REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013 | Vol. 113, No. 16 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
New Bainbridge police chief, city have verbal agreement for job offer
CAN YOU DIG IT? Bainbridge garden club gets set for big plant sale. A9
Local runners escape harm in bombing at marathon Bainbridge runner: ‘I’m just sick to my stomach about it’ BY BRIAN KELLY Bainbridge Island Review
Richard D. Oxley / Bainbridge Island Review
Matthew Hamner speaks with islanders at a community meet-and-greet on April 4 before his interview for the chief position the next day.
Seasoned veteran named as island’s next top cop BY RICHARD D. OXLEY Bainbridge Island Review
Matthew Hamner — a longtime lawman from a big city department in Indianapolis, Ind. — will be Bainbridge Island’s next police chief. Bainbridge City Manager Doug Schulze made the announcement late last week.
Schulze said it was Hamner’s overall attitude that made him stand out from the field of five finalists. “I thought he came in with real positive energy, enthusiasm, a can-do attitude,” Schulze said. “I felt he was going to be a good fit for leading the organization through a process of
changes during the next three to five years,” he added Hamner will have his work cut out for him. He is inheriting a police department that’s been the subject of much outside criticism — and a large amount of internal discord — in recent years. Jon Fehlman, the city’s last chief, resigned in September
after the release of an outside investigation that was prompted by a vote of “no confidence” by the city’s police union and claims of mismanagement and misdeeds. The investigation found scant evidence of wrongdoing, however. Fehlman’s second SEE CHIEF, A3
No escaping the power of poetry this month on Bainbridge BY RICHARD D. OXLEY Bainbridge Island Review
It’s been said to have great poets, there must be great audiences. Bainbridge Island is proving to be quite a sufficient crowd. Bainbridge just got a little more poetic as the month of April began. That’s because organizers of the annual Poetry Corners event have been posting a slew of poems by local authors in windows across the island. Since its inception in 1999, the Poetry Corners competition has been an island tradition. The Bainbridge Island Arts & Humanities Council organizes it, and the event culminates in an
Poetry Corners Poems of mischief are displayed across the island as part of the 2013 Poetry Corners competition. A complete list of poem locations is at www.bain bridgeartshumanities.org. What: Poetry Corners Live! When: Thursday, April 25. Where: Bainbridge Island Museum of Art auditorium. island-wide display of local poetry throughout April; National Poetry Month. SEE POETRY, A3
Richard D. Oxley / Bainbridge Island Review
Islanders will see poems by local authors in various corners of Bainbridge during April, such as this display at the Pegasus Coffee House.
A Bainbridge Island runner who raced in this year’s Boston Marathon said the event will be forever changed by the bombing attack Monday that left three people dead and more than 170 injured. Peter Vosshall, 42, of Bainbridge had finished competing in his fifth straight Boston Marathon and had already made it back to his hotel, Taj Boston, about a half mile away when the explosions went off. Vosshall said he was taking a shower and didn’t hear the blasts. His mother, who was visiting from Vermont to cheer him on in the race, did. “She figured it was a generator or furnace exploding,” he said. Vosshall said the explosions turned the city’s premier springtime event into a tragedy. “I’m just sick to my stomach about it,” he said. “This is a such a celebration for the city of Boston,” Vosshall said. “There’s a half million people on the course, cheering on the runners. It’s supposed to be a great day. It turned into a devastating situation in an instant.” Vosshall estimated he finished the race about an hour or so before the explosions. He said he has thought in the hours since what might have happened if the explosions happened earlier, or in a different spot along the course. “If whoever did this was more organized or sinister, they could have set those devices up at the starting line, where there were much denser groups of people,” he said. “There were 9,000 people standing for at least 20, 30 minutes, waiting for the race to start.” Vosshall said his wife called as soon as she heard the news, and he posted a message on Facebook and sent emails SEE BOMBING, A3