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

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/wu-107-brown-bag-lecture-february-6/

What's a certified wildlife habitat? Brandy Stier from the West Sound Wildlife Shelter tells BCB host Sandy Schubach about the next lecture in the Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series, to be held at the Waterfront Community Center at 11:45 on Friday, February 6.

Presented by the West Sound Wildlife Shelter and the Bainbridge Island Land Trust, this popular series includes lectures by local experts on unique Bainbridge Island wildlife and landscape topics. This upcoming lecture will explain how to create your very own certified backyard habitat. 

It turns out anyone with a good-sized backyard can create a garden that attracts beautiful wildlife and helps to restore habitat in commercial and residential areas.  By providing food, water, cover and a place for wildlife to raise their young, you not only help wildlife, but you can also be certified, to join the nearly 140,000 official National Wildlife Federation Certified Community Wildlife Habitat™ sites across the country.

For more information, visit http://www.westsoundwildlife.org/  or  http://bi-landtrust.org/

Credits: BCB host, studio tech, and audio editor: Sandy Schubach; BCB social media publishers: Diane and Chris Walker.

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/who-008-singer-zach-fleury/

In this musical podcast, BCB Host Kayla Black brings us live music with Bainbridge Island musician Zach Fleury.  Zach is a Northwest singer, songwriter, producer and session player who has collaborated with Noah Gunderson, Hot Bodies in Motion, Allen Stone, and Mackelmore.  He's also done some film scoring for Lionsgate Film.

In the last two years Zach's put out two solo albums backed by Seattle String Mafia- Be Still, Neverland, Egypt (2012) and The Tarzan Suite (2013). He's currently planning a Spring/Summer tour and working on his 3rd album, to be called Tapes & Reels from the Attic." (Ziibra)

Listen here as Zach tells Kayla about his influences, teachers, training and how he came to Bainbridge to write and gain inspiration from living here. In addition, Zach brings his musical talent to our studio, sharing  2 songs -- A Murden Lullaby and Fire Drills -- with talented cellist Taylor Jensen and Seattle songbird Lizzie Rodrigue accompanying him on vocals. Both songs reference aspects of island life that should be familiar to our Bainbridge listeners.

Zach has shows locally and nationally: details on his spring and summer tours and music can be found on  https://www.ziibra.com/zach-fleury/, as well as on iTunes & Bandcamp; there are also numerous YouTube videos. 

For more information, you can email Zach at zachfleurymusic@gmail.com or just Google "Zach Fleury." There may even be some surprises!

Credits: BCB host: Kayla Black; producer: Lyssa Danehy deHart; BCB engineer: Tim Bird ; BCB social media publishers: Diane and Chris Walker.

From BCB...http://bestofbcb.org/wu-106-february-at-the-library/

There's lots on offer at the Library again for the month of February: Walk-in tax assistance and health insurance exchange assistance,  a presentation on Peru and Machu Picchu done by Robert Dashiell, and an introduction to Bainbridge History with Hank Helm of the Historical Museum.  

For our more romantic patrons, the Island Film Group will present The Awful Truth, a delicious screwball comedy with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne on February 11th, and there will be a special Valentine's Day opera preview of Handel's Semele and the Wrath of Juno.

And, just in time for the coming Island Theatre reading of Letters to the Editor of the Bainbridge Review, the library is pleased to offer online access to the Bainbridge Review issues published between 1941 and 1946. 

Listen as BCB host Joanna Pyle talks with John Fossett and Tressa Johnson to learn more about these and other upcoming library programs.

Credits: BCB host and studio tech: Joanna Pyle; BCB audio editors: Joanna Pyle and Jon Coonan; BCB social media publishers: Diane and Chris Walker.

All Aboard! In this episode of “Who’s On Bainbridge”, podcast host Jason Goyette sits down with Captain Ty Anderson. Captain Anderson retired in December of 2014 after working for the Washington State Ferry for 30 years. 

In our podcast, Ty will share with you how he became a ferry boat captain, following in the footsteps of  4 generations of sailors in his family. Ty’s career at sea has included serving as a deckhand at the age of 16, to running a yacht for an oil company.  He has worked in the engine room of a research vessel for the University of Washington, and in his final years he served with Washington State Ferries on the Bainbridge Island / Seattle run.  He has some great tales to tell.

Captain Anderson will also discuss his role in addressing changes needed for the increase in bicycle traffic by making sure that the ferry system is adapting docks, access areas, and the boats themselves. In his time behind the wheel he has seen it all, from a baby being born on the way to Seattle, to being at the initial launch of the Tacoma. We will also find out what Ty has planned for his well earned retirement. 

Credits: BCB host and studio tech: Jason Goyette; BCB audio editor: Chris Walker; BCB social media publisher: Diane Walker.

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/wu-105-great-decisions-jan-24/

If you've been worried about Russia's aggressive stance against the Ukraine, here's your chance to learn more about Russia and its neighbors.  From 9:30 til 11 am this Saturday, January 24th at Bethany Lutheran Church, the Bainbridge Island Library will present the third program in its Great Decisions series: Russia and its Neighbors.

While enjoying coffee and pastries, participants first view a 30-minute Foreign Policy Association DVD on the topic under consideration and then engage in a discussion led by an informed moderator. This week's discussion will be led by military historian Laurance Kerr, a former US diplomat who was previously based in the Republic of Georgia.  

Now in its tenth year, Great Decisions at the Library is part of a nation-wide, non-partisan program of the Foreign Policy Association intended to broaden public involvement in foreign affairs. Now part of Library U, the Bainbridge Public Library’s new lifelong learning program, Great Decisions at the Library is sponsored by the Kitsap Regional Library with funding support from the Bainbridge Island Friends of the Library.

Email GreatDecisionsBainbridge@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list for suggested background readings on the topics and other information about Great Decisions at the Library. The readings will also be posted on the Library website-- http://www.bainbridgepubliclibrary.org/great-decisions-discussions.aspx -- about a week before each discussion. Copies of the Briefing Book may be purchased for $20 (cash or check only) at the Bainbridge Public Library information desk beginning in January. A copy is also available for reading in the library. 

Credits: BCB host: Sandy Schubach; audio tech/audio editor: Tim Bird; social media publishers: Diane and Chris Walker. 

In this podcast, BCB's guest is Sue Barrington, the Director of the Bainbridge Island Senior Community Center ("BISCC").

Sue points out that BISCC, which is housed at the Waterfront Center, is not just for Seniors.  There is no minimum age requirement to participate in Center programs.

Sue describes two related events:  (1) an upcoming StoryShare event on Saturday morning January 24th, and (2) a six-session training, starting February 19th, in interviewing technique and eliciting engaging stories.

Sue describes the StoryShare project, which is a multi-year program jointly sponsored by BISCC, the BI Park and Recreation District, the BI Historical Museum, and BCB community radio.

The next StoryShare project event is scheduled for January 24, when those who express an interest in story-telling will be invited to assemble for a Saturday morning session.

Subsequently, the StoryShare project will sponsor a six-week Interview Team class to be taught by Barbara Golden, an experienced interviewer and radio host.  Barbara will supplement her teaching with a series of online trainings, produced by Alex Blumberg, a nationally recognized podcaster who staffed NPR series such as "This American Life" and "Planet Money". The six-session classes, with an overall cost of only $10, will begin February 19 at 9:30am at the Waterfront Center.  Participants will learn to use professional microphones and recording equipment, and will explore ways to connect on a personal level with an interviewee.

StoryShare is about encouraging story telling, eliciting an individual's stories that reveal personal insights or oral histories, and then sharing those stories in person or in recordings that can be heard by others.

In this joint project, the Historical Museum brings its long-time interest in oral history recordings that shed light on Bainbridge Island history in living memory.  The Museum has collected approximately 100 recordings made over the last several decades, which are available for listening at the Museum.

BCB is offering to make StoryShare recordings available to the community -- in some cases as podcasts  or radio programs, and in other cases as archived recordings available for listening on the BCB website.

The BI Senior Center  brings to the project its mission to honor and engage our senior citizens through meaningful contribution to the community. This involves the efforts of both the BISCC nonprofit and the BI Metro Parks and Recreation District that provide the Waterfront Center's management.

Credits: BCB host and editor: Joanna Pyle; BCB studio tech and publisher: Barry Peters; BCB representative to StoryShare project: Annie Osburn.

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:

• 0:40How long do you expect this January 12th legislative session to last?
• 1:10What brought you and your family to Washington and Bainbridge?
• 2:02Tell us about your family’s commitment to raising local food around the house.
• 2:50What did you take away from your experience on the Bainbridge Island City Council?
• 3:54What were your main commitments when serving in the WA State House?
• 5:35Was there a change in your emphasis when you became our State Senator in 2011?
• 6:22Has the shift in Senate control from Democrats to Republicans made your goals harder to achieve?
• 7:45What Committees will you serve on this year?
• 10:05 What can we expect in K-12 education funding this year?
• 13:15 What is your sense of Governor Jay Inslee’s proposal to regulate greenhouse gas pollution?
• 15:25 Any thoughts on energy issues such as solar?
• 16:35 Will the legislature tackle minimum wage issues?
• 18:20 Is the legislature likely to vote to encourage a US Constitutional amendment on Citizens United and big money in politics?
• 19:10 What can be done about the risk of explosions from railroad trains carrying oil?
• 22:35 What are your priorities for jobs, economy, career training and apprenticeship?
• 24:35 Are there any other issues (such as improving mental health response and treatment) that you see being of particular interest to the Bainbridge community?

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

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

Bainbridge Island’s very talented actors and writers are showcased in the Fifth Annual One Act Festival - “Fifty Shades of Funny.”

In this podcast, director Dinah Manoff tells us about the origin of this popular festival of short plays written by well-known playwrights as well as by three local writers.

These are performed by extraordinary array of 32 of her talented students, many of whom are familiar to regular BPA theatre fans.

This year, the plays are eclectic, racy, entertaining, and all very funny.

There are 11 one-act plays:

• “The Adventures Of…” by Kathleen Warnock;
• “You Don’t Have to be Jewish” by Bob Booker and George Foster;
• “Workout” by Wendy Wasserstein;
• “Consolidated Worldwide” by Jim Anderson;
• “That Word” by Mark Harvey Levine;
• “Ties That Bind” by Eric Coble;
• “Arabian Nights” by David Ives;
• “The Mercury and the Magic” by Rolin Jones;
• “The Angle of Death” by Michelle Allen;
• “A View from the Porch” by Warren Read.

There are just three performances from January 16-18, plus the "pay-what-you-can" preview on Thursday, January 15th. Tickets are on sale now at the BPA website.

Credits: BCB host: Channie Peters; BCB editor and social media publisher: Barry Peters

What are “mindful kids? How is mindfulness cultivated and what are the benefits to kids being mindful?

In this interview, Debby Haase, former Waldorf teacher and co-founder of the Madrona School, answers those questions.

Debby will be teaching, for the seventh time, a 5-class workshop on “Mindful Kids” beginning January 14th at the Bodhi Center on Bainbridge Island.  For five 75-minute sessions, children from age eight to twelve (give or take) will experience mindfulness in listening, breathing, doing activities, playing games and relaxing.

The benefits of mindfulness training have recently been getting more widespread public attention - for everything from stress reduction in hospitals, clinics and corporate settings, to classrooms, to even the Seattle Seahawks. Participants have been reporting greater ability to focus, to respond rather than to react, to be calm and more peaceful. While there have been numerous studies published in neuroscience journals and popular magazines such as Scientific American about the benefits of mindfulness and meditation, there’s nothing like testimonials from 10-year olds.

You can learn more and register for this 5-class workshop at the website of the Bodhi Center. The Bodhi Center is located at 6717 Marshall Road.

Credits: BCB host: Channie Peters; BCB editor: Sandy Schubach; BCB social media publisher: Barry Peters.

In this BCB podcast episode, we meet professional singer Courtney Bray, who has returned this month to her home and family on Bainbridge and will perform as the mezzo soprano soloist at the Intimate Music Series at St. Barnabas Church.

Courtney attended Bainbridge High School for her senior year and is now well into the midst of a professional singing career.

The Intimate Music Series: Chamber Works at St. Barnabas is starting its second year with this concert on Tuesday, January 6 at 7:30 PM. The church is located at 1187 Wyatt Way NW.

The series features music of mixed instruments and vocal chamber pieces in a variety of styles. The musicians are from the area, some full time pros, like Courtney, and the others part time pros who also make a living teaching and doing other things.

Also featured at Tuesday's evenings performance will be a string quartet that includes two Bainbridge residents -- Stephen and Sue Jane Bryant. The quartet includes two other Seattle Symphony members, Rachel Pearson and Joy Payton-Stevens.

The Beau Metro Quartet will perform Stravinsky's Concertino and will also be joined by Courtney Bray (mezzo soprano) in the Vivaldi Motet in g minor, RV629 "Longe mala, umbrae, terrores" (Away with woes, shadows, terrors).

Other musicians that evening will include Courtney's mother Susan Bray (on the harpsichord), Suzanne Burton (flute), David Salge (clarinet), Amy Duerr Day (oboe), Ron Gilbert (horn), Judith Lawrence (bassoon), Priscilla Jones (cello) and Jon Brenner (double bass).

The theme for the evening is "Alleluia -- Music for Epiphany, Contemplation and Celebration."

Credits: BCB host: Barry Peters.

From BCB... http://bestofbcb.org/out-005-christmas-bird-count-restoration-point/

In this episode of “Bainbridge Outdoors,” BCB host Annie Osburn joins Bainbridge Island’s premier birders George Gerdts, Brad Waggoner and Jamie Acker at Restoration Point for the 2014 Christmas Bird Count.

Now in its 115th year, the first Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was taken on Christmas Day, 1900, by ornithologist Frank Chapman.  It was Chapman, an officer in the nascent Audubon Society, who proposed conducting a census of birds seen rather than a count of birds hunted and killed during the Christmas season. 

Today, the CBC is the longest-running citizen science survey in the world. Administered by the National Audubon Society, the count provides critical data on population trends around the world. While the first CBC included 25 counts and tallied approximately 90 species, current CBCs amass data from more than 2,300 counts.

On this cold, blustery morning of December 27, 2014, Osburn and BCB audio tech, Tim Bird, meet up with Gerdts, Waggoner and Acker at Restoration Point on the southeastern end of Bainbridge Island to conduct a portion of the annual Seattle Audubon Society CBC. Each CBC encompasses a count of species and total number of birds in a circle with a diameter of 15 miles, this one ranging from Seattle’s Pioneer Square, across Puget Sound and including the southeastern tip of Bainbridge Island. Because the Bainbridge count occurs in an area not generally open to the public, the invitation to join this merry group of birders for the count was an opportunity not to be missed.

Gerdts, Waggoner and Acker have been passionate birders since their youth and lead private and organized group birding tours (some through Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District) to help educate others about birds on Bainbridge. In addition, Acker has studied owls on the island for nearly 20 years, banding owls and researching their habitats and behaviors, including the Great Horned, Barred and his beloved Northern Saw-whet owl.

For this CBC, the team at Restoration Point counted 65 species and tallied 1,373 birds. Highlights of the count included Canada Geese (and one immature Canada Snow Goose in the flock), Harlequin Ducks, Surf Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Black Turnstones, California Gulls, a Red-naped/Red-breasted Sapsucker (hybrid), a Peregrine Falcon, and a Spotted Sandpiper. 

According to Gerdts, in his 30+ years of conducting the CBC at this location, this is only the second time that an orca pod has joined the event. An hour into this portion of the 85th annual Seattle Audubon Society CBC, Gerdts notes: “We’re still in the early stages of this CBC. It’s too early to tell, but we can probably say it’s been a good start. The best thing so far is it’s not raining!”

This is the second in a four-part series about birding on Bainbridge. Next up: Winter Owls on a very cold and dark February morning. Stay tuned.

Credits: BCB host and writer: Annie Osburn; audio tech/audio editor: Tim Bird; social media publishers Diane and Chris Walker. 

Learn about some of the critters along our Bainbridge shoreline.

That's the subject on Friday January 9th, for the first installment of a series of five monthly Brown Bag Lunch Lectures, cosponsored by Bainbridge Island Land Trust and the West Sound Wildlife Shelter.

In this podcast, you meet Jeff Adams from Washington Sea Grant, a division of the University of Washington. Jeff, as the first speaker for the 2015 series, will be talking about Bainbridge’s Verdant Beach Beauties and the not-so Big Bad Crab, and taking us on a digital photo tour of some of our coolest beach plants.

When most people walk the beaches they’re looking for shells and creatures, but there’s a whole group of special attractive plants growing around the water’s margin with special adaptations.  In this podcast, Jeff describes some of his favorites, and some of the invasives that can pose challenges to our shoreline habitat.

This free series is a fun way to spend your lunch hour learning about the local wildlife in our community and the land and shoreline that provides their habitat.

Bring your lunch down to the Waterfront Park Community Center at 11:30 Friday, January 9th for the first talk in the third series of lunchtime talks. The lectures are open to all ages, and a $3 donation is suggested.

Future lunchtime talks – one per month during February to May – will be:

Friday, Feb. 6: West Sound Wildlife Shelter representatives discuss “How to Become a Certified Back Yard Habitat.”

Friday, March 13: John van den Meerendonk discusses “Native Plants and You!”

Friday, April 10: West Sound Wildlife Shelter presents “Leave Me Wild.”

Friday, May 8: Susan Marie Andersson talks about “Southern Resident Killer Whales in the Salish Sea.”

Visit the Bainbridge Island Land Trust website for more information.