It’s official. The aging Vaughn Bay Bridge is history.

Pierce County, which is replacing the 43-year-old bridge, ripped out portions of the span this week.

Crews began working on the project last month. The 1,625 vehicles that cross the bridge every day have had to take a 2.2-mile detour to cross the bay.

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For years, school officials have been lamenting the state's underfunding of transportation.

Without adequate funding from the state, they say, districts must devote more and more of their local levy dollars to get kids to school.

One of their loudest charges: the state doesn't reimburse districts for transporting students whose homes or daycares lie outside a one-mile radius from school. And instead of calculating the actual route mileage, the distance is measured as a direct line from school to home or daycare. Or, in the colloquial, "as the crow flies."

Actually, says Allan Jones with the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state does provide some money to bus kids within the one-mile radius. But not much.

Jones, director of pupil transportation, says the state gives districts some funding based on the total number of kids in kindergarten through through fifth grade within the one-mile radius.

The original intent was to help districts defray the cost of transporting youngsters who faced hazardous walking conditions, even though they lived close to school.

But it's a lower rate than what the state funds for students living outside the one-mile minimum. And the districts don't have to have hazardous walking conditions to get the money. They don't even have to use the money to transport kids within that radius.

Here's how Jones explains it, and the "crow flies" business in an e-mail to The News Tribune.

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Five years after Gig Harbor residents voted to preserve Eddon Boat, the property is ready for its grand opening.

The city announced today that the former boatyard will open Sept. 30 with a few pilot programs related to Gig Harbor’s maritime culture and history.

To anyone who’s followed the boatyard’s progress over the years, the grand opening marks a long-awaited milestone.
The boatyard is a living piece of Gig Harbor’s history. Records show boat-building on the property dates to 1920, when it opened as Anderson & Sons Boat Yard.

Over the years, it grew, changed ownership and names. When the idea of developing the property into something else was floated in 2004, voters stepped in and passed a $3.5 million bond to save it.

But refurbishing the boatyard wasn’t easy, as contamination from years of boat-building slowed its rebirth. After months of working with the state, cleaning the property and restoring its buildings, it’s ready for business.

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The City of Gig Harbor announced today that it’s eliminating six positions to help close a $1.9 million gap in next year’s budget.

The announcement comes less than a year after the city announced it would cut 10 positions and took other measures to cut costs. That included employee furloughs, cutting some $400,000 in administrative costs and allowing almost no employee overtime.

“We’ve looked under every rock,” City Administrator Rob Karlinsey said. “There’s no where left to cut.”

The eliminated positions include the public works director, community development assistants in engineering and building, a builder inspector and a vacant full-time police officer position.

Karlinsey said the cash-strapped city of 7,100 is suffering from a shortage of tax dollars.

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UPDATE: City Administrator Rob Karlinsey said crews have determined that it's safe to drink city water.

Gig Harbor City Councilman Derek Young sent me this e-mail over the weekend about the city's prompt response to a water main break.

The incident occurred late Friday, along Harborview Drive at Novak Street, near the heart of downtown Gig Harbor.

Water spilled onto the street and into some homes. Crews cleaned up over the weekend, and the city will test water today to see if it's OK to drink.

(This map shows approximately where the water main broke)

Here's what Young wrote:

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Just got this e-mail from Laureen Lund, spokeswoman for the City of Gig Harbor, about the city's decision to require employee furloughs the rest of the year.

The cuts come months after the city enacted 10 layoffs earlier this year. The city is anticipating a $1.9 million shortfall in its budget next year.

The furloughs will affect 76 employees, and all staff will lose hours except police officers and wastewater treatment plant workers.

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Kevin Cavanagh with Pierce County Information Technology points out that the link we published in the printed paper for the weather tracker system left off one symbol.

The correct link is http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/PC/

If you can't bring it up, click here.

On the left side, it's titled "How hot is it?"

It's pretty cool. According to the site, "Eleven weather stations around the county record temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and more. Data is updated every 15 minutes."

Earlier this month, the Key Peninsula got its first Blue Star Memorial Marker.

It was first unveiled at the Bay Shore Garden Club's 60th anniversary celebration, in which the group dedicated a memorial garden at the Longbranch Fire Department.

Here is an e-mail Cheryl Ozbirn sent to The News Tribune on June 15 (She also sent us this picture of the memorial to the right):

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U.S. Sen. Patty Murray will stop in Gig Harbor tomorrow to discuss the national shortage of nurses.

Her office sent out a press release if you want to attend:

Sen. Murray will hold a news conference at St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor to bring further attention to the local and national shortage of nurses and other critical health care workers.

She will also discuss her efforts to include federal funding in national health care reform legislation that will address workforce issues of tomorrow. As access to health care is broadened through national health care reform, even more nurses and other health care workers will be needed locally and across the nation in the future.

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Just got an e-mail from the City of Gig Harbor that says Mayor Chuck Hunter will lead a cleanup party Thursday at Jerisich Dock.

Spokeswoman Laureen Lund writes:

Jerisich doesn’t necessarily have a “history” but is definitely a very popular and well used dock and park so of course generates trash. At low tide you can see things stuck to the bottom that just are not supposed to be there!

This is Hunter's first cleanup party. He got the idea after noticing trash on the beach while standing on the dock, Laureen said.

The cleanup takes place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The city is encouraging residents to attend and help.

Doris Jairala has been a faithful bus rider the past five years, taking the 53 route a few times a week to get to her housekeeping jobs.

Driving isn't an option for the 62-year-old University Place resident. She suffers from seizures and isn't allowed to get behind the wheel.

(To the left: Doris Jairala, of University Place, rides the Number 53 bus to her job as a housekeeper last month. The route will be eliminated in July as Pierce Transit reduces less-used routes such as hers. Joe Barrentine/The News Tribune)

So that means for her job, she hops on the bus to Lakewood, Steilacoom, UP and any other community in which her work takes her.

But she will be one of the thousands of riders who will have to find a new bus beginning July 12. Pierce Transit, squeezed by the economic downturn, opted to eliminate or reduce service on routes throughout the county that don't have a high ridership.

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Erika and Shawna Hettick recalled how their cousin was a superhero, literally and figuratively.

The sisters from Gig Harbor would visit Jaxon at his house in South Kitsap County to have fun. The three would play games, watch movies and, of course, laugh uncontrollably when he’d dress up as Spiderman or the Blue Power Ranger.

He was full of energy. He was a regular kid.

But after awhile, Jaxon couldn’t swing from buildings or fight monsters the way he once did, a result of Subacute Sclerosing Panencephaliti. The rare and chronic neurological disorder is caused by the measles virus. It results in death for most children who have it, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Last October, Jaxon died at only 8 years old. (Pictured right)

It was especially hard on Erika, 12, and Shawna, 10, who both attend Minter Creek Elementary.

“When Jaxon died, it was hard to forget about him,” Shawna said. “It would be hard to forget about him because he was a big part of my life. I was really hoping to find a cure before he died.”

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