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The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

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The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

Serving Port Townsend and Jefferson County since 1889

09/08/2025

Food bank eyes Hadlock as distribution center

By Mallory Kruml

Facing increased demand and aiming to improve efficiency, the Jefferson County Food Bank Association is taking control of its food distribution network.

“We’re positioning ourselves for resilience but bracing for impact,” said Patricia Hennessy, the executive director of the Jefferson County Food Bank Association (JCFBA).

Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCAP), the longtime WSDA lead agency responsible for managing state and federal food programs in Jefferson and Clallam counties, began transitioning away from its role in July.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

09/07/2025

Changes coming to public transit routes as Jefferson Transit improves service

By Mallory Kruml

Heads up, bus riders: This fall, Jefferson Transit Authority (JTA) will implement several service changes aimed at improving efficiency, expanding coverage and better aligning transit services with community needs.

Changes will go into effect on Sept. 29 and include a new midday trip on Route 1 Brinnon, extending Route 4 Upper Sims and increasing the frequency of Route 11, said JTA Mobility Operations Manager Sara Peck at the Aug. 12 meeting of the JTA board.

“Overall, we’ve received positive feedback for all of the proposed changes,” Peck said. “We are here to respectfully request the approval of these changes.”

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

09/06/2025

Recreational shellfish harvesting closed in waters surrounding Port Townsend

By Mallory Kruml

The Jefferson County Department of Health announced the immediate closure of recreational shellfish harvesting in several areas around Port Townsend due to dangerous levels of a biotoxin that causes Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP).

Testing conducted by the Washington Department of Health revealed elevated levels of the toxin, produced by the naturally occurring marine plankton Alexandrium, which cannot be destroyed by cooking or cleaning the shellfish.

“Levels are monitored every week at a lot of different locations across Puget Sound,” said Michael Dawson, water quality manager for Jefferson County. “We help with some of the sampling, and then samples are also collected by tribes, by commercial shellfish companies. There’s a whole bunch of people that contribute to the sampling.”

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

09/05/2025

Fall Sports Preview:

Friday night lights to finish-line sprints, Rivals set sights on 2025 court and pool

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

09/04/2025

More than a thousand here without homes last year

By Alex Frick

Editor’s note: This is part five of a thirteen part series that explores the housing crisis affecting Port Townsend and Jefferson County.

The count for people experiencing homelessness or unstable housing in Jefferson County can vary widely, depending on the eye and m**hodology of the count.

The two federal counts are calculated differently. The Point in Time (PIT) count shows who’s homeless on one night; the Annual Snapshot shows how many unique people were homeless or unstably housed during their fiscal 2024. Both counts are generated by the Department of Commerce.

The Annual Snapshot for Jefferson County, released in May 2025, has a wider scope. It identified 1,044 residents who experienced homelessness or unstable housing in state fiscal year 2024, which ran from July 2023 to June 2024. That's nearly seven times the 147 of tally that came from the PIT count, which was a single night in January 2025.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

09/03/2025

Parking firm out of compliance

By Alex Frick

As penalties continue to frustrate Port Townsend Plaza shoppers, the City of Port Townsend has confirmed that the companies behind the paid parking systems have yet to acquire the proper licenses to operate within Port Townsend.

Finance Director Jodi Adams said that Hall Equities Group, Parking Revenue Recovery Services (PRRS), and Honk Mobile all hold Washington state business licenses; however, none has obtained the required city endorsement on their licenses to conduct business in Port Townsend.

Letters were mailed within the last month to the companies informing them of the requirement. However, as of this writing, no applications or endorsements appear in the state’s business licensing system, the Washington Department of Revenue’s Business Licensing Service (BLS).

“We’re working to get the businesses in compliance,” Adams said. “Many businesses are unaware of the requirement to obtain an endorsement on their Department of Revenue business license to do business in Port Townsend, so we try to work with them to come into compliance before we begin enforcement action.”

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

09/02/2025

Science center soft launches dry exhibit at Fort Worden

By Mallory Kruml

An exhibit featuring an interactive field guide to the Salish Sea is now open at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) in Fort Worden State Park.

It’s the first of a few new exhibits, and eventually tanks, visitors will see as the center works to streamline its visitor experience and move wet exhibits from the pier into the building across the street.

“We are still moving the aquarium tank over, and that will probably take us the rest of the year to do, so we are kind of soft opening the phase-one part,” said PTMSC Executive Director Diane Quinn. "Those are the dry exhibits."

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

09/01/2025

Water restored to Boat Haven after two-day shutoff

By Mallory Kruml

Pipes ran dry on Aug. 21 and Aug. 24 for several tenants of Port Townsend’s Boat Haven following an “unexpected complication” in the midst of ongoing construction.

“During digging, the stormwater project has unexpectedly undermined a main waterline, creating a risk of rupture for this line,” read an Aug. 20 emergency email blast from the Port. “Water service will be shut down starting at 4 a.m. on Thursday, August 21, until Thursday evening.”

The goal of the Boat Haven Stormwater Improvement Project is to meet the state’s more stringent requirements for water discharge quality, while putting in place the infrastructure needed for future expansion to the southwest of the boatyard.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

08/31/2025

Superintendents talk enrollment, challenges, changes before school year

By Mallory Kruml

This fall, students in Port Townsend and Chimacum will return to updated facilities, new teachers, and expanded course offerings, even as school leaders work through challenges in funding and enrollment.

Student enrollment in Port Townsend will be similar to last year, wrote Linda Rosenbury, the superintendent of the Port Townsend School District.

She expects the same-size student body this year as last, with about 1,250 students.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

08/30/2025

Mother describes a decade of trying to help and says she ‘can’t do it anymore”

By Alex Frick

Editor’s note: This is part four of a series that explores the housing crisis affecting Port Townsend and Jefferson County.

Connie West, a retired social worker with a background in mental health and substance abuse, has spent more than a decade trying to help her 37-year-old son Zak. She has tried “tough love,” sat through treatment groups, opened her property to him, and pulled back when nothing else worked.

Zak found stability in Port Townsend during 2021 and 2022, when he earned his massage license and worked on a farm that provided housing. But it didn’t last.
West said that while he has entered treatment, it never lasts.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

08/29/2025

After relapse and a year in ‘fentanyl forest,’ case management helped restore stability

By Alex Frick

Editor’s note: This is part four of a series that explores the housing crisis affecting Port Townsend and Jefferson County.

The road to homelessness can take many forms. For Jackie Lynch, her path began with loss. Her boyfriend died, a sister she lived with died, and then a fire destroyed her apartment. She leaned on relatives the best she could until there was nowhere left to go.

Her slow descent into homelessness triggered an addiction she thought she had put behind her.

“I had been 17 years clean, and then I relapsed when I became homeless,” she said. “I was using m**h, and I was on m**hadone for a while — that scared me. I don’t want that anymore.”

She ended up spending more than a year in what people on the streets commonly refer to as “fentanyl forest,” living in the woods behind the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services building. She said it was a daily fight for survival, and an example of a failing cycle.

08/28/2025

Port, foundry take helm on mariners’ memorial

By Mallory Kruml

Days after news broke of a beloved local fisherman’s death, the Port of Port Townsend renewed focus on its plans to build a memorial to honor him and all other area residents lost at sea.

“With Joel Kawahara’s loss here last week, it just kind of brought home to me, and other Port officials like our Port commissioners that Bernie’s vision is super important and there needs to be a driving force to make it happen,” said Port Executive Director Eron Berg, who mentioned the effort in his opening remarks at the Aug. 18 celebration of the Port’s new 300-ton lift.

Bernie Arthur, an 86-year-old retired maritime tradesman, has, for years, envisioned and worked towards creating a mariners' memorial at a shoreline property along Water Street. But, having been met with permitting and cost challenges, the project stalled.

For the full story pick up a copy of The Leader or go to ptleader.com

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