Bainbridge Conversation

Congressional Quarterly mentioned island Congressman Jay Inslee as a possible choice for interior secretary in Barack Obama’s cabinet, should he win the presidential election next month.

Here’s what CQ had to say about the Bainbridge Democrat:

During six terms representing suburban Seattle, he has become one of the leading liberal voices in the House on energy and natural resources issues. He is a strong advocate for environmental protections on public lands and has opposed controversial proposals to allow more logging in national forests. So for environmental groups he would be an attractive pick. Advancing renewable sources of energy is a top priority of his, and Inslee would mark a clear reversal from Bush administration priorities to aggressively expand oil and gas development, and mining. But he would be a controversial choice who could alienate conservatives and Western energy producers.

What do you think of Inslee, as interior secretary, taking the helm of the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management?

Half of the homes featured in the annual Kitsap County Solar Tour are on Bainbridge Island (surprise!).

For details about the tour on Saturday, see Chris Dunagan’s story below.

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Despite passionate opposition from environmentalists, legal threats and the city’s financial troubles, the City Council on Wednesday voted to contribute more than a quarter of a million dollars to the construction of artificial turf fields at Battle Point Park.

“When you vote for this, you can’t get rid of it or cover it up. You can’t get rid of it because it’s plastic,” said artificial turf opponent Chris Van Dyk. “It’s environmentally irresponsible.”

With only Council Chairman Bill Knobloch voting against the spending proposal, the council approved handing $300,000 to the Bainbridge park district to replace two existing soccer fields. The park district plans to install artificial turf on what is now largely hard-packed sand, improving the field’s playing conditions and reducing the amount of maintenance a natural grass field would otherwise require.

“This is a very difficult question,” said Councilman Barry Peters, noting environmental concerns and recent city revenue shortfalls that have led to service and project cuts. But the council “made a promise to these folks that want this field. It may be passionately opposed by some, but it’s passionately supported by many.”

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Island Health and Rehabilitation is one of three Kitsap County nursing homes named in a federal class-action lawsuit alleging they promised a higher level of care than was delivered.

Read Rachel Pritchett’s story by clicking here.

Forget the tux, the corsage, the fancy dinner – heck, even a date for this year’s Homecoming dance.

Bainbridge High School is taking a stripped-down, casual approach to Friday night’s Homecoming festivities to attract more students to an increasingly desolate dance floor.

“Students were intimidated because they had to dress up and because everything had become fancy,” Principal Brent Peterson said. “We want this to be more accessible to get a more diverse, inclusive group.”

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The city sidelined a plan for regulating Eagle Harbor’s liveaboards this week after the state reversed its position on a key, and possibly contradictory, maritime regulation.

“Suddenly, we had a new interpretation (of state law) brought to us” from the state Department of Natural Resources, said Councilwoman Hilary Franz, who has led efforts in recent months to develop three options for creating an open water marina, the first of its kind in the state and the last bastion for a anchored-out liveaboard community in Puget Sound.

DNR’s reversed position on marina regulations last week spurred the city to cancel a discussion of the options at Wednesday’s night’s City Council meeting, further delaying open water marina plans that have spent nearly a decade in development.

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