Patriot Bremerton
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012 | Vol. 14, No. 4 www.bremertonpatriot.com | 50¢
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Authorities move to connect Burke and Brannon murders
Police: Union Hill residents should pay attention and be alert By GREG SKINNER gskinner@soundpublishing.
Kristin Okinaka/staff photo
Kelsey Johnston, center, and Caitlin Collins, right, conclude their junior Girl Scout Troop 42621 meeting last Thursday with their “friendship circle” as they hold hands and sing a song. Girl Scouts will celebrate the nonprofit’s 100th anniversary.
It’s more than just selling cookies Girl Scouts celebrate nonprofit’s 100th anniversary By KRISTIN OKINAKA kokinaka@soundpublishing.com
Kelsey Johnston had never done archery before and was nervous she wouldn’t be able to shoot any of the arrows on the target. A few months ago the fourth-grader proved herself wrong when she earned the archery patch as a junior Girl Scout. “I was scared I would miss every one and not get it until I was 50 or something,” Kelsey said with a grin last Thursday at her troop’s weekly meeting. But, she even hit the bull’s-eye more than once.
Part of Girl Scout Troop 42621, a junior troop, Kelsey has learned new activities and has made friends through scouting. Girl Scouts of the USA has been teaching girls like Kelsey for a while — 100 years in March to be exact — to build confidence and become leaders in their own way. About 150 Girl Scouts, including troop 42621, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts at Silverdale SongFest at Kitsap Mall Sunday, Feb. 26. Girl Scout Troop 42621 has eight girls in grades four and five. The troop is part of an East Bremerton scouting service unit and there are a total of three service units in Central Kitsap. There are about 15 to 20 troops in each service unit. Heather Parrish and Tina Johnston, Kelsey’s mother, are the leaders of troop 42621. Johnston, who also leads
another troop for her high school daughter, said many of the girls continue in scouting together because it’s a safe space for them to explore new ideas and express themselves. She said the girls in her older troop are all college bound. “A lot of it has to do with scouts,” said Parrish. “It’s down in their bones.” The local troops and services units are part of Girl Scouts of Western Washington, which is headquartered in Seattle, and serves more than 26,000 girls throughout 17 counties. The first Girl Scout Troop was organized on March 12, 1912 in Savannah, Ga. Parrish and Johnston lead their junior Girl Scout troop in a variety of activities and field trips including See Scouts, A10
Bremerton Police investigators are now working on a theory, with the FBI, that the city’s two unsolved murders and a violent assault are connected. The news comes from an update in the investigation into the Feb. 3 murder of Melody Brannon. The 61-year-old was killed between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on the 1300 block High Avenue in a manner yet unreleased by police, who have also released a sketch of a “person of interest.” Now, that suspect is also being looked at in relation to the May 3, 2011 murder of 19-year-old Sara Burke, who was stabbed, in the neck, in the 800 block of Warren Avenue at about 9 p.m. Also under consideration is the June 20, 2011 afternoon violent stabbing assault of a man walking down Burwell Street – not far from High Avenue. Bremerton Police Lt. Peter Fisher would not say whether Bremerton Police or the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit decided to pursue a connection between the three crimes. “Bremerton police are working in concert with
the FBI,” Fisher said Monday. What connects the crimes remains largely undisclosed, however Fisher said he could say that the crime locations, the fact that the victims were alone and that the attacks were random are part of the connecting considerations that he could release. Several Union Hill residents say they feel like the neighborhood has long suffered crime, but that the crime rate has been “escalating” recently. Police crime statistics for the few blocks surrounding the murder sites and the attack location show that between Jan. 7, 2009 and Feb. 3, 2012 more than 90 “minor” assaults punctuated with domestic violence assault and three charges for deadly weapons were listed. However, those numbers of total reported assaults have decreased each year, with 42 reported in 2009, 37 reported in 2010 and 26 reported in 2011. Fisher said that he did not have data from which to answer questions See MURDERS, A7