Briefs

Library reopening

Kitsap Regional Library will be opening all locations April 5 Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday hours will be the same for larger branches, but smaller branches close three hours earlier.

Beginning Monday, patrons will be invited into the buildings to browse the collection, pick up holds, use public computers or print, copy and fax. They will continue curbside hold pickups and contactless returns, along with quarantining materials for 24 hours.

For details go to www.krl.org

Scout goes solar

Kyle Schroper of Bainbridge Island recently completed his Eagle Scout project at Battle Point Park.

The project is a solar walk. There are 10 signs installed around the trail depicting the solar system. Each planet’s distance from the first sign is proportional to its average distance from the sun.

Visitors can go by the observatory if they want to learn more.

Helping with financial assistance, technical expertise and volunteer time were the BI Parks District, Battle Point Astronomical Association, Bainbridge Community Foundation and Scout Troop 1564.

Expand project?

The Bainbridge Island City Council last week approved $25,000 from the Transportation Benefit Fund to explore expansion of the Madison Avenue Sidewalk project.

The original project, funded with a $1.4 million federal grant for design and construction in 2021-22, is for sidewalk widening on the east side of Madison Avenue between Wyatt Way and High School Road. Staff proposed combining that with the Madison/Village Basin sewer improvements and the Madison Road Reconstruction, along with a separated bicycle facility on both sides of Madison Avenue from Winslow Way to Highway 305.

Advantages of combining the projects include cost efficiencies by overlapping utility and road replacements, and staff efficiencies by focusing on a series of improvements along one corridor in a single project, the city says. Additionally, the separated bike lane element would create an “all ages and all abilities” north-south corridor through Winslow that could potentially connect downtown with the library, schools, parks and other commercial establishments.

Staff will be developing project estimates for the potential larger project for the council and community to consider later this summer.

Free days

The Washington Parks and Recreation Commission invites the public to celebrate the spring season and Earth Day with two free days at state parks in April. On free days, visitors do not need a Discover Pass for day-use parking.

The first free day is April 3 and the next free day is April 22.

The free days are in keeping with legislation that created the Discover Pass, which costs $30 for an annual pass or $10 for a one-day permit.

Jobless down

During the week of March 14-20, there were 11,398 initial regular unemployment claims (down 2.6 percent from the prior week) and 435,675 total claims for all unemployment benefit categories (down 3.1 percent from the prior week) filed statewide, the Employment Security Department reported.

Initial regular claims applications are 91 percent below weekly new claims applications during the same period last year at the start of the pandemic. Initial claims remain elevated (as compared to the 4-week moving average of initial claims pre-pandemic of 6,071 initial claims) and remain at similar levels of initial claims filed during the Great Recession.

Decreases in layoffs in Retail trade, Manufacturing and Construction led the overall decrease in regular initial claims last week. And Pandemic Unemployment Assistance initial claims increased slightly over the week.

In the week ending March 20, ESD paid out over $249.6 million for 307,364 individual claims. Since the crisis began in March 2020, ESD has paid more than $16 billion in benefits to over a million Washingtonians.

Military event

The Kitsap Military Group will host an Easter Egg Drive-Through for Military Families event April 3.

It will be from 9-10:30 a.m. at the Olympic Sports Center in Bremerton. There will be Easter eggs, prizes and a parking lot full of Disney characters.

For more go to www.facebook.com/groups/kitsapmilitarygroup