Port Orchard Independent, July 06, 2012

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Jason Hammel of SK

Runaway car caused by a sandal

An all-star-caliber season with Balitmore

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Both sides report feeling harassed in rift over home business.

Neighbor denies pellet gun shooting

By JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN

Staff Writer

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

Port Orchard

FRIDAY, July 6 2012 n Vol. 121, No. 27 n www.portorchardindependent.com n 50¢

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-

LaRose leaving South Kitsap School District for California By CHRIS CHANCELLOR

By Brett Cihon Reporter

Local business owner Don Ryan is fairly certain that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will hurt small business. “As a small business owner I’m not in favor of it,” he said. But the owner of the MoonDogs, Too restaurant, Darryl Baldwin, takes a

different stance on the 2010 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was last week affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. “There are little quirks that need to be tweaked,” Baldwin said. “But by having everybody buy insurance, it will hopefully lower the cost to all.” Ryan and Baldwin are just two Port Orchard business owners struggling

to make sense of what the changes in healthcare law, colloquially known as Obamacare, will mean to their small businesses following the court decision. And though both agree they won’t know until all provisions of the law are in place, already business owners seem as split on the law as politicians from both sides of the aisle. “Everybody has a different perspec-

tive,” Baldwin said. Coreen Haydock, the executive director of the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber rarely takes an official stance on political and legal matters. The same has held true for the passing of the healthcare legislation, she said. “There is quite a range of opinions See Health Care Law, A5

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CHARLOTTE GARRIDO

Local business owners and politicians split after court decision on healthcare law

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Suess’ birthday each year. LaRose also would stop at places, such as the Southworth Ferry Terminal, to discuss schools with SKSD parents and community members. One of his favorite topics centered around the district’s “Whole Child” concept, which aimed to make each student feel safe, healthy, cared for and supported, engaged and connected, and challenged. In 2009, LaRose received the Washington State Whole Child Award for his approach to meeting the needs of all students. “You can have the best textbooks,” LaRose told the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce in April 2010. “But if you’re in an environment where children don’t feel cared for or loved, it doesn’t matter.” He was named the Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce’s Man of 2012, which is selected by past recipients. Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce president Coreen Haydock called LaRose’s departure “a great loss for the community.” “He definitely worked at pulling the community into the school district fabric,” she said. “He’s a great visionary.” Now the school board will begin the process of finding an TIM MATTHES

BRUCE DANIELSON

nationwide search. “Dave has shown he’s a leader who can inspire us to achieve a new level of success,” SKSD board member Patty Henderson said at the time. Simpson said she felt LaRose accomplished that. “He’s done a great job of reframing the conversation,” she said. “He’s gotten staff more focused on the work we’re supposed to be most engaged with student achievement.” He frequented local schools, where he would show up for anything ranging from a highschool football game to one of the district’s 10 elementary schools where he would don a Cat in the Hat costume on Dr.

interim superintendent for the upcoming school year. Simpson said the board faces some challenges because the logical candidate for that position, deputy superintendent Kurt Wagner, died in April. “Because of Kurt’s passing, we likely will look externally,” she said. “If an internal candidate would like to apply, they certainly are welcome and will be considered.” Simpson said the school board plans to hire a search committee with the goal of hiring an interim superintendent by Aug. 15. She said they hope to have LaRose’s successor identified by next April with a start date of July 1. LaRose said the decision to leave was not made lightly. He and his family moved to the area when Mindi became concerned about changes she was seeing in her native Arizona. LaRose typed “Where should we live?” into a search engine, and findyourspot. com offered a comprehensive test on personal interests. When the site suggested the family would fit best in Olympia, LaRose began to search for jobs in the region. He found one in 2004 at Orchard Heights, and the family moved to the Key Peninsula. LaRose said leaving won’t be easy. “I am heavy-hearted because this is a great community,” he said. “It’s been an incredible blessing to work in that environment and to be welcomed and treated with kindness.”

▼ 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).

Dave LaRose will leave the South Kitsap School District at the end of July to become Culver City Unified School District’s superintendent. LaRose has served as SKSD’s superintendent since 2008.

JEANETTE DALTON

with his family from Gilbert, Ariz. He was director of community schools there and guided before- and after-school programs, as well. LaRose also has been a teacher, middle school assistant principal and an assistant superintendent. Before that, he earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vt., and a master’s degree in education from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. School-board members were impressed enough with his experience to appoint LaRose on June 4, 2008, as the district’s next superintendent in lieu of a

SEE UPSETS, PAGE A2

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Custodians won’t be replaced, $1.72 million will be taken from reserve fund.

By CHRIS CHANCELLOR

Staff Writer

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

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

His office was replete with Disney paraphernalia. Now Dave LaRose soon will be closer to his favorite theme park. South Kitsap School District’s superintendent announced Friday that he will leave his position July 31. LaRose, 46, will become the superintendent of the Culver City Unified School District, which is about 35 miles from the theme park where he used to take his wife, Mindi, and two daughters. He said family was the impetus behind his move to Southern California. His oldest daughter, 22-year-old Lyndsi, recently graduated from UCLA. She plans to settle in that area, which LaRose said is about 15 minutes from where he will live. The LaRoses youngest daughter, Madison, who recently graduated from Peninsula High School, decided in March that she would pursue a nursing degree at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. LaRose said she will be about a six-hour drive from the family’s new home. “When Madison chose the pathway of nursing, we had conversations around those next steps,” he said. “As my wife and I enter a new chapter with our children, we want to and need to be closer to them, to be able to see them and support them

as they transition into young adults.” LaRose, who succeeded Bev Cheney as the district’s superintendent in 2008, said that could not have been accomplished effectively by remaining in SKSD. He said his work schedule would have limited his ability to fly to see his daughters. “That works, but it’s just not the same,” said LaRose, referring to long-distance flights. “Anyone who knows me knows how much my family means to me.” LaRose’s new school district features about 6,500 students, which is more than 3,000 fewer than his current job. But SKSD board president Kathryn Simpson said speculation that LaRose is leaving for anything other than family reasons is untrue. “There is some speculation that Dave wasn’t invited back,” she said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. “This was a decision by Dave and his family. This is not a decision by the South Kitsap School District board of directors that we no longer want Dave as superintendent. I would love for him to stay.” LaRose served as the district’s superintendent for school and family support for two years before he replaced the retiring Cheney. He became the principal in 2004 at Orchard Heights Elementary School after moving

File Photo

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

Senior Reporter

Jesse Beals/Staff Photo

Superintendent headed for Culver City Unified School District 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

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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.

Inside

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

Inserts: Fred Meyer, RiteAid, Office Depot, Best Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, Valassis

Printed with recycled paper and environmentally friendly soybean oil-based ink.

Crash at Custom Hearth

Inside this edition Lodging Tax...............A3 Briefs...........................A4 Opinion.....................A6 Sports.........................A9 Legals ......................A10


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