Local Bank Merger of Columbia and Umpqua Recalls Memories of the Great RecessionMarch 19, 2023by Kevin DwyerPosted in:Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island, Businesses and Community Resources, Living on B.I.-The banking world has been turned on its ear of late, with the financial mishaps taking place at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in New York City. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), President Biden and Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, have all stepped in to ensure the American people that their money is safe in one of our most trusted institutions. Truth be told, no one wants a repeat of the 2008 crisis that rocked the financial world and took out a number of big banks, including Seattle's own Washington Mutual, and eventually led to the Great Recession that lasted nearly seven years and crippled the economy, the housing market and the stock market. You don't have to look much beyond Winslow Way - Bainbridge Island's main commercial drag - to see where the smoke settled at the beginning of the Great Recession - more than a decade ago - and where the future of local banking now lies. If you've lived on the island for more than a dozen years or so, you probably remember American Marine Bank. It operated 11… Continue Reading
ISLAND THEATRE PRESENTS DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA and a Ten-Minute Play Festival Workshop the weekend of March 25th/26thMarch 17, 2023by Margaret MillmorePosted in:Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island, DestinationBainbridgeIsland, Events, Living on B.I., People, Arts, Culture, Music, Food and Wine, Visit Bainbridge, Visiting B.I.-Join Island Theatre at the Bainbridge Public Library for a dramatic staged reading of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea by John Patrick Shanley on Saturday, March 25th at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 26th at 3:00 p.m. Admission is by donation with a suggested $5 minimum donation per person. Danny is a trucker who people call The Beast. Roberta is a troubled young mother with a teenage son whom her parents now raise. Danny and the Deep Blue Sea touches the unspoken parts of our humanity: the violence, insanity, love and hate that can occur in the space between two people. The play tells the story of two strangers who, after a hesitant, defensive initial meeting in a bar, bob and weave in a dramatic and intimate tango. Danny and Roberta butt heads and egos before discovering through each other that there is a space for love in their lives. A dangerous and messy love, but love nonetheless. “A funny, frightening, hypnotically fascinating evening of theatre. . ." – Drama-Logue Playwright John Patrick Shanley is an Academy Award winning writer (Best Screenplay, Moonstruck). He was also the recipient of an… Continue Reading
Kick Off Spring with KiDiMu’s FAM JAM on March 25th from 10am–2pm and Adults-Only Mini-Golf Fundraiser from 6pm-9pmMarch 15, 2023by Margaret MillmorePosted in:Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island, DestinationBainbridgeIsland, Events, Living on B.I., Parks & Recreation, People, Arts, Culture, Music, Food and Wine, Visit Bainbridge, Visiting B.I.-Join KiDiMu and their community partners for FAM JAM 2023 – a fun street fair style family-focused event to kick off spring! Kids, grab your adults and head down to the museum for a day of activities, great music, street tacos and more. 10am – 2pm TOUCH A TRUCK – the Bainbridge Island Police and Fire Departments will be on hand to let you explore their vehicles, as well as a PacWesty Van, Kitsap Towing trucks, Bloedel Reserve’s “fancy” Polaris, and Bainbridge Disposal's garbage truck. 10am – 2pm HANDS-ON ART AND SCIENCE ACTIVITIES – Family mural project – Thumbprint drawings Ed Emberley style with Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) – Battle Point Astronomical Association (BPAA) will have telescopes to look through and a slideshow of JWST images – Seed bomb making – Carnival like games – and much more! 10am – 2pm FEATURED COMMUNITY PARTNERS – wide array of community partners will be either leading activities or providing information about their services (see below for a list of contributors to date) 10am – 2pm STREET TACOS & MORE – Erika Thayer’s Taco Barn will… Continue Reading
Environmental Conference looks at climate change on “Our Unruly Island Home,” March 25th at Bainbridge High SchoolMarch 13, 2023by Margaret Millmore and Kevin DwyerPosted in:Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island, Businesses and Community Resources, Events, Living on B.I., Parks & Recreation-Keynote speaker is Madeline Ostrander, journalist and author of “At Home on an Unruly Planet” Seattle science journalist and author Madeline Ostrander will be the keynote speaker at the 2023 Bainbridge Island Environmental Conference, “Our Island Home on an Unruly Planet,” one of Kirkus Review’s 100 Best Nonfiction Books of 2022. The conference is 12-5 p.m. Saturday, March 25th, at the Bainbridge High School Theater. It is presented by Sustainable Bainbridge, EcoAdapt, the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation, the Bainbridge Island Land Trust and IslandWood. Ostrander’s book “At Home on an Unruly Planet: Finding Refuge on a Changed Earth” examines how climate change has destabilized our fundamental notions of “home” – shattering our sense of safety and sanctuary in familiar places, compelling us to find new reserves of strength, adaptation and connection. Between deeply reported stories of ordinary Americans finding resilience in the face of dramatic environmental change – melting permafrost in Alaska, rising seas in Florida, catastrophic wildfires in Washington state, petrochemical disasters in California – Ostrander offers lyrical essays on our historical, social and psychological constructs of “home” as a place to… Continue Reading
What’s happening in Kitsap’s economy? Check out KEDA’s Annual Meeting and other ProgrammingMarch 12, 2023by Kevin DwyerPosted in:Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island, Businesses and Community Resources, Living on B.I.-The goal of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, known as KEDA, is to foster a more diverse economy for West Puget Sound, which historically has been heavily dependent on military and government spending. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The Navy's three bases in our county - at Keyport, Bangor (where a fleet of Trident submarines are located), and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton - employee thousands of people and pump millions of dollars into the economy on an annual basis. Over the years, the organization has worked closely with the Navy and local governments and has made efforts to add new private sector businesses to the mix that could benefit from our region's workforce, (mostly) affordable living and our proximity to Seattle and East King County finance and technology centers. To learn more about what KEDA is up to and where it is headed in the next year or so, its Board of Directors invites the public to join it on March 30th from 11:30am - 1:00pm for its Annual Meeting and Economic Forecast Luncheon at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort… Continue Reading