November 1, 2006

Aldrich’s Market is for sale

Owners are “burnt out” - Aldrich Market $175,000 plus inventory. That is the simple ad placed in The Leader this week, announcing the sale of the 111-year-old grocery store. Aldrich’s co-owners David Hamilton and Jonathan Ryweck rebuilt what was the oldest continually operating grocery store in Washington state until an inferno destroyed the historic building in 2003.

PT not alone in state ferry doubts 

Orcas, Whidbey, Bainbridge, Vashon, Southworth residents share concerns - Residents from six smaller communities connected to the world by ferry gathered in Port Townsend on Oct. 30, to share their concerns about expansion proposed by the Washington State Ferries (WSF) for their ferry terminals, docks, parking and boat maintenance. WSF has proposed a $36 million expansion of the Port Townsend site, but in almost every town, citizen groups have formed to influence or fight the WSF plans.

City Council talking staff cuts, tax hikes 

Although the Port Townsend City Council is considering a 10 percent reduction in city staff for 2007, the change won’t produce any immediate savings. In fact, the council is talking about possible increases just to maintain the current level of services.

Lou’s love affair with PT is rekindled

Actor returns for 25-year retrospective of “An Officer and a Gentleman.”  A man on a moped rides by, and Louis Gossett, Jr., at Fort Worden State Park, to film an interview for the 25th anniversary DVD of “An Officer and a Gentleman,” jokes: “That’s a Saturday Night Live shot right there. Richard Gere on a scooter 25 years later. From Harley to moped.”

November 7, 1984

Historic Structures Could Be Earthquake Victims, Study Says

Many of Port Townsend’s historic brick and sandstone buildings are incapable of withstanding the shock of even a mild earthquake, the kind which could hit the area in the next 50 years, according to a study recently completed by a team of architects and engineers. “Some of the buildings we looked at in Port Townsend were pretty bad,” said Andris Vanags, design and material specialist at the University of Washington, who was on the team. There are a number of buildings on Water Street that should be a real concern to the community. Port Townsend was one of seven cities in Washington and Oregon to have its old brick buildings examined by a University of Washington team funded by a grant by the National Science Foundation. Port Townsend’s building director, Ted Stricklin, was not too concerned about the study’s findings. “These buildings already have gone through several major quakes and they haven’t fallen down since 1892. I doubt they are going to fall down any time soon,” he said. “The people in Port Townsend need not be absolutely frightened, but the should definitely begin to think about restoration in structural terms as well as cosmetic terms,” Vanags said.

Bridge Toll Challenge Dealt to Federal Court

When you cross Hood Canal next trip, you’ll still be paying a toll. The Fair Toll Coalition of the Olympic Peninsula was expecting to have its day in court, but the judge delayed any decision upon receiving new persuasive evidence. resulting in a 60-day continuance. The Fair Toll Coalition would like to out the bridge toll completely. It contends the bridge, first of all, should have no toll since federal funds were were used to reconstruct the floating span and those funds were provided to the state with the stipulation that any insurance claim paid for the loss of the bridge would go to pay back the federal reconstruction grant.  The Hood Canal Bridge was blown away in a Feb. 13, 1979 storm. The state received $30 million in insurance benefits for the loss of the western two-thirds of the bridge in November 1979. Rather than giving it to the federal government at that point, it invested the funds and accumulated almost $11 million in interest when it finally turned over the insurance funds to the Federal Highway Administration. The state determined that giving up the insurance money plus the interest was actually an expense of operating the bridge, so it justified continuing the bridge toll to recover the money. The Fair Toll Coalition argues that the state, since 1962, has collected sufficient revenue from tolls that even the original bonded indebtedness would be paid off in December 1984 - that’s next month.

Port Townsend’s “Kicking Mule” Featured at Stamp Auction 

Port Townsend’s famed “Kicking Mule” becomes the focus of a special auction at Middle Village, NY, on Nov. 10. The “cover”, a postal card cancelled Dec. 10, 1900 at 3 p.m. in Port Townsend, has a two-cent postcard stamp and a one, two, three, six, and ten cent stamp affixed, all canceled by the “Kicking Mule.” The estimated value of the postcard at the auction on November 10 is $2,500.