HERALD NORTH K ITSAP
INSIDE: Kitsap kitsapweek Week The A12: NK end of a schools win tree-dition top honor SPORTS: A O look at our Friday, November 25, 2011 | Vol. 110, No. 47 | WWW.NORTHKITSAPHERALD.COM | 50¢ wrestlers
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DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY
Dance Arts Theatre of Silverdale presents its 24th annual production on Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 27 at 2 p.m., at the Bremerton High School Performing Arts Center, 1500 13th St., Bremerton. Reserved seats, $15; general admission, $12; seniors and students, $8. Info and tickets: (360) 692-4395.
Annual festival takes a ‘bough’
BY ERIN JENNINGS Kitsap Week
DESSERT THEATER The sun will come out tomorrow at Silverdale Baptist Church’s 13th annual Christmas Dessert Theater. This year’s show is “Annie,” Dec. 2-4 and Dec. 8-11 at the church, 8278 State Route 303 NE, Bremerton. Tickets are $12 and include dessert. Info and tickets: www. silverdalebaptist.com.
By MEGAN STEPHENSON mstephenson@northkitsapherald.com
Three young adults were taken by ambulance to Harrison Hospital in Bremerton late Nov. 19 after a single-car rollover crash on Clear Creek Road south of Sherman Hill. Two others were taken to Harborview and Tacoma General. Poulsbo Fire Department
See BELLRINGER, Page A9
ne year, her tree had a sleigh theme. Another year, it was decorated with vintage-looking dolls. This year’s theme is “Cooking with Claus” and features gingerbread. For each of the last 24 years, Sandra Carlson has decorated a Christmas tree, each with its own unique theme, for the Festival of Trees. So she wasn’t
about to miss the 25th and final event. “It’s very sad,” the retired librarian said. “I’ve known [about the finale] for almost a year. By the time this year’s festival comes around, most of my grieving will be done.” After this weekend’s festivities, Harrison Medical Center Foundation is bowing out of the annual fundraiser where decorated trees are auctioned off to raise money for the foun-
dation. Foundation director Stephanie Cline cited many reasons why the event is coming to an end. “When you approach a significant milestone, it’s always an opportunity to stand back and consider, ‘Where does this fit in?’, ” Cline said. “In the case of Festival of Trees, it’s a wonderful event and people love it, but there has been some trending we have watched for a See TREES, Page 2
A section of the Bainbridge Island Review | Bremerton Patriot | Central Kitsap Reporter | North Kitsap Herald | Port Orchard Independent
Some services, including county’s only severeweather shelter, are located in Bremerton
POULSBO — The Poulsbo Lions Bellringer Fund’s annual fundraising campaign is under way. Donations to the Poulsbo Lions Bellringer Fund are used to provide food, emergency shelter and emergency financial assistance to North Kitsap residents in need. Annually, the fundraising goal is about $35,000. The fund was founded in the 1940s by Frank and Mabel Raab as a vehicle for neighbors to help each other during emergencies. The Poulsbo Noon Lions Club administers the Bellringer Fund for the Raab Foundation. North Kitsap Fishline and others periodically turn to the Poulsbo Lions Bellringer Fund for help providing assistance to families facing eviction, emergency assistance paying utility bills, and keeping homes supplied
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LIFE AND CULTURE
Mayor proposes transit passes for ‘most vulnerable’
Poulsbo Lions Bellringer Fund
Meeting needs in North Kitsap since 1940s
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It’s been a tough week on area roads 1 dead in series of car crashes in the area By KIPP ROBERTSON krobertson@northkitsapherald.com
SILVERDALE — One person was killed and five young adults from Central Kitsap were hospitalized after a series of car crashes Nov. 19 and 21. There were at least three crashes in the area Nov. 21, including one
involving an ambulance and a pedestrian, which left 24-year-old Colby Coan of Arizona dead. Coan was on the southbound shoulder of State Route 3 just north of Trigger Avenue in Silverdale when he stepped into the roadway and was hit by a 2002 Ford Ambulance. The driver was James Toepfer, 74. Coan was struck after he left his pickup truck, which had veered off the road, according to Washington See CRASHES, Page A8
POULSBO — An idea to help low-income residents or transient people get around Kitsap County is facing resistance. Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson, as member of the Kitsap Transit Board of Commissioners, wants the agency to give $135,000 annually to social service agencies in the form of bus tokens. She said with ridership on a
steady decline, Kitsap Transit needs to fill the empty seats anyway, and Kitsap Transit should set a policy to help transportation for the “most vulnerable.” “I’m trying to shift that emphasis” from commuters to those in need, she said. She presented her idea at the Nov. 15 board meeting, suggesting the board allocate one-half of 1 percent of the sales tax revenue it receives. Some services for the North End’s most vulnerable residents are located in Bremerton. They include Kitsap Community Resources, Georgia’s House shelter for homeless women and families, and the only severeSee TRANSIT, Page A2
Second home proposed for families facing homelessness By RICHARD WALKER rwalker@northkitsapherald.com
POULSBO — A 90-day transitional home for families facing homelessness is proposed in the 18000 block of 9th Avenue NE in Poulsbo. The owner is making the home available through St. Olaf ’s Church and One Church One Family, a network of Kitsap churches. Kitsap Community Resources will do the placement and case management.
Kitsap Community Resources does the placement and case management for another transitional home in Poulsbo — a house at 4th and Viewmont, owned by the First Lutheran Church of Poulsbo. The 4th and Viewmont house was the subject of neighborhood protests in August, when two men living in the house were arrested on suspicion of burglarizing
Evidence procedures toughened in wake of thefts By MEGAN STEPHENSON mstephenson@northkitsapherald.com
POULSBO — Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson said the apparent theft of firearms from the Poulsbo Police Department evidence storage is “absolutely unacceptable” and won’t happen again.
The department will have a new procedure for dealing with evidence to be destroyed, and a “state-of-the-art” software system to account for the evidence. “All software is only as good as the manual process you have to support it,” Erickson said. “There is a manual process in place — they were beaten.”
The “beaten” process Erickson refers to is the alleged theft of two semiautomatic weapons by a former Poulsbo police clerk, Amanda Dixon, who was arrested in July and October. Dixon had signed documents stating she witnessed the destruction of both firearms, which See EVIDENCE, Page A15
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INSIDE ■ Two teens plead guilty in pranking case; adult suspects’ hearing dates are next. — Page A14