HERALD NORTH K ITSAP
INSIDE Celebrating OC’s ‘top 10’ honor
CONGRATULATIONS
Named one of the top 10 community colleges in the United States by the Aspen Institute
Olympic College enriches our diverse communities through quality education and support so students achieve their educational goals.
Friday, April 3, 2015 | Vol. 114, No. 14 | NorthKitsapHerald.com | 50¢
For the love of reading (and bikes) Kitsap
IN THE HERALD KITSAPweek
likely to dodge drought
A p r i l 3 - 9, 2 015
Lots of savings in Kitsap County’s largest Classified section. With legal notices
An inspired effort LIFE AND CULTURE
Pages 19-24
Left, Katie Gerstenberger of Poulsbo died in 2007 of adrenocortical carcinoma. The Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research is helping to fund research into immunotherapy. Hannah Hunt died in 2010 from medulloblastoma, a brain cancer. Hannah’s Hopeful Hearts helps fund research into new surgical techniques that remove cancer without damaging healthy tissue. Photos: Gerstenberger and Hunt families
Two local girls spurred efforts to fund cancer research. Those efforts are saving lives today
By RICHARD WALKER Kitsap Week
P
OULSBO — Katie Gerstenberger and Hannah Hunt each had cancer — Katie, a rare form; Hannah, a common and aggressive one — and they weren’t going to give in without a fight. They underwent treatment and surgeries. They recovered and relapsed. They had dreams for the future — Katie wanted to be an actor or a writer, Hannah wanted to be a teacher — but those dreams
changed. Because of what they endured and what they saw others enduring at Children’s Hospital, both wanted to help cure cancer. And when their diagnoses were terminal, they still didn’t give up the fight; each laid the foundation for the battle to continue, for the research to be done, so that other lives may be lived. Katie and Hannah each died at age 12. But the efforts they inspired live on, having raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for research at Seattle
Children’s Hospital. And that research is making a difference. Dr. Michael Jensen has developed an immunotherapy that uses the patient’s own T cells — white blood cells in the immune system that fight infection — to seek out and destroy cancer cells in the body. According to Katie’s mom Karen, this treatment “has saved 11 children who had no more hope.” And Dr. Jim Olson developed Tumor Paint, derived from scorpion venom, which “lights up” cancerous cells, enabling surgeons to differentiate diseased
This edition: 3 sections, 48 pages
from healthy tissue. The result is a more precise and complete surgical removal of cancerous tissue while sparing surrounding normal tissue. Hannah’s mom, Reba Ferguson, said, “It’s going to be different for the next generation.” The troops have breached cancer’s fortress walls. You can be a soldier in Katie and Hannah’s army by attending an event presented by Hannah’s Hopeful Hearts, April 10, 7 p.m., at Grace Church on See RESEARCH, Page 2
65,000 circulation every Friday in the Bainbridge Island Review | Bremerton Patriot | Central Kitsap Reporter | North Kitsap Herald | Port Orchard Independent
KITSAP WEEK Carrying their banner on April 10
Enough rainfall to recharge aquifers
— In this edition
By RICHARD D. OXLEY
roxley@northkitsapherald.com
SPORTS ■ Schedules and standings ■ Lil’ Norway Invite April 4 — Pages A13, A16
OPINION State auditor should step aside during investigation — Page A4
ments, to fill up a single book sheet. Third-graders through fifth-graders need to read a total of 12 hours, in 30-minute increments. After they fill up the sheet, they can turn it in to the treasure chest in the main office of the elementary school. At the end of the school year, sheets are drawn at random to
POULSBO — As winter becomes a memory, many communities in Washington state are on alert for coming drought conditions following a relatively dry season. Kitsap, however, is not likely to be one of those communities. In fact, Kitsap has seen more than its fair share of water this season. “Essentially, most of the peninsula uses ground water. We don’t rely on rivers, lakes and snow melt,” said Keith Svarthumle, water purveyor for the City of Poulsbo. “That’s why it’s not as critical to us in comparison to other places that rely on surface water.” That reliance has other Washington regions, such as the Olympic Peninsula, facing more severe conditions and drought as they enter spring and summer. The National Oceanic and
See READING, Page A3
See DROUGHT, Page A2
From left, third-grader Ty Picini helps kindergartner Gavin Dandurand read during class at Pearson Elementary School, March 17. Michelle Beahm / Herald
Four winners of challenge will receive bicycles By MICHELLE BEAHM
mbeahm@northkitsapherald.com
P
OULSBO — When it comes to encouraging students to read, Hilder Pearson Elementary School is on the right track. For the past few years, the school has been motivating its students in the form of brand new bicycles,
awarded to two to four students who fulfilled the reading challenge Books for Bikes, a Masonic Lodge program. The students are required to read for certain lengths of time and get adults to sign off that they’ve done so. Kindergartners through second-graders need to read a total of six hours, in 15-minute incre-
Man nearly shot in face during alleged burglary Confronts suspect while checking on father-in-law’s property By RICHARD D. OXLEY
roxley@northkitsapherald.com
POULSBO — The property owner’s son-in-law literally dodged a bullet.
An alleged burglar nearly shot the man in the face as the man was calling 911 to report a burglary at a Poulsbo home. The alleged burglar missed, but the shot left powder burns on the sonin-law’s face and glasses, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office report. The son-in-law was checking on the home in the 5500 block of Gunderson Road, on the outskirts of Poulsbo, around 4:17 p.m. March 29. The home-
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owner no longer resides at the home, and his children act as caretakers of the property. Upon arriving at the property, the son-in-law noticed a truck that did not belong there, and saw a man exit the home. The man told the son-in-law that a woman gave him permission to be there. The son-in-law knew the woman who was referenced and knew that she
Balloons are released at Island Lake Park in memory of Kaden Lum, 2, who was one of two people killed March 28 in a Bremerton mobile home. Visit the Herald online for updated coverage of the investigation.
See SHOT, Page A8
Peter O’Cain / Sound Publishing
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