REPORTER CENTRAL KITSAP
KITSAP WEEKLY QUILT APPEAL: Bainbridge event celebrates timeless artistry of quilts
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 | Vol. 30, No. 48 | WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM | 50¢
Man stepped on gas meter prior to Motel 6 explosion
TIME TO HIT THE CHROMEBOOKS
IN THIS EDITION
BREMERTON – Police aren’t entirely sure, but they released details Aug. 26 that backs-up an earlier theory as to why the Bremerton Motel 6 erupted into a fireball Aug. 18. The rumor that spread across the Internet immediately following the blast was that someone was seen climbing down the side of the building from a third-story window, and that the climber might have inadvertently broken a gas line. According to Bremerton Police, that theory has some weight to it. Shortly before the motel exploded Aug. 18, officers were called to the motel to handle a disturbance of some kind related to a family dispute. The disturbance was in relation to a juvenile female who had fled her home in Brownsville following a family argument. Her step-father, who lives in the home, had spoken with her by cell phone, located her, and had taken her to the motel to let everyone cool down and keep her away from her mother. According to information police now have, the mother appar-
NEWS Truck and RV crash blocks SR3
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OPINION Remember those killed in wildfires
SEE MOTEL 6, A13
Engaged, safe students focus of CKSD’s strategy
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VETERANS Honoring residents who died in WWII
BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
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Chris Tucker / staff photo
Fairview Junior High math teacher Kristy Jones, above, speaks with eighth-grade students during the first day of school Sept. 2. Their summer break over, Central Kitsap students are back to studying readin’, writin’ and ‘rithmatic.
Keeping students engaged while learning, make sure schools are safe, ensuring staff is effective, working with families and being fiscally responsible were formally listed as part of Central Kitsap School District’s strategic goals. “We’ve really come a long way in terms of looking at a new direction for the district,” said Stacey Saunders, who was
part of the effort to redevelop the new goals. Saunders said input was taken from focus groups, the district’s ThoughtExchange online feedback program, school employees, students and parents as part of the process to draft the new goals. CKSD board member Eric Greene said he was excited to have the statement completed. “The input that you all have SEE CKSD, A13
Goats expected to be allowed in Bremerton for ‘vegetation control’ BY PETER O’CAIN
SPORTS Football season begins Sept. 4 for local teams
POCAIN@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
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A goat.
Photo courtesy Kuebi
BREMERTON — Weed whacker broken? No? OK, is your weed whacker fine, but you wish it was a goat? Good news: The Bremerton City Council is looking to amend the city charter to allow goats for vegetation control. The city council is expected to amend Ordinance No. 5283 (prohibited animals) at its Sept. 2 meeting. It will
allow residents to use goats to eat away unwanted weeds or bushes, so long as they’re not in the same place for more than 15 days. The idea was first proposed in January by Councilman Jerry McDonald after a rat chewed through some wiring in his neighbor’s car. It seems a nearby demolition had pushed rats into blackberry bushes near the downtown condominium where he lives. McDonald hopes goats can eat the
bushes that rats like to live in. “There’s a lot of people that employ goats and basically they’re another tool for the tool kit,” McDonald said. Using goats is also an environmentally friendly alternative to pesticides, McDonald said. According the amendment, goats must be tethered, fenced or supervised at all times. “Supervised” is a SEE GOATS, A13
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