Review Bainbridge Island
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NO CONTEST: Spartans humble Rainier Beach in hoops. A14
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014 | Vol. 114, No. 2 | www.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.com | 75¢
BY CECILIA GARZA AND LUCIANO MARANO Bainbridge Island Review
It’s a new year. So now what? While no one can know for sure what 2014 will bring, 2013 provided some inkling of what will generate headlines in the coming year. Presented here are our staff selections of a few of the big issues and events that will affect life on Bainbridge Island. We have tried to select stories from a variety of areas and interests, but they are all important. John W. Gardner, former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare once said, “History never looks like history when you are living through it.” That may be true. But within these selected “stories to watch” are the beginnings of events that will surely shape the history of life on Bainbridge Island, and it is important that we recognize the important changes to come.
for ’14
Storylines to watch in the coming year
I-502 will bring legal pot to Bainbridge Island. But how?
turn to four | A7
Mochi tsuki tradition pulls in record crowd BY LUCIANO MARANO Bainbridge Island Review
New combined home for fire, police?
Where to now, West Sound Wildlife Shelter?
For more than a thousand years, the making and eating of mochi — the soft treat made of mashed sweet rice — has been a New Year’s custom and tradition in Japan. And for 25 years, that tradition has found a new place of importance with the Bainbridge Island community. The traditional New Year’s event, known as mochi tsuki, celebrated its 25th year on the island Sunday, Jan. 5 at IslandWood with demonstrations, activities, musical performances and record attendance. “We hit 1,000 [visitors] in the first hour,” said Clarence Moriwaki, president of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association and one of the lead event coordinators. “I’m shocked. It was incredible,” he said. “The timing was perfect, the weather was great and the Seahawks don’t play again until next week.” Moriwaki estimates the total number of guests and participants was more than 2,100 by the end of the day, shattering the previous best turnout of 1,800 from two years ago. turn to mochi | A11
Legal marijuana Marijuana regulations present questions for the future. Over the past year, the potential for Bainbridge-based marijuana businesses has fizzled into several question marks. Some wonder where the businesses will start popping up, others just plain want to know when they can expect to buy on-island. It seems that even the city’s planning department is a little hazy on when the big answers will materialize. But the plan is to have permanent regulations signed, stamped and sealed mid-way through 2014, giving applicants and residents at least some idea of a timeline.
Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
Bing Kawasaki forms a piece of the mashed sweet rice into a mochi ball.
Nonprofit starts ‘boomerang’ giving Bainbridge city council: All together now?
Photos by the Forks Forum; Janine Courtemanche | Bainbridge Island Fire Department; Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review; Cecilia Garza | Bainbridge Island Review
BY CECILIA GARZA Bainbridge Island Review
The idea of a senior discount may take on a whole new meaning this winter. Over the next two months, Bainbridge Island seniors will be able to join the “pay it forward” movement with just a trip to the movies. A new island nonprof-
it, Boomerang Giving, has partnered up with Bainbridge Cinemas and Lynwood Theatre to give moviegoers ages 65 and over the option to donate their senior discount to local charities. “We started thinking about it because a lot of grocery stores were asking if you wanted turn to giving | A22