INDEPENDENT PORT ORCHARD
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 ✮ VOL. 124, NO. 42 ✮ WWW.PORTORCHARDINDEPENDENT.COM ✮ 50¢
Thanksgiving meals
Port Orchard city attorney resigning
By BOB SMITH
SEE NEIGHBORS, PAGE A2
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
Helpline stretched to the limit this holiday season rsmith@portorchardindependent.com
SOUTH KITSAP’S SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION SINCE 1890
ed 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
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-
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
Bundled up tight to defend against a windy, blustery day, two couples and a few individuals patiently waited in line to pick up their grocery items at the South Kitsap Helpline’s food bank on Mitchell Avenue. Despite downright wet, uncomfortable weather, they were at the food bank because, well, families have to eat. Volunteers at the food bank gathered items off supply shelves to fulfill each family’s grocery wish list. The food bank customers, who are at the food bank because of varied individual circumstances, have been forced to supplement their own food supplies with additional items to feed their children, said Jennifer Hardison, executive director of South Kitsap Helpline. The elderly and disabled also use the food bank to supplement what they’re able to provide. Hardison said there’s no such thing as a typical food bank client. “Usually they are two-parent working households that can’t stretch their budgets to make ends meet,” Hardison said. “So we don’t judge them because we don’t know people’s situations.” The need is sometimes overwhelming, she added, especially during the year-end holiday season.
During this time, Helpline will feed an additional 2,200 families a month on top of the usual 1,200-1,500 families they assist each month of the year. While Hardison said she’s almost at “the panic stage” as the holidays grow nearer, she has faith the South Kitsap region will once again show its generosity. “We’re fortunate here compared to other areas,” she said. “Our community is quite generous.” An example of that generosity surfaced recently. The Port Orchard Rotary made a trip to Eastern Washington and brought back bushels of apples and potatoes for Helpline. Non-perishable food items are highly sought-after, especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas on our doorstep. But Hardison said monetary donations are most helpful since they not only enable Helpline to buy discounted bulk items but help the organization pay its operational costs. “We’ll be spending $20,000 just for frozen turkeys,” Hardison said. That’s part of the $40,000 budget they’ve allocated for Thanksgiving food this season, a $5,000 increase from last year. A huge part of the Helpline food bank operations is its greenhouse, which adjoins the organization’s
Bob Smith / Independent
Helpline’s Jennifer Hardison examines one of the hundreds of poinsettias the organization has for sale this holiday season. offices next door, housed in an old two-story home. The greenhouse and home were once part of a commercial business that Helpline purchased some years ago to help generate more income and provide fresh vegetables and fruit to its clientele.
Hardison said that by partnering with area master gardeners, they’ve grown between 8,000 and 9,000 pounds of tomatoes, peas, beans and other fresh foods that are shared HELPLINE, SEE A2
By BOB SMITH
rsmith@portorchardindependent.com
As predicted, a majority of Port Orchard and Kitsap County registered voters took a pass on checking their ballots for candidates in the
THIS WEEK:
2015 Nov. 3 general election. But what wasn’t predicted was that voters would choose to ignore their mailed ballots in such overwhelming numbers. According to Kitsap County Elections Division’s Kyle
Joyce, just 38.5 percent of county voters mailed in their ballots. Port Orchard voters were just a shade better. City voters returned 38.8 percent of their ballots. Joyce said Kitsap’s percentage
INSIDE: ‘Tis The Season special section.
Carol Morris, Port Orchard city attorney, is resigning her position effective Jan. 1. Mayor Tim Matthes said Morris will be leaving her post at the transition of new mayor-elect Rob Putaansuu and two new City Council members into office. They will be sworn into office Morris Jan. 1. Matthes, who hired Morris in April and hired her as interim city attorney last September, said he was disappointed she’ll be leaving her post. “I was hoping we’d have her for another two years at least so she could help the city could take care of our codes updates. “I like looking for a good deal, and I consider her to be the best I found,” he said. “We were lucky to have her and her expertise.” Morris, who was unavailable for comment, previously was principal of Morris Law PC.
Windstorm tears through South Kitsap
includes 871 ballots countywide that either weren’t signed by the voter or the signature doesn’t match what the county has on file.
South Kitsap residents took the brunt of a powerful wind and rain storm Nov. 10 that toppled large evergreen trees and drenched the region with non-stop rains. As a result, about 13,000 Port Orchard residents lost their power at the storm’s peak last Tuesday afternoon. Puget Sound Energy crews were canvassing the county Tuesday and
VOTERS, SEE A3
POWER, SEE A2
Majority of voters respond — by not voting
Printed with recycled paper and environmentally friendly soybean oil-based ink.
Wal-Mart, Valassis
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Look what’s returning? Safeway. A5
SPORTS: Wolves water polo. A13
The Independent: 2015 General Excellence award winner, Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest