Community Cafe Bainbridge

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/cafe-014-bcb-first-anniversary-party-may-2/

Door Prizes! Cake!  A chance to do your own podcast! Bainbridge Community Broadcasting is offering all of the above at their Open Studio Birthday Party on Saturday, May 2nd from 10 am to 4pm.

Yes, it's BCB's first birthday -- where has the time gone? In this podcast, BCB manager Barry Peters looks back over the year's accomplishments and discusses the group's plans for the year to come.

As you might have guessed, with so much to celebrate (180 podcasts! 70 organizations served! 15,000 downloads!) we are definitely planning to party!  So please -- stop by 325 Tormey Lane #144 (next to Silver Screen Video) on Saturday May 2nd and celebrate with us.  Enjoy birthday cake and tasty treats from Jake's Pickup, and don't forget to enter for your chance to win one of our elegant door prizes, handcrafted by local artisans!

Credits:  BCB Host and audio tech Sandy Schubach; BCB audio editor Barry Peters; BCB publisher Diane Walker.

Listen to this in-depth 30-minute interview with Bainbridge resident and world-renown author, David Korten, at BCB's studio.

David discusses his just-published book: “Change the Story, Change the Future: A Living Economy for a Living Earth,” available from Eagle Harbor Books.

The interview also reveals David’s passionate commitment to local community. David expresses the many ways in which Bainbridge Island is, and could increasingly be, an outstanding example of a community seeking to achieve social and economic well-being -- with locally owned main street businesses and city policies that preserve a healthy natural environment -- rather than succombing to outside pressures for big-money exploits.

And David explains how one local Bainbridge nonprofit business, Yes! Magazine, is telling the stories of people and places that offer hope for change amidst the challenges of our times.

David Korten, an internationally-published author and engaged citizen, is co-founder and board chair of YES! Magazine, co-founder and co-chair of the New Economy Working Group, president of the Living Economies Forum. A 20th anniversary edition of his classic best seller When Corporations Rule the World will launch in June 2015. In 2010, inspired by the Occupy movement, he published Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth.

David’s April 2006 talk to a standing-room audience at the Bainbridge Performing Arts playhouse, on his then-newest book: The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, was the first event hosted by the then-new nonprofit, Sustainable Bainbridge.

David has MBA and Ph.D. degrees from the Stanford Business School, and in his earlier career served as a captain in the US Air Force, a Harvard Business School professor, a Ford Foundation project specialist, and has decades of fieldwork seeking economic development in countries such as Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Credits: BCB host, editor and publisher: Barry Peters

It's time to talk trash with award winner Diane Landry of the Bainbridge Island Zero Waste project.

In this episode, BCB host Miles Schneiderman is joined by Diane Landry and Regina Spoor of Sustainable Bainbridge's Zero Waste Initiative to discuss their work to improve and maintain Bainbridge Island's practices of waste management and recycling.

Diane is the coordinator of the Zero Waste initiative, and her efforts have just resulted in her being named the Kitsap Community Foundation's 2015 Outstanding Citizen of the Year. 

Regina is a Zero Waste volunteer and a founding member of Bainbridge Island's original Friends of Recycling organization.

During the conversation, Diane and Regina talk about what the Zero Waste Initiative does, how it got started, and how each of them became involved. They discuss past actions, such as their efforts to recycle political campaign signs. The Zero Waste team voluntarily manages recycling at the Island's Grand Old Fourth of July festivities hosted annually by the local Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber also honored Diane recently with their annual citizenship award. 

Miles also asks Diane and Regina how Bainbridge can do better in terms of recycling, how much progress they have seen since their initial respective sparks of passion, and what keeps them inspired to volunteer for such an important cause. Finally, they reveal how Bainbridge Island residents can get involved in the Zero Waste Initiative.

Check out this fun 20-minute conversation to learn what it takes to become Outstanding Citizen of the Year!

Credits: BCB host and audio editor: Miles Schneiderman; BCB social media publisher: Barry Peters.

In this podcast, Ken Pyburn calls in by Skype from Portland Oregon to discuss the advisable next steps for forming a "village" organization on Bainbridge to provide services to members to help them age gracefully in place.

This podcast conversation is in light of a very successful and well-attended public meeting at the Waterfront Community Center for four hours on Saturday February 28, where about 60 people brainstormed and considered forming such a village.  He notes that it would be the first village to form for an island community.

A "village" isn't a physical neighborhood -- it's a membership organization that provides needed and desired services, often at a group discount, or through the generosity of volunteers. Villages provide the services that its members have outgrown their willingness to do or their ability to do as they've aged.

Ken has recently retired from chairing the board of directors of Villages Northwest, which is a collection of eight senior villages growing in the Portland Oregon vicinity.  He comments on his favorable impressions of Bainbridge as a place that struck him as very auspicious for creating a village.

He said the Bainbridge volunteer planning group is ready for the "coalescing" phase, leading to the "development" phase and finally the village "launch" phase.

He says that many villages grow out of a program of an existing service organization, while many others form a nonprofit membership organization from scratch.

The village proposal is the brainchild of Sue Barrington of the BI Parks and Recreation District staff.  By the end of the Feb. 28th meeting at the Waterfront Park Community Center, Sue showed the group a nascent BIvillage.org website that she had created in anticipation of a successful meeting.  Additional resources are available from the national Village to Village Network.

For more information about the meeting on senior villages, have a listen to Sue's remarks on What's Up podcast 116 from February 19th, or Ken Pyburn's earlier interview in the February 25th podcast.

Census data suggests that more than one Bainbridge resident in five is over age 60.

Credits: BCB host and publisher: Barry Peters; BCB audio editor: Tim Bird.

In this episode of Community Cafe Bainbridge, we meet Clarice Cutler, the director of the Student Conservation Corps (SCoCo). Joining Clarice is Elan Safford, a senior at Bainbridge High School who is an active and enthusiastic SCoCo volunteer.

They discuss this year’s SCoCo process for recruiting approximately 24 teens for Spring Break and Summer Break work sessions.

SCoCo provides rewarding paid work and volunteer experience for students who are 15-18 years old, who are interested in environmental conservation and stewardship, and who like to work hard outside on gratifying projects.

SCoCo is currently sponsored by Sustainable Bainbridge, and works closely with the Island’s Parks District, Parks Foundation and Bainbridge Island Land Trust.

Anyone interested in applying must attend one of the four application work parties that are occurring this month and next.  On March 7, interested teens can apply to work at Ted Olsen Nature Preserve from 1pm to 3:30pm.  On April 11, the 2.5 hour application work party will be at Fay Bainbridge Park. And on April 25, the work party will be at Pritchard Park.

Please email program director Clarice before attending a work party. Visit their Sustainable Bainbridge SCoCo web page for more information."

The students volunteer to clear invasive plants from public parks and private lands that have a conservation easement that is overseen by the Bainbridge Island Land Trust (BILT).  BILT has an Americorps intern who works with the SCoCo volunteers during the summer.

English ivy, scotch broom and tansy ragwort are three prominent examples of invasive and noxious weeds that volunteers seek to remove by physically pulling them out by the roots.

Elan reports that the work is hard but also fun, and that it gives a sense of accomplishment. He says of his summer SCoCo work: “I loved it.”

Over the past several years, SCoCo teenagers have cleared over 10,000 Bainbridge Island trees of ivy, especially on public park properties.

The teens in SCoCo are setting a great example for all of us.  As Clarice says: “If every one of us stopped and picked a small Scotch Broom plant every day, we’d truly be set on Bainbridge Island.”

Credits: BCB host: Charlie Hanacek; BCB audio editor: Tim Bird; BCB social media publisher: Barry Peters. Photos: Molly Esteve.

In this podcast, BCB invites two leaders of HRB -- Housing Resources Bainbridge -- to discuss one of Bainbridge Island’s most critical and perennial needs, namely, affordable housing.

HRB board member and past president, Charlie Wenzlau, comes to this conversation with the expertise of being a local well-regarded architect, planner, and longtime advocate for enlightened housing policy for our City and community.

Joining Charlie is HRB’s executive director, Mark Blatter, who came to Bainbridge after leading Seattle's agency for preservation of historic properties and real estate development.

At Housing Resources Bainbridge (formerly named “Housing Resources Board”), the mission is to preserve the diversity and vitality of Bainbridge Island by providing and maintaining affordable housing opportunities in the community.

During this 20-minute conversation, the topics include:

Credits:  BCB host, editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.

It’s not easy to discuss the Northwest’s risks of earthquakes in comparison to the risks of climate change, but those are the two topics shared by University of Washington Professor Paul Johnson in this Bainbridge interview via skype.

Paul, who is a UW Professor of Oceanography and Adjunct Professor of Earth and Space Sciences was recently the featured speaker at the monthly Open Mic Science event at the Treehouse Cafe on Bainbridge. His topic that December night was earthquake risk and the results of his recent research in the Pacific Ocean where two massive geologic plates are colliding and sticking and creating the preconditions to earthquake activity.

In addition to his field research on conditions relating to seismic activity, Professor Johnson has, for the last 19 years, taught University of Washington students about the science and facts of climate change.

The first half of this podcast discusses earthquake risk. Paul’s own research, about the research ocean vessel Atlantis, in the Pacific west of Grays Harbor in August 2013, confirmed the approximate location of the “locked zone” between two plates, where the greatest risk of the largest quakes is likely to originate (similar to the historically massive magnitude 9 quake in Japan in 2011).

The second half of this podcast discusses climate change, and the clear consensus among scientists that we are experiencing climate change that is primarily caused by manmade factors.  Paul reflects on the various influences on public opinion and the lack of well-informed awareness among many.

He comments briefly on the form that climate change is likely to take in the Northwest. And he responds to recent assertions by some about solar activity as a cause of climate change, and the questions that some people raise about the slower growth of surface temperatures in 2000-2010 as compared to 1980-2000.

Professor Johnson’s December visit to Bainbridge Island was hosted by the Bainbridge Open Mic Science group that sponsors talks -- on the first Monday of the month at 8pm at the Treehouse -- by scientists offering their informal remarks on their various scientific endeavors.

Credits:  BCB host, editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/cafe-007-lara-hansen-climate-change/

Wondering what you can do about climate change? In this episode, BCB host Miles Schneiderman joins Lara Hansen, chief scientist and executive director of the non-profit Eco-Adapt organization, to discuss ways in which the Bainbridge Island community can adapt itself to the realities of climate change. 

Lara is a Bainbridge Island resident and a Sustainable Bainbridge board member. She has worked for the EPA and the World Wildlife Fund, and serves on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

During her conversation with Miles, Lara offers examples of ways in which Bainbridge residents can think about climate change issues in the context of our island's features -- such as our local development patterns and vulnerability in some shoreline areas to rising sea levels -- and mentions ways in which an awareness of climate change can be integrated into the current efforts to update the city’s local comprehensive plan. 

They also talk about the failure of governments to address climate change, the need for adaptation on the part of local administrations, and Lara’s optimism for the future. 

Join them for this informative, 25-minute chat and find out how you and your city can take a stand against a phenomenon that is, in Lara’s words, “everybody’s problem.”

To learn more about Lara and her work, visit www.ecoadapt.org and www.sustainablebainbridge.org.

Credits: BCB host: Miles Schneiderman; BCB audio editor: Barry Peters; BCB social media publishers: Chris and Diane Walker

In this 12-minute podcast interview, BCB learns from our City’s Community Engagement Specialist, Kellie Stickney, about the City’s proposed project to improve central Winslow’s Waterfront Park and City Dock.

Kellie notes that the subject will be discussed, and citizen comments will be welcomed, at the City Council meeting of Tuesday evening, January 20th, which starts at 7pm. This could be the last public meeting before the Council decides which parts of the project to prioritize.

In this interview, Kellie Stickney also urges Bainbridge citizens to contact State legislators to advocate for reallocating state assets to the fund that normally provides for grants of the type that this project would benefit from.

At the City Council Study Session on January 6, Public Works Director Barry Loveless informed the Council that the City had a shortage of $835,000 in funding needed to complete both Waterfront Park improvements and a new City dock.

The City is in the process of seeking funding from the Washington State Legislature to fill this gap, but in the interim the Council is discussing how to proceed if the gap isn’t filled in the short term.

Kellie encourages Bainbridge residents to attend the City Council Study Session on Tuesday, January 20 to provide input. If you’re unable to attend the January 20 meeting, comment can be submitted in writing at City Hall, or via email to all Council members. The discussion at the January 20, Study Session is scheduled to begin at 7:40 pm, but the public may want to arrive earlier.

Residents interested in joining the City in requesting that the Washington State Legislature take action to refund the Boating Facilities Program to its pre-2012 levels so that the Waterfront City Dock project could be partially funded, can go to the City website to find sample letter 1, sample 2 and sample 3.

Questions regarding the Waterfront Park-City Dock project can be submitted to Barry Loveless, Public Works Director at 206.842.2016 or at the Public Works Director's email address.

Credits:  BCB host, editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters.

Our much-liked State Senator Christine Rolfes has lived on Bainbridge Island for decades with her family.

In this podcast, BCB catches Christine just before she departs for the State capitol for the January 12th start of the 2015 legislative session.

This year’s session faces, once again, the legal requirement to find adequate funds for public education – which is the State’s paramount duty under the Washington Constitution.

In this year's Senate session, Christine will be serving on three key legislative committees – including Education, plus Ways and Means (which handles all State spending measures), and Rules (which is the gatekeeper for all Bills seeking to reach the floor of the Senate).

As you’ll see from the range of questions she addresses in this podcast, Christine Rolfes has a command of a remarkable array of issues important to Bainbridge Island, Kitsap, and our state as a whole.

The numbers below tell the time in minutes and seconds that various topics are discussed in the podcast:

More information about Christine Rolfes' Senate service is found at her State Senate website.

Credits: BCB host, editor and publisher: Barry Peters.