Rep. Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island) has a fellow
islander challenging her for the state House seat she’s held for
nearly four years.
Retired U.S. Coast Guard officer and local Republican activist
James Olsen is running against Rolfes on a smaller-government,
pro-business platform.
They are joined by Poulsbo Republican Aaron Winters, an
unemployed construction foreman.
Watch the above video to see all three discuss the economy,
state spending and other matters with Sun editor David Nelson.
That’s Rolfes on the left side, Olsen’s in the middle and Winters
is on the right.
“After reaching an apple cider press FIRST despite limiting
physical ability such as lack of fitness, short legs, and a
generally waddling gait: A Rotary Auction volunteer refused to sell
Me, Betsy, the Apple cider press she had fair and square gotten to
first and instead sold it to another Rotary Auction Volunteer. This
Act of Unfairness should not stand.”
And apparently it won’t.
After racking up more than 80 Facebook members who posted dozens
of sympathetic messages, Betsy got a response from Rotary.
“I received an apology today from the President of Bainbridge
Rotary & from the chairman of the Auction. They are investigating
the incident. Stay strong!” she posted on Monday.
And today, more progress:
“I got another apology e-mail from the Rotary- this one from the
Department Head of the Lawn & Garden section where the cider press
was being sold. He has also vowed to track down the offending
volunteer & get the cider press back so I can purchase it. UNITED
WE STAND for fair thrifting rights!” she said in a post today.
Betsy’s work to right a Rotary wrong was met with huzzahs from
her Facebook pals.
“Fair is fair!” declared one. “We are invincible!”
Bill Point Drive residents found poop in and around their
community pool this week. A note left at the scene informed them
that God is now deceased. The “Mark of the
Beast” was also inscribed.
Also this week, a thief broke into a shed to steal a “old,
broken down” pressure washer. The owner was happy to see it go.
Head over
HERE for Angela Dice’s photo gallery of Saturday’s Rotary
rummage sale. Lots of shots of the 8 a.m. burst of bargain runners.
I think I was about five rows behind the two guys leading the pack
in the above photo. Happy to report I nabbed the item I had my eye
on. Got it in the nick of time. My friend, with whom I waited an
hour at the gate, was not so lucky. The play tractor he wanted for
his son was snapped up while he prevented a fallen child from being
trampled. That should earn him a stack of karma points for Rotary
2011.
The largest housing development since Harbor Square is expected
to break ground on the north end of Winslow by the middle of next
year.
Planned for the eight acres to the west of the Pavilion, the
138-unit Grow Community aims to be a walkable, energy-efficient
neighborhood with a mix of housing types.
“We’re hoping to create a community that doesn’t yet exist,”
said Marja Preston, a planner for Asani, the company that’s
developing the site. “The idea is to create opportunities for more
community interaction through diverse housing and amenities on the
site.”
Grow Community’s preliminary site plan calls for condominiums,
townhouses, rental apartments and single-family homes set along a
wide central trail. Asani plans to incorporate pea-patches,
composting areas, rain gardens and a community hall.
Back when she was a Bainbridge city planner, Preston worked to
get the site listed as pilot project with Forest Trends’ Business
and Biodiversity Offset Program, which aims to strike a balance
between large-scale resource use and environmental
preservation.
In a story
I wrote for the Review in 2007, the plan was generally panned
by other conservationists who were brought to Bainbridge for a
Forest Trends conference. The project site was seen as too small to
have a significant impact, said conservationists who were leading
biodiversity offset projects in Africa that benefit endangered
animals and fragile forests.
Though smaller in scale, the project shouldn’t be discounted, a
South African scientist said.
Don’t call it a biodiversity offset, he said. Call it sound
urban planning.
It looks like that’s what Preston is aiming for, albeit now
through the private sector rather than City Hall.
Organizers of the 50th Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale want to
trim down the amount of waste that’s hauled away after Saturday’s
buying frenzy is over.
Last year, just over 30 tons of post-sale junk was hauled to the
landfill. That’s a lot, but it’s a lot less than the 70 tons
produced in 2001. Since then, Rotary has worked to increase
recycling and allow nonprofits to pick over the leftovers before
they’re trucked off.
For more about this year’s sale, read Derek Sheppard’s story
HERE.
Mother tells daughter to go to her room. Daughter says “Make
me!” Mother attempts to “make her.” Nothing odd in all that, except
that the mother was 59 years old and the daughter 40. Also odd: the
use of cottage cheese during the ensuing fight.
Also this week, a man gets beaten by a stranger at the ferry
terminal and a house gets vandalized with poop and pop.
Sorry the blog’s been quiet a while. Time to play catchup.
Here’s the news from the last week (or so):
School break-in: A messy prank was pulled at Woodward Middle
School.
Compost kids: A Bainbridge High School student-led effort has
created the nation’s largest on-site school composting program.
Big grant: Bainbridge got a $4.88 million grant to boost energy
efficiency in what could amount to half of the island’s homes.
Rolfes challengers: Rep. Christine Rolfes, a former Bainbridge
city councilwoman, has two challengers for her House seat:
Republicans Aaron Winters of Poulsbo and James Olsen of Bainbridge
Island.
Strawberry Plant Park: The City Council gave unanimous support
for the Eagle Harbor park’s long-discussed shoreline restoration
plan.
Cyberstalked: A Seattle man was charged with stalking a
Bainbridge teen via the Internet.
Winslow Way: The City Council approved the design for the
Winslow Way reconstruction project. Looks like things are moving
forward after all.
New KiDiMu: The Kids Discovery Museum’s new custom-built,
earth-friendly building opened in the Island Gateway development.
The new KiDiMu was packed in its first week, and drew rave reviews
from kids and parents.
Art Museum: The final building design for the Bainbridge Art
Museum was unveiled. Updated plans for the museum, which will sit
on the northwest corner of the Winslow Way-Highway 305
intersection, include an attached auditorium and classroom
building.
School Clinic: Parents and educators are working to establish a
free medical clinic at Bainbridge High School. They have most of
the money in hand and Virginia Mason has agreed to staff it. All
they need now is for a reluctant school board to give the green
light. This story generated plenty of comments. Continue reading →
Parkour’s growing exposure on TV, movies and the Internet is
sparking a lot of interest beyond the streets of France, where the
acrobatic sport was invented less than two decades ago. Kids all
over the U.S. have been inspired to try parkour’s daredevil moves,
albeit through trial-and-error mimicry on park benches, stairwells
and picnic tables.
Only one place in Kitsap is offering classes on how to do
parkour properly and safely.
Head over
HERE to see my story about Bainbridge park district’s parkour
class and the young men who are building a local parkour scene. The
story includes a video and photo gallery shot by Brad Camp.
Look below for some of parkour’s more iconic videos.
Expect delays today. See WSF’s announcement below.
The Wenatchee is temporally out of service and will be
towed to Eagle Harbor for repairs. The following schedule will be
in affect from Seattle: 9:35am, and 11:25am, and 1:10pm and from
Bainbridge Island the: 8:45am, 10:25am 12:20pm, and 2:05pm. Continue reading →
Councilwoman Debbi Lester shot a short video introducing City
Hall’s newly-planted edible garden. That’s Councilman Barry Peters
doing the talking and Sound Food member Sallie Maron doing the
planting.
A few days later, the planting began in earnest, with about a
dozen volunteers planting corn, squash, tomatoes, chard and other
crops that will be free for the taking. Read my story about it
HERE.
And for more information on the guy who inspired all this, head
over HERE and read one
of his essays
HERE.
