Recently, when discussing budgeting for a residential addition and renovation project, I casually mentioned that general contractor profit and overhead is around 20 percent. My client asked the obvious follow-up: “If we are the general contractors, and do some of the work ourselves, can we save 20 percent?” Unfortunately, the math is not that simple.
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Submit guest editorials or emails to Gig Harbor Now by emailing to [email protected]. In response to “Spring Market planned for mid-May near Civic Center” (March 28, 2023): Your article proclaimed that the Gig Harbor Arts Commission “granted nothing” to the Local Makers Festival and I’d like to help explain why that was the case. I
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Editor’s Note: Lew Napolitano of Tacoma is involved in the YMCA’s Bridge of Hope initiative. He provided this report on the initiative’s progress and plans. Click here for our earlier story about Bridge of Hope. The YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties, in response to the community wide disruption of effective and respectful dialogue over
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I am writing regarding the March 16, 2023 article, “Peninsula School District embracing potential of ChatGPT.” Artificial intelligence is deadly poison, not a shiny new toy for kids to play with. Freedom of thought is the birthright of all human beings. Furthermore, it is a requirement for all human endeavors that demand creativity, innovation, and
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Heather Maher is a local Gig Harbor mom and resident for the past 14 years. She is also a member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s NextGen class of 2023. I’ll never forget March 2020. As our kids were sent home from school, I watched as teachers wiped away tears, waving goodbye to
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Marlene Druker, AIA is a registered architect based in Gig Harbor. As part of her work, she has read the definitions in, and “kicked the tires” of many (maybe too many) zoning codes. Read Part 1 of her two-part column here. In part one, I sold you on The Incredible Expanding and Shrinking
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Editor’s note: This piece was submitted by Marlene Druker, a self-employed architect based in Gig Harbor. Her home office is expansive enough to house an expensive electronic drafting board and cheap trace paper, both of which were used in imagining The Incredible Expanding and Shrinking House. This is part 1 of a 2-part series. Look
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Dear Gig Harbor Citizens, I would like your input on important legislation that will impact the future of your neighborhood, every block on every street. On Thursday, January 19, at 3 p.m. the Gig Harbor City Council will have a study session to discuss whether to allow short-term rentals in our residentially zoned neighborhoods 365 days a year. Public comment is
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So you joined the “Y” or signed up for Zumba or Pilates. Have you tried hot yoga? I fainted my first time. Maybe you started running. And what about that diet? Man, I’m so hungry for a good burger and fries! Most of us have been in this situation and often revisit this scenario. Here
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Fall and winter are some of my favorite times of the year. I love to feel the cool crispness in the air and see the leaves on the hardwood trees change colors, fall to the ground and form a soft layer to cover the earth. The daylight hours are shorter and rain and snow are
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