Patriot Bremerton
It’s a BIG one The Kitsap County Fair set to run Aug. 21-25 Pages 9-12
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2013 | Vol. 16, No. 28 www.bremertonpatriot.com | 50¢
Herndon finally Murray visits OC veterans center flips the switch By KEVAN MOORE
kmoore@soundpublishing.com
By Seraine Page spage@soundpublishing.com
Bremerton School District Superintendent Flip Herndon is moving to the Seattle Public Schools district before the new school year gets underway. On Monday, the Seattle Public Schools Superintendent José Banda announced that Herndon would be joining the staff by the end of August as the Assistant Superintendent, Capital, Facilities and Enrollment Planning. Herndon said he was told on Aug. 8 that he was selected for the position. “I took the weekend to think about the offer and accepted over the weekend after speaking with my family,” he said of making a final decision. Herndon’s new district is “roughly 10 times the size” of the Bremerton School District, he said. According to a Bremerton School District press release, “Dr. Herndon reported to
staff that his “four years in Bremerton have been extremely fulfilling with t h e complet i o n of the t r a n s ition of We s t Hills into the Flip Herndon STEM Academy for preschool through 8th grade; the addition of a Montessori program; Spanish Immersion moving into the 6th grade at Mountain View (students who have been in the program from its inception); the hiring of an exceptional administrative team; and the highest high school graduation rates that Bremerton has seen in decades, just to name a few. All of this has been the effort of great teamwork with so many exceptional staff and great partnerships throughout the community. “One of Dr. Herndon’s See Seattle Schools, A17
Senator Patty Murray visited Olympic College Bremerton Wednesday morning to discuss her ongoing efforts to help veterans get enrolled in school and find jobs. Murray said her efforts to help veterans get the jobs they need helps “make sure they have more than just a ‘Thank you,’ but a real ability to participate in their communities.” “It wasn’t that long ago that the military really looked at their military members once they walked out the door and put on their civilian clothes as no longer being their problem,” Murray said. “We have really turned that around with the VOW to Hire Heroes Act.” Passed in 2011, the law makes it mandatory for most service members to benefit from Transition Assistance Program (TAP) while returning back to civilian life. Prior to its passage, the average unemployment rate among returning veterans was 12.1 percent
Kevan Moore/Staff Photo
Senator Patty Murray and Richard Tift from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility chat at Olympic College Wednesday morning. and one in four veterans between the ages of 20 and 24 couldn’t find work. Since VOW became law, the unemployment rate for post9/11 veterans is on par with non-veterans. One woman who is benefiting from the new law is Navy veteran and Olympic College student Kathryn Halloran who was part of a roundta-
ble discussion with Sen. Murray in the college’s Veteran and Military Support Center. Halloran started at the college last summer after a nearly 19-year career in the Navy and is studying mechanical engineering and hopes to eventually work at Keyport. “It’s nice to know there are more programs out there for veterans and
they are teaching it through the Transition Assistance Program,” she said. “Knowing how many students there actually are here it’s kind of nice to see it.” The college has about 1,700 veterans enrolled at this time and the veterans center had about 4,000 visits last year. Other members of the See Murray, A17
Flower power spreads from downtown to the boardwalk By KEVAN MOORE kmoore@soundpublishing.com
The boardwalk in Bremerton got a lot more color last week as city crews transported about half of the hanging flower baskets from Pacific Avenue and re-hung them on the waterfront. Bremerton Parks Director Wyn Birkenthal noted that there has long been discussions about getting the popular hanging baskets in more areas of town besides just the downtown core, but expanding the popular program has proven to be cost prohibi-
tive in recent years. His most recent firm figures, from 2008, show that his department spends about $17,000 on the program annually. Birkenthal said that efforts to get the baskets in more areas this year began as soon as they went up a few months ago. City council members, eventual council candidates and other members of the public have all petitioned the city to spread out the baskets. It was permit applications to start running the popular Rock the Dock series on Friday nights on
the boardwalk that finally made spreading out the baskets a reality. “It had started to get popular again and we wanted to liven it up,” Birkenthal said. It was the return of those concerts, combined with the increased size of the baskets after four months of watering and sunshine, that made the move a reality. “The mayor and others said, how do you think it would look, since they got really big, to put one on each arm (of the utility poles) and put some on boardwalk?” Birkenthal
said. “When they were first about a block of Pacific was put out there (on Pacific barren of any baskets as Avenue), it Birkent ha l would have happened looked less to be walkthan com- “It had started to get ing by, he plete to have popular again and we said. just one on “I called wanted to liven it up.” each arm. the crew But, since – Wyn Birkenthal super v isor they’ve triand said pled in size, that really it actually looks good to wasn’t the plan, we don’t have one on each arm.” want to have an interrupBirkenthal instructed tion in the flower baskets, crews to leave at least one so let’s get them back up basket on each Pacific there,” he added. Avenue Pole and transBirkenthal said that port the second one to the the city buys the flowboardwalk. For a brief time ers at discount from a on Wednesday, though, firm in Oregon. The city
saves money by propagating them in greenhouses here in Bremerton and can “build” a basket for about $80 total. It’s when you add in the cost of watering and labor that the price tag starts to rise. The city used to use part-time labor for the job, but Birkenthal says more experience is required. “They’ve got to be good to get in and out of traffic and not take out any mirrors or cause any other damage or delays,” he said, noting that an experienced person is needed for that job about six months of the year.