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INDEPENDENT PORT ORCHARD
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012 ■ Vol. 121, No. 1 ■ www.portorchardindependent.com ■ 50¢
New year starts with another Bay St. farewell
PLUNGING INTO THE NEW YEAR
Superior Court judge dies
Wine shop owner shuts his doors
Theodore Spearman had been in hospital for brain aneurysm
By BRETT CIHON Staff writer
In 2008, John Ready framed a front-page article in the Port Orchard Independent about his reopening of the Puget Sound Wine Cellar. Three and a half years later, he took the article off the wall. “I made the decision not to renew the lease in June,” said Ready, the 57-year-old owner of the wine shop. “It’s a sad thing to close the door for the last time, I know that.” Ready said it was the poor economy that ultimately put his store, which closed for good on New Year’s Eve, out of business. “I bought the store in 2008,” he said. “Timing is everything.”
Independent staff report
SEE WINE SHOP, A4
Puget Sound Wine Cellar owner John Ready closed the business for good on New Year’s Eve, after purchasing the shop in 2008 and operating it for three and a half years.
The Polar Bear Plunge has long been a popular New Year’s Day tradition in Olalla, with scores of people young and old jumping off a bridge into the chilly water below. This year the jumpers had a relatively mild day, with midday temperatures in the 40s Sunday. Staff photo/Tim Kelly
Brett Cihon/Staff photo
Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Theodore Spearman died Tuesday night at the Seattle hospital where he had been treated for a brain aneurysm. His family notified Superior Court officials Tuesday night of his death, court administrator Frank Maiocco said Theodore Wednesday. Spearman, 64, who Spearman was hospitalized about two weeks ago at Harborview Medical Center, had recently submitted a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office informing her of his retirement due to his health problems. Spearman was appointed to the bench in 2004 by then-Gov. Gary Locke, and kept his position in two subsequent elections. Superior Court Presiding Judge Anna M. Laurie noted Spearman’s seven years of service as a judge and highlighted the daily impact he had SEE JUDGE, A5
Governor wants Legislature to pass marriage equality bill / A5
Index Opinion Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Best of the Blogs Obituaries
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Hearing in animal cruelty case gets testy By BRETT CIHON Staff Writer
A Kitsap County courtroom turned testy on Tuesday morning during an arraignment hearing for an Olalla couple facing animal cruelty charges. The arraignment, typically a mun-
dane procedural hearing when defendants enter a plea before a trial is set, quickly turned into a heated discussion involving defense attorney Paul Richmond and a prosecutor while others scheduled to be arraigned during the court session were left to wait. Richmond, a Port Townsend attor-
ney, is representing Simon Bailey and Rosalind G. Yorba-Bailey, who are accused of failing to provide proper care for more than 150 animals that were seized from their 5-acre farm by the Kitsap Humane Society in November. With a dozen supporters of the
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Baileys watching in the courtroom, Richmond disputed every claim brought against the middle-aged couple, along with entering a not-guilty plea on their behalf. Richmond claimed the couple had SEE HEARING, A2