With the failure of Proposition 1 in February, dreams of a Kitsap Transit run passenger-only ferry have sunk into the abyss. Other organizations, such as the Kingston Express Association, have sailed in, potentially filling the gap Aqua Express left in October 2005, and a bill authored by 23rd District state Sen. Phil Rockefeller could keep dreams alive a little longer.
KINGSTON — For at least six years, Kitsap County Commissioner Chris Endresen has fielded comments from residents concerning the need for traffic signals along Miller Bay Road.
When she announced at the Kingston Open House Feb. 27 they would finally be installed, she received a large round of applause.
KINGSTON — It’s March, and the Kingston High School athletic department — currently consisting officially of one man, planning athletic director Scott McKay — is in a hiring crunch.
The school is set to open in September with what North Kitsap School District officials have determined a full slate of athletic programs, but not one of those teams has a head coach yet.
LITTLE BOSTON — Over the past few weeks, both tribal and Resource Renewal workers have braved all sorts of weather, getting their hands dirty planting seedlings over 113 acres of tribal land bordering Hansville Road.
One-year-old Douglas firs and red cedars are being planted throughout an area that was logged last year to pay off the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s loan, which was used to purchase the property.
KINGSTON — Turmoil followed a simple question posed by Kingston resident Mark Rustad at Tuesday evening’s Kingston Open House. He asked Kitsap Commissioner Chris Endresen when his house, part of the old Kingston Navy Housing off West Kingston Road, would be demolished for the Village Green.
POULSBO — After four years of being the title sponsor for Little Norway’s Third of July fireworks, Courtesy Auto Group has decided not to continue that tradition in 2007.
The news came as an unpleasant surprise to Third of July organizer Sandi Peterson, who took the reins from longtime organizer Mary Graves in January.
POULSBO — With less than a month until Poulsbo Police Chief Jeff Doran’s retirement, the rumor mill continues to turn as to who the interim police chief will be.
Tuesday afternoon Mayor Kathryn Quade spoke out on the issue in an attempt to quell the whirlwind of gossip that was subsequently highlighted by an advertisement in the Feb. 28 North Kitsap Herald.
KINGSTON — A wall of people, projects and events — centered around Kingston — greeted visitors to the Kingston Junior High Commons Tuesday night. Though the space seemed cramped, plenty of information was easily accessible to visitors curious about changes to the community.
ISLAND LAKE — Since 1999, at least one Island Lake property owner has been battling Kitsap County officials over the water levels in the lake that have negatively impacted his property.
Teri Hewson, who lives on Lake Shore Drive, claims the lake’s drainage system isn’t working properly. As a result, his property is flooded every time it rains.
POULSBO — Taking a 180-degree turn on the stage, the North Kitsap drama club will be performing the musical “Big River,” which is based on Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
The play opened Friday, and will be showing today at 7:30 p.m., followed by a 4:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Then the NK actors will also take the stage March 9 and 10 each at 7:30 p.m. at the NK Auditorium in Poulsbo.
Other than a van rolling over on Totten Road and a two-hour delay for the North Kitsap School District, the North End emerged relatively unscathed from a late-season bout with Father Winter earlier this week.
The snowstorm, which started Wednesday afternoon, dumped anywhere from one to eight inches throughout the region before it moved on.
POULSBO — Bight of Poulsbo founder Bill Austin found himself in the company of good friends and aquarium experts Thursday morning as work continues to revive the Poulsbo Marine Science Center.
The now-closed downtown building is a familiar place for Scott Horner of BIOS, LLC, which specializes in aquariums, and Hal Peterson, who builds aquarium interiors and other stonecrafted displays.
Members of the Downtown Kingston Association will drive forward after being informed Thursday that their community doesn’t fit the requirements of the Washington State Main Street Program.
While disappointed the program, which helps towns improve their business corridors, will pass Kingston by, DKA members had already planned to go it alone if necessary.
SUQUAMISH — When 5,000 gallons of oil spread across the Puget Sound and washed up on the shores of the once pristine Doe-Kag-Wats Marsh Dec. 30, 2003, the Suquamish Tribe lost not only a valuable habitat, but a sacred space it had used for healing and worship throughout its history.
POULSBO — Beginning to line up teaching assignments for the 2007-2008 school year, the North Kitsap School District has one more 9-12 grade building to staff without any extra basic education money coming from the state.
Therefore, the district hopes to have a spot for each of its teachers next fall to cover them all. That could mean some teachers will be relocated according to what positions need to be filled.
Kitsap County voters will decide whether to approve a property tax increase to support library services in a special election on May 15.
“Our revenues haven’t kept up with our growth,” Kitsap Regional Libraries Director Jill Jean reported during a Library Board of Trustees meeting Feb. 22. “The demand for library services has increased at a much greater rate than our ability to pay for them.”
POULSBO — Another strong showing of Spectrum Community School support anchored the front end of the North Kitsap School District board meeting Feb. 22.
Amidst the controversy raised by the possibility of losing school principal and patriarch Chris Wendelyn next year, residents brought concerns to the board about a controversial recommendation made in regard to the alternative school’s anticipated structural addition.
PORT ORCHARD — The Kitsap County Commissioners voted Monday to expand the county’s shoreline buffers to an average of 50 feet, protecting those areas from new development while promising that existing structures can stay put.
“People who now have homes within the buffers will not lose their homes if there is a fire,” said North Kitsap Commissioner Chris Endresen. “They can always rebuild within the same footprint.”
INDIANOLA — Since construction began on the White Horse development and golf course, groundwater concerns from Indianola’s residents have continued to flow unabated. Residents and groups, including the Friends of Kitsap Creek and the Suquamish Tribe, are still working with Kitsap County and developer Bob Screen in hopes of clearing up not only their water sources, but their anxieties as well.
PORT GAMBLE — Port Gamble Bay will be more crowded than usual until spring due to 10 gigantic anchors which arrived Tuesday morning. They’ll be difficult to miss.
Each coffee-can shaped structure is roughly two stories tall, between 46 and 60 feet in diameter, and weighs between 995 and 1,385 tons — almost two and half times the weight of the Space Needle.