Playing alone in a gymnasium with tall windows and green walls, Arseniy, 6, bounces a basketball and aims over and over for the hoop, impossibly high. “When they shoot, I run home. I think our flat (apartment) could be shot,” he explains in a voiceover video as his determined play continues. “I’m more worried about
There’s nothing like living on an island with a 68-year-old bridge to make you think, “What’s going to happen when The Big One hits?” Jim Braden and Doug Nelson have thought about this a lot. They and other members of the Fox Island Community and Recreation Association Emergency Response Organization have worked tirelessly to ensure the
The Peninsula School Board on Wednesday approved two levy measures for the Feb. 14 ballot that together would help fund operations, security and technology. Operations Levy The three-year Replacement Educational Programs and Operations Levy (Proposition 1) would replace the current levy, which expires at the end of 2023. The operations levy accounts for about 18
Peninsula School District’s local operations levy, which supplements state funding for basic education, expires at the end of 2023. District officials aim to replace levy funding, which accounts for about 18% of PSD’s budget, by seeking voter approval of a new levy on Feb. 14, 2023. The district’s finance director has also recommended running a
The evening before their daughter Thea was to start her first day at Rainy Dayz Preschool, Jon and Cecily Novotney stopped by the school to make sure they knew the drop-off location. Looking in from outside the building, they were surprised to see the classrooms empty. School was to start on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021.
Hans Cagabcab carefully carried a hot drink down the hall of Goodman Middle School on Friday, delivering the beverage with a smile to school counselor Erika Nemecek. Cagabcab, who is in eighth grade, pushed a button on his assistive tablet, and the device issued a recording thanking Nemecek for her order. Cagabcab is a greeter
There were hugs and high fives. New backpacks, new shoes and carefully styled hair. There were a few nerves, a few tears and at least one wistful backward glance. In short, it was a pretty typical first day of school Wednesday for students in the Peninsula School District. It felt … dare we say it?
When classes started last year, Peninsula School District scrambled to cover classrooms and bus routes due to social distancing measures to stem Covid-19. The outlook is more favorable this year, with pandemic restrictions easing. Meanwhile, a new teachers’ contract brings Peninsula classified educators’ pay more in line with surrounding districts. Some staffing gaps remain, however.
Tacoma Community College has long had an English as a Second Language program for adults seeking to improve their fluency in reading, writing and speaking English. But until this year, residents of Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula had to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to access classes. Word of a growing need for ESL
Our wet spring brought a welcome reprieve from wildfires and smoke that have plagued Western Washington in recent years. But summer isn’t over by a long shot, and wildfire season is just getting started. Several fires that started last week in Eastern Washington — one a brush fire that led to the evacuation of a
