This week on the Compass reporter Chris Bricker visits two sides of a very important coin. With a rapidly changing and constantly evolving environment, both the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson Community Foundation have shown their creative and innovative metal, by working to demonstrate the strength of our dedication to the Common Good, and helping keep Jefferson County safe, healthy, and vibrant. We talk with Arlene Alen, Executive Director of the Jefferson Country Chamber of Commerce, and then with Siobhan Canty, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jefferson Community Foundation, about new paradigms and creative leadership.

As almost everybody knows, personal service establishments like hair salons and skin care businesses were forced to close during the pandemic. Most struggled to survive, and some went bankrupt and closed forever. This week on the Compass, we talk with two local business owners who lost a lot of money … but came out on the other side not only with a new look on business … but also a new look on life itself.

Like every other performing arts organization, Port Townsend’s New Old-Time Chautauqua was thrown for a huge loop by the emergence in February of the COVID-19 pandemic.  But unlike many of the others, the Chautauqua – perhaps because its leaders are jugglers and thus have highly-tuned reflexes – has not been forced to entirely cancel activity for 2020, but has instead been able to pivot in the air, and to move online.  Having heard that the Chautauqua was planning to go forward with a full-featured online performance this very weekend, I quickly got on the phone with Director Paul Magid, to find that he was in a quite unexpected place, after having had quite a wild pandemic ride.

This week on the Compass we talk with one of the designers about a survey that seeks your ideas for building a better, more resilient society coming out of the COVID-19 lockdown, and then we drop in on an extraordinary anti-racism rally held in Port Townsend Friday afternoon in solidarity with Black Lives Matter at which, of the several hundred marchers, there were virtually no African Americans to be seen—and very few policemen.

Unexpected changes have altered the complexion of society in a very short amount of time, and there have been all manner of creative pivots and interesting, if not profound, changes, discoveries, and “a-hahs” hitting us right between the eyes. The concept of how to throw a Film Festival has been no exception.

This week on the Compass, we speak with Janette Force, Executive Director of the Port Townsend Film Festival, and we explore the creative alternative paths staff and volunteers are exploring this summer, from the launch of the Women in Film “mini” festival, to a picture of what September’s major festival may look like.  We’ll also discuss how the times are affecting both filmmakers and the Industry.

This week on the Compass, KPTZ’s David Cunningham interviews KCPT Artistic Director Denise Winter, looking at the question of whether Key City Public Theater can possibly survive the slings and arrows of the coronavirus.

This week on the Compass we talk about charting a course out of lockdown with Jefferson County Public Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke, whose steady steering hand on the wheel of hometown COVID-19 pandemic crisis management has earned him the honor of having a sandwich named after him by a local eatery.

This week on the Compass, we talk with Chimacum Schools Superintendent Rick Thompson about the scramble the school district has gone through in trying to adjust to a world that changed literally overnight on March 13th of this year – and about the process of planning for a very uncertain future.

Since 1999, Jumping Mouse Children’s Center has helped kids heal through expressive mental health therapy. Play, rather than talking, is a child’s natural way of communicating. At Jumping Mouse, play therapy is based on a trusted relationship between the child and therapist, so the child feels safe to tell their story. This week, we visit with Jumping Mouse’s Executive Director, Jenny Manza, and we talk about the importance and their good work, especially during these difficult times, when nurturing a child’s healthy development is so important