Monthly Archives: October 2006

UPDATE: Kitsap Sees 16th Road Fatality

Last week, we ran a story about a scary statistic: an increased amount of traffic accident fatalities on Kitsap County roads in the past three months. The total for the year was 15.

No more.

On Sunday, a 47-year-old Bainbridge Island man was killed in a single-vehicle collision on Grand Avenue near Yeomalt Point Drive on Bainbridge Island. Police believe speed and alcohol were a factor.

No. 16.

Last year, many of you will remember accidents on North Kitsap’s Bond Road — or Highway 307 — resulted in numerous fatalities. This year, the roadway has had two — but the rest of the county has seen a spike in the past three months of 11 more fatalities.

The first seven months had 5 around the county. That sizable an increase has area law enforcement and the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers worried.

The causes of the accidents are varied, but the two most common factors seem to be speed and alcohol. And since we’re entering the busy — and often drink-filled — holiday season, there is a sense there will be more drunks and speeders on the road this fall and winter.

What tips can anyone offer to help curb the deaths?

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

‘Justice for All’ Stories Around Washington

In Sunday’s edition of the Kitsap Sun, I told you the story of Jackie Van Dorn, an NK mother of two whose children were taken by their father — and whom at one time, Van Dorn thought she might never see again.

Van Dorn’s story was made possible by Kitsap Legal Services and Washington’s Alliance for Equal Justice group, both of which are pushing the issue of the plight of the poor in receiving civil legal help.

The alliance hosted events across the state, and I wanted to give you a chance to view the various reports.

Continue reading →

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Two First-Degree Murder Convictions, One County

The Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office landed two first-degree murder convictions this week — one by jury trial and one by plea agreement.

Larry William Clark, 34, accused of the stabbing death of Marty Smith, 46, at Clark’s Viking Crest Apartment on Nov. 4, 2005, reached a plea deal that will likely see him serve 30 years in prison.

Martin K. Warren, 36, was convicted by a jury Tuesday of the patricide of Russell Warren, 61, at the family’s Komichan Lane property on Oct. 11, 2004. Because of “aggravating factors” — his father had a protection order against him — he’ll likely be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

The wheels of justice often turn slowly — especially in the Warren case — but turn they do.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

Dodge Charges into Kitsap’s Police Scene

Some local law enforcement agencies are adding to their policing repertoire a new patrol car that packs quite an automotive punch.

With quite the souped-up engine, the Dodge Charger has been raising law enforcement eyebrows across the country, and I’m hearing more rumblings of its arrival here on the Kitsap Peninsula.

Continue reading →

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post

The Civil Justice Forum?

Yesterday, we broke a story of lawsuit to be paid to at least eight women who had been sexually harassed while working or applying to work at the Horseshoe Lake Golf Course in South Kitsap.

Joan Erlich, district director of the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s San Francisco office, told me by phone yesterday that the case was one of the “grossest” she’s seen in almost three decades of work for the commission.

She told me that her office has a committed team of lawyers who work on cases just like this one frequently, and that the job can be “discouraging,” especially because we’re “forty years from the Civil Rights Act,” she said.

About $367,000 will be paid by the owners of Horseshoe to eight women, with an additional trust fund established to pay others who come forward for damages.

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post