PATRIOT BREMERTON
GREAT LAST MINUTE GIFT IDEAS INSIDE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 | Vol. 18, No. 41 | WWW.BREMERTONPATRIOT.COM | 50¢
IN THIS EDITION
A COOL IDEA FOR ICY ENTERTAINMENT
Man suspected of killing 92-year-old grandfather BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
BREMERTON – A 21-year-old suspect in an early morning homicide investigation has been booked into the Kitsap County Jail on a charge of murder in the first degree. Bail was set at $2 million. The man, later identified as William Bradley Jackson III, 21, called 911 around 1:58 a.m. Dec. 15 to report that he had been drinking and had killed his grandfather about an hour earlier. Kitsap County Sheriff ’s patrol deputies were dispatched to a home in the 2000 block of NW Shamrock Drive, in the Rocky Point area of Bremerton. Sheriff’s deputies arrived on-scene at 2:04 a.m. The man surrendered to responding officers at 2:11 a.m. without incident. Deputies entered the premises and found a deceased man,
NEWS Star Wars 501st Garrison to visit Bremerton
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NEWS Wanted man wrestles with police dog
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SEE HOMICIDE, A9
Kennedy files EEOC charge against schools
BY MICHELLE BEAHM MBEAHM@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
OPINION Episode VII heralds new phase
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CRIME Man buys fake heroin and is shot by dealer
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Michelle Beahm / staff photos
Children get help skating from family at the Bremerton Ice Center during public skating Saturday, Dec. 12.
BREMERTON — In the Bremerton area, when it comes to thinking about activities one might engage in to keep busy, a few regular options might pop into mind: going to the movies, going to the Admiral Theatre, shopping or dining out. But one overlooked activity is also worthy of consideration: ice skating. Skating might not be the most common activity in the area. Temperatures rarely get cold enough for snow, let alone for outdoor skating opportunities. But the Bremerton Ice Center is open almost year-round — except for a few weeks in the summer for facility maintenance — and anyone can partake. “I’ve always thought that this may be the best kept (secret) entertainment facility in the city or the area of Bremerton,” said Dick Dolan, media relations for the center, which is part of Haselwood Auto Group. “I don’t believe that a lot of people even know that the ice center even exists for public skating.” Dolan added, “We’re really the only one on the peninsula.” Aside from public skating sessions offered most days, with a general admission price of $6.50, the center also offers skating lessons, from beginners to advanced, hockey lessons, also for beginners to advanced, competitive hockey and figure skating programs, birthday parties and full-facility rentals. Nikki McCann, a Bremerton Ice Center employee, said they’ve given beginner skat-
BY MICHELLE BEAHM MBEAHM@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
ing lessons to adults, as well as to students as young as 3 or 4 years old. “5 (years old) usually is the best, because they actually will stay out on the ice longer,” McCann said. “But … everybody, anybody, (even if you’ve) never skated, come in.” The first class is called Learn to Skate, after which participants are tested and sorted into the appropriate level, based on established modules instructors follow. Dolan said levels go “anywhere from a non-skater three-year-old up through, literally, almost professional.”
BREMERTON — Joe Kennedy, suspended assistant varsity football coach and head junior varsity football coach of Bremerton High School, has filed a charge of religious discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the Bremerton School District. Kennedy was suspend- Joe Kennedy ed by the school district on Oct. 28 for publicly praying on the 50-yard line after high school football games. Students would join him, but Kennedy said he never encouraged it. However, the school district stated that his praying while on duty as an official district representative was akin to the district endorsing one religion over others, which is against the law. A Dec. 15 press release from the law firm representing Kennedy, the Liberty Institute, states, “Coach Kennedy has prayed after football games for the last seven years. Bremerton School District admits Coach Kennedy did not encourage students to participate in his prayers — and no students, coaches or parents ever complained. Nevertheless, in Sep-
SEE ICE CENTER, A9 SEE DISCRIMINATION, A9
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