple of reader queries.”
“Without a tornado in sight, the house at 701 Madison Avenue was lifted several feet above the ground. Then it sailed down the road like a tribute to The Wizard of Oz, to touch down on Weaver Avenue.The hardest part will be passing the house under the fiber-optic (overhead) line, said Jeff Monroe of Monroe House Moving, adjusting the remote control by which he steered the motor beneath the historic home Thursday.We move a lot of buildings because of natural disasters like floods and erosion, Monroe said. Right now, though, development growth management is big business. The Monroe firm was commissioned to move the structure, donated to the Housing Resources Board for use as subsidized accommodations, and to make way for a new Madison Avenue development.Built in 1904 and once the residence of Sadie Woodman, the first postwoman on the island, the family home passed from son Bob Woodman and then into the hands of developer Rod McKenzie, who intends to build a courtyard of 30 houses on the site. McKenzie donated the home to the HRB, a non-profit agency that seeks to provide affordable housing.There’s a whole load of history here, said Janice Thomas, Bob Woodman’s daughter.”
“The police are moving northwest, and the courts southwest, someday to meet.The Bainbridge Island City Council Thursday approved purchase of a 15-acre parcel at Sportsman Club and New Brooklyn roads, for the future construction of a new police station and municipal court building.Purchase price was $495,000, which city Administrator Lynn Nordby said was far less than other properties under consideration.We were looking at two- and three- and five-acre parcels for the same kind of money, Nordby said.”
“Was there really a threat?A few islanders, and those of us at this newspaper, will certainly reflect on that question after regional media showed up this week to pounce on the supposed threat of gun violence in a Bainbridge school.Television coverage apparently will follow a banner headline in a Bremerton newspaper Tuesday, proclaiming the expulsion of a Sakai Intermediate School student for taking handgun and shotgun shells to school.For obvious reasons, school district officials hate this sort of thing, and they are irate over a treatment they seem to feel unreasonably implied that random gun violence has descended upon island schools.”
“An 11-year old Sakai Intermediate School student has been expelled indefinitely for carrying bullets to school.Was he a threat to himself or other students?Bainbridge Island School District officials and police say no, after separate investigations into the March 29 incident.I think we’re walking away from this one pretty confident, Bainbridge Police Chief Bill Cooper said. We’re real comfortable it’s been resolved.The student, who authorities declined to name, will remain under expulsion pending unspecified medical assurances of his safety to himself and other students, Bainbridge school Superintendent Steve Rowley said.”
“Charles Smith couldn’t decide whether to be a European or an American. He has resolved that conflict by bringing the taste and feel of Europe to the Winslow Wine Shop, which he opened March 3.I’ve tried to incorporate the feeling of all my favorite shops in Europe – cozy, comfortable and relaxed, Smith said.Early indications are that the concept is a hit.”
“When Bob Skodis visits Battle Point Park with his dog, he usually brings home more than pleasant memories.The Fletcher Bay resident says his frequent sojourns are followed by a noisome period spent cleaning bird droppings off his shoes, as well as from his dog’s paws and fur.It’s really disconcerting when you get home and you realize you’ve got duck crap on your shoes and your rug, he said.Now Skodis is lobbying the Bainbridge park district to ban the feeding of ducks and other water fowl in local parks. Handouts of stale bread and other goodies, he believes, exacerbates a problem of once-migratory birds loitering and fouling the park grounds.When somebody goes up to the edge of the lake with bread, the ducks fly right up, 100 or more, Skodis said. To a certain extent, they rely on that. That’s why they stick around.”
“No matter how the House and Senate resolve their fight over the state budget, islanders should be sitting pretty – at least in the short term. Ferry service will be maintained, and city taxes could actually decrease, local officials say.Those assessments are based on the information trickling out of Olympia this week. The special session of the Washington State Legislature was expected to adjourn Friday afternoon with no budget agreement, and reportedly was not slated to reconvene until House and Senate negotiators agree on a budget.According to Rep. Phil Rockefeller, D-Bainbridge Island, the budget plans from both House and Senate would give the ferry system the same amount of money for the upcoming fiscal year, and Bainbridge ferry service wouldn’t be affected at that funding level.”
“What does a little encouragement cost?For Bainbridge Music and Arts, about $300,000.Over the past 32 years, that’s what the all-volunteer nonprofit organization has paid out in scholarships and awards, enabling more than 2,000 middle and high school students to pursue training in dance, drama, music, creative writing, and mixed-media art (painting, sculpture, jewelry, photography, paper making).And how the program has grown!Because of the generosity of donors and other arts organizations, says BMA president Caryl Grosch, we’ve been able to increase the amount we give to the kids.”
“They stood beneath hand-lettered signs and – it being November – umbrellas. They protested the cutting of trees, and perhaps the irony that in a country founded on individualism, the arrival of generic hamburgers could be seen as progress.Their image graced the front page of the Review on Nov. 22, 1989, some two dozen islanders taking a stand against the groundbreaking of the McDonald’s eatery on High School Road. The restaurant did in fact go up, and seems to enjoy loyal patronage to this day. Now we wonder – do the local zoning restrictions on formula fast-food restaurants that McDonald’s inspired still have a following of their own?”
“Allow a Papa Murphy’s pizza franchise on Bainbridge Island, or risk seeing the city’s fast-food ordinance overturned in court.That’s the challenge from restaurateur Mike Cooper of Sequim, and his attorney. Do the city a favor and interpret the ordinance in a way that permits our operation, attorney Peter Eglick told a city hearing examiner Monday, because I don’t think this ordinance will last a day in court.Cooper said his plan to open a Papa Murphy’s U-bake pizza outlet in the Village shopping center was approved in December of 1999. But after a complaint from another local pizzeria, a sizeable investment by Cooper, and an executive session of the city council, city Planning Director Stephanie Warren reversed her decision, a sequence of events that has prompted charges of favoritism and closed-door dealings.”
“On a sunny afternoon, Rebecca Slattery’s farm seems as inexorable as spring itself.But these days, the mysterious force of nature pushing the first intrepid crops to the sky withers in the face of an element perhaps even more arcane: the market.As Bainbridge farmers search for ways to sell their crops for enough money to meet the rising costs of staying on the island, they are learning to nurture not only chard, kale and cauliflower, but also potential clients.We definitely need (to do that) on Bainbridge, Slattery said, because we’re such an endangered species – farmers here.”
“The future of rock n’ roll starts with the tried-and-true essentials.We came out here with a guitar and an amplifier, a couple of sleeping bags, a dog, and a color T.V. that didn’t work very well, says Ric Autumn, the oldest member of the Bainbridge-based rock band the Future.The band was formed several years ago by brothers Erik and Mike Future, and after practicing for months at Seabold Hall, is recording its first full length album in Canada this weekend.”
