New Name, New Destination for Port Townsend-Whidbey Ferry

The MV Salish will be in service within the next year. Combined with the MV Chetzemok, there will be two ferries running between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island for the first time since 2007.

And the ferries will now go to Coupeville instead of Keystone.

Olympic Discovery Trail vs. Four Property Owners

The Olympic Discovery Trail will someday — hopefully — be a non-motorized trail running from La Push to Port Townsend. But for now, the trail is being held up in Sequim.

Four property owners on Spruce Street are objecting to having the trail run too close to their homes.

It’s easy to sympathize with people who don’t want hordes of people near their homes. But it happens. Every time a park is created or a freeway is expanded, somebody loses a little bit of elbow room (or worse).

But, as City Councilman Walt Schubert pointed out: “It’s been proven that property values go up when you’re on the trail.”

A local realtor and parks board member said: “The Olympic Discovery Trail is a very important element in our tourism economy and our retirement economy. Usage grows every year.”

Ferry Service Between Port Townsend and Seattle

The ferry between Port Townsend and Seattle is scheduled to end on January 6th.

There's a petition being circulated to persuade Washington State Ferries officials to keep this ferry service running permanently. Here's a link to the petition.

Kyle Montgomery is a Port Ludlow resident who's been commuting to Seattle for ten years via Bainbridge Island. He's been leading the campaign in King, Jefferson and Clallam Counties to make the ferry service permanent. He said: “The message to Clallam County and to the West is here is an opportunity for Port Townsend to be the gateway instead of congested Bainbridge or Kitsap County.”

It’s questionable whether the State of Washington could or would come up with the money for this, even if there are enough petition signatures. But getting to Seattle via Port Townsend would be a lot easier than driving to Bainbridge Island.

Elk Are Dangerous

That's the title of a letter to the editor in today's Peninsula Daily News. Referring to the horse that got gored by an elk a few days ago, the writer said: "Someday, it may not be this year, but someday, an elk is going to kill a human being. All of the elk in the world are not worth the loss of one human life."

He goes on to say that we need to get the elk herd out of here, "either by moving them or by some other means."

And this person lives in Sequim of all places. He's entitled to his opinion obviously, but why does he live in an area famous for its local elk herd? The elk were in Sequim a long time before it started turning into North Silverdale.

This person could always move to Seattle, or even Port Townsend or downtown Port Angeles, and he'd never have to come into contact with any of those icky animals.

Panhandling Musicians on the Port Townsend Ferry

Well, the public has spoken. Contrary to earlier reports, there weren’t just two complaints against David Michael, the Celtic harp player on the Klickitat. There have been SIX complaints against him — over the past nine years. So there.

Whoa! Talk about a groundswell! It’s a good thing that burning issue has finally been resolved.

Seriously though, just how petty can someone get? (This story was in today’s PDN but not the online version.) I’ve ridden that ferry a few times and I don’t remember seeing or hearing a harpist. But how could he not brighten up an already-fun ride between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island?

Some of these complainants even equated busking (playing free music in a public place) with panhandling. WTF?? Get a grip.

One of the complainers said: “Annoyed by harp-playing street musician on board the ferry, begging for money on the state ferry. Street musicians belong on the streets.”

Another one was: “He greets passengers as they get on board from stairways and directs them to his playing area, so many passengers don’t have a chance to see the galley at all. Our food service workers are complaining to us that they are losing business.”

According to the article, the only “panhandling” David Michael does is to have his CDs (for sale) on display. And every time I’ve been on that ferry, the snack bar is closed, and it looks like it’s been closed for a looong time. The only food available is from vending machines and they're mostly empty.

The non-existent food-service workers are “losing business” because of a Celtic harpist playing live music? Go figure. I guess the world would be a better place if we could all be just a little bit more petty and mean-spirited.

The Farmers’ Market

OK, Port Angelinos — ARE YOU READY?!? Mark your calendars for this coming Saturday, April 21st. The Farmers’ Market will be returning to downtown Port Angeles — for this one Saturday only. They’ll be in the parking lot at First and North Laurel, next to The Toggery; across the street from the fountain. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Details here.

And that’s not all. Along with the Farmers’ Market there'll be an Earth Day celebration and live music. Don't miss it.

Downtown rocks!

UPDATE:

Today’s Peninsula Daily News has an interesting article about the Port Townsend Farmers Market. For some reason this article doesn’t appear in the printed version of the paper; it’s online only. Here’s the link.

The Port Townsend Farmers Market’s website is very detailed and might have some helpful information that we can use here in Port Angeles. Here's their site.

UPDATE:

Today's Peninsula Daily News has an article about tomorrow's Farmers Market/Earth Day celebration in downtown Port Angeles. Here's the link.

See y'all tomorrow in beautiful downtown Port Angeles.

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It was great having the Farmers Market back downtown on a Saturday. People were shopping and strolling everywhere. Downtown was ALIVE.

Looking forward to having the Farmers Market return to downtown Port Angeles every Wednesday, starting this June.