Patriot Bremerton
It’s a draw The Pumas get fifth tie of the year against Portland squad Page 7
FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 | Vol. 16, No. 20 www.bremertonpatriot.com | 50¢
Pacific restoration project underway By KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
Work got underway Tuesday, a full week ahead of schedule, on the Pacific Avenue Restoration Project in downtown Bremerton. The city council, having already decided not to include the installation of four electric vehicle charging stations across from the post office in the scope of work, was set to weigh in Wednesday night on whether or not to install underground conduits for future stations. “The decision has been reduced down to whether or not to put conduit in
the ground or not,” City Council President Greg Wheeler said ahead of the meeting. I don’t have a real sense of where our council leans on that. “I also don’t know if our council ever intends on installing charging stations in that area, so to put conduit in the ground without ever intending to install stations doesn’t make sense.” The biggest concern about the charging stations had to do with their proposed placement near the busy post office. Another concern was the inadequacy of the technology utiSee Pacific, A13
Navy Region Northwest gets a new commander Navy Region Northwest held a change of command ceremony on Naval Base Kitsap at the Bremerton Gymnasium June 14. Rear Adm. Mark Rich was relieved by Rear Adm. (select) Bette Bolivar. “Mark placed his priorities in taking care of people,” said guest speaker Vice Adm. William French, commander, Navy Installations Command. “Mark Rich and the Navy Northwest team did this
It’s a toss-up
and did it well.” Rich was recognized for several accomplishments during his tour, including managing an annual budget of more than $470 million during fiscally challenging times; leading environmental stewardship projects that resulted in improved resource management and multiple national awards; and in actively engaging See Navy, A13
Kevan Moore/staff photo
Some 292 Bremerton High School students toss their caps into the air during the school’s 35th commencement ceremony. This year’s class had the highest graduation rate in the school’s history.
Turning the tassel on 2013 By WES MORROW and KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
More than 1,000 students from Silverdale and Bremerton high schools walked in graduation ceremonies at the Kitsap Fairgrounds and Bremerton’s Memorial Stadium this past weekend. While graduation ceremonies usually follow a relatively standard process, each school and each graduating class added its own personality and its own quirks. Here are highlights from each of the four ceremonies:
Klahowya Secondary
Contributed Photo
Vice Adm. William French, commander, Navy Installations Command, awards Rear Adm. Mark Rich with the Legion of Merit during a change of command ceremony last week.
Some 169 students from Klahowya showed up at the Kitsap Fairgrounds for the class of 2013’s commencement ceremony. Though small in numbers compared to Central Kitsap and Olympic high schools,
Klahowya’s graduating class is filled with high-achieving students. Students from Klahowya’s graduating class received $3,562,743 in scholarship offers. Seniors at Klahowya, who gathered in the Kitsap Fairgrounds Pavilion on Thursday, were the first from the Central Kitsap School District to graduate. Class salutatorian Alyson Kreifels gave a stirring speech toward the beginning of the ceremony. Partway through her speech she paused and asked the sign language interpreter if she might sign a portion of the speech herself. During that portion she thanked several hearingimpaired students in the crowd. Valedictorian Sally Fletcher gave a speech of her own, drawing laugh after laugh from the graduates and audience. Fletcher
talked about what it was like having her mother work in the counseling office at school. One time, she said, her mother approached her and said she needed to talk to her about some problems she was having at school. That problem, it turned out, was cutting in the pizza line. So Fletcher told graduates — remember the lessons of Klahowya, don’t cut in the pizza line of life.
Olympic High School Olympic High School’s commencement ceremony featured 298 graduates at the Fairgrounds Pavilion just across the street from the school’s campus. Principal Bob Barnes, who announced his retirement at the close of this school year, spoke at the opening of the ceremony. For Barnes, as well as the class of 2013, this was his
final year at Olympic High School. Unlike the graduates, however, Barnes has been with Olympic for more than a decade, and with the Central Kitsap School District for more than 30 years. During her speech, Associated Student Body President Chloe Kent congratulated Barnes on his retirement and thanked him for his service. On a less serious note, Kent told her fellow graduates that “besides learning how to use a toilet,” commencement was the first real achievement in their lives. To close she addressed graduates with a lyric from a song by the rapper Drake: “You da, you da best.” Perhaps the highlight of the night, however, was when Olympic Vice See Grad, A13
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