Bainbridge Conversation

Turnout for this year’s Chilly Hilly was lighter than in years past, but who can blame those that decided to sit this one out?

There was freezing wind, plenty of rain and even some snow. And, as always, there were a lot of hills.

You can read Chris Dunagan’s story on the event here (with photos by Jesse Beals).

Also, check out island photographer Jay Trinidad’s blog for a dozens of shots he took while sitting on the back of a motorcycle.

This week, a drunken driver offered a forthright assessment of his physical state and its legal ramifications.

Also this week, a Bainbridge man left $1,000 in cash on a seat in his unlocked car. Guess what happened.

Blotter’s below.
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This month, Bainbridge Islander columnist Becky Fox Marshall writes about a painful parting of ways with her longtime hairdresser.

There is a glaring error on the list of things that stress us out – that list so often referenced by the cranky: “Hey, I am off the stress chart so leave me alone.”

I totally get the top stressors – death of a spouse, divorce, job loss and one that would completely stress me out, “imprisonment.”

But the error of which I speak is a major omission – the loss of your hair stylist.

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The KidsUp! Parent Child Center is struggling to keep its doors open.

Facing closure last month, the nonprofit center cut paid staff and shifted to a largely volunteer-run cooperative model.

Now PCC is hoping to draw more parents in with a free open house on Saturday, Feb. 26, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

There’ll be free drinks and treats, and kids can try out the toy sets, library and play structures.

PCC will raffle off two annual memberships at 12:30 p.m.

For more information about the open house and PCC’s new membership plans (which now include a free membership at the Pavilion’s gym), head over here.

This week, a bicyclist ran down and hospitalized a woman as she worked to make bicycling safer on Bainbridge.

Blotter’s below.

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Stranger arts writer Jen Graves took the yet-to-open Bainbridge Art Museum to task over its logo, which she says is a “total ripoff of the Tacoma Art Museum’s.”

Head to TAM and then to the BAM to see for yourself.

And read the rest of Graves’ Slog post here.

Sage fly fishing

Head over here to read my Sunday story about Sage, an iconic fly fishing rod manufacturer that was founded on Bainbridge 30 years ago.

Sage is a bit of a rarity on Bainbridge. It’s a company that makes things – real things that you can actually hold in your hands.

And despite the challenges of manufacturing on Bainbridge (let alone the United States), Sage says it’s staying put. Sage may, in time, move its distribution wing, but the hands-on work of making high-end rods will remain on Day Road.

Even if that happens, Sage will probably remain the island’s largest private employer. Sage has 180 people working for it; the runner-up, Messenger House, has just under 100.

Gay marriage
Bainbridge Rep. Christine Rolfes and other Kitsap legislators are throwing their support behind a gay marriage bill. It appears to be gaining momentum in Olympia.

Lock your doors
Several unlocked homes were burglarized in the Commodore neighborhood this week. Police are urging islanders to lock their homes at night and when they are not at home.

Ah, Bainbridge
The romance of Bainbridge Island was mentioned in an MSN article about love-inspiring destinations.

BPA minds its manners
Kitsap Sun arts reporter Michael C. Moore has a story on Bainbridge Performing Arts’ ‘Philadelphia Story.’

“…there is much to be taken from Barry’s comedy of manners — make that a mannered comedy, if you will — including witty dialogue, classic screwball plot machinations and a pointed observation or three about the social upper-crust: mainly, why we less crusty folk are so enamored of it,” Moore writes.

Read more here.

I recently wrote a story about how the Bainbridge park district is trying to handle the growing number of dogs visiting the island’s parks.

Dogs and their owners are attracted by the forested trails, the open fields and the chance to socialize, much like any other park user. Problem is, not all the other park users like being up-close with dogs they don’t know, and are especially peeved with the proliferation of dog poop and the increasingly frequent brushes with unleashed dogs.

Fun fact: there are more dogs on Bainbridge than humans under the age of five.

The park district knows dogs are here, and here to stay. They’re working now on a couple ways of accommodating the desires of both the dogged and the dogless.

One plan is to create new off-leash areas at Strawberry Hill and Battle Point parks. Another option is to expand and improve the little-used off-leash area at Eagledale Park. Others say dogs should be able to roam free at parks as long as they complete off-leash obedience training. Folks on the other end of the spectrum say dogs should always be leashed, and that the district should step up enforcement, possibly handing out citations for abandoned poop and unleashed dogs.

What do you think? Cast your vote on what the district should focus on over to the right.

Look below for the results from this blog’s last poll about 2010′s top stories.

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It looks like the Bainbridge court is staying put.

Poulsbo appears to be nixing the shared court deal after Bainbridge balked at going above an annual $42,500 lease rate. Click here for more details.

Meanwhile, a group of islanders have come up with a detailed counter proposal aimed fixing up the court’s current Rolling Bay building. Read more about that here.

“The judiciary is an important and necessary part of every government, and I believe it should be in the community it serves,” Jim Kennedy, one of the group’s members, told me yesterday.

An update on negotiations and a proposal by the pro-Bainbridge court group are on the agenda for tonight’s City Council meeting, starting at 7:50 p.m.

We’ll have an update at kitsapsun.com later tonight.

A woman’s home was burglarized this week. All that was taken was pudding. Nothing else, just a bunch of sugar-free pudding.

Also this week, a Bainbridge man who failed to yield to an ambulance tried to get out of a citation by playing the ultimate trump card – the fact that he is a Bainbridge Islander. When the cop went ahead with the citation, the man threatened to take the matter to court. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on effectiveness of the “But I am a Bainbridge Islander” legal defense strategy.

Blotter’s below.

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Head over here for my coverage of Rep. Jay Inslee’s Monday night speech at a Rotary of Bainbridge Island meeting. He touched on several issues, including health care, the defense of the Clean Air Act and the ballooning federal deficit, an elephant-in-the-room issue he said Republicans and President Obama are avoiding.

And then drop by the Vashon Beachcomber. They have a story about Bainbridge author Claire Dederer’s visit to their island, and about the success of her new book, “Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses.” Its recent stint on the the New York Times’ Bestseller List pushed it into a second printing a few weeks after its initial release, according to the ‘Comber. There’s been plenty more written about Dederer’s book, like this and this.

Backyard inventor and electric car-maker Mark King was recently profiled in King TV’s Evening Magazine. You can see the video above.

We did a story about Mark back in 2009, just after he graduated from Bainbridge High School. Read it and see a photo gallery here.