Kingston • Eglon • Hansville • Indianola • Little Boston • Port Gamble
COMMUNITY NEWS Vol. 32 No. 11 • November
KingstonCommunityNews.com
2015
Village Green takes shape Port of Kingston manager resigns, cites conflicts
District in lawsuits regarding public records By RICHARD WALKER
rwalker@soundpublishing.com
The sprawling Village Green Community Center has been in the works for over a decade. When finished, it will house a Boys & Girls Club, 5,000-square-foot library, tech room, kitchen and gymnasium. Village Green Foundation
Developers expect new community center to be finished in April By PETER O’CAIN Editor
KINGSTON — The long-awaited 23,000-square-foot Village Green Community Center is beginning to show signs of a finished product. The foundation is set. The interior and exterior framing is done. Spaces for windows taller than
LeBron James are everywhere — views of Appletree Cove included. “Everyone is just thrilled with the progress and (that) they’re on schedule,” said Daniel Johnson, executive director of the Village Green Foundation. “It’s quite an inspiration to walk through that building. One, because it’s finally happening. Two, it’s so well
designed. And three, the views are stunning.” Construction began in May and is expected to be completed by April 2016. The project started about 12 years ago when the county acquired the former Navy housing site. The county owns the community center and library
KINGSTON — The Port of Kingston is looking for a new port district manager. Port Manager David Malone submitted his resignation on Oct. 9, effective Oct. 23. Malone, 53, a Hansville resident, was hired in November 2013. He formerly served for less than a year as general manager of Goldbelt Hotel in Juneau, Alaska, a seven-story, 105-room hotel owned by an Alaska Native corporation; for three years prior,
he was vice president/general manager of Northline Energy, Inc in Edmonds, according to his bio on LinkedIn. In his resignation letter, Malone said he hoped “that by my departure, the Port, port staff, port commissioners and the community in general will be able to move forward instead of continuing to be dragged down a senseless path by hatred.” During Malone’s tenure, the port became embroiled in several lawsuits resulting from disputes See PORT, Page 6
Going off the grid
See VILLAGE GREEN, Page 2
ShareNet helping to feed local kids By PETER O’CAIN Editor
KINGSTON — For about five years, Kingston schools have passed out bags of food to hungry students. It’s done through a program called Food to Grow On, or F2GO, which itself is part of ShareNet. Four “core” volunteers make it
work, said Mark Ince, executive director of ShareNet. The size of the program tends to start small and finish big. Many families aren’t aware of the program, but as familiarity grows, so too does the number of kids. “Part of that is counselors getting to know students,” Ince said.
A woman named Melodie lives in this tiny house on Ohio Avenue. See how she does it on page 5. Peter O’Cain / Staff photo
See SHARENET, Page 18
INSIDE DIVER MOURNED Diver dies while harvesting eelgrass for mill site project — Page 9
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