Tiny news release from KPUD below. TL;DR: they updated the FAQs.

Kitsap Public Utility District has updated the frequently asked questions (FAQs) section on its website regarding KPUD Proposition 1, which will appear on the November 3, 2026, General Election Ballot.

Information available on KPUD’s website includes details about the ballot measure, what it would authorize, and what steps could follow if it is approved, along with frequently asked questions from community members.

The FAQs section will be updated as additional questions are raised by community members.

Don't forget that we're closing out the year of beginner ballroom dance group classes with our most popular dances in Port Orchard and Bremerton! Be sure to plan ahead and reserve your spot(s) on the dance floor early before these classes sell out!

Only $75/person ($150/couple) for all five weeks!

Visit https://www.portorcharddance.com to register!

This is not my survey, but it's very well done and I'm helping promote it.

Community Interest Survey — Kitsap Skates

Kitsap has a lot of beaches on the health department's shellfish list, and their status changes often: open, closed, or open except for some clams. I made a free app that shows each one in plain words with when it was last updated, so you're not squinting at the state map on your phone at the beach.

It also has NOAA tides with the best window before low tide lit up. This month the good lows are after midnight.

Android only. Free, no ads, no account. Check the state's page before you dig, the app links to it.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nebulacolors.digday&referrer=utm_source%3Dreddit%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dkitsap-digday-1013

I’m Tawnee Cowan, an independent journalist in Port Orchard. I write Kitsap County News on Substack and I run the Facebook group Port Orchard Politics. I do not represent a newsroom. I do not endorse candidates.

I attended the Libertarian Party of Kitsap County chapter debate Monday night at Whiskey Gulch between Adison Richards and David Olson for the 26th Legislative District House Position 1. Fifteen prepared questions. Neither candidate saw them in advance.

The recap uses the same form as the sheriff debate piece. It opens with the agreements and the splits, keeps the chair’s full Stone Soup story, then runs the questions with condensed answers and selected quotes. Sources are listed: the transcript from the night, the official I-645 ballot language, the Kitsap PUD Proposition 1 text and the $1.2–1.5 billion starting-price study, the firearm permit-to-purchase statute (RCW 9.41.121), the face-covering ban, and the 2026 Kitsap point-in-time count.

https://tawneecowan.substack.com/p/richards-olson-lp-kitsap-debate-oct-12-2026

Not an endorsement. The piece does not score one candidate against the other.

This will be a dog pile.

Hey, I know this is an odd question, but I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get ash tree or juniper clippings, ideally somewhere I can get the cuttings myself, but if I need to buy them from a store so be it.

On the November 3 ballot, Kitsap County voters are being asked whether to grant Kitsap Public Utility District No. 1 permanent legal authority to construct or acquire electric facilities for generation, transmission, or distribution.
A “Yes” vote does not require KPUD to buy anything from Puget Sound Energy, build plants, or raise rates. It simply gives the three elected commissioners the ongoing power to decide later—without another public vote—whether, when, and on what terms the district becomes an electric utility.
I filed a public records request for the basic analytical work that should accompany a decision of this size: feasibility studies, cost-benefit analyses, rate impact projections, acquisition cost estimates, financing models, risk assessments, and comparisons with other public power systems. The response showed none of those records exist.
Circulating estimates put acquisition costs in the $1–2 billion range. Kitsap is denser and less rural than Jefferson PUD (the usual comparison), and low-cost BPA Tier 1 power is not guaranteed for this load. A feasibility study is estimated around $300,000 and could be commissioned now. Once the authority is granted, it cannot be recalled.
Public comments on placing the measure on the ballot ran 62% support / 30% opposed / 8% undecided, but in-person sessions showed stronger skepticism. The piece walks through the resolution, the records response, the public-comment tally, and why the sequence of “authority first, analysis later” matters.
Full article with sources:
https://tawneecowan.substack.com/p/power-before-proof-kpud-seeks-electric

Does anyone know of any companies that need help or are hiring? I have about 5 years experience in the welding industry but have been struggling to find work, I was curious if anybody knows any companies looking for extra help that aren’t the shipyard? Thanks so much!

There’s always tons of recommendations of coffee shops to visit. Can we make a thread of which ones to avoid?

They sure are spending a lot of money to try to convince us that Kitsap cannot do what the City of Seattle and Snohomish County have been doing for decades!

Publicly owned utility districts are better for the residents than for profit corporations!

Voting party, not a campaign party: This is about showing up, discussing, listening, and asking questions to understand & vote your ballot with confidence. You can bring your voter pamphlet, ballot, or just your curiosity.

• Ground rules:
• No pressure
• No candidates
• No campaigning
• Nobody has to agree
• Nobody has to share

This is organized by a few women in Kingston, and will be held at Over The Moon (parking in the back) from 3:30-5:30pm on Oct 18, Oct 25, and Nov 1.

If you want to hold your own, I'm happy to share the flyer templates/etc, and might even find a volunteer to help you.

I’ve lived here about 4 years. Most of that was in the Navy so I stayed fairly local. This past year, my new job has me go out to Elma once or twice a month. When I drive out that way, I usually go through Gorst, To Belfair, then Allyn, Shelton, take the 108 to Mcleary and then to Elma.

All that to ask, why do I always see like 6-10 unmarked and marked cop cars out this way?? Usually that stretch from Allyn to Shelton there’s a few. And then in Mcleary there’s ALWAYS like 3. Then on that stretch of highway there’s always at least 3 or 4 that I’ll see.

It’s just always an absurd amount. I’ve often seen them on that same stretch, 3 or 4 cars, all just pulled off to the side of the road where they obviously ventured off into the woods after someone or something.

I don’t know shit about this area. Maybe it’s got a lot of meth labs or something. I dunno. I’m from Kansas originally and that’s what it was there.

Tawnee Cowan, independent journalist in Port Orchard. I do not represent a newsroom. I do not endorse.
The on-record candidate interview series is published as a set. I am asking readers to judge the work, not the candidates.
Every interview and every piece where a candidate did not sit is linked on one page. Read the set there before you answer. Name the title of the piece you mean. A score with no title is not useful.
https://tawneecowan.substack.com/p/why-i-interviewed-every-contested-candidate-kitsap-ballot-2026
Ground rules for how the interviews were run:
https://tawneecowan.substack.com/p/kitsap-candidate-interviews-nov-2026-on-record
I am not looking for a compliment. I am looking for a judgment against the four pillars of journalistic integrity used by the Society of Professional Journalists: seek truth and report it, minimize harm, act independently, and be accountable and transparent.
Answer as many of these as you want in a comment. Name the article.
1. Favorite article. Which piece, and why.
2. Most informative. Which piece taught you something you could check, and what was it.
3. Most disliked. Which piece, and why. This is about the reporting, not the candidate.
4. Seek truth and report it, 1 to 5. Did the series keep the record straight and put answers in context a reader could verify? Name the line that drove the number.
5. Minimize harm, 1 to 5. Did any piece inflict harm that was not needed for the public record? Name it.
6. Act independently, 1 to 5. Did the series look like it worked for a campaign, or for the reader?
7. Be accountable and transparent, 1 to 5. Were the rules (on the record, quote check for spelling only, no veto, same questions in a race) visible and kept?
8. What should I stop doing.
9. What should I start doing.
You can stay anonymous. You can sign your name. This is not a poll on who should win in November.
Tawnee Cowan
Port Orchard
TawneeLynne@gmail.com

I received my ballot today. If you didn't receive your ballot today, don't panic! Just keep checking starting Monday, and be sure to contact and request a replacement if you don't receive it over the next few days. Don't miss your opportunity to vote because of a mailing mistake!

Before you mail or drop off, make sure you sign and date the envelope! Don't let your ballot be rejected because you forgot. During the primary, 2,200 ballots in Washington were challenged because they were unsigned.

The signature they're comparing it with is the one you used when registering to vote. Look at your ID if you have to if you don't have a consistent signature. During the primary, 4,300 ballots in Washington were challenged because the signature didn't match.

If you're not planning to or are unable to use a drop box, fill it out ASAP after receiving it and mail it out the next day if possible (obviously not Sundays). You want to give it well over a week to be postmarked in time for election day. Don't let your ballot be rejected for being postmarked late! During the primary, 20,000 ballots in Washington were rejected for being too late.

Tawnee Cowan, independent journalist in Port Orchard. I do not represent a newsroom. I do not endorse.

One page with every on-record interview and every piece where a candidate did not sit. Use it when you fill out your ballot.

https://tawneecowan.substack.com/p/why-i-interviewed-every-contested-candidate-kitsap-ballot-2026

ICE on Kitsap Way between Austin Drive and Juanito's

Tawnee Cowan, independent journalist in Port Orchard. I do not represent a newsroom. I do not endorse.

Two separate articles. Not a comparison.

Rick Kuss sat September 30. On the record.
https://tawneecowan.substack.com/p/rick-kuss-kitsap-sheriff-sept-30-2026

Brandon Myers sat October 5. On the record.
https://tawneecowan.substack.com/p/brandon-myers-kitsap-sheriff-oct-5-2026

Just so we’re clear, I write these articles myself. I’m not using AI to generate them.
I joined Reddit because I’d like my work to show up in Google searches. That’s one way an independent writer can get their reporting into the mainstream. I don’t usually use Reddit. I’m not that kind of social butterfly, and I wasn’t interested in that highway before now.
This morning I woke up to someone saying I need to use AI less because my articles are too uniform. AI is my secretary, not my writer. I’ve used it to check my final drafts for bias, help build a survey, track down candidate contact information, and figure out the SEO so my Substack articles can be found in search. That’s the extent of it.
I do the writing. I do the interviewing. I’ve been working on this set of articles for three weeks. In the last 48 hours I’ve done six interviews, and now I’m tying up the remaining pieces. There will be a big drop today, just like yesterday, because deadlines are deadlines.
I’m disabled. I don’t monetize this work. It’s my way of giving back to the taxpayers. We live in a news desert, and I’m trying to fill that gap.
I see the comments on my work. I’d like to respond to more of them, but I’m using restraint. I’m not trying to tilt the scales in any direction. Integrity is the single most important value I carry. That’s also why I keep structure in my writing. It helps keep bias out.
Integrity is integrity. Deadlines are deadlines. I’m trying to meet both.