Bryan out as public works director
"Nine-year city public works director Bill Bryan will leave his post by the end of the year, effectively fired by the mayor and city administrator.Bryan agreed to step down after a Nov. 15 meeting with Mayor Dwight Sutton and Administrator Lynn Nordby. The move was never announced publicly, but was confirmed in inquiries by the Review Monday, based on information from several sources."
- Dec 4, 1999
Islanders in front lines at WTO protests
"Shannon Service brought six months of painstaking preparations. Russell Everett brought a sense of historical import. Susan Anderson brought her four-year-old son. Those three were among the hundred-plus Bainbridge Island residents who played small roles on the worldwide stage in downtown Seattle during the demonstration and destruction that accompanied this week’s World Trade Organization delegate meetings.“I could see it would be a big event, a life experience,” said Everett, a Bainbridge High School senior who was among an estimated 70 to 90 classmates at assorted protests Tuesday. “I wanted to say yes, I was at the Seattle WTO protest, and I saw what went down.”"
- Dec 4, 1999
“Paski Pavilion, or maybe the BozoDome?”
"There’s still work to be done on the beautiful new Bainbridge High School gymnasium before its Jan. 8 grand opening.While there’s still time, one of the items on school district’s checklist ought to be giving its new crown jewel a name."
- Dec 4, 1999
“Drugs, anger fueled burglary spree”
"A stuffed animal, believe it or not, may be your best protection against a burglary.So says one convicted burglar.Of all the decoys that homeowners have employed as protection against intruders – lighting timers and operating televisions and radios among them – one of the most effective deterrents may be a large stuffed dog viewed through half-closed blinds."
- Nov 23, 1999
Ballfield dispute ends in draw
"Softball-gloved girls will be regularly taking to the field at Lower Rotary Park for the next two seasons – for the first time ever.It’s the key provision of a Nov. 3 agreement, brokered in a six-hour mediation session between Bainbridge Island Little League board members and softball advocacy group Angels in the Infield."
- Nov 23, 1999
“Speak now, or just write”
"It’s 11 p.m. Do you know where your city council member is?If it’s the second or fourth Wednesday of the month, they’re probably at the Bainbridge Commons, heading into their fifth hour of deliberations on ordinances, budgeting and other affairs of city. And to a member, they and Mayor Dwight Sutton agree, it’s time to go home.“After 10 p.m., any decision I make, I’d like to review the next morning,” Councilman Merrill Robison says."
- Nov 23, 1999
Evening ferries the first to go
"The three-boat schedule is dead. And so are most evening ferry runs between Bainbridge Island and Seattle, under a schedule released by Washington State Ferries Wednesday.“We’ll still take care of the rush-hour traffic pretty well,” said Forrest Six, chair of the Bainbridge Island Ferry Advisory Committee, “although there’ll probably be people standing up on the boats.”"
- Nov 15, 1999
Slow down! Traffic revisions due for Madison Avenue
"You drive too fast.But so does everyone else – welcome to Madison Avenue.“One of the problems now is that it’s a straight shot,” said Winslow architect Peter O’Connor, on the design of Winslow’s least pedestrian-friendly throughway.“Because it’s a straight shot, (drivers) focus on the end of the street. Because they focus on the end of the street, they drive faster.”"
- Nov 10, 1999
Officials begin to measure I-695 fallout
"Well, now what?That’s the question facing Bainbridge Island public officials after voter approval of Initiative 695 Tuesday.“It adds some question marks for the future,” said Ken Guy, executive director of the Bainbridge Island Fire Department.It’s a sentiment shared by Guy’s peers around the island’s other taxing jurisdictions, as they consider the imminent loss of state funds, or how and when to seek voter support for public services."
- Nov 10, 1999
Islanders in line to succeed Schmidt
"It may be mere coincidence that two of the strongest candidates to replace longtime Bainbridge resident Karen Schmidt in the state legislature’s 23rd District have the strongest ties to the island.Mike Jones, a Bainbridge High School graduate, has been a longtime grass-roots Republican Party activist and now serves as the GOP’s 23rd District chair."
- Nov 10, 1999
“Tip your hat to downtown, Wendy Johnson”
"Talk about your one-stop shopping. That’s what downtown Winslow is all about.Think about it – you can pick up groceries, visit the hardware store, buy stationary, see a florist, drop off letters at the post office, and yes, buy a latte, all without moving your car once.This assumes that you can find a parking space, but that’s a minor quibble. Bainbridge Island enjoys an asset almost unique in this day and age – a functional downtown, as central to the island as a cultural hub as it is one of commerce."
- Nov 10, 1999
“ELECTION FINAL — Nasser, Pollock prevail in council bids”
"Christine Nasser and Michael Pollock earned solid support in their bids for the Bainbridge Island City Council, while a long-time fire commissioner was turned out by voters in Tuesday balloting.Nasser, a former open-space planner and international trade specialist, outpolled Blakely-area innkeeper Ron Gibbs by a count of 4,038 to 1,186. The 76-24 split propels Nasser into the South Ward, Position 6 council seat being vacated by Andy Maron."
- Nov 3, 1999
“More forums, and earlier”
"That guy scared the hell out of me!”It might not have been the typical audience response after last week’s candidate forum for city council hopefuls. But it was certainly dynamic – and no, we’re not making it up – and it suggests that there is still considerable value to lining up our aspirants for public office in a room somewhere and letting them have their say."
- Nov 2, 1999
Parking garage could be new retail center
This is for everyone who’s ever tried to find a parking spot on Winslow Way during daylight hours.And likely failed.City officials are considering scheduling a public study session on a plan to build a “town square” on two plots of property between the Bainbridge Playhouse and the north side of Winslow Way.
- Nov 2, 1999
Pool fee hike floated
"It would be hard to point to more than a small handful of services that haven’t seen a price increase in the last eight years.Admission to the Ray Williamson Memorial Pool for open and lap swimming is one of them – or, rather, will have been if proposed across-the-board user fees increases of 25 to 30 percent take effect in January."
- Nov 2, 1999
Housing authority purchases Fort Ward parcel
"Nobody’s throwing any parades yet.But the sale of the Fort Ward parage ground by island developer Ray Stevenson to the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority is considered a cause for celebration by open-space preservationists and affordable-housing advocates alike.“This is going to be a real constructive addition to the community,” said Mayor Dwight Sutton, who serves as the chair of the housing authority’s board of commissioners."
- Nov 1, 1999
Driving ranges dispute rages on
"Seventy-five feet.Nothing on Bainbridge Island is that tall, unless it’s a tree or a cellular tower. An amazon of similar scale, however may grace – or perhaps grate – the local landscape: the steel poles and netting for a proposed driving range at the Wing Point Golf and Country Club.That’s a change from the height listed on the club’s application for a conditional-use permit to build the members-and-guests-only practice facility. The 130-foot-wide, 700-foot-long range, with an estimated cost of more than $600,000, would be located on four recently acquired acres just east of the club’s 18-hole golf course."
- Nov 1, 1999
Abandoned cemeteries a matter of grave concern
"The bones of Northwest pioneers lie in graves all over Washington. While most rest in peace, some unmaintained cemeteries have been dug up and paved over for the sake of urban development.But the dead can rest easy again – a law enacted this year ends that practice, prohibiting developers from simply building over old cemeteries that no one seems to own or care for."
- Nov 1, 1999
Ferry Godmother Karen Schmidt sails into the sunset
"When people talk about Karen Schmidt, Bainbridge Island’s retiring larger-than-life Republican lawmaker, four themes stand firm.One, at one time or another, she angered virtually everyone.Two, they respected her anyway.Three, most of her constituents have no idea how much she did for them.And four, for every island constituent who believed she held interests elsewhere in the 23rd District above theirs, there is a Kitsap County resident who felt she favored Bainbridge first."
- Oct 23, 1999