REPORTER CENTRAL KITSAP
KITSAP WEEKLY INSIDE: Farmers Markets: Taste the goodness of Kitsap
FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016 | Vol. 32, No. 25 | WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM | 50¢
Sex trafficking a problem in Kitsap, speaker says
KLAHOWYA LACROSSE DOMINATES
Perpetrators of crime are often people in positions of authority, says Sandy Hill BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
Chris Tucker / staff photo
Roque Blas, Logan Cole, Kellson Arthurs and Myles Crawford, from left, play in the Klahowya-North Kitsap lacrosse game at Central Kitsap Middle School in Silverdale March 25. Klahowya won the game 15-8. Read more on page A7.
CENTRAL KITSAP — The illegal abuse of children in the sex trafficking industry is a problem in Kitsap County. It’s an issue that Kitsap anti-trafficking activist Sandy Hill would like to see ended forever. “Our children are a target,” Hill said as she spoke at a meeting of the Silverdale-Seabeck Republican Women in Central Kitsap March 28. Hill said most victims were girls ages 14-16 who had been tricked or forced into the sex trade. Sex traffickers would sell the girls to “buyers” and give the girls money, drugs or shelter. According to Shared Hope, a group that works to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, 100,000 children are abused by sex traffickers in the U.S. every year. “Buyers” in the sex trafficking industry fuel demand by paying traffickers to supply victims. Factors that make
children susceptible include low self esteem, being abused or neglected, poverty, homelessness and identifying as LGBT, according to Shared Hope. Shared Hope states that trafficking occurs when a commercial sex act is induced by force fraud or coercion if the victim is 18 or older, or regardless of the use of force, fraud or coercion if the victim is a minor. Traffickers locate victims primarily through social networks or their home neighborhood and promise love, protection or opportunity. Traffickers use fear, violence and threats to coerce victims. Hill showed a video called “Chosen” that told the story of two Washington girls who wound up involved in the sex trade. One of the girls, Brianna, was working at a restaurant in a small town when a charming 24-year-old man chatted her up. SEE TRAFFICKING, A9
Chancellor brings fitness ‘boot camp’ to Kitsap Tennis courts to be repaired using crowdfunding campaign BY MICHELLE BEAHM
MBEAHM@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
BANGOR — Six years ago, Seattle Seahawks’ Kam Chancellor and his trainer, Kevin Allen, came up with the idea to hold fitness boot camps for women. At the time, the idea didn’t get off the ground. This year, they finally started it up, and Monday, March 28, more than 80 active-duty military women or spouses of active-duty military participated in the fitness boot camp hosted by FormXForce, the company Chancellor and Allen started. “We know a lot of women care about their health and their wellbeing,” Chancellor said, “so we brought it out here and our first event … it was just outstanding. “We want people to enforce a
IN THE REPORTER
Athena Barber / U.S. Navy
Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor helps lead a fitness bootcamp at Naval Base KitsapBangor on March 28. change in their lives, which is enforcing the fitness style in their life and enforcing the health style in their life. That’s how we came about.” FormXForce visited seven cities
INSIDE
Easter eggs A3
in Washington on their March tour, with the Naval base being the secondto-last stop for now. “It’s been amazing,” Chancellor said. “We’ve been getting a lot of women saying, ‘You guys are very encouraging, you guys push us to our max, you guys push us to limits we never reached.’ And some women never worked out a day in their life, and they show up and they continue working out after that.” It was due to Sam Harlander, the regional marketing director for the base, that the boot camp came to Bangor at all. “I actually follow some of the Seahawks on Instagram, and so I saw that Kam Chancellor was doing this boot camp, and one of his posts was, ‘We want to hear from you: What city
OPINION
SEE BOOT CAMP, A9
Fast foot ferry facts A4
BY MICHELLE BEAHM MBEAHM@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
BREMERTON — One thing all tennis players who use the Kitsap Fairgrounds courts can agree on is that the courts need a lot of improvement. The courts are barely distinguishable as the lines and color have faded drastically and four of the courts have developed cracks. The walkway between the upper and lower courts is practically nonexistant. And, according to Billie Schmidt, superintendent of operations at the Kitsap County Parks department, the restrooms have been “out of commission” since before she joined the department in 2011. But all that is about to change.
INSIDE
“It says, ‘Hey, we’re doing this project, we need all the support we can get in our community,’” – Billie Schmidt According to a press release from the county, the total cost of repairs is $65,000. The county has partnered with the Central Kitsap School District — which uses the courts for their tennis league — for another $20,000. Which leaves $45,000, hopefully to be raised in a crowdfunding campaign, though the county is able to provide
Game of the week A7
SEE TENNIS, A9