Monthly Archives: December 2009

Lawsuit: Waitress Sues Silverdale Restaurant for Withholding Tips

A waitress is taking a Silverdale restaurant to court, claiming the restaurant’s manager “withheld” tips, according to documents filed in Kitsap County Superior Court Dec. 14.

The lawsuit alleges that the restaurant manager “willfully withheld 60 percent of the tips,” that the waitress was supposed to receive, and “only paid to her 40 percent of the tips she received waiting tables in the course of her employment,” according to court documents.

There’s an “amended” lawsuit in the case file that states that sometime this past fall, the waitress had 50 percent of the tips withheld, rather than 60.

The lawsuit calls for the restaurant to pay damages, to include the amount of the “wrongfully withheld tips,” and interest, and attorney’s fees.

No court dates have yet been filed in the case.

Read more lawsuits in the Civil Justice category.

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Live Blog: Week 2 of Trial of Bainbridge Aide Accused of Indecent Liberties

Read the Previous Stories in the Case:

Bainbridge Teacher’s Aide Charged With Indecent Liberties

Trial Begins for Bainbridge School Aide Accused of Inappropriate Touching

Live blog of the trial, week 1

Boy Testifies He Saw Bainbridge School Aid Touch Girl

Bainbridge Paraeducator Denies Allegations of Inappropriate Touching

Jurors Deliberating Fate of Bainbridge Educator Accused of Indecent Liberties

Jury Acquits Bainbridge Paraeducator

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Kingston Boy Brightens Spirts Amid Lakewood Tragedy

A Kingston youngster and his mother drove to Lakewood Police Department Sunday to deliver some change and a stuffed dinosaur, reports the Tacoma News Tribune.

The trek deeply moved several officers there, as the boy — whose name is AJ — wanted to contribute to the “pleec” in their time of tragedy. It spurred one officer to write a letter to his colleagues, and the letter eventually found its way into the Tacoma paper’s hands. Here is the letter, whose writer remains anonymous, in part:

“We have seen many, many acts of generosity and kindness over the past 2 weeks. We have hugged more friends and strangers than we could have ever imagined and have mended broken ties with people we haven’t talked to for years. Yet nothing has touched me deeper, or given me more hope for the future, than AJ and his stuffed dinosaur. I gave AJ one of our department challenge coins, explaining to him that we only gave them out to the bravest and most deserving people we came across. I hope he will realize someday how much more than a dollar and some change he gave to me and to the Lakewood Police Department today.”

It’s hard not to be touched by such a wonderful story amid this tragedy. I encourage you to read the entire story here.

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The Aftermath of Bremerton Arnold’s Home Furnishings Arson

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There’s a few more details in the Bremerton Arnold’s Home Furnishings fire that I think are of note.

The 17-year-old defendant had his sentencing hearing Dec. 11 in Kitsap County Superior Court. Our stories had already pointed out the time he’ll spend in juvenile prison — 25 to 32 months — but here’s how that time works. It’s up to the juvenile prison’s administrators to determine how much time within that range he’ll spend there.

Restitution in the case — which could be in the $12 million range — will be set at a future hearing.

As we previously reported, the prosecution’s case that led to the conviction of the 17-year-old involved three suspects. But those remaining two suspects will not be tried due to lack of evidence, according to deputy prosecutor Todd Dowell.

Arnold’s is currently rebuilding at the site where their gallery burned to the ground in July.

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Port Orchard Police Chief: Marijuana Legalization Bill ‘Ludicrous’

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Port Orchard Police Chief Al Townsend is not particularly fond of a new state legislative effort to legalize marijuana, as written about last week in the Kitsap Sun.

That’s putting it mildly.

“If the goal of the bill is to legalize marijuana for the purpose of generating tax revenue, that ridiculous,” said Townsend, pictured, in an email to me.

He questions state Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo, who is one of the sponsors of the bill. Appleton has proposed it because she feels it’s worth having the conversation. She also believes the state could save money by not prosecuting small time marijuana users.

Similar efforts are taking place in Oregon and California.

Townsend isn’t buying it.

“If (Appleton) isn’t proposing that we encourage new users of marijuana, which is clearly debatable here, I’m fairly sure that those who are growing and using marijuana in violation of the laws right now won’t have a problem continuing to do so while now avoiding any tax payments or tax laws,” he wrote.

He also worries about marijuana as a “gateway” drug to other controlled substances, and believes that legalization would make roadways more dangerous because more people would be high while driving.

“I was under the impression that Ms. Appleton was in the legislature representing the best interests of the majority of her constituents,” he wrote. “This obviously isn’t the case here.  The bill is ludicrous. And frankly its disappointing that a member of our legislature that was elected by the majority of the people in her district is using our time and our tax dollars generating this kind of nonsense.”

Photo from the City of Port Orchard’s web site.

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UPDATE: Poulsbo Vehicle Prowlers Take Off with Tailgate

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Poulsbo resident Ken Parker emailed me over the weekend about a horrifying tale concerning his tailgate.

“I am getting ready to ship out to Hawaii and between 9 p.m. on Wednesday and 1 p.m. on Thursday, someone stole my tailgate to my 2003 Dodge Ram 2500,” he wrote.

Parker, who lives near Front Street, said he reported the incident to Poulsbo police. But he’s concerned that such prowlers are getting away with more crimes.

“Vehicle prowls are on the rise and these punks need to get caught,” he wrote.

He is likely right, though official crime stats won’t be out until next year. Looking at the raw numbers from Silverdale, however, car prowls are indeed going through the roof. Remember to lock your car and take all the valuables out of it that you can.

UPDATE: Here’s another horrifying tale of prowlers, by way of Seabeck resident Rodney Perryman. Perryman lives off Stavis Bay Road.

Continue reading →

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Law Enforcement out in Force for ‘1,000 Stars’ Night

It could be a rough night for the state’s drunken drivers.

The annual “Night of 1,000 Stars” — with stars being the number of badges on patrol around the state — occurs tonight. Officers will be focusing on intoxicated and aggressive drivers.

Law enforcement agencies in Kitsap County will be out from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m., according to Kitsap County MADD Chair Marsha Masters. They’ll start with a briefing at Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue’s Station 41, on Old Military Road at Fairgrounds Road.

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Senators Make Waves over Bainbridge Police Boat

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one surprised to see that two U.S. senators critical of the federal stimulus singled out Bainbridge’s police boat as a waste of money.

Once I got past the shock of the national attention, I delved into the facts of the case. It’s hard to knock our elected representatives for keeping an eye on  $787 billion in government spending. And the analysis of the “checkup” on the police boat has gotten our web site visitors pretty fired up — last I checked, there were close to 100 comments on the story.

I’ve taken a ride on the Bainbridge boat (the model they had before the newest upgrade). Here’s my story about what we did. Basically, while staying within the island’s coastline just in case, much of the work of the officers involved checking ferry docks and fuel depots to ensure they were free of explosives and suspicious devices.

If you listen to the police scanner, you can tell when law enforcement (or our fire departments) are out on the water. Most agencies have a boat, though it might not be moored but instead on a trailer out of the water. Bainbridge’s “Marine 8” can be heard around the sound, responding to everything from boat fires to bridge jumpers.

What I find most interesting about the “checkup” is this: the stimulus money given to Bainbridge police to enhance its boat was done to enhance Bainbridge police’s abilities to help with homeland security — a federal mission that the Bainbridge city council was once skeptical about helping fund.

If nothing else, hopefully the senators realize that the federal dollars spent on Bainbridge went toward a federal, and not a local, mission.

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Lakewood Tragedy: Time for a Change in Criminal Justice Policy?

The front page of Tuesday’s Kitsap Sun presented readers with two stories related to criminal justice: the cutting of corrections officers and Kitsap cops’ response to the tragedy in Lakewood.

I wasn’t alone in wondering this question: How can we be cutting corrections officers — a scaling back of the criminal justice system — just as a man slaughters four police officers execution style?

Today, the Christian Science Monitor’s editorial board cautions against letting anger in this “exceptional” case drive policy decisions.

” … The risk of a high-profile case such as Clemmons’s is that it will bring a backlash leading to a wrong policy,” they wrote. “That it will continue to discourage clemency, for instance, or that it will somehow slow the momentum toward reform.”

Is it time to chance policy in criminal justice — particularly in the way pardons and commutations are doled — in the wake of this tragedy? What do you think?

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