I have long been fascinated with the quality of photography that pours from Michael Hunziker’s digital photography class at Key Peninsula Middle School.

The Gig Harbor Arts Commission has announced plans for the 2010 Arts Commission Grants Workshop. While funding depends on the city council’s approval of the 2010 budget, the GHAC will host a workshop to help applicants properly fill out grant applications and assist with other questions.

I left on vacation Sept. 24, and it was still summer in Gig Harbor. I returned on Oct. 12, and it was winter. I seemed to have missed fall in my three-week absence.

The First Saturday Art Walk in Gig Harbor is scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. this weekend.

It’s 8:30 a.m. in Gig Harbor. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake has just rocked the peninsula. There are massive landslides, bridge collapses, explosions, widespread power and water outages and tsunamis.

Oct. 22 — A call for assistance was requested by a Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputy who had terminated a vehicle pursuit due to safety concerns. The deputy exited Burnham Drive with all of his emergency warning devices off. The deputy located the suspect and his vehicle at the exit. The Kitsap deputy called for backup after he and the suspect crashed into each other. Gig Harbor police officers arrived at the scene to assist with traffic control when one of the officers heard the detained suspect break a rear window of the Kitsap patrol car. After securing the suspect, Gig Harbor police transported and booked the suspect into Pierce County Jail on felony eluding and first-degree malicious mischief charges.

Recent unseasonably high absenteeism rates at schools across Pierce Count have local health officials taking notice.

Oct. 19 — Key Peninsula firefighters responded to a 74-year-old KP resident whose family member said he was acting normally. The patient had to receive pre-hospital medications by intravenous therapy before he was transported to a hospital emergency room.

A longstanding voice on the Gig Harbor City Council and a political newcomer debated last Thursday during a public affairs forum at Cottesmore of Life Care in Gig Harbor.

With a thud, the City of Gig Harbor’s 2010 preliminary budget was released at this Monday’s City Council meeting.

Inez Glass is the kind of woman who has a natural knack for taking care of people. She considers founding Cottesmore of Life Care center in Gig Harbor, a senior care living facility, a natural extension of her desire to take care of her and other people’s aging families.

Sara Myron considers herself a traveling chef. Her Gig Harbor business as a personal chef takes her to clients’ kitchens, where she prepares healthy meals for individuals and families. But this summer, she literally took her show on the road.

Drivers who are renewing their license tabs can help save Joemma Beach and Kopachuck state parks, thanks to a local group’s efforts to keep state parks open and healthy.

When Tavia Simpson first met Tasha, she had no idea that this spirited, mischievous horse would take her all the way to the 4-H Nationals in Kentucky.

If ever there was a “perfect storm” for eroding real estate market values, the last year has been the roughest on record.