Washington State Ferries representatives will be in town Monday to discuss operational and pricing strategies, which consist primarily of taking a new approach to an old problem that can be expected for most commuter runs – congestion in peak periods and underutilized vessels and facilities in off-peak times. They want to accomplish this by tweaking the pricing system and installing a systemwide reservation system.
Last month some of our neighbors came to Helpline House to seek help. Some needed food, clothing or counseling while others asked for information, legal issues help, housing or transportation assistance. In their own words, they were:
How long of a line do you suppose you could draw with one ordinary pencil? A mile? Ten miles? Thirty-seven miles?
The Fourth of July is just around the corner – the fireworks stands are open and plans for the “Grand Old Fourth” are under way. The Fourth of July provides a wide range of opportunities to celebrate American independence; opportunities as diverse as the population of the United States.
How did this happen? Did anyone see it coming? With the arrest of one member of the Class of 2008 Friday morning in connection with “Paint Night” (more like “Paint Week”) vandalism, and word of more arrests on the way, we are left to wonder what made this specific group cross over the line that had been loosely drawn by previous practitioners of this long island tradition. Why them? Why now? Now what?
(The following is adapted from remarks made last week at “Reading Leading,” an event held by the Bainbridge Schools Foundation to celebrate island authors and benefit school district reading programs. I omitted the part where I pointed out that a copy of “Skeletons from Our Closet” would make an excellent Father’s Day or graduation present. And to the very gracious staff at Wing Point where the event was held, I apologize again and want to reiterate that I have no idea how all that silverware got into my briefcase.)
Ron Konzak is the Bard of Bainbridge, a poet and “island treasure.” Esoteric, eclectic, electric, creative, humanistic, universalistic, humorous — Ron is these and more.
Habitat for Humanity, perhaps one of our society’s more effectual programs created to help people help themselves, has had very little success on Bainbridge Island. In recent years it has turned donated land into two houses built in the Fort Ward area and another at Hidden Cove, but the island’s skyrocketing land values have made it difficult for the Kitsap County nonprofit to afford the type of ambitious projects it prefers.
I took a short trip by plane this weekend and discovered airports have started something new since my last flight — security lines where travelers self-identify by experience and degrees of personal chaos.
Step by step we are working to restore the health of Puget Sound, the rivers and our Pacific Coast. We’re working through the Puget Sound Partnership clean-up effort and also implementing the Tribal/State Ocean Ecosystem Initiative – an ecosystem-based approach to management of our Pacific coastal waters – to make this part of the world a healthier place for all of us to call home.
I listen to the City Council with rapt wonder. How they discuss money, taxes, expenditures and budgets!
Poulsbo City Council member Becky Erickson dispatched an email Thursday with a copy of a proposed joint resolution she wants the governments of her city, Bainbridge and the Suquamish Tribe to approve and send to the state Department of Transportation. Cutting through all the “whereases,” the gist of it is to sequence the lights on SR-305 to the road end at Highway 3 “to maximize traffic flow (north and south)… during commute hours… in such a way as to reduce the excessive queuing times and move the traffic flow through the corridor in a timed pattern to avoid traffic flow interruption.”
It is the responsibility of cities to maintain their roads, sidewalks and utilities. It is also a top tax priority of our community that the city provides safe, efficient utilities. Some have suggested recently that we should just fix the sewer main on Winslow Way and then in later years we can rip up the street again and repair the other utilities, road and sidewalks. The fact is that all three utilities on Winslow Way – water, sewer and stormwater – are cracked, failing or deficient. Significant sections of the sidewalk are also in disrepair. The current proposed Winslow Way project would correct all of these failing and deficient infrastructures.
