I’m very fond of the weeds we grow so successfully on Bainbridge Island. Volunteers I call them, plants that pop up wherever we don’t keep them at bay.
Business and residential members of the Rolling Bay neighborhood held a raucous meeting Thursday night in City Hall, often angrily airing their opinions about the recent parking of two or three dozen cars on the large vacant lot at Valley Road and Sunrise Drive. The group, numbering about 50, also had heated discussion about the city’s handling of the permit process regarding the remodeling of the building occupied by Rolling Bay Automotive.
Several years ago, I read a book called “The Power of One.” I was reminded of that title when I learned of what happened after Linda Coble wrote a letter to the Bainbridge Review lamenting the city’s decision to not hang, or fund, the traditional flower baskets on Winslow Way this summer.
First, let me remind all that we now live in a condo at the Vineyard, for this column is all about living in a “green” development.
Some islanders would like everyone in the community to get along and to settle their disagreements with civility and calm. That would be nice, but it isn’t always going to happen on an island that has a recent history of heated dispute over its makeup and the direction it has taken. However, while the dialogue has been contentious at times, generally it has been healthy since Bainbridge Island’s voters decided on Nov. 6, 1990, to annex all of the island to Winslow, which a year later became the City of Bainbridge Island.
Here’s something: Did you know that the sedentary lifestyle of your average bivalve has caused it to develop a very simple nervous system, a nervous system so simple that it does not even include a brain? As those of you with access to Wikipedia know, bivalves are aquatic mollusks with two-part symmetrical shells. Popular bivalves include our friends the scallop, clam, oyster and mussel. Although scallops can swim, most bivalves spend their lives firmly attached to flat surfaces or buried in the sand, feeding themselves by siphoning off passing particles, reproducing asexually, and getting by just fine without a functioning brain. The more I learn about bivalves, the more they remind me of my high school friend Reuben.
The City of Bainbridge Island is considering revisions to the Critical Area Ordinance to better protect the health of Puget Sound. After hearing concerns from some of our neighbors and friends, we believe myths are being spread that need to be corrected. Below are some of the common questions, along with answers based on what’s stated in the draft and existing regulations, as well as on conversations with city officials. We think it is important to help people understand the draft ordinance because the proposed regulations are not a threat. They represent a really positive step toward preserving and rehabilitating the Sound.
Here are two of Mildred and Walt Woodward’s timeless editorials, the first published on Sept. 19, 1962 and the second a week later:
Perhaps you watched the 2008 All-Star Game last week, or at least the first six or seven hours of it. And if you did, then maybe also heard Fox Sports analyst Tim McCarver call Ichiro Suzuki the best right fielder he’s seen since Roberto Clemente.
Question: Does Bainbridge Island, where the average household’s income is somewhere around $95,000, take care of its less fortunate? Generally, the island’s social-service professionals and volunteers answer yes. But it’s not an unqualified yes. Donations and volunteers have been reasonably consistent in recent years, they say, but the current economic downturn will test islanders’ benevolence as more people slide toward the poverty line and operational costs increase for service organizations such as Helpline House and Interfatih Volunteer Caregivers.
Ah! A summer Saturday!
Let me list the joys of a sunny summer Saturday on Bainbridge.
First, no socks. We have bare feet in sandals, toes free at last to wiggle and admire. Then, airy clothes, a pair of shorts, a filmy dress or a cooling shirt, and finally a hat to keep sun off completes our summer outfits.
OK. So the Seattle Mariners aren’t exactly selling out Safeco Field, while the Seahawks are still months away from returning to action. As Seattle sports fans, what are we to do?
A real estate broker said at last week’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon that the messenger (the media) was spreading fear that caused potential buyers to become immobilized. Headlines, she said, were a particular culprit since “frequently, the facts (in the story) aren’t as harsh...” No doubt, the media’s ability to influence readers is tremendous, which means we have an important responsibility to get it right.
The current budget shortfall for the city means that very few of the capital projects will get funded this year. To me the most important project is the big dig – the utilities and infrastructure replacement in downtown Winslow. Downtown is the central diamond in the jeweled ring that is Bainbridge Island, an exception to the trend of small downtowns fast disappearing in our car-oriented society.
It certainly pays to own property, especially on Bainbridge Island. Just ask Larry Nakata.
“It’s great to see everything so beautifully grown,” he said. My beautifully grownup son was visiting recently. He was referring to our garden, of course, but I was looking at him when I agreed wholehearted.
BHS “Paint Night” and the lack of set limits for this annual ritual cause many to ask how this got started.
It was bound to happen some day, but its inevitability makes it no less tragic. A woman who says she was hurt when a small metal clip securing a decorative rhinestone heart flew off her powder-blue thong and hit her in the eye has sued Victoria’s Secret, purveyor’s of women’s lingerie. Macrida Patterson, a 52-year old Los Angeles traffic officer with no prior record of underwear incidents, tells the tragic story in her own words: “I was putting on my underwear and the metal popped in my eye. It happened really quickly. I was in excruciating pain. I screamed.”
Considering the entertainment value of the City Council’s recent meetings, perhaps the city should start charging an admission fee. Well, probably not, since most people would just stay home and watch the shenanigans on Bainbridge Island Television.
Councilman Barry Peters recently wrote a letter accusing “a small number” of unnamed island residents of engaging in “personal attack style politics.” Mr. Peters believes that disrespectful citizens are responsible for the recent resignations of several city employees.