News Roundup – Health clinic to be closed/Driver hurt in head-on crash/Inslee tackles ocean storms/

Published 10:00 am Saturday, December 9, 2006

Health clinic to be closed

For a clinic that has long offered immunizations, among other health services, there will be no shot in the arm.

Come Jan. 1, the Bainbridge Clinic will shut its doors for good following a decision this week by the Kitsap County Board of Health.

Facing a $230,000 budget shortfall, the health board voted to close the clinic, which opened in 1994 but has seen diminishing use.

Now only open on Tuesdays, the clinic sees about six people per day.

Services, along with patrons, have migrated elsewhere over the years, said Mayor Darlene Kordonowy.

“This was not a sudden decision,” said Kordonowy, who chairs the health board.

“I hate to see services go away on Bainbridge Island, but this was an important decision based on the budget.”

No staff will be displaced by the closure.

Along with some immunizations, the clinic offers emergency contraception and food handler’s classes.

It offered full-service family planning until 2003, and travel shots until 2005.

The health board is working to move the displaced services elsewhere, though most are already available at the Poulsbo Clinic.

Senior Center director Jane Allan, whose organization shares a building with the clinic, said the senior center likely could host food handler’s classes in the future.

Closing the clinic will save the health district about $30,000 per year. Other cost cutting measures include the possible closure of the Port Orchard Clinic. That decision is expected by March.

-Chad Schuster

Driver hurt in head-on crash

One driver was seriously injured in a partial head-on collision that closed Highway 305 between Madison and Sportsman Club for hours Wednesday afternoon.

Police say a 17-year-old Bainbridge Island youth was driving a 1995 Land Rover southbound when he lost control of the vehicle, causing it to cross into the oncoming lane of travel. The driver over-corrected twice, ending up going back across the northbound lane, where he collided with a 1995 Toyota pickup truck driven by a 61-year-old Bainbridge woman.

It appeared that the driver of the Toyota took evasive action, driving onto the northbound shoulder of the road in an attempt to avoid the Land Rover.

Both drivers were wearing seat belts. The driver of the Toyota was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with serious injuries that were not believed to be life threatening.

Cause of the crash remains under investigation. Police said mechanical failure may have been a factor.

Names of the victims were not released.

Inslee tackles ocean storms

Congressman Jay Inslee shepherded a bill through the House and Senate this week aimed at improving tsunami detection and preparedness in the United States and abroad.

“This bill will deploy the technology scientists need to detect waves and governments need to warn citizens,” the Bainbridge Democrat said in a speech on the House floor Wednesday.

The measure would increase the number of tsunami detection devices near U.S. coastlines, require timely reports to Congress on malfunctioning equipment, fund educational programs on tsunami preparedness, promote tsunami research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and direct the federal agency to help foreign nations improve warning systems.

Inslee said the bill was motivated by his desire to avoid the devastation wrought by the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed almost 250,000 in 12 countries two years ago.

The bill was unanimously approved by the Senate on Thursday and will now go to the president. If signed into law, the measure could initiate tsunami warning upgrades before the end of the year.

“This not only will bring peace of mind to people who live on shorelines in Washington state and other coastal areas, it also will present opportunities to innovators in our backyard who are developing more reliable, sensitive and cost-effective detection technologies,” Inslee said.

-Tristan Baurick

Bike race film benefits family

A locally produced film on bicycling’s heyday premiers tomorrow to raise money for a family that recently lost their most beloved cyclist.

Cycling history aficionado Jeff Groman’s documentary “The Six-Day Bicycle Races” is set to screen Sunday at the Lynwood Theatre as a benefit for the daughters of Larry E. McMullen, who died in a car crash in late October.

“A special sneak preview showing of the film seemed like the perfect way to celebrate Larry’s love of cycling and to help his family,” said Groman, owner of Classic Cycle on Winslow Way and self-described “instigator” of the documentary. “We have a very large bicycling community here on Bainbridge and most folks want to help out.”

Admission from the event will benefit the Lana and Hilary McMullen Education Fund, which is administered by American Marine Bank.

The documentary is based on the recently-released book of the same title written by Peter Joffre Nye, with Groman serving as consultant.

The book, which was awarded a top honor in the USA Book News’ Best Books 2006 contest, covers what was America’s top professional sport between 1890 and 1935.

The companion documentary was crafted with the help of filmmaker Mark Tyson.

The Six-Day Bicycle Races documentary premier is set for 5:30 p.m.

A $10 minimum donation is suggested for admission.

-Tristan Baurick