Council members will begin discussing their approach to updating to The Winslow Master Plan at tonight's council meeting.

In upcoming months, council members and city officials will address information, goals and policies for land use, transit, open space, housing, utilities and coordination with WSF.

Tonight, council members will also receive a presentation on the state's Livable Cities Program from UW.

The last update to the Winslow Master Plan was back in the very different world of 2006.

Also on Tonight's Agenda:

The Bainbridge Planning Commission meets this Thursday, February 10 to discuss the outstanding request by Bethany Lutheran Church for a density bonus under RCW 35.70A.545.

This project is a special opportunity to create a significant number of affordable homes located within 1.5 miles of downtown Winslow with access to public transportation.

In the words of Housing Resources Bainbridge Executive Director Phedra Elliott, our community should support this measure because:

In late January, State officials discovered a data breach of Washington's POLARIS database, which stores sensitive information for about 250,000 professional and occupational licensees (such as driver's license numbers, birthdates, and social security numbers).

In recent days, indications are being seen that some of this information is already circulating on the 'dark web'.

Currently POLARIS is shut down while the breach is still being investigated. There will be no fines or penalties for failing to renew licenses on time during the shutdown.

Other DOL systems, including driver and vehicle/vessel licensing and hunting and fishing licensing are still operating normally.

House Bill 1782 and Substitute Senate Bill 5670 seek to replace local zoning authority with state oversight.

The bills are designed to increase the state's housing supply by mandating increased housing within one-half mile of major transit stops and mandate the acceptance of four-plexes in all lots currently zoned for single-family residential use.

In the word's of City Manager Blair King, "...the process wrongly preempts local government land use authority and includes blunt mandates that could have severe negative impacts with multiple unintended consequences on this Island community."

In response to multiple recent incidents where police vehicles were rammed by fleeing suspects in their bid to escape, Kitsap County Commissioners joined Kitsap County Sheriff Gese in sending a letter this week to state legislators, asking for support of Senate Bill 5919, which provides critical and practical modifications to recently enacted police reform laws.

A reminder that emergency utility work continues 9pm to 6am each weeknight from until Friday, Feb. 11.

In addition, annual bridge cleaning is scheduled from 9am to 2pm each day from Monday, 2/14 to Sunday, 2/20.

Delays of at least 30 minutes are estimated by WSDOT.

Mayor Joe Deets has announced open virtual office hours on selected Saturdays from 10am to Noon.

All Islanders are invited to meet with him to talk about City business. 

Hope Glows, a community luminaria walk organized by Bainbridge Youth Services will close Winslow Way to vehicles between 2:30 and 8pm on Friday, February 11.

The Chamber is proud to partner with BYS alongside the Downtown Association and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in presenting Hope Glows.

Available by reservation only, just in time for Valentine's Day, tickets are good for one flight plus tasty treats at each winery...

February 11-14: Tickets and info 

Just in time for the Super Bowl, the new FanDuel-sponsored area is now open at the Clearwater Casino.

In the Sportsbook, a huge 32x9 foot screen is flanked by 17 smaller screens, live betting windows, self-service kiosks and comfy armchairs, while nearby a 24x12 foot screen awaits in the Beach Rock Music & Sports Lounge along with seating for 250 people.

Grab some seed from a local store, and join the Audubon Society in celebrating 25 years of their annual four-day global survey.

Each February, the world comes together for the love of birds - all are invited to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and report.

Your observations will help scientists better understand Bainbridge's part in the annual migrations of the planet's global bird populations.

The BI Parks Foundation is requesting help to prepare the Japanese American Exclusion Memorial and surrounding Pritchard Park for the March events celebrating 80 Years of Healing since the forced wartime exclusion of Japanese Americans from Bainbridge Island in 1942.

Learn more and register here.

Be prepared to aid your fellow islanders in an emergency - The City is offering free CERT Basic Academy training sessions in March and April for all interested Bainbridge Island residents aged 18 and older.

Learn more and register here.

The SharedWork program provides a way for businesses to restart and bring their employees back from unemployment with reduced hours.

Businesses gradually build back their team with qualified workers receiving partial unemployment benefits to replace a portion of their lost wages.

The Washington State Department of Commerce's Early Learning Facilities (ELF) program will open new funding to child care providers next month.

Grants will be available for eligible centers to help with both minor renovations and small capital purchases.

Beginning Feb. 7, the city's drive-thru COVID testing site at Rolling Bay reduced its operating times due to decreased demand.

Hours of operation are now 9 am to noon (instead of 1 pm).

Free tests from the new federal website are being distributed by the million:

Free tests from Washington State are being depleted and restocked - get in line for yours online:

Millions of free N95 masks are being distributed to pharmacy and supermarket chains across America, including Safeway, Rite Aid, Walgreens on Bainbridge (limit 3 per person).

In today's latest Kitsap County numbers, 511 cases per 100,000 residents are recorded (down another 50% from last week).

Island numbers are continuing to slowly fall, and sit today at 335 cases per 100k.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have now been 1,662 total cases recorded on Bainbridge, 101 of them new over the past week.

Vaccination rates on Bainbridge continuing to lead the county - more than 99% of Islanders aged 12 and above are vaccinated, alongside 73% of our 5 to 11-yr-olds.

Drive-through testing is offered 6 days a week in Kitsap County, with the Rolling Bay testing site on Bainbridge open Mondays and Wednesdays.

To help explain Bainbridge's new restrictions on single-use plastic to consumers, COBI has begun to send out free table-tents to our local eating and drinking establishments.

If you have not yet received yours, or need some more, please come pick them up for free at the Chamber office.

With the support of the City, County, and Bainbridge's own Breath Café, the Chamber has fresh supplies of N95 masks, disposable masks, and hand sanitizer available for free to all public-facing Island business and nonprofit organizations.

We also have free posters available to help businesses make it clear to all customers that masks are required for entry at their location.

To grab yours, give us a call, stop by our offices, or email us - we are here to help...