Failed opportunities cost goals
Find out who is the best in South Kitsap
A4 A4 A5 A6 A7 A7 A8
Page A11
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, September 21, 2012 n Vol. 121, No. 37 n www.portorchardindependent.com n 50¢
Pioneer Families honored by historical society
Jesse Beals/Staff Photo
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-
By KEVAN MOORE Senior reporter
6QTFUT UIF PSEFS PG UIF EBZ EVSJOH QSJNBSZ FMFDUJPO
CHARLOTTE GARRIDO
BRUCE DANIELSON
Charles Edwin Greaves (1867–1944), came to Seattle in 1889, just after the great fire. He found living quarters for his family, a wife Edith McCurdy (b. 1870), and two small children, William (b. 1888) and Edith, who followed from Lowell, Massachusetts a few months later. In 1890, he took up a homestead close to the headwaters of the Little Beef Creek. Because the homestead was quite a distance from any settlement and the only means of travel was by horseback, Greaves decided to move his family back to Seattle where he worked for the Old Rainier Brewery. In 1892-93, he managed a large Brigger
%&$*4*0/
TIM MATTHES
JEANETTE DALTON
Central Kitsap
farm on the Stillaguamish River near Stanwood. While there, his third child, a daughter Laurance (Laurie) was born. In 1894, Greaves purchased 40 acres of land in Silverdale for $500, where the Kitsap Mall now is located. He later added 10 more acres. Charles cleared the land and built a family home. In 1896, Mr. Greaves joined the gold rush to Alaska. He made two trips there in the next four years while his family remained in Silverdale. In Alaska, he drove a dog sled carrying mail from Dawson Creek to Whitehorse for the Canadian Government. A grandson, L.C. Greaves, lived on a portion of the property until 1984, eventually selling out to the developer of the mall.
▼ 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).
she said. “They let me scan photos, talked and shared anecdotes, provided news clippings — there’s a ton of ways of getting information.” Hunt’s grandparents on her mother’s side came to Bremerton from England in 1919. She said she grew up in South Kitsap talking about history around the dinner table. “I come from a whole family of history lovers,” she said. Hunt said that area residents, especially in light of things such as the Heritage Awards, continue to be appreciative of the historical society’s many efforts. “They seem to all be happy that we’re not just letting local history die and are tickled that we continue to work on it and educate people,” she said. The following brief vignettes of the Central Kitsap, Bremerton and South Kitsap pioneers that led to this year’s award winners are culled directly from Hunt’s extensive research:
SEE UPSETS, PAGE A2
4DIPPM EJTUSJDU MPPLT UP CBMBODF JUT CPPLT
Custodians won’t be replaced, $1.72 million will be taken from reserve fund.
Courtesy Photos
Historical Gorst photos include a Yukon mining camp where members of the family worked, a portrait of John Gorst and his family and the home they lived in.
▼
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
Five different families with deep local roots will be honored this week at the Second Annual Kitsap Heritage Banquet hosted by the Kitsap County Historical Society and Museum. The families being honored this year are the William DeShaw Family from Bainbridge Island, the Norum/ Sommerseth/Langer Family from North Kitsap, the Charles E. and Edith Greaves Family from Central Kitsap, the John Gorst/Charles Ainsworth Family from South Kitsap and the James H. and Annie L. Lent Family from Bremerton. “Every little corner of every little area of the county has its own wonderful history,” said Anita Williams, a longtime historical society member. Williams said that the heritage banquet is fast becoming a wonderful way to celebrate that history through living connections. “It will become our signature event because it fits so well with what we’re all about: preserving history, whether that’s through oral history, documents or artifacts,” she said. “We’re very interested in preserving those things because it’s important. As people listen to these stories about families that have been here for 100 years, it’s emotional. There is some laughter and there are some tears.” Claudia Hunt, another longtime historical society member and current board member, did almost all of the legwork to gather information about each of the families being honored at this year’s banquet. “I went out and met with at least one representative from all of the families,”
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
SOUTH KITSAP’S SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION SINCE 1890
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.
Wolves Loose 1-0
Look Inside
Bremerton
James Hanford Lent (1851–1925) and Annie Lyon (1854–1918) of Nova Scotia, had seven children. In 1909, they came to Bremerton, following four of their sons. Since then, four generations have participated in the family plumbing business and served the community in various ways: state legislator, chamber of commerce, fire chief, Elks, Charleston City Councilman, Bremerton mayor and many other organizations of benefit to the community. Shippy Brinton Lent, after serving with the Marines in Peking during and after the Boxer Rebellion, was discharged in Bremerton in 1904. He decided to stay here and persuaded the others to join him. Shippy married Margaret Maud Allgood, in Bremerton, in 1905. They had one daughter, Anna Mabel. After helping Lou start the family plumbing busiSee Pioneer Families, A7
Port Orchard loses federal lawsuit with media company Mayor says appeal remains uncertain By William Lewis Reporter
The City of Port Orchard lost in a recent federal court case involving a media billboard company, Engley Diversified Inc.
The company applied in April 2010 for permits to place commercial billboards within Port Orchard city limits at commercial properties along Sedgwick Road, Mile Hill Drive and Highway 16. The city denied the permits that month. When the city’s hearing examiner affirmed the denial of the permits that November, Engley Diversified Inc. filed an appeal against the permit denial the
following month. On March 22, 2011, the Port Orchard City Council dismissed Engley Diversified Inc.’s appeal as untimely, according to United States District Court documents. Engley’s attorney, William John Crittenden, said that after the city council dismissed the appeal, the United States District Court ruled the appeal was timely and ordered the council members to make a decision
on the appeal in July 2011. That’s when things got a little complicated. The City of Port Orchard originally denied Engley Diversified Inc.’s billboard permits based upon an interpretation of the Port Orchard Municipal Code that the billboards Engley Diversified Inc. wanted to place within the city were “off premises” signs and that all such signs were “not allowed.”
South Kitsap’s Source for News & Information Since 1890
When the United States District Court ordered the Port Orchard City Council to make a decision on Engley Diversified Inc.’s appeal, the council members, in September 2011, then reversed the hearing examiner’s ruling that the signs were prohibited, but stated that the company’s application for the permit to place the signs within the See Lawsuit, A7