Gig Harbor Now reporters chase down news that affects community residents, providing facts with context and perspective.
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, announced Thursday that he won’t run for re-election in 2024. Kilmer, 49, is in the middle of his sixth two-year term representing Washington’s Sixth Congressional District, which encompasses the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas and most of the city of Tacoma. When not in Washington, D.C., the Port Angeles native
Read More
More than 30 people with an interest in the fate of KGHP-FM radio showed up Tuesday to a meeting hosted by Peninsula School District, which owns the station. Some were faithful listeners of KGHP, which has operated since 1988. Some were volunteer program hosts who have kept the station on air since its manager was
Read More
It was a scary sight in October when mortgage rates spiked to a 23-year year high, causing the housing market to slow to a December-like crawl a few months ahead of schedule. But, while the historically high mortgage rates are keeping buyers and sellers at bay and impacting the volume of sales, they are not
Read More
They help turn wheat into bread and fruit into wine. They ferment cacao beans, making it possible for us to enjoy one of the world’s favorite treats — chocolate. They give us penicillin, forever altering the way we fight infection. These mostly invisible, seemingly magical organisms quietly go about their work sustaining forests and enriching
Read More
Sultry tango music plays in a half-empty portable classroom at Voyager Elementary School. Chairs and tables have been pushed aside to create a small dance floor, where students in pairs mark the beat with their feet. Step, step, step, to-the-side and close. “T-A-N-G-O,” calls out instructor Roxanne Nielsen, helping count the rhythm. It may not
Read More
Voters in the PenMet Parks district rejected a six-year levy lid lift request in preliminary ballot returns posted Tuesday, Nov. 7. Nearly 59 percent of 8,733 ballots counted as of Tuesday opposed the request, which would allow the district to collect property taxes of up to 6% more than the previous year instead of the state
Read More
Pierce County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a man in Purdy early Tuesday morning, Nov. 7, after he allegedly fired a gun at a neighbor. Nobody was injured in the incident, according to sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss. The incident occurred on the 14400 block of 62nd Ave. NW, near Peninsula High School. The victim
Read More
The sixth annual Gig Harbor Veterans Day Celebration starts at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Gig Harbor Antique Aero Museum at Tacoma Narrows Airport. This year’s event will include a special ceremony commemorating veterans of the Vietnam War. United States military forces withdrew from Vietnam 50 years ago this year. The keynote speaker
Read More
A new Gene Juarez Salons & Spa in the Uptown Gig Harbor shopping complex will open Saturday, Nov. 11, the company announced Monday. It will be the salon’s 11th location in Washington state. Previously, the closest Gene Juarez locations were in Tacoma and Silverdale. The 2,300-square-foot Gig Harbor salon is taking reservations. A news release
Read More
Our most recent Gig Harbor Now and Then questions of local history involve Gig Harbor’s first big industry, logging. Specifically, they concern a single second-growth Douglas fir tree standing tall in the city of Gig Harbor’s Donkey Creek Park. They are: How old is the Donkey Creek Park fir tree? Answer: Between 50 and 100
Read More