News Roundup -- Ferry wireless up and running/AG to speak to scout clan/Chevron gives to museum

Ferry wireless up and running

Can’t wait to check your email between home and work? Now island ferry commuters can surf the web via wireless Internet access launched yesterday by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and ferry officials.

The Bainbridge run is the third to upgrade, following the Kingston-Edmonds and Port Townsend-Keystone routes that linked up last year.

Washington State Ferries will offer Wi-Fi Internet for free until the end of April, when a private company is likely to take over service.

Murray sponsored a research grant for WSF and Mobilisa, Inc. to study the feasibility of wireless service onboard state ferries.

Access is available on the passenger decks of the MV Klickitat, MV Puyallup, MV Spokane, MV Tacoma and MV Wenatchee. To establish an account, visit www.mobilisa.net. For more information, call (800) WSF-WiFi.

– Tristan Baurick

AG to speak to scout clan

Rob McKenna, Washington State’s Attorney General, will speak at the Friends of Scouting Breakfast at the Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton Feb. 9.

MacKenna, a King County councilman for nine years and an attorney with the Seattle Law Firm of Perkins Coie, was elected Attorney General last November.

The Friends of Scouting Breakfast is an annual event where community members from the West Sound area join to celebrate Boy Scouting and its accomplishments. Contributions to support scouting, including troops on Bainbridge Island, will be requested from participants.

McKenna is an Eagle Scout and has been a member of the Boy Scout’s Chief Seattle Council executive board.

The breakfast runs from 7-8:30 a.m. and is preceded by a coffee reception. The Kitsap Conference Center is at Bremerton’s new Harborside development near the ferry terminal. Reservations: (360) 373-5393.

Chevron gives to museum

Funding for the coming launch of the Children’s Museum on Bainbridge Island is filling up.

Bainbridge Island Chevron and Car Wash Enterprises recently donated $5,000 to the capital campaign of the museum, which is planning to open in March.

“This major donation will help us open our doors and make this dream a reality,” said Molly Hogger, president of the museum board of directors. “The museum is 84 percent funded as we complete renovations and begin installation of the opening exhibits.”

“We’re excited about supporting this very worthwhile effort,” said Vic Odermat, president and chairman of Seattle-based Car Wash Enterprises, Inc., which owns the Chevron station. “This will be a great resource for the island’s children and families.”

Last November, M&M Deli/76 across the street donated nearly $2,500 to the museum.

Since its founding in 2002, the Children’s Museum on Bainbridge Island has been supported by more than 100 community volunteers, including architects, builders, scientists, educators and artists. Nearly all the building and exhibit materials used in the museum’s development have been donated.

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