Kingston • Eglon • Hansville • Indianola • Little Boston • Port Gamble
COMMUNITY NEWS Vol. 33 No. 1 • January
KingstonCommunityNews.com
2016
Top 10 stories of 2015 Appellate
court upholds eviction Kingston Adventures By RICHARD WALKER Staff writer
Clockwise: Community members break ground on Village Green Community Center in June; members of the Port Gamble
S’Klallam Canoe Family mark the beginning of the Port Gamble cleanup; a 12-foot pole at Heronswood by S’Klallam artist Staff photos Brian Perry; well-wishers sign greetings for James Norberg, who was injured in a vehicle collision.
T
hese are the top 10 stories of 2015, as selected by the Kingston Community News staff. Stories were selected based on the event or person’s community impact. NO. 1: “CEREMONY KICKS OFF CONSTRUCTION OF VILLAGE GREEN COMMUNITY CENTER” (June 2015). “We have clung to the promise that this day will arrive,” Village Green Metropolitan Parks District Commissioner Bobbie Moore said. Construction finally started on the community center, which, in less than a year, will be home to a senior center, a Boys & Girls Club, and a new Kitsap Regional Library branch. The project fulfills a community vision that dated back almost 15 years, when the former Navy housing site was acquired by Kitsap County for public use and donated to the community for park development. Voters
created the Village Green Metropolitan Park District to develop and maintain the park; Martha & Mary bought a portion of the property for apartments for older residents; and the Village Green Foundation raised $8 million to build the community center. Construction is expected to be completed in May 2016. NO. 2: “PORT GAMBLE BAY CLEANUP UNDERWAY” (August 2015). Cleanup of the shore and nearshore of the former Port Gamble mill site began in July. When completed in January 2017, an estimated 6,000 creosoted pilings, numerous overwater structures, and 70,000 cubic yards of wood waste and contaminated sediments will have been removed. Wood waste located close to shore will have been dredged and remaining areas contaminated by wood waste capped with clean material. Eelgrass, which provides shelter for Pacific herring and crab, will have been transplanted in the cleaned areas. Water quality will be monitored for 10
years. Ecology officials say chemicals from pilings and wood waste have created a hostile environment for shellfish and finfish that call the bay home — and for the people who depend on shellfish and finfish as part of their diet and economy. The bay is also prime spawning habitat for Pacific herring, an important forage fish for salmon. Port Gamble Bay is one of seven priority bays identified for cleanup under the Puget Sound Initiative. The initiative was established to coordinate efforts to restore and protect the health of Puget Sound by 2020. The Port Gamble mill site cleanup will cost an estimated $20 million, with the costs borne by Pope Resources. NO. 3: “JULY 4 FATALITY INVESTIGATION OVER; INFRACTION RECOMMENDED” (February 2015). A Kitsap County Sheriff’s investigator determined the driver of a North Kitsap Fire & Rescue fire engine “failed to give right of way” to the driver of a See TOP 10, Page 3
INSIDE NEIGHBOR AID Annual ShareNet campaign in need of donations — Page 23
KINGSTON — The state Court of Appeals Division I upheld the Port of Kingston’s eviction of Kingston Adventures from the marina, Dec. 7. Beth Brewster, who with her husband Rob owns Kingston Adventures, had alleged that the port evicted her business in retaliation for her criticizing the port in public. She also alleged port officials discriminated against her because she is a woman.
But the court ruled that retaliatory eviction may be asserted as a defense “only if the tenant is not otherwise in breach of the lease agreement. Here, the defendants were in breach of the berth leases. They did not have the Port’s written permission for putting the berths to commercial use. The business use agreement they originally had with the Port expired in 2012 and was not renewed. In those circumstances, the defendants did not have a right to stay in possession even if they could show the Port was discriminating or retaliating See EVICTION, Page 2
Kingston resident competes in Ultraman By SOPHIE BONOMI Staff writer
KINGSTON — “We’re out in the deep blue … We had the surf to deal with,” Kingston resident and Ultraman World Championship athlete Beth Brewster said. “We had to watch out for the jellyfish and the rollers … Because [my husband] Rob is retired Coast Guard, I trusted that he was going to get me from point A to point B in the most direct line
… He was constantly finding that line whilst keeping track of my nutrition and safety.” Brewster, 45, finished 26th overall and third for women in the 320mile Ultraman World Championship, Nov. 2729 in Hawaii. She has competed in previous Ultraman events in Canada; however, this was her first world championship. Few would argue that See ULTRAMAN, Page 22
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