*In national news, shipping conflict in the middle east continues, gas and energy prices climb, airlines cancel flights in response to jet fuel cost, plus… a man is charged with storming a white house gala to assassinate the president and… last year’s abnormally warm, dry winter exacerbates drought across the country, headed into summer, with El Niño in the forecast, plus extended forecasts for an even warmer, dryer winter coming this year… Meanwhile in Kitsap:
PAID PARKING IN POULSBO goes into effect, just in time for summer, in the town’s waterfront parking lot after a heavy debate on the matter in city council. The resolution passed and a contractor has already been hired for parking enforcement. Start date was yet to be determined beyond ‘summer 2026’ at press time. Rates for the public will vary between peak and off seasons, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the plan includes a paid model for downtown businesses to pay for monthly parking for its employees… Or you could build your own viking ship and get on the list for a spot at the marina. The Valkyrie, a modern-day coast-guard-certified historically-built Viking Ship, has pulled into port at the Poulsbo marina again for the season. Meanwhile, the port and the historical society are throwing a Maritime Heritage Festival May 29-31 with historic mosquito fleet vessels, a pop-up ferry to-and-from Bremerton on the Carlisle II and shuttles to off-site parking. And, if you find a parking spot further away and walk downtown, the new plant store/coffee shop opened in the old Poulsbohemian building last month.
IN OTHER WATER-TRAVEL NEWS: Saturday fast ferry service is back for the season in Kitsap. Meanwhile the big green state ferries are looking at another rate hike. And the ‘Mosquito Fleet Act,’ aiming to enable more locally-operated passenger-only ferry systems like Kitsap’s fast ferry fleet across Puget Sound, has stalled again in the state legislature. Double check your sailings and fares at wsdot.wa.gov and kitsaptransit.org. And in other maritime heritage, check out Port Orchard’s annual Mosquito Fleet Fest, May 23-24, featuring story sails around Sinclair Inlet on the Carlisle II.
MEANWHILE IN BELFAIR: A local tow-truck driver hiked half a mile to rescue a 20-some-year-old uber driver who’d gotten lost and gotten their car stuck in the Mason County backroads. The tow-truck driver walked the uber driver out of the woods. The company came back later with an excavator to recover the vehicle.
MEANWHILE ON BAINBRIDGE: A Seattle driver almost runs over a ferry worker, trying to get to the boat in a porsche.
AND THE BREMERTON FOOD BANK celebrated the opening of a new little food pantry in front of its building near the high school last month. The nationwide Neighborhood Food Pantry Project began in the mid-2010s with inspiration from Little Free Libraries, as a way to increase access to free food and supplies for those in need. There is a whole network of free food pantries across Kitsap with various maps and online information available. Search: ‘kitsap free neighborhood pantries’ The pantry project at the food bank was a student-led project organized by the Coffee Oasis with construction and materials provided by the local Bluebills non-profit. The installation celebration coincided with the installation of the food bank’s new community garden, aimed at growing food in raised beds on the sidewalk patch alongside the building.
Meanwhile… Bremerton also got a new waterfront restaurant last month, Char Kitchen in Marina Square, brought to you by the folks behind Whiskey Gulch Coffee Pub in Port Orchard. And… Manette gets a new wine bar brought to you by the folks from Eleven Winery in Bainbridge. Plus… The Rustica Grille finally opens in the Port Orchard Public Market building on Bay Street… Also…Whiskey & Waffles opens in Port Gamble… And, Also, Plus, As Well… Good news for restaurants, bad news for newspapers: Amidst an on-going list of mill closures and production disruptions, the Longview paper mill, one of the last two newsprint mills remaining in the US, ceased newsprint production last month as the company shifts to producing exclusively packaging products.
