Buzzing off

Received an email today that the Bainbridge Buzz will buzz no more.

Apparently the cost of running an online newspaper and community forum is just too high.

Too bad. It was nice living in a three newspaper town. What falls through the cracks of the Review would surely be picked up by the Islander or Buzz.

And all three papers served their individual purposes. The Review casts the biggest net, catching bulk of island news. The Islander did well, serving as another take on the big events and local shenanigans. The Buzz provided a forum, at which you could read up on what all the crankies with keyboards have to say about the island's happenings.

No single publication did it all. That's why our ability to inform ourselves takes a hit tomorrow when the Buzz buzzes no more.

It's magic when you're on the air

Finally, us poor folk without the highfalutin cable teevee can watch the Island's public access station.

Well, as long as you have a highfalutin internet connection, that is.

BITV is now streaming all its programs via www.bitv.org

Right now the channel 12 is streaming its shows "live" on the site, which is great for people that don't want cable, don't have a TV or don't trust their computer when it's left alone.

I'm looking forward to when this service when it's "on demand" so's I can catch all the drama, the intrigue, the THRILLS at COBI city council meetings when ever my heart desires.

BHS History 101: "Sever the roots that bind"

If I were still a pimple-pocked upstart I'd have my spitballs loaded and ready for the next time any teacher tried to instill the importance of history at Bainbridge High.

Such lessons are suddenly laughably hypocritical at BHS, because outside the classroom window living pieces of history are being ripped from the campus grounds.

The papers are carrying stories, photos and letters about how BHS plans to chop down a cluster of blooming cherry trees planted some 70 years ago as a gift from the Japanese-American Community. They are, apparently, in the way of a building expansion. The school district says it hasn't enough money to move the trees, despite pleas and assurances from Island tree experts that the trees could be safely relocated.

Money, back-hoes, new bricks and mortar aside, what kind of lesson is this for the students?

In defense of the school's decision to hack the trees, school board prez Bruce Weiland is quoted in the Bainbridge Review as saying: "Our mission is to educate kids," and not, perhaps, to worry about trees. True, but what is education without the values associated with it? Learning about history is not simply cramming names and dates into young heads. It's also about learning to revere history, to value the stories that tell us why and who we are today, and to feel rooted to the past.

If I were a young BHS scholar, I'd fire a wet, pulpy one square in the eye of the school administration, hit the library and kickback with some good Island history under a shady cherry tree.

Barato burrito rebirth

There is nothing so fine as a quick burrito.

The Island has suffered for years after Chili Cosmos closed somewhere around 2003. It was there, and only there, that you could get a no-frills burrito on the cheap and not have to worry about combing your hair or "putting on your face." A good sloppy burrito'd mess both up anyhow (depending on the level of gusto to which you applied your hunger-fueled enthusiasm).

Well, Chili Cosmos was tossed in the waste bin of Island history after their landlord decided not to continue their lease. Now we have an expanded Cafe Nola in its place. Yey.

Cosmos used to be a hangout and feedery for cab drivers, aging hippies and young hoodlums. Hopefully, the new Casa Rojas burrito shack will serve the same purpose.

Opening sometime this week, the new Casa Rojas fills the void in the Safeway sprawlville left open when 'It's Casual' (arguably the best, and most fitting, restaurant name on Bainbridge) went out of business.

The other Casa Rojas at the concrete monolith known as 'the pavilion' is my second favorite place to nosh burritos, and I expect they'll put their tried and true balance of price and taste into practice at the new place.

On the menu: quality fast food, like burritos, salads, nachos, and, for all you commuters who haven't mastered the "milk + cereal + bowl = morning meal" equation, a line of breakfast burritos.