Patriot Bremerton
FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2012 | Vol. 14, No. 11 www.bremertonpatriot.com | 50¢
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PAYDAY DADDY ROCKS IN PORT ORCHARD PORT ORCHARD — Kitsap County’s classic-rockers Payday Daddy perform April 7, 8 p.m. to midnight, at the High Tide Tavern, 1371 Bay St., Port Orchard. Payday Daddy is Lesa McCabe, bass and vocals; Kent McCabe, guitar and vocals; Richard Arriola, lead guitar; and Michael Craig, drums. Payday Daddy has a big weekend. The day after the High Tide gig, they play the 7 Cedars Casino. You can catch Payday Daddy next April 21, 9 p.m. to midnight, at Brother Don’s, 4200 Kitsap Way, Bremerton.
Power of the Powwow
Children share the spotlight at cultural event — Story and photos, pages 2-3
SMALL TOWN GETS SOME ATTENTION BREMERTON — Holly, the small idyllic community located on the eastern shore of Hood Canal, will be the subject of a presentation at the Kitsap County Historical Museum, April 6 at 6:30 p.m. The program is free. The museum is located at 280 4th St. in Bremerton. Holly is located at the end of Seabeck-Holly Road. It has views of Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains. With an average of 68 inches of rain a year, it is the greenest corner of the Kitsap Peninsula. Holly received its name from the holly trees brought to the area by early settler Robert Wyatt in 1891. The community was once served by the Mosquito Fleet and has been the site of various enterprises, including fishing, shrimping, and logging.
Kitsap Week P.O. rockers, small town attention and children share the spotlight
A section of the Bainbridge Island Review | Bremerton Patriot | Central Kitsap Reporter | North Kitsap Herald | Port Orchard Independent
City scaling back on murder investigations
With hundreds of leads and no reported investigative gains, police back off on investigation over expenses by KATE WHITTLE kwhittle@bremertonpatriot.com
Kristin Okinaka/staff photo
Teens hang out at Coffee Oasis in Bremerton last Thursday evening. Construction on site for a homeless teen shelter began last week and the goal is for the shelter to be up and running by the end of the summer.
Construction for homeless teen shelter begins Coffee Oasis, a safe place for many teens By KRISTIN OKINAKA kokinaka@soundpublishing.com
After dropping out of high school, failing to complete his GED in Job Corps and getting kicked out of the Washington Youth Academy, Fellow Johnson realized he needed to change his ways. The 22-year-old currently pays rent for a Bremerton house with other roommates through state Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income. He’s been homeless in the past, and doesn’t want to head back in that direction. In addition to his academic fall-outs, Johnson used to drink alcohol excessively, smoked marijuana and abused oxycontin. Now, he goes to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and says he no
longer uses drugs. “All of it got into my head. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that anymore,’” Johnson said last Thursday evening at Coffee Oasis in Bremerton. Coffee Oasis, located on Burwell Street, serves commuters’ coffee and is also a center for homeless teens and young adults. With many programs set up for teens and young adults between the age of 13 and 25, including case management, job training and mentoring, soon a teen shelter will be added to its bevy of services available for Kitsap’s young homeless. Construction on the eight-bed shelter, on the second floor above the coffee shop, began last Wednesday, said Dave Frederick, of Coffee Oasis. Frederick anticipates construction will be about a three-month process and for the shelter to be ready for use by the end of the summer. “The goal is July, [or] August to be up
and running,” he said. The homeless teen shelter will be the first in Kitsap County to cater toward a younger crowd. Frederick said he is discussing with a nearby church to have Coffee Oasis’ youth drop-in sessions be relocated during the time of construction. The job training and case management will continue onsite since Coffee Oasis recently started leasing the building behind the coffee shop on Fourth Street. The shelter’s construction is estimated to cost $600,000, of which $400,000 was fundraised with the help of the community. Frederick said the rest of the money will likely be made up through donated labor. Johnson, who has been visiting Coffee Oasis since last summer, only recently started meeting with a case manager. He said the staff cannot force anyone to See HOMELESS, A7
In the two months since a woman died in a third unsolved stabbing, the Bremerton P o l i c e Depa r t ment has spent about $70,000 on a ramped-up investigation that sought to connect two murders and a victim that survived. Now, facing budget const r a i nt s , spending and overtime hours is slowing, but police say the case remains the priority for the department. During a February Union Hill neighborhood meeting that drew more than 150 residents, Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent promised to throw all available resources at the search – which translated to about $1,250 per day. The bulk of the cost, $68,000, is overtime pay and benefits for officers and the remainder for office, travel and miscellaneous expenses, according to Bremerton City Financial Services Director Becky Hasart. Lent said on March 29 that police spending had reached a $100,000 cap. “What I said to the chief was, when you reach $100,000, [the finance department] needs to know and we See need to prioritize HOMELESS, A8
funding so our citizens feel safe,” she said. From the city finance department’s point of view, Hasart said that Lent’s statement is not accurate. Investigation is ongoing and doesn’t have a cap on the cost. “We’re going to do what we need to do,” Hasart said. Bremerton Chief of Police Craig Rogers said the mayor had told him about the $100,000 limit, but they hadn’t reached that mark and overtime has scaled down in the last few weeks. “We were working around the clock with following leads from tip lines,” he said. The FBI, Port Orchard Police Department and Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office also provided officers to assist, and they’ll be called in again as needed, Rogers said. Four full-time Bremerton detectives are still assigned to the case, Rogers said, and it remains “priority one” for the department. In May 2011, Sara Burke, 19, was stabbed and killed while walking on Warren Avenue, and a few weeks later in June 2011, Kenny Cobb, 51, survived a stabSee INVESTIGATIONS, A7