Patriot Bremerton
NO FERRY FAIRY? Mayor Lent joins the governor for keel laying of new car ferry Page 15
FRIDAY, march 15, 2013 | Vol. 16, No. 6 www.bremertonpatriot.com | 50¢
Hundreds turn out to weigh in on pot rules By KEVAN MOORE
kmoore@soundpublishing.com
Several hundred people poured into the Kitsap Conference last Thursday for a Liquor Control Board hearing on licensing and regulating marijuana production, distribution and possession. The Bremerton forum was the eighth and final public hearing hosted by the board. As of Dec. 6 of last year, it is no longer illegal under Washington state law for adults 21 and over to possess an ounce of marijuana. The board has been working since voters approved I-502 by 56 percent in November to come up with a three-tier system, similar to the one used for alcohol, to tax and regulate growers, sellers and buyers in a “green market” that could bring billions of dollars to state coffers. Pat Kohler, the liquor board’s executive director, drew comparisons between getting the state out of the liquor sales business when privatization “shut down a billion
dollar business in six months” and navigating the uncharted territory of getting into the business of licensing and regulating marijuana in one year’s time. “This law actually gives us a little bit of room but is challenging and hasn’t been done anywhere in the world,” Kohler said. In a brief presentation prior to comments from the public, Kohler said the board will begin accepting license applications from growers in June. Those licenses will be awarded about a month later. Then, in September, the state will begin accepting processor and retailer applications. The retail licenses take effect Dec. 1 when the state’s Green Market goes live. Liquor Control Board Chair Sharon Foster reminded those in attendance that the board cannot change the new law, though, including what have emerged as an unpopular five nanogram marijuana blood limit that could result See POT, A13
Kevan Moore/Staff Photo
Bremerton residents Tim and Karen Elton were among hundreds of people to attend a Liquor Control Board hearing on marijuana regulation at the Kitsap Conference Center last week.
Firefighters help fight cancer Port says oui to CEO’s Paris trip
By KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
Dozens of local firefighters, including six from Bremerton and seven from Central Kitsap, were among 1,473 participants from all over the world in last Sunday’s Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 22nd Annual Scott Firefighter Stair Climb in Seattle. Bremerton firefighter Brian Marceau led the local pack, climbing 69 flights of stairs — that’s 788 feet of vertical elevation and 1,311 steps while wearing 50 pounds of bunker gear — in 16 minutes and 31 seconds. Apparently his heartbeat was racing faster than his feet because it was measured at 191 beats per minute shortly after he crossed the finish line. “I was dying,” he joked later. “That was my eighth time and that was the worst I’ve ever felt at the top. I was completely spent. Every year it gets tougher and tougher.” Kevin Bonsell, who works on the same Bremerton crew as Marceau, agrees. “It feels like every part of your cardiovascular system is going to collapse,” he said. “Everything hurts. Your lungs can’t get enough air and your heart feels like it is going to jump out of your chest.” Sunday’s event marked Bonsell’s third climb and he finished in 17 minutes and
By Leslie Kelly
lkelly@soundpublishing.com
Kevan Moore/Staff Photo
Bremerton firefighter Brian Marceau gets some help removing his bunker gear after climbing 69 flights of stairs in 16 minutes and 31 seconds on Sunday. 45 seconds. The pain and fatigue, though, is temporary and worthwhile considering the cause. “Every flight they have pictures of kids and adults who have battled leukemia, so that’s a big encouragement,” Bosnell said. “What we’re going through — 17 minutes going through some pain to get to the top — is nothing compared to what those individuals have gone through in
their fight.” For one Bremerton firefighter, that sentiment rings especially true. Rob Smith’s son Hunter was diagnosed with leukemia in 2008 when he was just two and a half years old. After three years of treatment at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, Hunter finished treatment cancer free in January See CLIMB, A13
After a restructuring and downsizing move last month that eliminated five jobs at the Port of Bremerton, port commissioners have decided to send the port’s CEO to the Paris Air Show in June. In an agreement reached at the port meeting this week, CEO Tim Thomson was given to go-ahead to attend the air show on June 17-23 at an estimated cost of $5,600. Thomson will attend with John Powers. Together the two co-chair the Kitsap Aerospace and Defense Alliance (KADA), which is a public-private consortium aimed at bringing aerospace business to the port’s properties and Kitsap County. Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Larry Stokes said he had had conversations with Thomson
about attending the show at the request of Powers. He said while Thomson told him he thought he shouldn’t because of the current belttightening taking place in the port’s operations, Stokes wanted Thomson to attend. “I feel he needs to sell our airport,” Stokes said. “He needs to go there and show our stuff.” Commissioner Roger Zabinski agreed. “It’s an investment that I would support,” he said. Commissioner Axel Strakeljohn said he thought it was an important part of doing business, even in lean times. “I respect your (Thomson) position and I support this,” he said. “We would be remiss not to continue to market the port properties abroad. But this needs to be See PORT, A13