Port Orchard Independent, March 30, 2012

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FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2012 n Vol. 121, No. 13 n www.portorchardindependent.com n 50¢

Jesse Beals/Staff Photo

Exchange students explore SK ▼

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▼ Matthes, Garrido advance in SK commissioner race; Dalton, Danielson in judicial contest.

By CHARLIE BERMANT 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). SEE UPSETS, PAGE A2

BRUCE DANIELSON

CHARLOTTE GARRIDO

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TIM MATTHES

JEANETTE DALTON

4DIPPM EJTUSJDU MPPLT UP CBMBODF JUT CPPLT Custodians won’t be replaced, $1.72 million will be taken from reserve fund.

By CHRIS CHANCELLOR

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 SEE SCHOOL, PAGE A2

South Kitsap’s Source for News & Information Since 1890

Staff Writer 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

SEE Exchange Students, PAGE A8

SEE PO Farmers, PAGE A8

Inside

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County Budget Toll Increases Gardener Joe Opinion Robert Meadows Sports

“They are just as bubbly and eager to learn as elementary kids here,” she said. “Their minds are like sponges.” Along with shadowing a student at Sidney Glen and getting a tour of city hall, there are other activities planned for around Port Orchard. They will participate in a scavenger hunt at the downtown library. They will take a ferry ride and tour Manchester State Park.

Forming a bond can be tricky at first. Aukland normally deals with high school students. Aukland said bringing a group of elementary children away from their homes to a foreign place can sometimes be a bit of a shock. But though the young students undergo challenges such as language barriers and having a hard time adjusting when they first arrive, their age makes for opportunities Aukland doesn’t always see.

Each Japanese student is the sole exchange student in their class, said Erin Aukland, the academic coordinator for Cultural Homestay International, the nonprofit group that organized the exchange. This gives the exchange students the opportunity to bond more closely with their American counterparts. “They all attend different classes and stay at different houses,” Aukland said. “They have to form a closer connection that way.”

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. By JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN

Staff Writer

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-

“It’s the second day for us. We need to get settled a bit more. But the students are enjoying themselves.” – Sugako Akiyma

Brett Cihon/staff photo

By Brett Cihon

They passed through the back seat of a cop car like hardened criminals. They sat in council chamber chairs like thoughtful politicians. They watched a police taser demonstration like … well, like giddy 10-year-olds watching a taser demonstration. Ten cultural home-stay students from Japan toured Port Orchard City Hall on Monday afternoon, bringing bright smiles and a barrage of question to the normally quiet city headquarters.

Port Orchard Police Officer Donna Main (at top) watches as 12-year-old Ryoka Sato tours a police cruiser. The exchange students will be in Port Orchard through Monday.

Food bank accused of undercutting vendor prices

Neighbor denies pellet gun shooting

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.

Independent 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

Local families host Japanese Students

Inside

A Section Editorial Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Legal Notices Mary Colborn Obituaries

Tibbs and Simpson go against Gelder and Garrido

The South Kitsap Helpline will once again be forced to view the Port Orchard Farmers Market from the outside looking in. In a 5-4 vote on March 15, farmers market members denied an appeal by the nonprofit Helpline to maintain a booth at the market. The denial marks the second time Helpline, a food bank, has had trouble operating as a vendor of veggie starts and flowers at the market. Helpline’s Executive Director Jennifer Hardison said a Helpline booth “faded away” after low prices spurred resentment among other market vendors in 2010. “Other vendors thought we were undercutting prices,” she said. Hardison had hoped a market spot in 2012 could boost sagging sales at the Port Orchard Nursery. Helpline bought the Mitchell Avenue nursery in 2010 to operate as a for-profit business that could offset operating expenses of the nonprofit food bank.

The tour was just one stop for the students from the Yellow Hippo English Language School in the Ibaraki Prefecture of Japan. Arriving in Port Orchard on Sunday, the students have nine days of events scheduled before heading home. “It’s the second day for us,” said Sugako Akiyma, the student’s English teacher from Japan. “We need to get settled a bit more. But the students are enjoying themselves.” Ranging in ages from 9 to 14, each exchange student is staying with a family of a Sidney Glen Elementary School student. Throughout the week, except for Wednesday, each student shadowed a Sidney Glen student— following them to class, reading their books and trying their hand at American homework.

Port Orchard

SOUTH KITSAP’S SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION SINCE 1890

Staff Writer

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New arcade classic games Wolves Win 2-0

PO Farmers Market says no to nonprofit By Brett Cihon

Old School Soccer County Race


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