City Council candidates Pegeen Mulhern and Ron Peltier met with the Kitsap Sun Editorial Board earlier this week to discuss key issues on the island, from transportation to affordable housing.

Mulhern and Peltier are running for the at large seat, which is currently held by Steve Bonkowski. He is not running for reelection.

Anne Blair also is not running for reelection. Kol Medina is running uncontested for her seat.

Michael Scott, who was appointed to the council earlier this year after David Ward resigned, is running uncontested.

Councilwoman Sarah Blossom is running for reelection and is uncontested as well.

Read more about all the island candidates, including school board and park district candidates, on the Kitsap Sun’s online election guide.

National effort to amend the U.S. Constitution, declaring corporations are not people and money does not equal speech, is coming to Bainbridge Island.

David Cobb, founding member of the national organization Move to Amend, will be in Washington to support I-735. The bill would ask state officials to push Congress to say corporations are not people and all political contributions should be regulated, as well as made public.

WAmend, the Washington Coalition to Amend the Constitution is the group behind the local  I-735 petitioning effort and the move to get signatures for a 2016 ballot initiative.

Kitsap Sun political reporter Steve Gardner reported on local petition efforts for I-735 on his blog.

Cobb will speak at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church — 105 Winslow Way — on Aug. 17 from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

He will talk about how corporations gained constitutional rights, how money influences elections and voters can “win back democracy,” according to WAmend’s website.

DeNova Northwest has started clearing a 4.5-acre lot on Wyatt Way for 18 homes near Lovell Avenue.

The development, known as Ashbury, was originally for 19 homes, although one lot was removed to save an old Black Locust, said Heather Beckman, an associate planner with the city.

The tree is part of a community park and garden area on the northeast portion of the property. The development will connect to a trail on the south end of the site for access to Winslow and the ferry.

DeNova will begin selling the homes in the fall, according to its website, although no prices are listed.

The Kent-based company also is working on a 17-home development in Burien and 165-home development in Tacoma’s University Place, which will include a playground and dog park.

Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation is working to raise $100,000 to help the park district supplement money for a new Hidden Cove dock.

Earlier this month, the park district received a $300,000 matching grant from the state to replace the nearly 200-foot-long dock, which is closed because of safety concerns.

The foundation is having a dock party at Hidden Cove Park on Sunday from 3-6 p.m. with swimming, games and snacks for donations.

Hidden Cove’s dock one of two public float docks on the island. Bainbridge’s other float dock is at Waterfront Park in Winslow.

Hidden Cove dock had been a popular swimming and kayak launching site on the north end of the island.

Another popular swimming and launch site is the Point White Pier on the southwest end of the island.

Hidden Cove dock party attendees are encouraged to walk or ride to the event. Those driving can park at the Hidden Cove ballfields and follow balloons along the trail to the park.

Kitsap Sun reporter Andrew Binion sat down with Bainbridge Island Police Chief Matthew Hamner to talk about his first two years with the city and changes that have been made.

The department has moved to an organizational structure similar to other departments in the county, going from lieutenants to sergeants as first line supervisors.

There also are plans to have a community resource officer funded by a federal grant.

Hamner came from Indianapolis. Read about his background in a previous Kitsap Sun article.

All stories can be found at the Kitsap Sun​ website.

I also will post links to the code items on the Bainbridge Islander Facebook page.

As consultants work on revising logos and a new brand for the city and downtown associations, some Bainbridge Island residents are asking the city to restart the process with local artists.

Since the new branding ideas were unveiled June 11, an online petition has garnered nearly 600 signatures to cut ties Arnett Muldrow & Associates, a two-man team from South Carolina.

The petition came after critics were out in force when images of the proposed logos were posted on social media the day after the unveiling. Hundreds of comments, almost entirely negative, were posted on Facebook.

Several readers have weighed in through letters to the editor — “Bainbridge already lost its brand” and “Branding can do better on Bainbridge” — and an editorial cartoon by Milt Priggee mingling the uproar with the island annual Rotary sale (shown above) ran in the June 28 edition of the Kitsap Sun. (If you’d like to share your opinion in the Sun or Islander through a letter, email David Nelson at david.nelson@kitsapsun.com.)

The city took public comment on the branding process through June 26, and revisions are expected in one to two weeks, said Kellie Stickney, the city’s community engagement specialist.

That won’t be the last opportunity for public input though.

Feedback will be taken again after revisions are made public, Stickney said, although no date for a presentation has been set.

The axes in the proposed logos were nixed by the end of the June 11 presentation, and other options were nixed after online outcry the following day. At this point the crest won’t be moving forward in the design, and there could be a different font and color scheme, City Manager Doug Schulze told City Council.

A new release from the city said the Rockaway Beach water system, which serves about 90 homes, is experiencing “unusually high water consumption.” The increase is putting stress on the system that pulls water from a single well with limited capacity.

While it hasn’t been dangerously hot on the island, higher than normal temperatures have hit the region, along with dry conditions.

No other areas of the city’s water system have been affected, according to the city.

Bainbridge Island’s first and only retail marijuana shop could pass for an art gallery or café with its natural light, neutral color scheme, vinyl music and refurbished wood décor, if not for the smell of marijuana. Now, Bainbridge residents do not have to scour and ramble around to choose best kratom vendor, because that one’s right in the townsquare.

Even the name, Paper & Leaf, doesn’t reek of weed clichés.

Owners Steve Kessler and Brendan Hill held the company’s grand opening Wednesday, after having a soft opening for friends and family June 20. The 1,800-square-foot store is just off Highway 305 in the industrial park at 8040 Day Road.

Although state regulations won’t allow more than one retail shop on the island and Paper & Leaf won’t have competition within a 30 minute commute, it is doing business a little different from other pot stores around the Sound.

Shoppers won’t find candy-like edibles for one.

While islanders strongly supported legalizing marijuana, there was a concern about can candy edibles appealing to children and minors, Kessler said.

About 70 percent of the island’s voters backed Initiative 502, which legalized marijuana in 2012, compared to 56 percent statewide.

Instead of candy edibles, Paper & Leaf has liquid products customers can drop directly into their mouths or use to bake.

When using products for the first time, Kessler suggested taking it slow.

“I always tell people, ‘Less is better,’” he said, especially with edibles that can take up to two hours to take affect.

How Paper & Leaf displays its marijuana products also is a little different from most.

They are all locked in wood and glass cases on the walls and not behind the register. Producers, including several locals, have their own case with a variety of strains.

More than half of Paper & Leaf’s producers are in Kitsap or North Mason, Kessler said.

Product not only arrives faster with closer producers, he added, it’s a way of supporting other local business.

Marijuana isn’t the only local item Kessler and Hill want to hang on the wall.

One long, blank wall by the store entrance will eventually feature artwork from local island and area artists. The first exhibit will be a history of cannabis, Kessler said, although future exhibits can be unrelated to marijuana.

The art is part of a goal to create a relaxed atmosphere at Paper & Leaf.

To add to the vibe, customers can talk with staff or among themselves — as some did Wednesday — at a long table made from reclaimed wood by the local Coyote Woodshop.

Even with a relaxed feel, security is tight.

There are 28 cameras throughout the parking lot and every room in the business, except the bathroom. Kessler and Hill also had motion detectors, automatic locks and broken glass sensor installed.