Fiddler in the Woods
Doing better then last year
New football coach Page A4
Independent FRIDAY, May 25, 2012 n Vol. 121, No. 21 n www.portorchardindependent.com n 50¢
Jesse Beals/Staff Photo
Former mayor Coppola joins race for county commissioner
Inside A4 A4 A5 A6 A7 A7 A8
Printed with recycled paper and environmentally friendly soybean oil-based ink.
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A Section Editorial Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Legal Notices Mary Colborn Obituaries
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▼ Matthes, Garrido advance in SK commissioner race; Dalton, Danielson in judicial contest.
By CHARLIE BERMANT
BRUCE DANIELSON
CHARLOTTE GARRIDO
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TIM MATTHES
JEANETTE DALTON
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
Staff Writer
SEE UPSETS, PAGE A2
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SEE SCHOOL, PAGE A2
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
Reporter
See Coppola, A14
Former Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola made an 11th hour decision to again seek elected office. This time, his office would be up the street from his old mayoral chambers.
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).
Reporter
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-
SOUTH KITSAP’S SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION SINCE 1890
Legals ..................................................................................A14
See Trial, A14
By Brett Cihon
Passenger in killer’s truck on trial
By Brett Cihon
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.
Port Orchard
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
Submitted Photo
Harbor Festival ready to rock Trooper Tony Radulescu was shot and killed by Joshua Blake in Gorst Feb. 23. Megan Molletis accused of rendering criminal assistance to Blake.
Coppola, Port Orchard’s Mayor from 2008-12, filed late in the afternoon just before last Friday’s deadline with the Kitsap County Auditor to run for the County Commissioner District 2 seat. Coppola, a Democrat, is one of four people running for the county commissioner seat, which is occupied by Democrat Charlotte Garrido. He will run against Garrido,
Coppola hopes to bring “fiscal experience” to county
See Festival, A14
Inside this edition
Public Market........................................................................A5
Sports...................................................................................A10
Opinion.................................................................................A6
Obits.................................................................................... A12
A scared teen fearing for her life after watching Washington State Trooper Tony Radulescu shot at point blank range; or, the friend of a killer who lied to police in an effort to save the fugitive? It’s the main question that 12 jurors will eventually ask themselves in deciding the fate of 19-year-old Port Orchard resident Megan Mollet. Mollet is charged in Kitsap County Superior Court with rendering criminal assistance in the first degree, a felony, to help Joshua Blake. Mollet was sitting in the passenger seat in
Blake’s pickup truck when he leaned over her to shoot Radulescu Feb. 23 during a traffic stop in Gorst, killing the trooper instantly. According to court documents, Blake ordered Mollet to “roll down the window and turn your head.” Along with the felony charge, Mollet is also accused of lying to police, a gross misdemeanor. She faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a $20,000 fine. An earlier charge of manufacture of methamphetamine was dropped. At the trial’s opening Tuesday, neither Kitsap County Deputy Prosecutor Tim Drury nor Mollet’s defense attor-
ney Jonathon Morrison debated the fact that Mollet witnessed the killing of Radulescu and then later lied to a Kitsap County Sheriff ’s Deputy about knowing Blake. Where the defense and prosecution differed, however, was why she lied to police. “Her lies were under duress,” said Morrison. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time in a nightmare she had no control over.” The prosecution asserted that her lies were a direct attempt to conceal Blake, to help a friend. After the trooper was shot, Blake and Mollet fled to a residence at 3700 Schofield Rd. in Port Orchard. According to the defense attorney, Mollet stumbled out of the car at the residence and proceeded to head
Reporter
Canton joins South Kitsap
Page A9
The Kitsap Harbor Festival will welcome some old staples, and new arrivals, this weekend around Sinclair Inlet. The annual event takes place Saturday and Sunday on the Port Orchard and Bremerton waterfronts. On both sides of the water, the festival will feature vendor booths, farmers markets, beer gardens and live music. The Kitsap
By Brett Cihon
Helpline numbers
Harbor Festival is hosted by the Port of Bremerton. Sharron King, Chair of the Fathoms O’ Fun Board of Directors, a nonprofit organization helping put on the Murder Mystery event at the Harbor Festival, said this year’s Harbor Festival should have some new faces. Quite a few market vendors that have never opened before will be in attendance, she said. The Kitsap Fencing
Witness to murder, woman is accused of rendering criminal assistance to shooter
Page A10
Kitsap Forest Theater