Daily Archives: August 4, 2008

Police Blotter: Death by longbow, anchor…or puddle?

A platoon’s worth of teens were rounded up at a house party this week. Bainbridge police called in backup from the sheriff’s office and the Poulsbo PD. They kicked in doors and found nearly 30 beer-buzzed teens cowering in closets, under furniture and on the roof. The big lesson here is make sure you choose your house sitter well. This particular house’s sitter threw this particular rager while the homeowner was laid up in a L.A. hospital bed.

Also this week, a surly arrestee threatens to kill several police officers, the harbormaster and an unnamed “snitch.” Those not killed with his long bow from 135 yards off (before they ever know what hit them) may meet their ends tied to an anchor at the bottom of Eagle Harbor. Heck, any body of water will do when comes to drowning his enemies, “even a deep puddle.”

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A wave of shoreline regulation news

Lots of news on island shoreline protections at the tail end of last week.

The prospect of new development restrictions along waterfront properties brought out the largest crowd I’ve ever seen at City Hall (and I’ve been covering City Hall for over four years) last Wednesday.

Based on the applause during public testimony, the room (and the throng spilling out the door) was pretty evenly divided between waterfront property owners opposed to the new regs and residents (some of whom also live on the water) who want tougher shoreline habitat and water quality protections. That’s the crowd pictured above.

Read my story on that event here.

A day later, on Thursday, the state Supreme Court issued a decision that, in island marine habitat specialist Jim Brennan words, “sent a shock wave across Puget Sound.” The ruling effectively halted the city’s update of its shoreline regs, and may delay their implementation until 2011. Environmentalists booed. Many waterfront property owners cheered.

Read my story on the court’s ruling impact on Bainbridge here.

And for even more on the ruling’s wider implications, check out this story.

Friday was an unlucky day on BI’s roads

Two serious car crashes and a handful of smaller ones Friday afternoon sent two people to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and closed a section State Route 305.

“The stars weren’t aligned correctly today,” said Bainbridge Island Police Deputy Chief Mark Duncan.

The first serious crash was reported at 1:38 p.m., when a woman riding a bicycle north on the highway near NE Lovgreen Road was struck by a van.

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