POULSBO — After being delayed and derailed for the last nine years, Poulsbo’s long-awaited train of growth management progress could finally be chugging into station within the next few months.
The city’s Urban Growth Area plan has been on and off the tracks countless times since the process began in 1993, stalling completely at junctions while leaving both Poulsbo and county residents wondering their attendance at numerous meetings was worth it.
POULSBO — On Sept. 11, as the World Trade Center towers in New York were destroyed by terrorists, students at North Kitsap High School watched the unfolding tragedy on television.
And while no day since has been so intense, the subject has not left the classrooms.
No sooner had we announced the beginning of the 50th annual North Kitsap Bellringer Fund on Wednesday, than the first contributions arrived at the Herald office. Many generous friends make an annual donation to the Bellringer as a way to express gratitude for their own blessings and remember their loved ones during the holidays.
This year’s Bellringer goal is $25,000, an increase over the $22,000 donated by community members last year.
KINGSTON — During the past several years, Bayside Community Church has put its mark on Kingston with a food bank, the new park and ride and other community programs.
Now the church is proposing something even more ambitious: the Ed Moon Community Center.
POULSBO — It’s been in the works for over a year and despite taking huge strides towards a much-anticipated conclusion, the City of Poulsbo and the Poulsbo Police Department are still a long way from finding common ground in terms of a new law enforcement contract.
The lengthy process, during which officers have had pay increases frozen, hasn’t been easy for either side. Talks between the two entities stalled just prior to September and city promised that if things did not improve it would be forced to enter arbitration — a threat which the Poulsbo City Council made good on during a Nov. 7 meeting.
This past election day, 82 percent of the Kitsap County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild voted no confidence in Sheriff Steve Boyer’s leadership and administration.
“He’s a nice guy and we like him,” said guild president and county detective Mike Rodrigue. “We just want him to be the leader we know he can be.”
INDIANOLA — It’s not yet the biggest retail shopping day of the year, the Friday after Thanksgiving, but people got a head start this weekend at the Holiday Bazaar in Indianola and the Harvest Market in Kingston.
“I’m having better sales than ever,” said Corena Chamberlain, who sold luminaries and stationery items. She and several vendors packed into the Indianola Club House this weekend. And so did the people.
POULSBO — Selling. It’s in Penny McLaughlin’s blood.
The local real estate broker community knows this all too well and so do her numerous clients.
POULSBO — If the Poulsbo Panther basketball team seems like it’s playing at a higher level this year, it may be because some of the players have been … well, playing at a higher level.
Not satisfied with pitting themselves against only junior-high competition, frontcourt player Ryan Young and guard Jacob Gonzales spent their summer in scrimmages against several players from North Kitsap High School.
KINGSTON — When the Kingston Junior High basketball team hits the court next week, coach Tony Chisholm will have a familiar player to lean on. Jared Prince, who helped quarterback Chisholm’s Kingston Junior High football team last season, will be part of a quick, sharp-shooting Cavalier team.
Prince is the only returning varsity player from last year’s 6-6 Cavalier team.
It’s a golden time to donate in North Kitsap.
And as the holiday season begins, organizers of the 50th annual North Kitsap Bellringer fund are asking locals to dig deeper than ever to support our less fortunate friends and neighbors. Sponsors from the Raab Foundation and the Poulsbo Noon Lions have set the bar high in the past and the community has never failed to answer the call.
Last week the Poulsbo City Council voted on whether to censure Mike Regis. The motion failed.
This week, they voted on the same question again with a different outcome. The council voted 5-1-1 to censure Regis for improperly disclosing information from an executive session.
POULSBO — City councilman Ed Stern probably shouldn’t quit his job at US Bancorp/Piper Jaffray in Poulsbo and become a high-stakes poker player.
He hasn’t got the face for it.
After months of toiling with representatives from First Western over the proposed construction of an Olympic College campus at Olhava and unrealized hopes that the project would finally move ahead, it was Stern’s smile at the beginning of Wednesday night’s session which revealed that the much-anticipated campus had finally been dealt the hand supporters had been waiting for.
If convicted, DuWayne Bender, 24, could face the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of parole.
KINGSTON — The North Kitsap School District has made an offer to buy a plot of land intended for a new north end high school.
Final details are still being worked out on the purchase of between 28 and 29 acres of property currently owned by My Girl Drive-In owner Bob Thompson. It is located east of Kingston Junior High and southwest of Gordon Elementary. It is also near Spectrum Community School and the district’s transportation center. The district offered $370,000 for the land.
Poulsbo Police and Fire fly ceramic flag at Dancing Brush. In a uniquely American ceremony, local fire and police officials gathered at the Dancing Brush studio in Poulsbo Friday to introduce the city’s newest and most unique flag.
City of Poulsbo hopes meetings with First Western over Olympic College campus will lead to a ‘celebration’ at Wednesday evening’s city council meeting.
Tonight the City of Poulsbo, Poulsbo City Council, First Western developers and Olhava project officials will meet to discuss the progress…or lack of progress on Poulsbo’s promised Olympic College campus. The hopes of a community hinge on whether promises made will be promises kept by First Western.
POULSBO — “We’ve just grown with the needs of the community,” Susan Simons explained almost matter of factly.
What isn’t so matter of fact though is the brand new 13,000 square-foot facility the staff at Poulsbo’s Pacific Surgery Center, Pacific EyeCare and Peninsula Pain Clinic will be moving into during the next few weeks.
SUQUAMISH — The Miller Bay Citizens Action Group members voted Monday to focus on three areas of concern and join forces with the newly formed West Sound Conservation Alliance.
The annual meeting of the citizen’s group was held at the Suquamish Congregational United Church of Christ where president Lane Holdcroft delivered his “State of the Bay” address.
Although weather and a national holiday observance made his audience the smallest in the 12 years the group has been meeting, he said it was the quality of the group’s members not the quantity.
“There is so much to be done and such limited resources. We must fight the good fight,” he said.
