Jon Schallert Workshop Scheduled for June 8th

This was written up in the PDN over two months ago, and it's actually happening. (I did a post on it at the time.)

It'll be a 7-hour workshop at the Red Lion, June 8th from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There's space for 150 to 200 people. The cost is $75 for Port Angeles participants and $100 for everyone outside of the Port Angeles zip codes.

Here is Jon Schallert's website.

Juan de Fuca Festival 2010

The 17th annual Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts begins tomorrow and goes through Memorial Day.

Over 125 music/dance/theater performances, a street fair — Here is their website for all the information you'll need.

118 Years for Jefferson County Murderer

Michael J. Pierce was sentenced to 118 years for the murders of Pat and Janice Yarr.

He was convicted on murder, arson,, burglary, firearm and theft charges. His sentence was 1,415 months; just under 118 years.

Economic Plan for Clallam County

The 69-page plan for Clallam County’s economic development was completed last week by BergerABAM and has been e-mailed to the Clallam County Economic Development Council.

The plan is expected to be made available for public viewing. The City, Port of Port Angeles and Clallam County each chipped in $8,000 for the report.

The plan will be discussed tomorrow by Kent Myers, EDC Executive Director Linda Rotmark and BergerABAM Vice President John White.

City Council Shelves Summarized Meeting Minutes, For Now

The Port Angeles City Council has tabled their summarized format for meeting minutes.

The city council's format for the minutes will be tweaked some more and will probably be voted on again in another month.

Strait Strategies

Strait Strategies is a Port Angeles research firm specializing in business planning, surveys, data collection, focus groups — you name it.

Strait Strategies is owned by Dianne Myers. Here is their website.

Bar N9ne

The Bar N9ne Pizzeria & Lounge is now open. It’s at 229 West First Street, where the Lyre’s Club used to be (and the Crazy Fish before that). It’s owned by the same people who own Sabai Thai at 903 West 8th Street.

Bar N9ne will be open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Happy Hour is from 4 to 9 p.m.

The new owners added 300 square feet to the interior by ripping out the back wall.

Bar N9ne will have karaoke on Wednesday nights, open mic Thursday nights and live music Friday and Saturday nights.

And there’s another new pizza place opening soon — Westside Pizza, 116 North Lincoln (between First and Front Streets). Westside Pizza will have a “soft opening” sometime this weekend and a Grand Opening in about two weeks.

Mark J. Seamands Acquitted of Assault Charges

Mark J. Seamands has been found not guilty of two counts of felony second-degree assault for the branding of his children. Two other counts, gross misdemeanor fourth-degree assault, ended in a mistrial.

Fourth-degree assault charges could still be filed, but Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg said he didn't think prosecuting would be in the Seamands family's best interests.

Zuiderdam Passengers Enjoy Port Angeles

Well, most of them did anyway. One visitor from Calgary said she saw “a dying town.” But nobody else seemed to have that impression. I’m guessing she thinks any place that doesn’t have thousands of new residents pouring in — and some of the buildings are more than six months old — is a “dying” town.

Of the ten merchants contacted by the Peninsula Daily News, most of them reported an increase in sales yesterday. The downtown streets looked almost as crowded as Halloween (as one merchant noted).

Let’s hope next Saturday’s visit from the Statendam is successful as well.

More Oil Spill Protection for Strait of Juan de Fuca

Yesterday the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a Coast Guard spending bill which increases oil-spill protection for the Strait. The entire strait is now designated as a “high volume port area."

That designation already applies from Puget Sound to Port Angeles. But this bill extends that designation as far west as Cape Flattery.

The bill still has to go to a House-Senate conference committee.

Port Angeles' Bond Rating Improved

Moody's Investors Service has given Port Angeles an Aa3 rating, which is up from their previous rating of A2. This rating reflects investors' confidence in the city's ability to repay its bonds.

City Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski said "Them recalculating us to the higher rate actually shows that they agree that with our justification that we are financially sustainable and we are not going to default on our bonds."

Jefferson County PUD Votes to Buy PSE Facilities

The Jefferson County Public Utility District has voted unanimously to purchase Puget Sound Energy's electrical system. They approved a nonbinding letter of intent to buy PSE's infrastructure for $103 million.

The transition to public power is expected to take between 18 months and three years.

Topic at Chamber of Commerce Meeting — Olympic Discovery Trail

At tomorrow’s Chamber of Commerce meeting, the subject will be a progress report on the Olympic Discovery Trail, including its expansion west of Port Angeles. The meeting will be at noon at the Crab House, second floor.

Guest speakers will be Sheriff Bill Benedict; Chain Gang supervisor Jon Beltrami; jail superintendent Ron Sukert; and Tammi Hinkle, owner of Adventures Through Kayaking.

Frontier Bank: Three Branches on Peninsula Closed

Regulators seized Frontier Bank yesterday. The Frontier branches in Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend are now closed.

On Monday all fifty-one Frontier Bank branches will reopen under the control of Union Bank, which is based in San Francisco but owned by The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.