I’ll be away for a couple weeks, but Chris Henry might throw in a post or two while I’m gone. And who knows, perhaps I’ll get an inkling to post here, too.
If not, see you Dec. 10.
Monthly Archives: November 2007
Tunnel Stuff
If you care about the tunnel under construction
downtown, then chances are you probably already know that the unexpected find of lead and oil in
groundwater and stormwater has eaten through the project’s
contingency fund.
On balance it didn’t seem like the discovery caused too much alarm at the state Department of Transportation, but crews can’t afford any more surprises without driving up the overall price tag.
The way construction prices have gone up anyway, it was hard for me to believe that the $30.7 million estimate would, ahem, hold water.
Beyond that, word is U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks still has to find $8 million more to have all the funding. I’ve mentioned before that he told our editorial board if he has to find the money he will.
Smells Like Onions
A “Bremerton” man becomes part of an infographic in The Onion, “Everyday Customers Mistaken For Terrorists.”
Abdul Baqi, Musa Hottak, Muhammad Rasul, Yar Arsala, Bremerton, WA: Rock group Bavarian Cream not allowed to compete in Battle of the Bands
It can even affect your ability to buy a pair of pants.
On Notice: The Crime Edition
It’s time to resurrect the dubious tradition of borrowing Stephen Colbert’s cutting edge creation, “You’re on Notice!”
We’re bringing it back to the Bremerton Beat, because some story commenters love to malign this fair town, even when the crime carries a different dateline.
Bremerton has its people who hide money in the vacuum and tell their cell mates. But contrary to apparent public perception, this is not the only place for criminals and the intelligence challenged.
Port Orchard makes the list, just because. Sure, you’re getting a fancy new mayor and downtown height limits, but Bremertonians chuckle at your insistence that you “don’t want to be like Bremerton.” Heck, people in Bremerton don’t want to be like the Bremerton of some peoples’ active imagination.
South Kitsap makes the list because in the story about the South Kitsap man who tried to remove lugnuts with a shotgun, a couple of commenters made the list for misattributing the incident to the town a semi-famous rock band encourages a girlfriend to move to.
Mdlmanrn wrote :
“Again, the frequently used phrase……Only in Bremerton…..”
And Lacydru maligned:
“Eh…bremerton..”
Eh, no. South Kitsap. Gateway to Mason County.
irenecats009 makes only an error in judgment, not in fact, when she writes on the story about the Poulsbo guy with the “lethal weapons:”
“The amazing thing is it didn’t take place in Bremerton like the vast majority of Code 911 stories.”
Actually, I probably can’t quibble too much with that one. We only regularly read the reports in Bremerton and the Sheriffs office, so perhaps the reporting is somewhat skewed. Still, irenecats009, you’re on notice. By the way, how’s irenecats008 doing? She get over the shingles?
Finally, itchy_scratchy makes the list, because on the story of the naked-taser-PCP man she writes:
“You click the link of a Kitsap Sun story with a title like this, and just wait for the page to load…
1, 2, 3…
The first word in the story is almost always the same:
‘BREMERTON’”
No, no, no. As pointed out previously, Lugnuts is from South Kitsap. Lethal Weapons is from Poulsbo. Naked-taser-PCP guy did his crime in Bremerton, but he’s from Silverdale. That’s why Poulsbo and Silverdale also make the list. Stop getting your knuckleheads mixed up with ours.
Remember, “You’re on notice” means “I’m watching you,” not “You’re dead to me,” which is a different Colbert subject. Send me your nominations for things or people you’re getting a little suspicious of, or getting a little tired of, or you think are not getting the attention they should. Feel free to duplicate other peoples’ nominations. If something gets nominated a lot, it’s more likely to get on the board.
Then again, this isn’t scientific and is subject to the blogmaster’s personal bias and sense of what’s relevant and/or funny. The board will be updated whenever I’m good and ready. I’m seldom both, so be patient.
Guys Need Flowers
A blog I never knew anything about includes four reasons guys can use flowers.
It’s done by Bill Gross, who owns the Flowers to Go shops around these parts. I know Mr. Gross, but I didn’t know this bit of history:
Gross, owner of Flowers to Go, has brought thousands of flowers to the people of western Washington. He’s changed the floral industry into affordability and convenience. He started with a flower bucket on the streets of Bremerton 25 years ago and from there started transforming old burger joints into drive-through flower shops. He now owns and runs the most flower shops in the state.
Reason 4 you should send flowers to a guy:
A Rutgers Behavioral Study concludes that flowers trigger happy emotions, life satisfaction and improve social behavior.
I believe that’s true, but only when I’m sending flowers to my wife. When I do, that is improved social behavior by definition. It’s certainly an improvement over leaving the seat up. As for the happy emotions, when I send her flowers she’s more likely to overlook that I keep procrastinating taking the recyclables down to the bin, so that triggers my happy emotions and life satisfaction.
If someone were to send me flowers I’m not sure I could find room on my desk.
747’s Demise Not Changing Bremerton’s Plans
This same item is posted on the Kitsap Caucus blog.
On Wednesday’s council agenda is one item that for the past five years has been a pro forma event, the passing of the 1 percent property tax levy increase.
This year, however, the city has all the legal right in the world to throw upcoming election margins to the wind and grab 6 percent. Council members appear in no mood to do that, heeding Gov. Chris Gregoire’s plea that local governments not rush for the cash in light of the overturned Initiative 747.
The council will also effectively lower its business and occupation tax by increasing the exemption from $40,000 to $60,000. This is part of the city’s intended move to eventually eliminate the tax completely to give businesses something of a break and make the city competitive with the county.
Runyon’s Press Release
Newly elected city councilman Roy Runyon issued the following press release:
“For Immediate Release:
“Roy Runyon, candidate for Bremerton’s City Council District 4 seat decisively defeated Carlos Jara during the November 6th general election. From his many
conversations with fellow citizens, Mr. Runyon developed a relevant, realistic platform which gained him the endorsement of a clear majority of voters. Mr. Runyon feels that to be chosen by one’s fellow citizens to represent them is a great honor and a serious responsibility.“Mr. Runyon’s near-term priorities are as follows: Provide tax relief to homeowners at the 80% medium income level; repair critical infrastructure (streets) financed through a citizen-approved car tab fee increase along with existing Real Estate Excise Taxes (REET); reform aspects of the City’s parking policy to make parking more user friendly for residents, business patrons and downtown employees and; lobby the legislature and the DOT for an accelerated replacement schedule for the Manette Bridge.
“The biggest challenge facing Mr. Runyon as a councilman will be rounding up enough support from other councilmen to get his priorities acted upon.
Runyon, as of late Tuesday has 54.6 percent (253) of the votes, while Jara has 44.5 percent (206). There were four write-in votes.
Runyon in District 4
With Thursday’s vote totals in, Roy Runyon is your winner in District 4. The vote total has now surpassed what we saw in the primary and Runyon has built on his lead. He’s got 219 votes, 54 percent, to Carlos Jara’s 186, 45 percent.
That ups his margin to 33 votes, almost double what he had Wednesday.
Late Votes
In the two council races where late votes were worth watching, the leaders are still ahead. Will Maupin picked up a vote to increase his margin to 35 over Eric Younger.
In the Roy Runyon-Carlos Jara race downtown, Runyon’s lead narrowed by six votes.
Last night I wrote that Jara would have to get 61 percent of the remaining votes if the general election vote total matches the primary. For the votes counted Wednesday he got 55 percent.
I’m capable of being a math geek, so let’s look at the numbers. County elections officials say there are about 20,000 more ballots left to count. If that plays out equally across the county, that would mean 124 more votes in District 4. Jara would have to get 71 votes, 57 percent, to win.
Typically, that doesn’t happen. Late voting trends don’t often stray too far from the early votes. Though Jara did make up six votes today, I don’t know of any circumstances that would cause me to predict that will continue.
We’ll find out at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Reflecting on Autumn
This photo, shot by the
Kitsap Sun’s Larry Steagall, appeared in our paper and is now
enjoying a life on MSNBC. It’s part of the site’s “The Week in
Pictures,” which allows site viewers to vote for the favorite one
of 12 photos. Larry’s picture has a solid lead so far. The shot is
from the Bridgeview Medical and Professional Center in East
Bremerton.
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