“A carefully caged bird or a neatly arranged still life won’t live long. Sometimes disarray is a sign of life – it’s a secret that island existence has taught painter Peggy Brunton well. You find some real jewels around here, says Brunton, but you need a little ugliness to appreciate the beauty. Brunton says she likes to throw in the odd wilted flower or some muddy colors to keep the sense of spontaneity alive in her paintings. And she says she’s always, ready to be surprised, referring with a cheeky smile to the roadside entrepreneurs and deserted schooners she discovered on her rambles.”
“Life’s little coincidences.Just as local property owners are getting over thewallop of this week’s reassessment notices – on Bainbridge Island, top-dollar sales have driven valuations up an average of 15 percent over last year – we slide right into National Home Ownership Week, June 3-10.Alas, with home prices skyrocketing here, pride of ownership is decreasingly likely for many of us, at least if we hope to stay in this community.”
“>The writer confesses his shameless envy of the interviewee.Whenever business is slow, he notes, Carson Farley can just walk across the room, pick up a guitar and noodle away the afternoon.Or a keyboard, in my case, said Farley, plunking out a tune on a flashy Yamaha at the new Island Music store, upstairs at Winslow Mall.”
“Your home as investment is paying off.Bainbridge Island property values are up an average of 15 percent over last year, with reassessment notices arriving in local mailboxes this week.I’m blown away whenever I go up there (to Bainbridge), and see what people are paying for properties, said Jim Avery, Kitsap County assessor.The island already has far and away the highest home and land prices in the county, and again is seeing the area’s biggest jump in assessed valuations.”
“Seems like every time we turn around, we’re saying goodbye to Leigh Kennel.Back when we moved to Bainbridge, lo those many years ago, the irrepressibly cheerful Kennel was among the first islanders we had the pleasure of meeting.”
“Who knows whether British composer Gustav Holst’s The Planets really strives for universal unity, post-World War One. But for the violinist who has dedicated himself to performing the large-scale orchestral work, music has always moved both heaven and earth. I’ve had to juggle a lot of responsibilities to keep up with my music, says Rick Tarbill, Bainbridge High School violin student.Tarbill is missing his senior prom in order to play excerpts from The Planets with the Seattle Symphony Friday, and says the sacrifice is definitely worth it.”
“No bridge, thanks.By a 7-0 vote, the Bainbridge Island City Council this week formally opposed the idea of a second span connecting the island to the Kitsap Peninsula.I’m sure from Illahee west, it has its merits, said Councilman Jim Llewellyn, who co-sponsored the resolution with Councilwoman Christine Nasser.From Point White east, it has none.”
“You don’t need to meet Michael J. Vaughn to know he wears a lot of hats. But an interview – appropriately, by email – reveals that the artistic accouterment of poet, playwright and journalist have long concealed his true aspirations – now he dons the most unusual of literary guises, that of online author.There are so many schizophrenic voices running round in my head, he writes, by way of explanation for Gabriella’s Voice, his 200-page e-book now available from online outlets.Although he is loath to describe his online opus as autobiographical, he admits that his visit to Bainbridge Island three years ago was an inspiration.”
“Having voted to unionize, local firefighters will soon begin negotiating a formal contract with the Bainbridge Island Fire Department.The written agreement will codify standards for wages, working conditions, hours and benefits between the department and the new union chapter, Local 4034 of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). (Joining a union) is kind of an industry standard, said Local 4034’s president, Bainbridge firefighter Greg Borgen. If your call volume goes up, it’s not too far behind that the union is going to come in.”
“Our kids smoke pot.Some of them do, anyway. Some seem to enjoy boozing it up. Still others pack knives, probably as much to impress their friends as anything else.When one of them gets caught with such contraband on school grounds, how much attention does it deserve?That question lies at the heart of a recent spate of complaints directed at school district officials and board members.”
“Lou Goller and Pauline Deschamps were icons of island business.Bainbridge Island prides itself on being distinctive and independent – not a part of anything or anyplace else. Louis Goller and Pauline Deschamps, two business people honored posthumously by the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce at its annual awards luncheon last week, succeeded by adopting that attitude for their businesses.Deschamps, who died Feb. 5 of this year, and Goller, who died Feb. 17, bucked the trend toward consolidation and homogenization, and thrived by going their own way, friends, family members and associates said.”
“In her many years as a downtown booster and civic leader, Marge Williams always charted a path of community goodwill. Now, as the effort to establish a non-profit center in her name hums along, islanders have a chance to set that path in stone, one brick at a time.”
“With the jaunt half done, an islander takes time to catch his breath.Cycling for a year across 20,000 miles of the most beautiful terrain in the world seemed like a dream come true, for riders who could afford the $36,000-dollar around-the-globe adventure.But Bainbridge Islander Len Beil, who has now traveled 7,300 miles with about 250 other cyclists on the Odyssey 2000 bike ride, said, It’s turning out to be much, much more challenging than most of the other people on the ride ever imagined.”
