Daily Archives: April 26, 2010

Concrete poured into Island Gateway storm drain

A construction manager at the Island Gateway development says concrete powder was deliberately dumped into one of the site’s stormwater drains.

According to police reports, the manager found the drain, which sits about 50 feet north of Winslow Way, clogged with hardened concrete on Tuesday morning. The concrete was caught in a drain “sock” where it hardened into a large block, police said. The drain flows directly into Eagle Harbor.

The manager said no concrete powder was being stored at the work site at the time of the dumping.

The manager told police that the incident could have been “damaging” to his company. Had state environmental regulators seen the concrete, the company likely would have been fined, he said.

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Inslee says Internet freedoms are under threat

Rep. Jay Inslee recently sounded a warning that Internet freedoms are under threat by a recent federal court ruling.

The Bainbridge Democrat said the ruling will allow Internet service providers to restricting access to certain content and websites.

“Put simply, service providers would have the power to control the pipes that deliver content to consumers and with it the ability to play favorites or discriminate against bits of data,” Inslee said in a Seattle Times guest editorial.

Read more HERE.

Bainbridge distillery (finally) opens

It took an extra eight months, but Bainbridge Organic Distillers is now selling spirits from its Coppertop Loop distillery.

Bottles of island-made vodka going for around $33.

A small batch of whiskey should be ready in time for Christmas. A wait list has already been established and is filling fast.

Like the name implies, all of Bainbridge Organic Distillers’ products are organic – even its line of t-shirts and hoodies.

For more, read my story (and see video) HERE.

Senior center reconstruction plan is “out the door”

Plans to replace the Bainbridge senior center with a new $9 million dollar facility have fizzled out.

“It’s out the door,” said Tom Kilbane, a senior center member who has long championed the reconstruction.

Rather than push for a new multi-use, two story facility, senior center members are asking the city to help them make basic improvements on the existing building.

For more, read HERE.

City utilities transfer could lead to several job cuts

The proposal to transfer the city’s water and sewer utilities to the Kitsap Public Utility District could slash monthly water bills by as much as half.

More on that HERE.

The move would also likely mean the city would let go several – possibly even 21 – employees who work directly and indirectly with utilities.

Below is a breakdown of the full-time employee (FTE) equivalents working in city departments. For example, a .25 FTE is equal to a quarter-time employee, or a quarter of one employee’s work time.

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