REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2012 | Vol. 112, No. 50 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
SPARTAN SMACKDOWN: Bainbridge picks up first Metro League win. A14
City sends out bloated sewer bills
Pottery shop helps heal from the heart
Bainbridge promises to give customers credit on next bill BY RICHARD D. OXLEY Bainbridge Island Review
Richard D. Oxley / Bainbridge Island Review
Isabel Barjesteh and Grace Nikunen use their artistic ingenuity to paint two mugs at Heart and Soul, a paint-your-own-pottery business that recently opened up in the Pavilion.
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New Winslow business supplies smiles and fun, but also art therapy BY RICHARD D. OXLEY Bainbridge Island Review
Sometimes life tosses us into the fire, only to make us stronger and shine brighter. It’s how tragedy can turn into triumph. Islander Lori Blevins knows this well. “It really upset the balance of our personal lives, and our family,” Blevins said of a personal trial she went through. Six years ago Blevins and her hus-
band, Bill Schilling, were on the road heading to the Kingston ferry dock. But they didn’t make the boat on time. Fate was traveling toward them instead. A large logging truck experienced a failure in six of its nine brakes. It lost the ability to slow down and was fast approaching the small cars ahead. The truck lurched into the oncoming lane to avoid hitting other cars. As a result, Blevins and her husband
collided head-on with the logging truck. The crash sent the couple on a new and difficult road. “We weren’t able to return to our jobs,” Blevins said. “It was very traumatic all-around. We had to learn to cope and get ourselves back.” Both Blevins and her husband suffered brain and physical injures that SEE SMILES, A19
Bainbridge Island city staff are scrambling to repair overcharges to islanders’ sewer bills — as well as customer relations — after a flurry of complaints poured into city hall. The city began fielding criticism over unusually high charges on sewer utility bills for September and October. “There was an error in the sewer charge sometime in the last few weeks,” said Councilman Steve Bonkowski. “The city is now in the process of notifying all individuals where the error was made, and makDouglas Schulze ing the correction.” Bonkowski was among city officials who residents took their concerns to at city hall when they recently noticed the unexpected overcharge in their sewer bills. Approximately half of the city’s sewer customers were overcharged in the September/October billing cycle. The charges vary from customer to customer, but one islander reported getting overcharged $178. The error was the result in the switch from summer to fall sewer rates, or more accurately put, the lack of a switch. The city uses an annual formula to offset higher usage of the sewer in the summer, so islanders don’t get bombarded with significantly higher bills in the hotter, sunnier months. “During the summer months, because people are SEE SEWER, A25