The woman and her 12-year-old son escaped and were treated for minor injuries. The man, a wanted parolee from California, remains at large.

Police have identified the man as 49-year-old Edward Mark Olsen, a former boyfriend of the woman.

Olsen described as white, 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 210 pounds.

He is wanted by Bainbridge police for attempted murder and burglary.

He has a violent criminal history, and should be considered a threat to the community, police said. Anyone who knows of his whereabouts should call 911 or Bainbridge police detective Christian Hemion at (206) 842-5211.

For the full story, click here.

Dozens of people dressed in red and carrying signs filled the council chambers at City Hall last night to protest the city’s cuts to programs benefiting the arts.

The city’s support for the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council, which funnels the money to dozens of grants and cultural programs, was cut by 63 percent this year. The reduced support of is likely to continue into next year.

Read my story here.

And check out photographer Jesse Beals’ photo gallery of the protest here.

The Bainbridge Graduate Institute is on the lookout for a campus of its own.

Possibly on Bainbridge, but also possibly in Poulsbo, Seattle or Port Gamble.

BGI board member Dal LaMagna (an interesting guy in his own right) is leading the effort to scout out possible campuses.

Port Gamble (pictured above) is looking pretty enticing right now. It just so happens they have 40 acres set aside for an educational campus, and are excited about wooing BGI to their little company town.

Of course, few on Bainbridge want to see the innovative sustainable business school leave the island.

For more, read the story I wrote for Sunday’s paper.

And then check out LaMagna’s blog, BGI Campus, where you can watch a half-hour discussion between LaMagna and Port Gamble’s Jon Rose (also an interesting guy, check out the profile of him I wrote a few years back) about a possible partnership in the years to come.

The Bainbridge Farmers Market will re-open on Saturday at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church for a month-long winter stint.

The market’s growers are promising enough of a bounty for islanders to add a few locally-grown foods to Thanksgiving dishes.

Sound Food‘s Carolyn Goodwin says local farmers have had a good harvest this year.

“Island farms have been spared a hard frost so far, so there are still lots of veggies to harvest,” she said in Sound Food’s latest e-newsletter. “There are even a few tomatoes still on the vine!”

The winter market will be open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Dec. 19.

For a list of the produce available on Saturday, and recipes and lots of other stuff, check out Sound Food’s latest newsletter here.

This week, a Bainbridge woman stepped from her morning shower to find a drunken teenage girl wandering her house. When asked by police where she thought she was, the teen answered “Jerome’s terminal.”

Also this week, a Poulsbo man almost punched someone and almost hit a pedestrian with his van before definitely getting arrested for drunk driving.

The blotter’s below.

Continue reading →

KING 5 News did a recent story on a Bainbridge Island pilot project to reduce home energy consumption this winter.

If you haven’t seen it, here’s our story.

And KING’s is here.

The City Council on Wednesday decided to punt the Winslow Way reconstruction project into 2011.

With a lawsuit preventing the city from borrowing money, the council decided a one-year delay was best option available.

Read more in today’s Sun.

Over 500 island households have signed up to have their heat automatically reduced during peak winter usage.

The pilot project was initiated after Puget Sound Energy announced it would need a third power substation on Bainbridge to meet the island’s increasing demand.

Read more about the project in environmental reporter Christopher Dunagan’s story.

Dirt is the topic of the 2009 Bainbridge Environmental Conference.

Set for this Sunday at IslandWood, the conference will cover how the island’s dirt is eroded and contaminated and how it can be cared for. It’ll also feature a discussion with author and UW scientist David Montgomery, whose book “Dirt: the Erosion of Civilization” inspired this year’s conference theme.

Read more about the conference here.

The city Ethics Board agreed this week with former city manager Mark Dombroski’s that Councilman Bill Knobloch had violated the city ethics code by not filing a conflict-of-interest statement. The board went took things a step further, asserting that Knobloch also violated a portion of the code that states elected officials should avoid “the appearance of impropriety.”

Read my story here.

I just got word that today’s featured concert at the One World Multicultural Festival is now…free.

The festival starts at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 8 p.m. at the Pavilion (403 Madison Ave.)

Organized by Liz Gadbois (who brought you Farmstock and the Taste of Lynwood), One World features Mexican, Japanese, Indian and Italian food tastings, art exhibits, crafts and local history displays.

The headliner is Abrace and the MB Orchestra, which takes the stage at 5 p.m. Expect songs in 17 languages and Brazilian and Middle Eastern dance moves.

For more info, click here.

Through a blog post by none other than Bainbridge Islander editor Ric Hallock, I learned of a horrifying video simulation (above) of all Hell breaking loose right where (gasp!) a large percentage islanders disembark the ferry for work everyday.

The state Department of Transportation produced the simulation to show (with flames and crashes and the ripping of the earth’s crust) what would happen if an earthquake struck the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

It’s sort of long, and really needs a soundtrack (with booming drums and crashing cymbals) to go along with it, but it did is thrilling watch (for a video game…uh, I mean a video simulation). Notice at the end that the ferries are safe and sound. The lesson: if an earthquake hits, buy a ticket and set sail.

For a smaller-attention-span version (and with added screams!) see the video response below.