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.
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A Section Editorial Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Legal Notices Mary Colborn Obituaries
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INSIDE Homeless INSIDE Golf course SPORTS Pickard student count down opens season with next adventure is as in South Kitsap A4 renovated shop A5 lacrosse coach A23 Both sides report feeling harassed in rift over home business.
Neighbor denies pellet gun shooting
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By JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN
Staff Writer
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
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2014 N VOL. 123, NO. 7 N WWW.PORTORCHARDINDEPENDENT.COM N 50¢
Editor
Don Veverka, superintendent and administrator at the Washington Veterans Home at Retsil since November 2011, was appointed by Gov. Gary Brown on March 5 as the new administrator of the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, Calif., the Lake County News reported. The Veterans Home, located in the Napa Valley, is the largest and oldest veterans home in the nation. Yountville is an incorporated town in Napa County, north of San Francisco.
Veverka said he flew down earlier this year to Yountsville and met with officials from the California Department of Veterans Affairs. “I liked their mission, liked their focus, programs and their organizational structure,” he said. “It’s an honor to step into the oldest and largest veterans home in the nation. It’s another honorable calling and I am excited about it.” Diane Vanderpot, undersecretary for Veterans Homes for the California Department of Veterans Affairs, said she’s excited about Veverka’s appointment to the Yountsville facility.
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SEE READERS, A10
“Don has decades of experience in longterm care and we are excited to have him join the Yountville team,” said Vanderpot. “I am confident that Don will prove himself to be invaluable to the Yountville members and will continue the home’s 130-year legacy of quality care.” Gary A. Condra, deputy director of Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs, said Veverka helped guide the Retsil home through a number of challenging times and significant changes. SEE VEVERKA, A10
South Kitsap’s Source for News & Information Since 1890
By DANNIE OLIVEAUX Editor
Kitsap County Sheriff ’s Office traffic investigators continue to look into the cause of the crash that killed a Port Orchard motorcyclist March 7 near Manchester. Ralph Marchant, 55, died at the scene from injuries suffered after he lost control of his motorcycle and hit a metal sign post. Deputy Scott Wilson, KCSO spokesman, said the man died at the scene located in the 7300 block of Beach Drive East. The accident happened about 6:07 p.m. KCSO traffic investigators reported that two motorcyclists were traveling southbound on Beach Drive East, led by the now deceased man with his 25-year-old son following behind. The first motorcyclist failed to negotiate the curve; he crossed the center line into the northbound lane of travel, then onto that lane’s shoulder. The Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle went down and the operator was thrown from the motorcycle, striking a metal sign post, Wilson reported. South Kitsap Fire and Rescue aid and medic units arrived at the scene and rendered emergency medical care. After efforts by emergency crews, the motorcyclist was declared dead at the scene. Wilson said the county’s forensic pathologist will conduct an autopsy; the coroner will make a determination as to cause and manner of death. This was the second Port Orchard resident killed in a motorcycle wreck in the last 10 days. John David Harris, 36, of Port Orchard, died Feb. 25 after his 2007 Yamaha Star motorcycle was hit head-on by a 2004 Chevy truck. The accident occurred around 6:10 p.m. at the intersection of Kitsap Mall Blvd. and NW Randall Way.
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CHARLOTTE GARRIDO
BRUCE DANIELSON
“What you find is they’ll stick around and read books with kids.”
Veverka leaving Retsil for California veterans home By DANNIE OLIVEAUX
▼ Matthes, Garrido advance in SK commissioner race; Dalton, Danielson in judicial contest.
TIM MATTHES
JEANETTE DALTON
Chris Chancellor/Staff Photo
that parents are more at ease at the activity, as well. “They didn’t feel like they had to come in and do a lot other than just be here,” Grant said.
By CHARLIE BERMANT
Man was second Port Orchard motorcyclist killed in 10-day period
From left, Burley-Glenwood Elementary School twin kindergartners Adrianna and Brianna Farmer read together during last week’s Dr. Seuss Event. year. Now that the event that celebrates Dr. Seuss birthday — March 2 — is 7 years old, it draws junior-high students who attended the school. He notices
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).
SEE UPSETS, PAGE A2
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Custodians won’t be replaced, $1.72 million will be taken from reserve fund.
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By CHRIS CHANCELLOR
Staff Writer
They danced around on the stage, faces painted white and donning blue wigs. While “THING 1” and “THING 2” kept the annual Dr. Seuss Event lighthearted last week at Burley-Glenwood Elementary School, the activity had a serious undertone. “It gets our community to come together and have fun,” said Carol Sears, a Title I instructional specialist teacher at the school. Burley-Glenwood principal Darek Grant said that was an important element in drawing a crowd he estimates averages 300 to 400 participants each
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
Senior Reporter
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
By CHRIS CHANCELLOR
Motorcyclist killed near Manchester
Jesse Beals/Staff Photo
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
B-GES students celebrate author’s birthday with week of events
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
Readers inspired by tip of hat from Dr. Seuss 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-
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