Monthly Archives: April 2011

Giving up on Gertie makes the TV news

Komo News followed up on our story about the strong possibility the city may abandon landslide-prone Gertie Johnson Road.

Interim City Manager Brenda Bauer said in yesterday’s Komo report that the city has no plans to abandon Gertie but that it also has no money to fix it. She added that the city could apply for grants or create a new tax to pay for road fixes.

The new roads tax idea got no takers when City Councilman Bob Scales floated the idea the idea last week. Most council members said they want to take a slower, more cautious approach toward new taxes.

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Appeal in store for Anderson vs. BIPD case

Last week, a judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by former Bainbridge police officer Scott Anderson his wife, Cynthia Anderson, against the Bainbridge police department.

The lawsuit involves a domestic dispute at the officer’s home in which the Cynthia Anderson allegedly threatened to harm herself. The Andersons are sued, saying Cynthia Anderson’s arrest was unjustified and that police involvement in their affairs damaged their relationship and led to Scott Anderson’s resignation from the department.

You can read the story here.

I wasn’t able to reach the Andersons’ lawyers before deadline on Friday, but Cynthia Anderson’s lawyer, John Muenster, got back to me today.

He said emphatically that there would be an appeal of the judge’s decision.

“Yes, we’re definitely going to appeal,” Muenster said, adding that he and his client want a jury trial. “This is a clear case of a violation of constitutional rights.”

In his dismissal, the judge wrote that Bainbridge police had probable cause to arrest Cynthia Anderson. He also wrote that there is no evidence police were intentionally trying to undermine the Andersons’ relationship.

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America’s Most Wanted airs Bainbridge segment

On Saturday, America’s Most Wanted aired its segment about fugitive Brad Robinett’s run-in with Bainbridge police.

I wrote about the filming earlier this month.

AMW’s website doesn’t allow video embeds, so you’ll have to find the video here.

RobinettThere’s a high-speed car chase on New Brooklyn, a foot chase in Grand Forest Park and Bainbridge officer Steve Cain makes his acting debut.

Looks like Robinett’s re-enacted kayak escape didn’t make the cut.

Elsewhere on AMW’s website is a trove of background info about Robinett. You can see photos (including the one over to the left of him when he was in the Marines) here. And click here to see photo copies of his personal notes, which include mention of Strawberry Hill and Battle Point parks.

Also, AMW has an extended interview with Cain here.

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Barry Peters announces City Council re-election bid

UPDATE: Peters isn’t sure yet whether he’s running for his At-Large position or the Central Ward position held by Councilman Bill Knobloch. See my story (with Knobloch’s take) here.

Peters

Councilman Barry Peters announced today he will seek a second term on the Bainbridge City Council.

Peters, who was elected unopposed to the council’s island-wide, at-large position in 2008, is one of four council members up for re-election this year. Council members Bill Knobloch, Kim Brackett and Hilary Franz are still mulling over whether to run.

Property developer John Green is the only other declared council candidate. Green said in January that he would challenge Peters if Peters decided to run again. Green also said he may seek Knobloch’s Central Ward seat if Knobloch decides not to run. Knobloch has indicated he is strongly leaning toward running again.

Head down below to read Peters’ re-election announcement. He mentions roads maintenance, local agriculture, government transparency, environmental preservation and public safety as some of his top priorities.
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Kucinich is coming to Bainbridge

UPDATE: The Lynwood Center Theatre has been named as the location for Kucinich’s speaking event.
Former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is scheduled to speak on Apr. 30 at a yet-to-be named Bainbridge location Lynwood Theatre. He’ll speak from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Event organizer Kat Gjovik has a Facebook page set up with more information about the Ohio congressman’s visit.

Gjovik says Kucinich, a longshot Democratic Party nominee for the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, will speak about the future of the progressive movement.

Kucinich first caught national attention when he was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1977 at the age of 31. He has built a reputatation for his strongly liberal views. He called for the impeachment of Pres. George Bush and was the only Democratic candidate in the 2008 election who voted against the Iraq invasion.

Kucinich drew a large crowd when he last visited the island in 2004. He also spoke on Bainbridge in 2003.

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Closures set for Winslow Way this week

Both Winslow Way lanes will be closed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Monday due to construction. Next week will also see some intermittent closures.

More info from the city is below.

Effective next Monday, April 25, portions of the Winslow Way and Madison Avenue intersection will be closed periodically in relation to the ongoing Winslow Way Reconstruction project.

The daytime disruption will close the south leg of the intersection, eliminating through traffic in a north/south direction, as well as the ability to travel eastbound from any approach. The nighttime disruption will close the entire intersection between 9 pm and 5 am, and will require traffic to be re-routed around Winslow Way in the area between Madison and Ericksen Avenues.

These closures are in addition to the current westbound-only detour on Winslow Way between Madison and Ericksen.
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Mortenson and his ‘Three Cups of Tea’ under scrutiny

Bainbridge was abuzz about “Three Cups of Tea” in 2007.

The bestselling book about Greg Mortenson’s transformation from mountain climber to school builder in the isolated regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan was required reading at Bainbridge High that fall.

When Mortenson stopped by the island for a visit, hundreds flocked to his readings at the high school and Eagle Harbor Books. Attendees called Mortenson’s story uplifting and inspirational.

I wrote a story about Mortenson’s Bainbridge visit. You can read it here.

This week, the CBS show 60 Minutes and author Jon Krakauer (“Into Thin Air”) cast doubts on key parts of Mortenson’s story.

“It’s a beautiful story, and it’s a lie,” Krakauer said on 60 minutes.

60 Minutes also called into question the way funds are allocated by Mortenson’s charity, the Central Asia Institute, indicating that large sums have been used to promote Mortenson rather than build schools.

You can see the 60 Minutes piece below the jump.

Krakauer’s lengthy article is here.

Mortenson denies wrong-doing, although he does admit the truth was stretched a bit in the book. He gave his side of things to Outside magazine. You can read the interview here.

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Bainbridge’s glory days: bacchanal salmon bakes, javelin tosses and pure, clean opium?

No island is safe

I stumbled across Seattle Weekly‘s recent review of the Streamliner Diner. The restaurant gets only a quick (but positive) mention at the bottom.

The rest of the review, as you can read here, ruminates on how Michael Douglas’ 1994 film Disclosure and his depiction of a wealthy dot-com ferry commuter put an end to the island’s drug-fueled, wool-clad, javelin-armed days.

Remember those days? No? Well…lately not everything you read in SW is particularly factual. Case in point: this week’s cover story about King County’s “most dogmatic, bloodthirsty restaurateur.”

Strangely enough, both stories (written by Mike Seely) seem to be set in the same mythic place – a place overflowing with pure, clean drugs, fresh meat and bearded men.

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America’s Most Wanted films on Bainbridge tomorrow

The TV show America’s Most Wanted will spend the day on Thursday filming a segment about fugitive bank robber Brad Robinett.

You may remember his daring escape from Bainbridge police back in September 2009. He led police on a car chase, then a trail chase and finally paddled away via a stolen kayak.

One of the show’s staffers told me filming would begin at the Bainbridge police station at around 8 a.m. Later, they’ll reenact the car chase near the Sportsman Club-New Brooklyn intersection and may do some filming in Grand Forest Park, where dozens of law enforcement officers staged a high-profile search last year for firearms thought to have been stolen by Robinett. The show also has permission from a waterfront land owner to film the kayak escape scene.

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Police blotter: Guerrilla artist caught red-handed

Policebanner11-09

As you may have read last week, the Bainbridge Island Police Department has a new policy for releasing records to the press.

We must now submit formal records requests to see the level of detail we used to see in previous years.

Not much to update you on, except that it took four days and $20 to get the reports for this week.

In the blotter (below) you’ll find details about that wavy red line that mysteriously appeared along two blocks of Winslow Way sidewalk, and the way police used Facebook and a clever business card trick to catch the alleged painter red-handed (literally).

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