Trio of seniors take the lead as SK looks for a return to State
County cuts assistance to local veterans Page A9
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Independent FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012 n Vol. 121, No. 11 n www.portorchardindependent.com n 50¢
Inside
A Section Editorial Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Legal Notices Mary Colborn Obituaries A4 A4 A5 A6 A7 A7 A8
Inserts: Fred Meyer, RiteAid, Office Depot, Best Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, Valassis
Printed with recycled paper and environmentally friendly soybean oil-based ink.
Jesse Beals/Staff Photo
BRUCE DANIELSON
CHARLOTTE GARRIDO
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TIM MATTHES
JEANETTE DALTON
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SK Briefs Obituaries Legals
A6 A6 A9 A10
Opinion Robert Meadows Gardener Joe Sports
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SEE UPSETS, PAGE A2
4DIPPM EJTUSJDU MPPLT UP CBMBODF JUT CPPLT and pension rates along with inflation as issues. In addition to the money saved on custodians, Patton said the district will dip into its reserve fund for $1.72 million. She said that’s not all bad because the district saved more than it anticipated in its last fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31. Patton said they also will save through not filling other vacant positions in the district, and through cutting expenses on supplies. The board unanimously adopted the budget. Patton warned in previous meetings that the “hard decisions” likely won’t end
Custodians won’t be replaced, $1.72 million will be taken from reserve fund.
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By CHRIS CHANCELLOR Staff Writer
The South Kitsap School District is a little closer to closing its $2.9 million deficit for the upcoming school year. Terri Patton, assistant superintendent for business and support services, said at Wednesday’s school board meeting that the district won’t replace five full-time custodians who left the district after the last school year. She said that will save the district $250,000. Patton said the deficit stems from unforeseen circumstances when the district presented its last levy to voters in 2004. She cited escalating teacher salaries
chasing it last spring. City Development Director James Weaver confirmed that Keehn received a conditional-use permit to operate a onechair hair salon out of her home, which he described as “pretty innocuous” and something that doesn’t typically reach “the level of intensive use,” as far as impacts on the neighborhood are concerned. However, since November of 2007, Cronan has filed multiple complaints with the city regarding traffic, noise and other
Both sides report feeling harassed in rift over home business. shot in three of her home’s windows. Cronan, who lives on the 200 block of Flower Meadows Street in Port Orchard, said she believed the attack was part of an ongoing dispute with Keehn, whom she alleges has been running a hair salon out of her home without a business license and in defiance of a city “stop-work” order. Keehn, 30, said she filed for permission from the city of Port Orchard to operate a hair salon out of her home on the 2300 block of Flower Avenue soon after pur-
SEE SCHOOL, PAGE A2
activities she reported as stemming from Keehn’s attempts to operate a business out of her home. Weaver said following an April 11 hearing with the city’s Hearing Examiner, certain conditions were placed on Keehn’s permit to mitigate Cronan’s concerns before she would be allowed to operate her business. “(Keehn) has addressed all but one of those conditions, with the last being the letter from the (Kitsap County) Health Department,” Weaver said, explaining that Keehn’s current sewer facilities are
SEE NEIGHBORS, PAGE A2
South Kitsap’s Source for News & Information Since 1890
By CHARLIE BERMANT
Staff Writer
Sparkling cider christened the new Southworth Drive Bridge
Neighbor denies pellet gun shooting
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By JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN
Staff Writer
Tensions between two Port Orchard neighbors that erupted after one attempted to open a home business last year led both women to head down to the Kitsap County Courthouse Monday and file restraining orders against each other. Shelia Cronan, 49, said she filed a restraining order against Amber Keehn after returning home from a camping trip Aug. 17 and discovering pellets had been
SEE BRIDGE, PAGE A8
Staff Writer
Expectations were turned on their head in two Kitsap County political contests during Tuesday night’s primary election, as the perceived front-runners came in third and were disqualified in their respective races. Republican Tim Matthes drew the most votes in the South Kitsap commissioner’s race, followed by Democrat Charlotte Garrido. Monty Mahan, who was the first to declare for the seat and earned the endorsement of local mayors, came in third (See related story, page A3).
By Brett Cihon
▼ Matthes, Garrido advance in SK commissioner race; Dalton, Danielson in judicial contest.
South Park Rexall will try to compete with ‘big box’ dealers
SPANNING THE AGES
Inside this edition
Brett Cihon / Staff Photos
Small liquor retailers fret about future
Cody Wright from Milford, Utah, got a mouth full of mud and a zero score after falling off Strawberry Delight in the Saddle Bronc Riding competition Wednesday night at the Kitsap County Stampede. The fair runs through Sunday.
Port Orchard
SOUTH KITSAP’S SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION SINCE 1890
SEE LIQUOR, PAGE A8
ribbon cutting ceremony led by Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido drew more than a hundred area residents to the opening of the new Curly Creek bridge. A fifth-grade class from South Colby Elementary School was the first group to cross the new span following speeches from Garrido, Kitsap County construction manager Jacques Dean and others that sung praises of the bridge. “The weather is perfect, we’re here with friends and neighbors,” Garrido said. “Neighbors who told me how delighted they were to watch the new bridge progress.” After the school kids, antique Ford Model-T’s and other cars streamed over the bridge. Revelers moved to the beat of the Clam Island old-time band. The new bridge was quite an update from the old bridge, said South Colby resident Per Johnsen. “The old bridge wasn’t very friendly for walkers and pedestrians,” said Johnsen, who has lived in South Colby for the past 20 years. “I like the bump outs. You can stop, lean over and look at the creek.” Replacing the prior bridge, built in 1929, not only included the addition of an extra sidewalk and a bike lane, but also improved safety features, said bridge project manager Ed Smith. Wider traffic lanes and longer sight distances would mean safer crossings for drivers and pedestrians he said. “It’s improved all around,” said Smith. “It turned out very nice. It looks better than you would have anticipated.” Johnsen agreed. “This one is much nicer,” he said. Construction crews also widened the channel under the new bridge in an effort to improve Curly Creek’s environment. The bridge’s span increased from 26 feet to about 44 feet, increasing the flow area and giving more room for the salmon that have returned to the creek for centuries. Along with environmental and pedestrian issues, the old bridge’s structural integrity was a problem,
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Staff Writer
A vintage Ford (above) carrying Russell Neyman of the Yukon Harbor Historical Society (left front) and others crosses the newly christened Colby Creek Bridge. The bridge (at top, left) is officially opened by Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido (at top, right) and South Colby Elementary School 5th graders March 8.
Not far off Mile Hill Drive sits a large, independent pharmacy that harkens to the past. The Paskett family has owned the South Park Rexall Pharmacy 8,400-square-foot pharmacy since 1968. Ken Paskett, 71, said unlike chain pharmacies and drugstores that one would find in a big-box grocery store, South Park Rexall maintains an old-time, neighborhood feel long gone from the area. “There are very few – if any – independent drugstores left like this,” Ken Paskett said. “I still have the very first customer that came in here in 1968.” Along with being one of the last independent drugstores, Rexall Pharmacy is also one of a lonely breed of contract liquor stores; stores that are independently licensed by the state to sell booze on a consignment basis. Out of the State of Washington’s 328 liquor stores, about 170 of those stores are contract run. “Contract stores are typically in smaller towns that wouldn’t support a full, state-run store,” Ken Paskett said. “A lot of small towns in Eastern Washington have them.” Out of the eight liquor stores in Kitsap County, only two, including Rexall, are run on contract. But though the South Park Rexall Pharmacy has sold booze for more than three decades, it might disappear. The mom-and-pop pharmacy that serves as a contract liquor store is worried their back corner shelves, stocked with everything from Old Crow to Drambuie, might go dry. “The last two customers I’ve helped have asked us if we’re going to still sell spirits,” said Jeff Paskett,
By BRETT CIHON
VET SERVICES WOLVES BASEBALL