The in-person return of the Rotary Auction & Rummage Sale and the amazing contributions of hundreds of volunteers have come together to produce a record-setting year.

In amazing news, the 2022 grand total has been announced as $729,386!

As always, 100% of the event’s net proceeds will be used to fund:

Congratulations and great job everyone!

In another huge win for local non-profits, the Bainbridge Community Foundation awarded a total of $561,492 in 2022 Community Grants -$50,000 more than ever before.

Almost 50% of that total went to health, housing, and human services.

Additional $2,000 awards were made to five organizations (Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN), Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center (KIAC), Peacock Family Services, Vitalize Kitsap, and WEAVE Presents) for prioritizing Inclusion, Diversity, Accessibility and Social Justice (IDEAS) in their work.

BCF also just released their State of the Sector Report: A View of Our Community, an analysis of community needs and opportunities.

Coming soon - EV on demand for all.

With nearly $200,000 in-hand from state DOT, Mobility For All will purchase two electric vehicles and install EV chargers at Town Square.

The new program seeks to provide equitable access to electric vehicles and to help reduce carbon emissions.

The new program should be up and running by early 2023.

As predicted, the Washington Supreme Court will decide the legality of the state’s new capital gains tax, in a case with hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue on the line and the potential to overturn decades of state Supreme Court precedent.

The capital gains tax, passed by the Legislature in 2021, created a 7% tax on profits above $250,000 from the sales of stocks, bonds and similar investments.

The proposed city-owned Vincent Road site was not chosen for the power company's Community Solar Program.

The site was deemed too far away from all other 3-phase electric infrastructure, and unfortunately there are no other suitable sites currently available on the Island for the solar program.

Even with a local community solar site unavailable, Islanders can still you can still buy shares in another eligible site to offset some or all of your energy costs through the program, up to 120% of your average annual electricity usage.

By now, you've probably seen the state's new models of tsunami wave amplification if a significant earthquake should occur at the Seattle Fault.

As an island, we may have to wait days or weeks before help may reach us or for power to be restored.

The city's Map Your Neighborhood program is here to help identify:

As of June 30, 2022 over 35% of the island has participated in the Map Your Neighborhood process. The long term goal is for every island neighborhood to be “mapped”.

It’s been a while – since 2007 to be exact – since the city updated building and planning fees.

That changes in September when fees will go up and allow the city to recover costs of performing building and planning permit work.

Right now, fees do not recover the full cost of staff time and the difference is made up from the city’s General Fund.

Long-running TV series American Pickers is making a trip out west this October!

Their production team believes that Bainbridge Island likely harbors any number of interesting and eccentric treasures, and we agree...

So, if you or someone you know has a large collection, contact them to get on their radar.

One note - No stores will be considered, ONLY private collections - as any American Pickers fan knows - they NEVER pay retail!