News Roundup - Green news on the island/BAC donates $3K to schools/See Santa while you can

Green news on the island

The Environment News Service, an international wire service covering issues that impact the environment, has pulled up roots in Honolulu, Hawaii, and transplanted its headquarters to Winslow.

In a press release, managing editor Jim Crabtree said his company relocated in part because it liked the “active involvement in environmental initiatives on the part of Bainbridge Islanders.”

According to the release, Crabtree and editor-in-chief Sunny Lewis founded the service in Vancouver, B.C. in 1990 and have maintained it as an independent news source.

Along with journalists, ENS uses reports from experts in a variety of disciplines including lawyers, economists, biologists or geographers.

Most ENS correspondents are based in major world capitals, including one in Washington D.C., but some are sent out on assignment.

According to its website, ENS has a subscriber list of more than 100,000 including BBC, CBC, NBC and NPR outlets.

Its stories can be accessed by the public at www.ens-newswire.com.

BAC donates $3K to schools

Bainbridge Arts and Crafts has donated $3,000 to supplement the arts budget for all Bainbridge public schools.

“We want every kid in school to have access to the materials to make art with,” BAC Director of Ecucation Victoria Josslin said.

Each year, BAC donates funds to Bainbridge Public Schools specifically earmarked for the supplies of teachers’ choice. She said one year, for instance, Bainbridge High School purchased hundreds of pounds of clay.

The biggest source of the funds, Josslin says, comes from BAC’s fundraising efforts, including sales from the student art exhibition “Mixed Nuts,” which will show again in February.

Josslin said Mixed Nuts applicaitons for 2008 are already roling in; the deadline is Jan. 10, with the show set for Feb. 1 through March 4. Applications are in Arts News and at public schools.

For more information, see www.bainbridgeartsandcrafts.org or call 842-3132.

– Lindsay Latimore

See Santa while you can

This Saturday will be the last chance to get a photo taken with Santa while spreading cheer to the Helpline House.

Nick Felkey of Bainbridge Photo Lab & Studio will be taking Santa pictures from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 15 at the American Marine Bank.

The photos are free, but a $5 donation or non-perishable food item is requested to help stock the food bank.

Felkey provides his photography and photo processing for the cause while the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association recruits Santa and elves.

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