“Fits and starts, or endless circles?The city public works department is steering toward the latter – a traffic roundabout – as it plans major changes to the High School Road/Madison Avenue intersection this summer.And the city council agreed Wednesday, authorizing formal engineering of a single-lane roundabout as an alternative to an already-planned traffic signal.The decision is not final, but informal discussion suggested general support among council members.I see nothing that can’t be overcome with education and good engineer design, Councilwoman Elizabeth Murray said. “
“Ever feel like you were going in circles?Like confused motorists trapped in a traffic roundabout, unable to make that last jog back into the lane of travel to head on their way, we have the feeling we’ve been here before.That’s certainly the sense we get as the city council ponders approval of a roundabout at the High School Road/Madison Avenue intersection, replacing the non-functional four-way stop and foreswearing the rather pedestrian traffic signal. In fact, we can see the process now: “
“Like out of a scene of Searching for Bobby Fischer, 30 students sat furrow-browed over chess boards, their feet dangling several inches above the floor.It wasn’t a prodigy chess tournament in New York City or Chicago; they were Bainbridge kids in the Ordway Elementary School library. Chess and schools make a good partnership, said Ordway principal, Bruce Colley. It ties in with the whole academia that schools promote.As part of a new after-school program, students at Sakai, Ordway, Wilkes and the Odyssey program learn chess from master Charlie Nguyen. “
“Rep. Beverly Woods introduced legislation this week that she thinks will moderate ferry fare increases, by shifting more of the system’s burden on the taxpayers.But the Poulsbo Republican is not yet willing to address the question of how to get that money from the taxpayers.Woods’ bill would require the state transportation commission to report annually to the Legislature about the percentage of ferry operating costs recovered from fares, and to exclude maintenance costs from the base in making the report. “
“Of all the art exhibits to hang, the big, conglomerate group show could be hardest. As with the Intermediate and Middle School Art Show at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, there are a lot of objects that have to go somewhere.For the curator, envisioning what fits on what wall, giving each artist their due while shaping the whole is arguably as much a creative exercise as making the art in the first place. What I did, BAC Director Janice Shaw said, was to allocate space based on the number of students a particular teacher had. Shaw and eight art educators do a remarkably good job of coherently packing about 175 student works into one small room. “
“The photograph was taken at the Seattle Center, sometime in the mid-1960s.Packed into the frame, a few dozen kids out for a Teenage Fair mug for the camera, several waving electric guitars, others with fists in the air and faces wild in a youthful declaration of purpose:Yeaaahhhh!!!And in their midst is a fiftyish man, conservatively suit-and-tied, gazing somewhere past the camera with a face that suggests bemusement or chagrin or maybe a little of each.The photo – which appears midway through the Experience Music Project Northwest Passage display of Seattle rock memorabilia – suggests the uneasy detente between teens and adults best embodied by rock and roll music.It’s a precarious relationship that Robert Santelli, a preeminent rock scholar who finds himself at midlife, would seem to understand.It’s by young people, for young people, says Santelli, 49, of the music and culture that has been his passion and his livelihood. Some people my age are lucky enough to still get something out of it. It’s helped keep me young, that’s for sure.Deputy director for public programs at the EMP, Santelli will speak on Popular Music in American Culture at the Bainbridge Library Jan. 25, as part the Arts and Humanities Council’s American culture inquiry series. “
“Elsewhere in this issue, we take a statistical look at the Bainbridge Island housing market, 2000 edition. A fair summary, it seems to us, is that the island offers a rich array of choices – for those who want the best and can afford it.Basically, Bainbridge is now a move-up market. While there is a decent selection of homes down into the low $200,000 range, that’s still a daunting sum for a first-time buyer – particularly the down payment.Trying to provide housing opportunities for the whole spectrum of the island is a little like salmon trying to swim upstream – the economic forces against you are powerful and unrelenting. But to its credit, this community has recognized that it has both a moral and legal obligation to put up a fight. “
“A Glove on My Heart is just what Judith Brown seems to lack. The title of Brown’s new book refers to her initial intent to shield her feelings by remaining detached from the mentally ill clients with whom she would work.Ironically, her eventual immersion in the world of mental illness without self-protection turned out to be her great strength. Her other asset was another deficit – a dearth of technical nomenclature and professional veneer, those other gloves on the heart.The most important thing I did was to stay upbeat, Brown said. I was not a therapist; I didn’t have to demand anything of them. I could be the one to give them hugs, because I was ‘only’ a friend, a volunteer. “
“Islanders want to preserve open space, promote farming and provide affordable housing. One way to do all three simultaneously is through a community land trust, according to the city’s affordable housing task force.The idea is simple. The trust will own the land itself, and will make it available on long-term lease for approved uses, including farming and affordable housing. “
“As the argument heats up in Olympia over ferry fares, those closest to the issue are sounding warnings that fares are only one part of the funding crisis facing the ferry system.The unaddressed part of the puzzle is capital funding – repairs, replacements and maintenance. And the lack of capital funding can stop the ferry system dead in the water. “
“A much-beloved ferry terminal fixture, the Commuter Comforts latte and pastry stand, will disappear within the next few weeks. But almost as fast as a barista can whip up a double-tall, a new and improved stand will take its place.The building is going on about 15 years old and has just had it, owner Carole Keyes said. We talked about remodeling, but it just won’t work.So Keyes commissioned Bill Nelson of Nelson Wood and Glass to design and build a replacement kiosk. And to save down-time, the new structure will be built off-site, trucked to the terminal and installed on a new foundation. “
“It’s said that centuries ago, as the age of exploration got under way, nautical mapmakers would caution sailors against straying too far into uncharted regions – warning them with such baleful inscriptions as Here be monsters. Those who dared navigate strange waters fared somewhat better than predicted. What they found were new lands, new riches – the whole point of taking the voyage in the first place.But the imagery seems apt, as Representatives Beverly Woods and Phil Rockefeller – key legislators who should be charting a course to save Washington State Ferries – seem reluctant to set sail and go. “
“‘So she took drugs and got herself knocked up.So what. It’s her own fault. To hell with her.There’s a certain predictability of response to tales like those of Marcie, a woman who’s been intermittently homeless on Bainbridge for 20 years. In a society often short on compassion for those who veer wide of personal industry – I got mine, get your own – or Victorian mores, our Marcies are likely to earn scorn or their presence willfully ignored.But behind each failure is a human face. “
