Independent FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 N VOL. 123, NO. 18 N WWW.PORTORCHARDINDEPENDENT.COM N 50¢
Inside A4 A4 A5 A6 A7 A7 A8
Printed with recycled paper and environmentally friendly soybean oil-based ink.
Inserts: Fred Meyer, RiteAid, Office Depot, Best Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, Valassis
A Section Editorial Robert Meadows Scene & Heard Sports Legal Notices Mary Colborn Obituaries
Jesse Beals/Staff Photo
▼
BRUCE DANIELSON
CHARLOTTE GARRIDO
%&$*4*0/
TIM MATTHES
JEANETTE DALTON
4DIPPM EJTUSJDU MPPLT UP CBMBODF JUT CPPLT
SEE UPSETS, PAGE A2
More than 135 people turned out near the shores of the Puget Sound for the opening of the new shellfish restoration hatchery at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Manchester Research Station on May 22. Representatives from federal, state, local and tribal organizations attended the event and ribbon cutting for the Kenneth K. Chew Center for Shellfish Research and Restoration. District 26 State Rep. Jan Angel, along with Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido and Port Orchard Mayor Tim Matthes were in attendance. The $775,000 facility will have three full-time employees, but several part-time projects are being planned in several months. The hatchery is a result of NOAA’s National Shellfish Initiative and the state’s Shellfish Initiative, the first state to pass such an effort. In June 2011, NOAA launched a National Aquaculture Policy that included a National Shellfish Initiative to increase shellfish aquaculture for commercial and
Connor Morris, top photo, runs through a “splat station” during the first half of the Seagull Splat 5K Run on May 24. Ryan DeMars of the Red Dog Saloon, bottom left, prepares some chicken wings for judges for the Seagull Wings Cook-off. Megan Bauer, bottom right, calls out for the birds during the annual Seagull Calling Contest. ▼
By CHRIS CHANCELLOR Staff Writer
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
SEE SCHOOL, PAGE A2
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
Custodians won’t be replaced, $1.72 million will be taken from reserve fund.
Dannie Oliveaux/Staff Photos
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 HATCHERY, A25
Wrong-way crash kills Tacoma man
ed the man killed in the crash was Delfin Ignacio, a 45-year-old competitive body builder from Tacoma. A check of court records showed that he had been arrested for drunk driving twice before, in 2003 and 2009. Troopers reported they received a call about
Editor
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
SEE NEIGHBORS, PAGE A2
Realtor Bryan Petro announced May 22 that Myhre’s, located at the corner of Bay Street and Sidney Avenue, has been sold. Petro, of Windermere Real Estate in Port Orchard, said the building was purchased for $475,000 by Abadan LLC and Seattle real estate investor Mansour Samadpour. Since the building went on the market earlier this year, Petro said there was a lot of interest in the 15,000-squarefoot building that once was home to a popular downtown restaurant, Myhre’s. Petro said one stipulation in the purchase of the building was that two plaques — one on the Bay Street and Sidney Avenue corners of the building — that will recognize the Myhre-Rylander Building will be placed. He added that the buyer paid all the property taxes and closing costs. The restaurant has been closed since July 2011 when a fire gutted the building. Petro said the restaurant opened in the 1930s and the original wood structure was destroyed during a 1963 fire. Dick Rylander then took over his family business and replaced the building with a brick structure. The Rylander family (Myhre’s Inc.) repossessed the building on Jan. 3 during a trustees’ sale at the Kitsap County Administration Building. The property reverted back to the Rylanders after no bidder showed up for the sale. John Lora and Melinda
By DANNIE OLIVEAUX
6QTFUT UIF PSEFS PG UIF EBZ EVSJOH QSJNBSZ FMFDUJPO
▼ Matthes, Garrido advance in SK commissioner race; Dalton, Danielson in judicial contest. Editor
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).
Staff Writer
By DANNIE OLIVEAUX
Both sides report feeling harassed in rift over home business. By JUSTINE FREDERIKSEN
Staff Writer
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-
Editor
SOUTH KITSAP’S SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION SINCE 1890
By DANNIE OLIVEAUX
South Kitsap’s Source for News & Information Since 1890
By CHARLIE BERMANT
Public/private partnership provides catalyst for innovative research operation
Neighbor denies pellet gun shooting
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.
Port Orchard
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
Myhre’s building finally sold
SEE CRASH, A25
The wrong-way driver was pronounced dead at the scene after his car collided with a pickup three miles east of Port Orchard on State Highway 16 about 10 p.m. on May 22, reported the Washington State Patrol. KOMO 4 News report-
SEE MYHRE, A25
New shellfish hatchery opens in Manchester SEAGULL SPLAT, WINGS AND MORE
Keep it classy Expanded classifieds inside Kitsap Week
INSIDE Council delays INSIDE Harrison SPORTS SK baseball action on approving officials propose team returns to 4A franchise contract A3 moving acute care A5 state semifinals A26