REPORTER CENTRAL KITSAP
KITSAP WEEKLY INSIDE: Brownsville Marina: Champagne lifestyle on a beer budget
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016 | Vol. 32, No. 15 | WWW.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM | 50¢
PULL OTHERS ‘INTO THE LIGHT’
IN THIS EDITION
Peter O’Cain / staff photo
Maj. Maynard “Rocky” Hoffmann attends a Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony at Naval Undersea Museum, Keyport on Dec. 7, 2015.
NEWS USS John C. Stennis sets sail
Pearl Harbor survivor ‘Rocky’ Hoffmann dies
A2
NEWS BB gun used in Bremerton robbery
A2
STAFF REPORT
Chris Tucker / staff photo
Norman Rice, former mayor of Seattle, speaks at the 22nd annual Dr. Marin Luther King Jr. Celebration at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds Jan. 18. At center is Kitsap Commissioner Ed Wolfe, and at right is Rev. Freda Cash.
Lift up others, former Seattle mayor says at Kitsap’s MLK Jr. celebration BY CHRIS TUCKER CTUCKER@CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.COM
NEWS Big jump in 2015 ferry ridership
A4
CENTRAL KITSAP – Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. during the 22nd annual Kitsap County MLK celebration Jan. 18. Norman Rice, the only African American to have been elected mayor
“(King) said there is no easy way to create a world where man and woman can live together, where each has his own job and house and where all children receive as much education as their minds can absorb. But if such a world is created in our lifetime, it will be done in the United States by black SEE MLK, A6
Fifth-annual ceremony honors African American leaders BY MICHELLE BEAHM
OPINION Vote ‘yes’ on CKSD levy, bond
A3
of Seattle, was keynote speaker. Rice was mayor two terms from 1989-1997. “What’s the most persistent and urgent question?” Rice asked. “What are we doing for others?” The key, he said, was to pull up others in need, “into the light.” “All of us has that responsibility to do that. And if we don’t do that, we are failing not only King but ourselves.”
MBEAHM@SOUNDPUBLISHING.COM
Courtesy photo
A speaker and honoree at a previous African American Achievement Awards ceremony.
BREMERTON — The fifth annual Washington State African American Achievement Awards ceremony will be held 6 p.m. (4 p.m. for dinner) Jan. 30 at the Bremerton Performing Arts Center, 1500 13th St. The awards were started five years ago by Deborah Moore Jackson, and it has grown every year since.
“I started this at Bremerton High School, because we didn’t have any black history classes,” Moore Jackson said. “Our children needed to understand that African Americans, people that look like them, have been doing (good things) for a long time.” According to Eastern Regional Director Francelle Daubert, every year there’s a theme for choosing SEE LEADERS, A6
BREMERTON — Major Maynard “Rocky” Hoffmann, former Marine and Pearl Harbor survivor, passed away at age 97 on Jan. 8. The following is an article that ran in a 2012 edition of Veteran’s Life that honored Maj. Hoffmann: Born in Seattle in 1918, Maj. Hoffmann enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve while a student at Roosevelt High School in Seattle. He applied for active duty in 1940. “I looked forward to going to boot camp. I didn’t want to be drafted into the Army and that’s what they were doing at the time.” Hoffmann was a 23-year-old sergeant when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Hoffmann was stationed at the Ewa Marine Corps Air Station which is now known as Barbers Point Naval Air Station. Three miles from Pearl Harbor, Ewa Marine Corps Air Station was completed in early 1941. When the attack at Pearl Harbor occurred, four runways had been constructed, in addition to buildings and hangars. Ewa was the first American installation hit during the Pearl Harbor attack. Hoffmann closed his eyes, recalling the moment. “It took us all by total surprise. It took several minutes for people to determine what happened and what to do. One guy said, ‘I have never heard of an engine that sounds like that.’ A simple statement, but that’s when we SEE ROCKY, A6
The Central Kitsap Reporter: Top local stories, every Friday in print. Breaking news daily on CentralKitsapReporter.com and on Facebook