Bainbridge Conversation

Longtime Bainbridge institution American Marine Bank was shut down by federal and state regulators today.

Founded on the island 62 years ago, American Marine has suffered severe loan losses in recent years.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has turned the bank over to new owner Columbia State Bank of Tacoma.

American Marine branches will reopen under the Columbia State name either Saturday or Monday, regulators said in a news release.

Read the story here.

And go to American Marine’s website for a statement from the FDIC

Washington State Ferries has the final design for its new 144-car ferries. That’s it up top.

There’s no funding yet to build them, but the finished design puts Todd Pacific Shipyards in a ready position for the time when the money does materialize.

WSF expects to get funding from the state Legislature to build one or two of the ferries between 2011 and 2013. Its long-range plan calls for adding two 144-car boats to the fleet in 2014. One would replace the 87-car Evergreen State and the second would allow WSF to shift another 87-car ferry to a backup role. The only backup now is the 37-car Hiyu.

Five more 144-car ferries are projected to eventually join the fleet after 2027.

Click here to see the full story.

A 35-year-old Bainbridge Island man was hospitalized Wednesday evening after being hit by a car while he was riding his bicycle.

The accident happened at about 7:20 p.m. on High School Road near Capstan Drive on Bainbridge. The bicyclist was headed east when a car, driven by a 56-year-old Bainbridge Island man, pulled out in front of the bike, said Sue Shultz, Bainbridge Island police lieutenant.

A Bainbridge Island Fire Department official said that the man on the bicycle was taken by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center to be treated for his injuries.

The flight was a precaution and the bicyclist did not sustain life threatening injuries, Shultz said.

The bicyclist was wearing proper lighting, but the driver reported that he was difficult to see, Shultz said. The case has been forwarded to the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
-Kitsap Sun staff

A lane-swerving, stop-sign-ignoring Pontiac gunned it up to 80 on the stretch of Madison between Winslow Way and High School Road. The car then hit the not-so-small bump that is the Madison-High School Road roundabout. Once stopped by police, the driver appeared perplexed about why he’d been pulled over. He also appeared drunk.

Blotter’s below.

(more…)

A former Bainbridge police officer is suing the city over how the Bainbridge Island Police Department handled a domestic dispute at his home and the subsequent investigation into his and his wife’s actions.

The officer, who resigned in 2008, is asking for $1 million in damages. His wife is also suing for unlawful arrest and other claims. One of their sons recently filed a third claim against the city alleging that police used excessive force when arresting him during a 2007 traffic stop.

Read the full story here.

CNN recently ventured to Bainbridge Island to check in on the little police boat that got Sen. John McCain so mad late last year. You can watch their piece above. Lots of footage of Eagle Harbor and Bainbridge ferry commuters.

As you may recall, McCain and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma singled out the boat on their list of the nation’s most wasteful stimulus spending projects. You can read my story about it here.

A bald eagle was released back into the wild on Saturday after a three-month stay at West Sound Wildlife Shelter.

“She’s ready to go all right,” the shelter’s director of wildlife services told environmental reporter Chris Dunagan. “She has never adapted to being in captivity.”

The eagle came to the shelter after it suffered puncture on its head and mouth, probably due to a fight with another eagle.

Read the full story and see a photo gallery of the eagle’s release here.

If you’ve got questions about the Bainbridge Island School District’s operations levy and school levies in general, we’ve got answers.

Click here to see my story for some Bainbridge-specific information.

And then click here for Kitsap Sun education reporter Marietta Nelson’s “School Levies 101″ story.

The city employees union was quick to respond to a City Council proposal to drop a furlough agreement provision that gives workers 10 paid days off in each of the next two years.

“It’s ridiculous,” a union rep said today.

The paid days are compensation for an equal number of unpaid days employees agreed to in 2009 and 2010.

Cutting the 20 paid days off in 2011 and 2012 could save the money $540,000, but the union says it goes against an agreement signed just last month.

Read the full story here.

Not much happened this week. Even the bicycle thefts I refer to in the headline happened in December and October.

Blotter is below.

Jan. 13
Theft: A Bainbridge female reported that two of her unlocked bicycles were stolen from the high school. One bicycle was taken in October, and the other in December. She was at the high school for a community event on both occasions.

Jan. 12
Crash: A Bainbridge man backed his Volvo station wagon into a parked Toyota SUV with enough force that the SUV collided with a parked Toyota car. The collisions happened in the Town & Country Market parking lot just before 1 p.m. All three vehicles suffered rear-end damage.

Jan. 10
Vandalized: Eleven city street signs were sprayed with silver paint in the Manitou Beach area during the night. Two signs had to be replaced.

The new City Council sped up the process for rebuilding the senior center after the old council slowed it down just a few weeks ago.

The council now expects to approve the project’s initial design contract next week.

Read more here.

Head over here for my big long story about the Matthee family’s decision to leave Bainbridge Island and take over a weekly newspaper in a tiny town in the state’s far southeast corner.

I called them up because I figured they must be crazy. Turns out they are not.

Imbert and Karen say they’re doing the work they love in the type of small, close-knit community they long wanted to be a part of.

And their newspaper, the Waitsburg Times, is doing just fine (unlike a whole lot of other newspapers). Subscriptions are up and the 131-year-old paper is making its first forays into the cyber-age. They don’t have a website yet, but you can follow the Times on Facebook, facebook.com/waitsburgtimes, or on Imbert’s Twitter page, twitter.com/ImbertMatthee.

To get a look of Waitsburg and the Matthees at work, check out the photo gallery shot by Walla Walla-based Gregory Lehman.

And if you’re still curious about the Waitsburg Times, check out this article Time magazine did in 1983 about the newspaper’s former editor, who also happened to be the town mayor.