Kitsap Sun
Machado gains little in White House visit
WASHINGTON – Venezuelan opposition leader Marina Corina Machado got her courtesy luncheon with President Donald Trump on Jan. 15 but gained little else politically after the White House secured a $500 million deal for Venezuelan oil through ongoing...
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The future of Bremerton’s homeless shelter uncertain
The Salvation Army will continue to run a low-barrier, 24/7 homeless shelter in downtown Bremerton through March 31. That comes despite announcing plans last December to reduce operational hours on Jan. 1 because of a drop in county funding. While it...
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Volunteers launch effort to create a community center
SILVERDALE — Volunteers have formed a nonprofit in hopes of finding a suitable property to open a Silverdale community center, a long-held goal in Kitsap’s largest unincorporated community. The vision is to create a place where people of all ages can...
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‘Having a great time’
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — It was Iris Queen’s first time joining locals and visitors from outside the county to celebrate the new year at Bainbridge’s annual Mochi Tsuki. She was asked to help pound the rice in a granite bowl to make mochi outside the north...
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PEACE AND HONOR
Poulsbo’s first city council meeting of the new year on Jan. 7 started off with a special appearance from the Suquamish Tribe, and a subtle action that the entities intend will symbolize peace and cooperation. Following the oaths of office taken by...
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Protests spread after fatal shooting by ICE
The city of Minneapolis is reeling in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration agent, as federal and local authorities clash over the latest violence in President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown. The woman,...
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SPARROW SIGHT
A song sparrow pauses next to a vine of ivy as it hops along a fence at Illahee State Park in Bremerton on Jan. 5.
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Trump: Case against Maduro ‘infallible’
Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was transported by helicopter on Jan. 5 to a federal courthouse in Manhattan for an arraignment on federal narco-terrorism charges. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were facing a four-count indictment linking...
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City plans to keep shelter open through winter
BREMERTON – Officials from the city and the housing authority, along with state legislators, are ironing out a lastminute plan that would allow the Salvation Army to maintain 24/7 operations at its downtown homeless shelter for at least the remainder...
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Mamdani promises new era for NYC
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Jan. 1 inauguration and block party reflected a diverse city looking to make good on the 34-year-old democratic socialist’s promises to address affordability. On a freezing New Year’s Day, the Democratic mayor...
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Construction a big part of 2026’s plan for education
Large piles of dirt and construction equipment now seen off Wheaton Way and, less visibly to commuters, Dibb Avenue just a few blocks west, sit as reminders of two significant additions coming to Bremerton in 2026. Two new elementary school buildings...
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‘Made in USA’ gets boost from tariffs
Forty-one years ago, when Sara Irvani’s grandfather launched a footwear company in Buford, Georgia, half the nation’s shoes were made in America. Today, the figure is down to 1%. “From the late 1890s through the 1970s or so, there had actually been...
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Taking a look back at what 2025 had to teach us LESSONS LEARNED
One thing about being a journalist I’ve always found remarkable, as common as it seems, is that people will almost always talk to you. A reporter can walk up to a stranger, knock on a door or make a cold call, say we’re with the Sun and pose a...
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Experts expect economy to grow in 2026
A seesaw year for the U.S. economy in 2025 looks set to give way to a stronger 2026 thanks to tailwinds from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, less uncertainty around tariffs, the ongoing artificial intelligence boom and a lateyear run of...
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County set to add new Harper Estuary bridge
Kitsap County is making progress on restoring the Harper Estuary in South Kitsap, with a specific construction plan lined up for 2026 and 2027 following more than two decades of planning. The county awarded a construction contract with Scarsella...
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‘DEEP CONNECTION’
The places Indigenous peoples call home have intertwined with their ways of life for millennia. Their stories, foodways and cultures relate directly to their homelands. Lands, waters, plants and animals, the creatures that inhabit the waters below and...
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Port Orchard’s dome home
PORT ORCHARD — In a rural area of South Kitsap, a nuclear engineer and veteran, Jim Perkins, built a unique house in the 1980s. He roofed it with multiple perfect triangles and made the exterior of the architecture just like a dome. Bryn Schueler, who...
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Colleges not connecting with rural kids
Many high school seniors are currently in the midst of the college application process or are already waiting to hear back from their selected schools. For high school students in rural parts of the United States, the frantic pace of the college...
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WINTER WISH GRANTED
POULSBO – North Kitsap High School freshman Marques Reed began winter break with a huge smile — and an oversized check — that will hopefully make his biggest wish come true this season. Reed was the recipient of $6,820.62 in donations during a...
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Road fixes, $1B for new ferries at top of gov’s transportation plan
LACEY — Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson unveiled a plan Dec. 19 to steer $3 billion into preserving the state’s roads and bridges and building three new ferries over the next decade. Ferguson would raise the money through borrowing, with the sale of...
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Immigration arrests in WA surge
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown intensified across Washington in the late summer and early fall, new data indicates. Between July 29 and Oct. 15, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 950 people in Washington....
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Brown shooting suspect found dead
Jeanine Santucci, N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Katie Mulvaney, Michael Loria and Thao Nguyen PROVIDENCE, RI – Though the suspect connected to the deadly Brown University attack and the fatal shooting of an MIT professor was found dead in New Hampshire, the...
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Nimitz reunions lead into holidays
NAVAL BASE KITSAP -- Rain pounded down from afternoon into the evening, but the moody weather did little to dampen the smiles and tears of children, partners, parents, and friends of sailors on the USS Nimitz. After 270 days away at sea, the crew...
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Nimitz returns home before move to Norfolk
BREMERTON — The USS Nimitz is back home. The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier sailed through Puget Sound from Naval Magazine Indian Island to Naval Base Kitsap on Tuesday, Dec. 16, arriving just after 2 p.m. on a wet, blustery day. Approximately 3,000...
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CEDAR SNACK
A black-tailed deer snacks on the low-hanging limbs of a cedar tree in a yard near Brownsville on Dec. 13.
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Acquisition to protect city’s OB-GYN care
Dr. Kathy Hebard delivered a dire warning before the local health board two years ago, declaring that the dwindling number of OB-GYN providers left in Kitsap County were barely holding their heads above water. Little has changed since and Hebard’s own...
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STEP ASIDE, RUDOLPH
ABOVE: East Bremerton neighbors wave from the sidewalk as Bremerton Fire Department’s Santa’s Lights and Ladders Tour cruises by on Wednesday. Off-duty firefighters and their families volunteered their time to drive Santa around various neighborhoods...
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Abrego Garcia released from detention facility
In a whiplash series of events, federal judge on Dec. 12 blocked an effort to have Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to custody a day after his release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. On Dec. 11, District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the...
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Emergency declared over flooding from WA rivers
As floodwaters swelled around Washington, threatening low-lying communities along rivers, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a statewide emergency declaration on Wednesday. Ferguson said he’d also seek an expedited emergency declaration from the federal...
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New tower at St. Michael to expand specialty care
SILVERDALE -- St. Michael Medical Center unveiled its recently finished 74bed medical tower for the first time during a ceremony on its Silverdale campus Tuesday, Dec. 9, ending a decade-long relocation of the county’s only-full service...
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Event keeps growing to help kids in Kitsap
Kitsap County saw a record turnout of participants at this year’s charity law enforcement event aiming to provide aid and cheer during the holidays. Around 140 students from the North Kitsap School District showed up at the Poulsbo Walmart last...
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‘Something we’re all very proud of ’
BREMERTON -- It’s been over two years since local and state elected officials gathered as the ribbon was cut for a groundbreaking affordable housing project by Kitsap Community Resources. That event, celebrating the 36unit Mills Crossing townhome...
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ANNIVERSARY FOR A HOLIDAY TRADITION
Waltz of the Flowers dancers leap across the stage during the final rehearsal for Peninsula Dance Theatre’s production of the Nutcracker. At 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Bremerton Arts Center, PDT will perform the holiday classic...
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SEASIDE SEARCH
A pair of killdeer pick their way among the barnacle covered rocks at the Tracyton boat launch on Dec. 1.
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Solidarity meal offered to show power of community
POULSBO — “Ok, we need 30 meals to go,” Danielle Castillejo shouted as she re-entered the front doors of North Point Church, before turning and heading back out into the cool afternoon. Poulsbo Middle School had let out moments earlier on Dec. 2, and...
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Plastic carryout bags will be more expensive
Plastic bags for carryout from restaurants and retailers in Washington State will become more expensive next year. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, the price of plastic film carryout bags in Washington will increase by 4 cents, from the current 8 cents to 12...
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‘I wish this country supported artists’
Being an artist is not viewed as a real job. It’s a sentiment I’ve heard time and again, one that echoes across studios, rehearsal halls and kitchen tables – a quiet frustration that the labor of making art rarely earns the legitimacy or security...
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HOLIDAY HEROES
Bremerton firefighter Jim Whitsett helps Wooldands Elementary student Josh Baker try on a new winter coat during the Coats for Kids event at Woodlands Elementary school in East Bremerton Nov. 25. Firefighters from around the county helped distribute...
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Trump vows further migrant crackdown
President Donald Trump said Nov. 27 that U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, of the West Virginia National Guard, died after being shot the previous day in an ambush near the White House, a shooting that drew claims from his administration of Biden-era...
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Tree farms around Kitsap ready for holiday traditions
The arrival of Thanksgiving means Christmas is around the corner, and families around Kitsap have either already searched for a tree or will do so soon. Kitsap tree farms are now opening for the holiday season, with plenty of options to pick and cut...
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Mobsters brought down by their words
The bloody mob war that is the focus of the new Netflix series “Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia,” which premiered Oct. 22, is full of the murder, mayhem, treachery and deceit that have been the hallmarks of the nation’s Cosa Nostra family...
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SEASON OF SHARING
KINGSTON – After 37-year-old Kyle James restocked one of Kitsap County’s little free pantries in October, he noticed how the donations seemed to disappear overnight. He guessed this likely had to do with the government shutdown, as thousands of...
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Raid turns up drugs, stolen property and 8 arrests
Several people were arrested in a major drug bust west of Bremerton on Friday, Nov. 21 that temporarily closed a nearby road in the morning. According to a statement by the Kitsap County Sheriff ’s Office, detectives and SWAT served a narcotics search...
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SUN STROKE
A double kayak is paddled past a large boat docked in the Brownsville Marina on a beautiful sunny afternoon Nov. 11. Rain is likely to return to the region for the rest of the week and through the weekend.
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Roundabout proposed for Highway 303
A roundabout is proposed to be built on Highway 303 just east of the Central Valley Road overpass near Silverdale, as part of the state’s project to remove barriers to fish migration. The Washington State Department of Transportation is planning to...
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The new ‘clawcade’ trying to grab families’ attention
SILVERDALE — Ten-year-old Christine Werren beamed with happiness when she walked out of a newly-opened Tokyo-style arcade in Silverdale with a plastic bag of over 10 plushies in it — all were prizes she won in less than 30 minutes. “I really like all...
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Hybrid-electric ferry returns to service after missing months
After nearly three months Washington State Ferries has brought its first hybrid-electric ferry back to service, after it lost power temporarily and was sent for repair in August. WSF announced that the Wenatchee returned to the Bainbridge-Seattle...
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ROLLIN’ THAT DOUGH
KINGSTON — “Influencer pizza” isn’t exactly what it sounds like. Sure, there was a TikTok from a beloved, five-year-old shop in downtown Kingston that drew overwhelming crowds to Appletree Cove over the summer, and the owner there has indeed started a...
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SNAP disruptions could hurt grocers
Like the millions of Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, retailers are bracing for the effects of reduced or delayed funding to a program that typically injects billions of dollars into the U.S. economy each month. The...
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County looking at AI to improve Silverdale traffic
Kitsap County Department of Public Works is in the early stages of a project to improve the traffic light system along Silverdale Way, and a few surrounding intersections, with new AI technology. The project has no timeline at this point, but intends...
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Kitsap food banks busy following SNAP delays
Charlie Thompson counted at least 30 people outside Fishline before it opened to shoppers on Monday morning. Lines themselves are not abnormal for the Poulsbo food bank, but the Fishline executive director described the number of people waiting as...
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Kitsap election workers prep for results on Nov. 4
The day before Nov. 4’s general election around 16% of voters had cast a ballot in Kitsap County, though Kitsap County Auditor Paul Andrews expects turnout to reach a similar level as 2023’s off-year election, at around 37%. That means more ballots...
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California set to vote on redistricting
California voters on Nov. 4 will play a big role in deciding which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s time in office. Citizens of the nation’s most populous state are weighing in on...
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CREEK CHECK
A chum salmon swims upstream from the mouth of Chico Creek on Thursday. A county park along Chico Way, just south of the entrance to Kitsap Golf and Country Club, offers parking and a path down to the creekside where residents can watch salmon swimming...
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President Trump targets filibuster
WASHINGTON – As the shutdown drags on, President Donald Trump is urging Senate Republicans to go around Democrats to break an impasse with growing ramifications, with millions of Americans poised to lose federal food assistance. Trump called for an...
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POLE POSITION
It's fall salmon season in the Northwest, as anglers cast near the mouth of Chico Creek on Wednesday. Chum salmon are returning to creeks in Kitsap and the annual salmon watching events hosted by Washington State University Extension and other...
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‘It’s just a piece of paper’
In July 2024, Joseph Leitz walked into a red brick sheriff ’s office building in the small Western Washington city of Shelton and turned in two handguns. A court commissioner had ordered Leitz to do so after his then wife, Lauryn Berg, secured a...
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New installation helps guide observers to fish
The salmon always know where to return, so a new sign in Silverdale is going to help the humans figure it out. Strawberry Creek, one of Kitsap’s many salmon-rearing streams, dumps into Dyes Inlet near its northernmost end, west of the much more...
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Witch way to Liberty Bay
Participants in the Witches Paddle Poulsbo skirt along the shore of Liberty Bay below Fjord Drive on Oct. 25. To see a list of more Halloween events coming this week across Kitsap County, visit www.kitsapsun.com.
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Bainbridge sandwich shop crosses the bridge
POULSBO – A popular sandwich shop on Bainbridge Island has opened a second location in North Kitsap, where customers can expect more than just the lunchtime staple. Located in the city’s Olhava business complex, Chef Nicolas Ganea of the island’s...
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Fire department helps with prevention efforts
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND – From the passenger seat of a department-issued Ford Explorer, Victoria Effray pulls a piece of paper out from the sun visor. Parked in the driveway of a large home in a quaint neighborhood, the social worker peers down at her list...
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Persistent inflation up again last month
Inflation rose again in September, revealing the persistence of rising prices as the job market showed signs of cooling and consumers begin to think about the holiday season. Consumer prices increased 3% from a year earlier, slightly up from 2.9% in...
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Fall mushroom season has arrived
HANSVILLE - Sunlight pokes through the canopy around Buck Lake near Hansville as members of the Kitsap Peninsula Mycological Society (KPMS) scan the understory for specific signs of life. Soon, they surround a dead, moss-covered stump to sniff and...
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Hegseth restricts military contact with Congress
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has largely banned military officials – including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force – from speaking with Congress unless they coordinate with a centralized office that reports to...
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Progress being made on restoration project
HANSVILLE — Work to repair the main parking lot at Point No Point, rebuild a rock revetment wall in front of the iconic lighthouse and plant native vegetation to stabilize the north beach is nearing completion at the Kitsap County park in North Kitsap,...
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Pho T&N marks 20 years at community hub in Poulsbo
POULSBO — When Huyen Tran and Rang Nguyen opened Pho T&N in Poulsbo in 2005, a bowl of pho was $5.99, and a cup of boba tea just $3.50. Twenty years later to the day, on Oct. 25, 2025, the Nguyen family will welcome customers with a throwback menu...
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Kitsap residents turn out for ‘No Kings’ movement
They carried signs, honked horns, drummed bongos, blew bubbles, and dressed from military attire to inflatable costumes, as an estimate of more than 1,000 people took to the Manette Bridge in Bremerton to join thousands of other American communities in...
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Hood Canal chum continues its climb
BELFAIR – In front of a short metal cage, Mike Shaw, a 78-year-old Harstine Island resident, stands with chest-high waders while swirling a net around cold river water flowing between the maroon bars. A sudden splash breaks the flow as Mike scoops the...
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President seeking charges for more foes
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton on Oct. 16 became the third high-profile Trump critic to be criminally charged after the president repeatedly attacked him publicly. All three maintain their innocence...
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TRIDENTS UP FOR ALCS
Seattle Mariners fan Sarah Milne, of Bremerton, holds a trident Wednesday as she gets ready to board the Bremerton ferry bound for Seattle to see an American League Championship Series game in Seattle for the first time in 24 years. Mariners fans were...
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Area scientist awarded Nobel Prize
A Bainbridge Island immunologist has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for pioneering research that helped launch the field of peripheral immune tolerance, which is aiding development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune...
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Police arrest man again after previous arrest, bail
After being arrested in May on suspicion of trafficking drugs from California throughout West Sound, a Bremerton man out on bail was arrested again last week after allegedly continuing to sell illegal narcotics. Kevin Buchin, 42, was taken into...
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A vine time
Above, first-time harvest volunteer Bill Letson, of Bainbridge Island, snips a cluster of pinot noir grapes off the vine at Bainbridge Vineyards on Oct. 7. At right, Bainbridge Vineyards winemaker Betsey Wittick empties a bucket of pinot noir grapes...
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First new hybrid WSF boat coming in 2030
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson celebrated the state’s award of a $715 million contract for three hybrid electric ferries in July as a milestone in his drive to improve the nation’s largest ferry system. But under that contract, Washington State Ferries...
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