REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
Friday, December 26, 2014 | Vol. 114, No. 52 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
INSIDE: OT Thriller: Sports A16
City to start police patrols on motorcycle
Blocking out some play time with Santa
BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
Eliot Isaacs, 3, and Santa Claus watch block construction reach new heights at the Kids Discovery Museum Saturday, Dec. 20. Santa said he stopped by KiDiMu to play with the children before getting down to work next week. Eliot and Santa talked about football and Santa confessed that he is a Seahawks fan. KiDiMu provides a destination for children and their caregivers to explore art, science, and culture through hands-on exhibits, daily art projects, cultural and scientific programming.
Bainbridge Island police hope to start motorcycle patrols in the coming year in response to continuing traffic complaints. Police Chief Matthew Hamner said his department is already shopping for a motorcycle that will be shared by officers who have been certified for the job. The department has gotten consistent feedback from residents wanting greater traffic enforcement, he said, especially near school zones and for cyclists. “That’s probably been my number one complaint since I’ve been here: traffic. Whether it’s speeding, whether it’s respect for bicyclists and pedestrians and vice versa,” he said. “It just allows us to be more flexible,” Hamner said. “A motorcycle can go places and do things that cars sometimes aren’t able to,” he said. Highway 305 sees more than 6 million commuters annually, Hamner noted, so traffic remains a prime concern. “There’s a lot of traffic down the 305 and we’ve got to make sure to keep a good handle on safety. That is an issue,” he said. City officials expect the number of traffic accidents to be higher this year than last, though the total number of traffic infractions TURN TO MOTORCYCLE | A10
Pedestrian airlifted after being struck by car BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
A well-known community volunteer was seriously injured after she was hit and trapped under a car while walking with her two grandchildren through a parking lot at the condominium complex on Harborview Drive Southeast late last week. Katherine E. Dunn, 71, was airlifted to Seattle last Friday afternoon after she was hit by a car that was backing out of a carport at Eagle Harbor Condominiums. Dunn remains at Harborview Medical Center in critical condition in intensive care. The accident remains under review, and is being investigated by the Washington State Patrol. The Washington State Patrol said Dunn was hit by a 2002
Lexus LS4 that was driven by a 91-year-old Bainbridge Island man. Melton G. Bockman was backing out of a parking space under a carport when he hit Dunn and her 3-year-old grandson just after 3 p.m. Dec. 19. Bainbridge Island Assistant Fire Chief Luke Carpenter said the child’s injuries were not life-threatening, but he was taken to a Kitsap hospital by a medic unit called in from North Kitsap Fire & Rescue. The boy’s older sister was not hurt in the accident, but was visibly shaken up by the incident, Carpenter said. After the woman was hit and wedged under the sedan, workers from a nearby construction project rushed to the scene and began putting heavy wood-
Longtime coach and teacher at Bainbridge High dies unexpectedly BY BRIAN KELLY
Bainbridge Island Review
Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review
A woman who was hit by a car is loaded aboard an Airlift Northwest medical helicopter at Bainbridge Island Fire Department’s Station 21. en beams under the vehicle to raise it high enough to free the woman.
She was still trapped when Bainbridge firefighters got to TURN TO PEDESTRIAN | A10
Students and staff at Bainbridge High School were left shocked and saddened by the sudden death of longtime staff member and assistant football coach Mike Roe. Roe passed away in his sleep Thursday, Dec. 18. He was 61. “Students and staff at the high school are heartbroken by the unexpected loss of yet another teacher, friend and colleague,” said BHS Principal Mary Alice O’Neill. “Mike had a heart for every student, and championed their pursuit of all career paths. We are finding it hard to comprehend he is gone,” she said. Roe was a learning resources specialist at Bainbridge High and had worked at the school TURN TO TEACHER | A15