Just a quick note to explain my absence. I’m in Southern California attending a NASCAR race, trying to provide some insight on what happens at a race. We’re more interested in the impact on the community so we’re trying to maintain our focus there.

In the meantime, you might have heard that the Bremerton Area Chamber of Commerce expressed support for the city’s proposal to offer a 10-year tax exemption to property owners building new stuff within certain areas.

See you next week.

Your contributions to the wish list for downtown Bremerton were outstanding. Now it’s time to broaden the question.

In Sunday’s Kitsap Sun you’ll find a story revealing that the city now has about $9 million set aside for a boardwalk between downtown Bremerton and Evergreen Rotary Park. The boardwalk, said city folks, has been on residents’ wish lists for decades. With this money it may no longer be a wish. Money like this can make it easier to get more money, so it’s tempting to count the boardwalk as fait accompli.

Assuming that’s true, what else do you want for Bremerton? What do you want for Kitsap Way and for Wheaton Way? How would you expand ferry service, or would you at all? What kind of changes would you like to see in the city?

Mayor Cary Bozeman said the new Kitsap Credit Union building is significant because it was the first major private investment into a downtown getting a facelift. I believe there was at least one, if not more, other private deal that cleaned things up, but there was nothing on this scale.

Again, as was stated in the blog entry about Bryman, it brings more people downtown.

Others have said downtown, or the “Harborside District” if you prefer, needs a grocery store. What else do you think would help make downtown’s transformation complete?

The Manette Bridge went up a year after the Great Depression started, saw Bremerton through World War II and later the demise of downtown. It’s no longer considered safe, something anyone on a bike are a bus has been saying for years, but something even those in Geo Metros like mine have reason to believe.

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Our blog had a problem over the weekend that made me unable to approve your comments. It appears things are working now.

The comments you sent were lost on the system, but I got them in my e-mail, so later today I’ll copy and paste them under the right entries. In the meantime, comment away.

Key to the revitalization of downtown Bremerton is anything that will bring people (except for the criminals) to the area. City leaders picture condo residents getting off their couches and walking over to Boston’s Pizza, or Smiley’s, or an as-of-yet unnamed, unconfirmed and unknown grocery store to eat or shop. It’s the impetus behind the tunnel, the expectation that people will be strolling downtown streets.

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A week away and here’s what happens:

The mayor withdraws his pay-for-parking proposal after the Chamber of Commerce opposes it. There has been some heated reaction to the mayor’s contention that shipyard workers are part of the problem. In a particular incident he cited, he said a guy with a handicapped placard parked in a downtown spot and walked to the shipyard gate. The handicapped placard issue is a whole ‘nother thing, because it allows a person to park in a space almost endlessly regardless of time restrictions. Anyone clear on those rules? At any rate, this one was a bit of a surprise for a guy on vacation, as I was last week.

Secondly, the city approved the wifi setup, despite the fact another business is nearly offering it already in Bremerton. I can think of an argument that Bremerton city leaders might use to defend the decision in the face of a private company already offering the service. But from what I’ve read and seen, it’s not an argument anyone has made.

That tunnel thing still around?

A July 18 photo showing 15 of the contestants, including the winner, of the Miss U.S.A. pageant had the following headline:

The Winner and 14 Losers

The next day the “winner” from Maryland was stripped of her crown when it was discovered she was married. Miss Utah took over, presumably no longer a “loser.”

Salt Lake City Records New High in Radioactivity

SALT LAKE CITY–The highest level of radioactivity since the Nevada atomic tests began was recorded here yesterday.
But state officials stressed there was no cause for alarm.

The Bremerton Sun ran its first “Dear Abby” column, which led with the following exchange”

Dear Abby: I know you aren’t running a matrimonial bureau, but maybe you could help me? I am 33 years old and want to settle down and marry a decent, respectable woman but so far all I have ever been able to find are bar flies who don’t want to do anything but sit in bars and booze it up all night. Am I asking for too much, and where does one look?
— Steve

Dear Steve:
If you want a decent, respectable woman, you look for her in a respectable place. Now what would a decent, respectable woman be doing hanging around a bar — boozing it up all night? Ever hear of church? Introduce yourself to one.