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INDEPENDENT PORT ORCHARD
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012 ■ Vol. 121, No. 2 ■ www.portorchardindependent.com ■ 50¢
NARROWS BRIDGE
Travelin’ blues
Tolls for Tacoma trips likely going up
More complaints surface about travel agency targeted by persistent picketer By TIM KELLY and BRETT CIHON Port Orchard Independent
A disgruntled customer holding a sign outside a local travel agency after a miserable trip has plenty of company. Dale Ashton, a Canadian retiree who’s lived in Port Orchard since 2005, began his vigil last week in front of Adventure Travel & Cruise. He booked an all-inclusive trip to take his family — including his 3- and 6-yearold grandsons — to Disneyland over Christmas, but the day they arrived at the famed park they were told the passes in their package had only been ordered that morning and were not paid for in full. Not only did Ashton have to buy 3-day Disneyland passes — for which he was later reimbursed by Adventure Travel — for each family member the next day, he said he also had to pay for three return flight tickets that were not booked with the package he bought for seven travelers. Publicity about his daily protests has prompted others to come forward with accounts of hassles they encountered with bookings through Adventure Travel owner Launa Blahm. E.J. Martin, a detective with the Port Orchard Police Department, said he’s received at least a dozen complaints about the travel agency, several from people who read media coverage
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about Ashton in the past week. “So far they all tell me a very similar story; same thing as Mr. Ashton’s case,” Martin said Tuesday.
By BRETT CIHON
Cruise scuttled
Staff writer
One of the most egregious instances involves two former South Kitsap High School teachers, Mary and Jack Forsee, who booked a cruise “A man for themselves from Royal and two teenage grandkids. The Caribbean night before they told us this flew to Puerto is some kind Rico in late June, they found of a scam.” out there was — Mary Forsee, no reservation retired teacher who for them with booked a cruise with Royal CaribAdventure Travel bean cruise line. Actually, the couple had sensed something might be amiss when they called Blahm earlier that month, Mary Forsee said Monday in a phone interview from Sulphur Springs, Texas, where she and her husband live part of the year. “I asked about getting some paperwork that tells us where to go, and she said we should have gotten a packet from (Royal Caribbean),” she said.
Drivers could soon be paying more to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Craig Stone, the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Toll Division Director, said a $1 to $2 across-the-board toll increase could go into affect as early July 1. The increase, he said, is necessary to maintain a reserve fund of 12.5 percent of annual debt services and expenditures for the bridge, as required by the Washington State Transportation Commission. Stagnant tolling revenue and increased expenses mean the TNB’s reserve fund balance would dip below the minimum amount required for 2012 if a rate increase is not adopted. Without a toll increase, WSDOT projects 2012 toll revenue of $46.24 million, with projected operating expenses and debt obligations at $50.3 million. The reserve fund balance at the end of the year would fall to $3.5 million, short of the $6.28 million needed to meet the 12.5 percent requirement. “We have to be sure we make our
SEE TRAVEL, A7
Tim Kelly/Staff photo
Dale Ashton holds his sign in front of Adventure Travel & Cruise, which changed its sign in response to the disgruntled customer’s daily presence.
SEE BRIDGE TOLLS, A2
Ruling on school funding won’t bring changes soon By TIM KELLY Editor
South Kitsap school board members who welcomed last week’s state Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit over public education funding also
cautioned that it will be a few more years before school districts see any meaningful change. “I don’t see this decision having any fiscal impact on us for next two or three years,” school board president Kathryn Simpson said.
The high court ruled that the Legislature is not adequately funding basic education, as required by the state constitution. However, the court’s decision does not require any specific or immediate action, but rather serves notice that
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the Legislature must by 2018 find a way to implement the education funding reforms in a bill passed in 2009. Simpson said the Supreme Court SEE SCHOOL FUNDING, A9