REPORTER CENTRAL KITSAP
KITSAP WEEK: Bainbridge improv troupe keeps the laughs coming
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2014 | Vol. 30, No. 4 | WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM | 50¢
Safety top priority at CK schools
GETTING READY TO DELIVER 250 FOOD BASKETS
District had ‘active shooter’ exercise planned prior to Marysville-Pilchuck
Influenza poses a greater risk, health official says
BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
Following the Marysville-Pilchuck High School tragedy and the lockdown of three Silverdale schools last week, school officials sought to reassure students, staff and parents with a message on its Web page: “Student and staff safety is our top priority. “We regularly review emergency procedures with our students and staff to ensure that they are appropriate and that they are followed. When needed, we work closely with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office and Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue to coordinate security and emergency response efforts.” The district takes potential threats seriously: Even before this week’s two area gun-related events it had planned to hold an “active shooter exercise” at Klahowya Secondary School. That exercise will be held in cooperation with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office and fire and rescue personnel on Feb. 13, a noschool day. The district said it did not plan to reschedule the exercise to an earlier date despite the Marysville-Pilchuck shooting because that date had already been coordinated with other agencies.
County prepared to handle Ebola BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
Leslie Kelly / staff photo
Central Kitsap Food Bank Executive Director Chris Benson, left, stands with Ryoko Mosley and Cindee Adams. They plan on handing out 250 turkey dinners.
It’s almost turkey time at CK Food Bank BY LESLIE KELLY LKELLY@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
October is ending and November is soon beginning, and around the Central Kitsap Food Bank that means folks are talking turkey. Just ask Executive Director Chris Benson. “This is my first year doing the Thanksgiving baskets,” said Benson, who became director about six months ago. “Everyone tells me it all works out, but I’m a planner and so I’ve got to put down plans.” And those plans happen to include that he needs “the fixin’s for Thanksgiving,” and a whole lot
of volunteers, he said. “We’ve got great volunteers year-round,” Benson said. “But when it comes time to put together the Thanksgiving food baskets, we need more.” The food bank annually distributes from 225 to 250 food baskets for Thanksgiving, and then again for Christmas. Most go to their regular food bank clients, and some go to people who just need help with their holiday dinners with extended family. While the staff at the food bank is busy from now until Thanksgiving getting all the necessary items rounded up for the baskets, they’re
also putting out the call for about another 40 volunteers who can man the assembly line on Nov. 21 and 22, making sure each basket has a bit of everything to pull off a great Turkey Day dinner. This year, because the food bank is in it’s new, larger location, Benson plans to use the lower-level warehouse space and put up tables where 250 grocery bags will sit. Volunteers will be assigned to food items, such as canned green beans, cranberries, gravy, sweet potatoes, Jell-O, stuffing and chicken broth. Volunteers will push carts of their SEE TURKEY, A9
SEE SAFETY, A9
An Ebola outbreak in Kitsap County is unlikely, but if the disease appears here the Kitsap Public Health District says it’s prepared. “While there’s very little risk here in Kitsap County we are taking it really seriously,” said Karen McKay Bevers, public information officer for the Health District. “We have been proactively taking steps to prepare,” Bevers said. Those steps include advising area health facilities, hospitals and emergency medical services personnel of the latest information about Ebola from the Centers for Disease Control and from the Department of Health. Bevers said they’re also inventorying local supplies of personal protective equipment – or PPE – worn by health workers when dealing with hazards such as Ebola. The CDC issued new recommendations regarding the use of PPE after two Texas nurses became infected with Ebola. There have been three cases of Ebola in the U.S. but none in Washington state. But area hospitals are SEE EBOLA, A9
CK Fire & Rescue balances vehicles, staff with its $16 million draft budget BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
Balancing the costs of labor, vehicles and facilities proved to be a challenge for the Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue Board of Fire Commissioners as they worked on their draft budget this week. “To be healthy, I think we would probably have to fund $500,000 to
$750,000 a year into capital, apparatus and facilities … this just isn’t in the cards right now,” said Fire Chief Scott Weninger. CKF&R’s budget has been affected by declining assessed valuation and it has been using reserve funds to make ends meet. “We do have some tough choices to make,” he said. The $16 million draft budget
breaks down as: $13.5 million for personnel costs, $1.1 million for services and supplies, $243,384 for capital outlay, $395,239 for repair and maintenance, $200,453 for training and $648,473 for contracts and leases. The options the board looked at included cutting expenses, increasing revenue by asking voters to approve a maintenance and opera-
tions levy, or by spending reserves. “Spending reserves is a cycle that we’ve been in for some time and it’s not sustainable long-term. We’ve got a couple more years left of dipping into reserves and then we’re going to have to do something dramatically different,” Weninger said. Board Chair Dave Fergus compared running a fire and rescue department to managing a home
checking account. “Over the long term, revenue equals expenses. Money in equals money out. That’s the only way that we can be sustainable over the long haul,” Fergus said. Commissioner Ralph Rogers responded, “And to get to that point, though, Dave, you’re talking about SEE FIRE BUDGET, A9
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