PATRIOT
KITSAP WEEK: Bainbridge improv troupe keeps the laughs coming, year after year
BREMERTON
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2014 | Vol. 17, No. 37 | WWW.BREMERTONPATRIOT.COM | 50¢
Schools, cops hope for the best and plan for the worst BY KEVAN MOORE
KMOORE@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
to drop their kids off and hear the group is short-handed. That’s how Nancy Schmidt got suckered in to playing a cemetery ghost one recent Saturday night. “I decided oh, hell, why not,” she said as she adjusted her white wig. “They’re a family here. We’re all united. It’s a positive atmosphere. This is really great.” Guests start out totally dis-
Following last week’s tragedy at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Bremerton School District Superintendent Aaron Leavell sent a reassuring automated phone message to parents and guardians of local students. “We wanted you to be aware of this situation as your child may need your support and reassurance when situations like this happen,” Leavell said. Leavell noted that the district has monthly drills to prepare for lockdowns, fire evacuation and earthquake preparedness, but hopes to never have a real situation. “Today’s events are a grim reminder that there are reasons these drills are necessary,” Leavell said following the Marysville shooting. “We are fortunate to have a School Resource Officer from the Bremerton Police Department and a close partnership with local law enforcement and have asked them to be more visible around our schools for the remainder of today.” The Bremerton Police Department is also always preparing for the worst-case scenario. “We kind of have ongoing training and the active shooter scenario is one we discuss quite often,” said Capt. Tom Wolfe. “Whether we physically train or tabletop with different workgroups, it’s one we’ve done a lot of training on and plan on doing more training as things evolve.” Wolfe said officers often visit Olympic
SEE HALLOWEEN, A9
SEE SHOOTINGS, A9
Seraine Page/contributed photo
A pair of Kitsap Haunted Fairgrounds volunteers get ready for a night of spooky surprises. The haunted house had nearly 700 visitors last year.
Things are spooky at the fairgrounds BY SERAINE PAGE SPECIAL TO SOUND PUBLISHING
Halloween lovers have two more nights to get their scares in at the Kitsap Haunted Fairgrounds. Tonight and tomorrow guests can stop by the fairgrounds to meet face-to-face with creepy witches, twisted jesters and chainsaw-wielding construction workers gone mad.
Tonight is actually the best night to come for less crowds, according to Kitsap Haunted Fairgrounds Volunteer Coordinator Vickie Josal. “Halloween is typically a lot slower,” she said. Last year the site hosted 669 guests, a number the Kitsap Haunted Fairgrounds organization hopes to surpass this year. For the milder version of the haunted house, lights will be on
for the kiddos from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. For the full scare, guests are encouraged to come between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. “Everyone let’s out a big whoop,” Josal said of lights-out time. “That’s what they live for.” The 22,000 square-foot haunted house spans three buildings, and it is filled with actors of all ages to give guests a good fright. Some actors end up coming in at last minute when they come
Mayor’s budget cuts auditor, adds firefighters and cop cams BY KEVAN MOORE KMOORE@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent has released what she describes as a “conservative” draft 2015 budget. The total 2015 projected tax revenue (property taxes, sales taxes, business and occupation taxes and private utility taxes) in the General Fund is $23.048
million, approxislow but steady mately $984,000 economic develmore than 2014. opment within Overall, the budget the city, it will still will increase from take a few years for $34.4 million this the city’s revenues year to $36.1 milto realize these lion in 2015. i mprov e m e nt s ,” Mayor Patty Lent “While we consaid Lent. “As such, tinue to believe our revenue prothat the economy has a jections show little growth made a turn for the bet- over the current and prior ter, and we continue to see two years.”
Some of the standout items from the mayor’s draft General Fund budget include: the elimination of the city’s unique auditor position and office to be replaced by outside consultants; the addition of two firefighters, at a cost of $189,000, to reduce overtime costs; $99,000 in funding to acquire body cameras for police officers; and the
addition of a cadet/volunteer program to help officers with routine tasks and attract non-traditional candidates from the community to join law enforcement. Other General Fund changes include some $100,000 for contract assistance to update the city’s comprehensive plan to meet state requirements and the addition of a part-time sea-
sonal laborer to help the parks department. The mayor’s proposed 2015 General Fund budget anticipates an ending fund balance of $3,223,753 which is 8.6 percent of anticipated expenditures. The 8.6 percent is slightly above city’s target reserve requirement of 8.5 percent. SEE BUDGET, A9