Reporter Central Kitsap
Rock It!!! Bremerton store caters to Kitsap’s Kustom Kulture Page 7
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 | Vol. 29, No. 19 | WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM | 50¢
Hawks on parade
Harrison talks break down BY KEVAN MOORE
KMOORE@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
Contract negotiations between Harrison Hospital and about 800 professional and technical (ProTech) employees belonging to UFCW 21 have broken down. The hospital made what it called its “last and final” offer Jan. 28 and asked for a vote on the proposal. The union met following the acceptance of that offer and 93 percent of those in attendance “voted to adopt an action plan to get a fair contract,” said UFCW 21 spokesman Tom Geiger.
Brian Kelly/Staff photo
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson enjoys a parade through downtown Seattle Wednesday afternoon.
Quilts are a thread of woman’s life BY SERAINE PAGE
SPAGE@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
There’s no throwing anything out in Gees Bend, Alabama, where Delia Pettway-Thibodeaux comes from. That includes traditions as well. As a transplant from the south, there’s no denying her roots. PettwayThibodeaux keeps her memories of Gees Bend alive and well through the tips of her fingers when she quilts. It’s what Gees Bend is known for, she said. It was a way of life. “We all quilted,” she said of herself and sisters. “We weren’t quilting for show. We were doing it for necesSeraine Page/staff photo sity. Quilts were made out Silverdale resident Delia Pettway- of necessity. We were poor.” Thibodeaux displays her quilts. For a family of 12, scrap-
ing by included using all available means. There was no buying fabric at the store. Old handme-down clothes were cut and used as the patches that made up the quilts. By age 8, Pettway-Thibodeaux knew how to quilt. By 13, teen girls were expected to have finished their first quilt. When winter rolled around, quilts were pulled out from under the bed and placed atop mattresses to keep the bitter cold away. Gees Bend’s formal name is Boykin, but, for natives, like Pettway-Thibodeaux, it will always remain Gees Bend. Even for a town with two names, it isn’t what one would consider something to brag about, PettwayThibodeaux said. There’s only one road
into the community where thousands flock to visit the famous quilters. A photographer who visited the town was so impressed by the quilts that he created a photo series based on the quilts. In the 60s, Martin Luther King, Jr. also visited the area and marched across a bridge nearby. The exposure ultimately made Gees Bend famous, and some of the quilters were invited on a traveling exhibit to talk about the quilts around the nation, Pettway-Thibodeaux said. According to the Alabama’s official travel website, there’s four places to visit: the Boykin Mercantile, Gees Bend Welcome Center, Gees Bend Quilters Collective SEE QUILTING, A13
“Implied in that is the belief that the current proposal is not looked at very favorably,” Geiger added. In addition, the union has filed six unfair labor charges against Harrison with the National Labor Relations Board. One of the main sticking points revolves around the ability of Pro-Tech workers to honor picket lines if other workers at the hospital should ever strike. “What’s being proposed is not the removal of a no strike clause, but removal of an SEE HARRISON, A13
Levy ballots due Feb. 11 BY SERAINE PAGE
SPAGE@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
Voters looking to participate in the special election this month regarding local school levy replacement must have their ballots in by Feb. 11. Those ballots may be mailed or dropped off at deposit locations. Seven ballot deposit locations will be available for the special election through 8 p.m. on Election Day. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 11. Levy funds for Central Kitsap will provide $20.8 million each year for the district from the two-year replacement levy. The funds will pay for athletics, all-day kindergarten, arts and drama, elective courses, libraries, music, smaller class sizes, special education, transportation, teachers and staff, technology, textbooks and instructional materials. “I am grateful to live in a community that strongly supports public education,”
said Central Kitsap Board President Mark Gaines. “Because our state does not fully fund public education, this levy is critical to our continued success. Besides helping fund almost every area of our program, passage of this levy makes us eligible for an additional $3 million in state funds and $6 million in federal funds.” Ballots were mailed Jan. 10 to military and oversea voters. On Jan. 24, ballots were mailed to all registered Kitsap County voters. In the Bremerton School District, a total of 22,357 ballots were mailed out. As of the first week of February, 4,707 have been returned. In Central Kitsap, 39,028 were mailed, and voters have returned 9,164 ballots. Gilmore said for this year the amount of ballots returned the week before elections is the same percentage that’s been returned in previous elections. Ballots have a projected return rate SEE LEVIES, A13