GlitzyArmrest

BREMERTON — One Nimitz sailor was stabbed in the barracks in Bremerton and transported to a Seattle hospital Saturday morning, and two other Nimitz sailors are now in pre-trial confinement related to the incident, the Navy said.

Three sailors assigned to the Bremerton-based USS Nimitz aircraft carrier were involved in an altercation in the barracks at Naval Base Kitsap on Saturday, Nimitz spokesperson Tim Pietrack told Kitsap Sun.

One sailor was injured and transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The sailor is in stable condition, Pietrack said on Monday. Two other sailors are currently being held in pre-trial confinement at the Northwestern Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the spokesperson said.

As North Korea and Russia forge closer ties, North Korean and Russian authorities are cooperating more closely than before on matters related to North Korean workers in Russia, Daily NK has learned.

“All the safe houses and routes used by North Korean workers defecting from Russia were discovered after Kim Jong Un met with Putin, and [defectors] are afraid even to visit the UN [refugee agency],” a source in Russia told Daily NK on Jan. 26, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The source said North Korean workers in Russia have been under tighter control since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September. In addition, Russian authorities have worked to uncover defection routes, which has discouraged sympathetic Russians from contacting North Korean workers or helping them defect.

According to the source, North Korean authorities issued orders to North Korean companies in Russia on Jan. 22, reiterating the need for companies to report on all their business dealings in the country, to strictly monitor and control managers’ and workers’ access to the outside Internet and Internet searches on their cell phones, and to cooperate with Russian intelligence agencies to track down anyone who attempts to defect.

“Managers of North Korean companies say that tens of thousands of [North Korean] workers will come to Russia to work in various fields, including construction sites. That’s why the North Korean authorities are stepping up ideological training and enforcement for workers currently in Russia and working with Russian intelligence agencies to prevent defections,” the source said.

Given the mood on the ground, the source said, some North Korean workers who recently fled their companies in Russia have gone into hiding and are too afraid of being caught to contact the UN refugee agency in Russia. These workers are doubtful that the agency can ensure their safety.

“Before Kim Jong Un met Putin, the Ministry of State Security only cooperated with Russian intelligence in arresting and repatriating defectors if they were high-ranking or otherwise important to the government. But now the cooperation has increased tenfold, making it harder for ordinary workers to defect,” the source said.

The owners of Brick Ally, downtown Port Orchard’s home for lovers of LEGO, found themselves picking up the pieces Jan. 26 after the store reported it was burgled overnight.

John and Ally Meckley said just a few minutes before midnight Jan. 25, two people broke through the glass of the front door, entered the store on the corner of Bay Street and Sidney Avenue, and stole several high-value sets. The suspects left within minutes.

Images captured from the shop’s security footage show the two pick up arm-fulls of LEGO boxes from the shelves. Parts of the suspects’ faces are visible.

“They went straight for the large, big-ticket items,” Meckley said. “We’re still going through it,” but it’s about $4,000 to $5,000 lost.

The couple discovered the damage when going through the footage, seeing police clear the area in the early morning hours. The store closed for the day as they went through their losses.

“They even stole the Bowser that was my husband’s Christmas present and was displayed in the window,” Ally said. “This breaks my heart. I am at a loss for words.”

The owners are cautioning LEGO buyers to watch out for any suspicious postings of the stolen sets on Facebook Marketplace or other online platforms with other surrounding LEGO dealers and resellers already on high alert.

The couple is also considering ways to prevent future robberies. “The police recommended something that will make loud noises,” Meckley said. “It’s a very quick deterrent of people that just don’t want to be noticed.”

He said many in the community have showed support. “We’ve had multiple people see if they can come down to help us clean up. It’s really cool to see the community reach back out to us.”

Despite the break-in, the owners are looking forward to the store’s meet and greet event Feb. 24 with five contestants from season 4 of reality TV show LEGO Masters and renowned LEGO jeweler JacQueline Sanchez. The event has been organized to celebrate the Bay Street store’s second anniversary.

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that a Bremerton man had pleaded guilty to four felony charges that stemmed from his "extensive" history of swatting – or summoning law enforcement to a location on an urgent, false pretense.

Ashton Connor Garcia pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion and two counts of threats and hoaxes regarding explosives in U.S. District Court. Prosecutors are recommending that Garcia, who is scheduled to be sentenced in April, be sentenced to four years in prison.

Garcia made a series of swatting calls between June 2022 and March 2023 to law enforcement targeting victims in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, prosecutors said. Garcia called and made reports to various emergency dispatch services throughout the country, and in response to many of his calls, law enforcement officers were dispatched to targeted addresses, according to court documents, which note that Garcia used a social media platform to broadcast the calls.

In one incident in August 2022, Garcia called the Bremerton Police Department to falsely claim that he had shot his mother, and in another incident in September 2022, he falsely reported to Bremerton police that he needed help because his father shot his mother and was running around the house with a shotgun, according to court documents.

In another incident, he sent messages to an individual in Ohio in which he threatened to publish nude pictures of her and swat her and her family if she did not send him credit card information, and in another, he threatened to swat a person in New Jersey if she did not send him sexual images.

In others, he told Kentucky State Police that he was holding two people hostage with a pipe bomb and an AR-15 and that he would kill them unless he received $50,000 in cash, called police in Cleveland, Ohio, to report that he had planted a pipe bomb at a TV station in that city, told police in Charleston, Illinois, that he had planted a bomb at a park, and told police in Los Angeles, California, that he had stashed four pounds of explosive material at an airport that he would detonate unless he received $200,000 in Bitcoin.

Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that a Bremerton man had pleaded guilty to four felony charges that stemmed from his "extensive" history of swatting – or summoning law enforcement to a location on an urgent, false pretense.

Ashton Connor Garcia pleaded guilty to two counts of extortion and two counts of threats and hoaxes regarding explosives in U.S. District Court. Prosecutors are recommending that Garcia, who is scheduled to be sentenced in April, be sentenced to four years in prison.

Garcia made a series of swatting calls between June 2022 and March 2023 to law enforcement targeting victims in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, prosecutors said. Garcia called and made reports to various emergency dispatch services throughout the country, and in response to many of his calls, law enforcement officers were dispatched to targeted addresses, according to court documents, which note that Garcia used a social media platform to broadcast the calls.

In one incident in August 2022, Garcia called the Bremerton Police Department to falsely claim that he had shot his mother, and in another incident in September 2022, he falsely reported to Bremerton police that he needed help because his father shot his mother and was running around the house with a shotgun, according to court documents.

In another incident, he sent messages to an individual in Ohio in which he threatened to publish nude pictures of her and swat her and her family if she did not send him credit card information, and in another, he threatened to swat a person in New Jersey if she did not send him sexual images.

In others, he told Kentucky State Police that he was holding two people hostage with a pipe bomb and an AR-15 and that he would kill them unless he received $50,000 in cash, called police in Cleveland, Ohio, to report that he had planted a pipe bomb at a TV station in that city, told police in Charleston, Illinois, that he had planted a bomb at a park, and told police in Los Angeles, California, that he had stashed four pounds of explosive material at an airport that he would detonate unless he received $200,000 in Bitcoin.

North Kitsap School District Superintendent Laurynn Evans was contacted by law enforcement Friday morning as part of an investigation into the theft and disposal of signs opposed to the district's upcoming bond measure.

The Kitsap County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a written statement that a woman was questioned in Poulsbo and is considered a person of interest in the investigation, but did not identify who the woman was. The woman told KCSO she was not involved with the thefts, according to a statement released Friday.

North Kitsap School District spokesperson Jenn Markaryan on Friday afternoon told the Kitsap Sun that the district had "no information to provide." KCSO spokesman Kevin McCarty told the Kitsap Sun that Evans herself has been questioned. The investigation is ongoing and will be forwarded to the Kitsap County Prosecuting Attorney for review.

The incident began when two opponents of the ballot measure for a $242 million bond observed an individual taking signs from the side of Little Boston Road early Friday morning. The bond is up for election on Feb. 13, and would rebuild Pearson Elementary School and Wolfle Elementary School, among other projects around the district. It is the first bond proposal by the NKSD in 23 years.

Scott Henden, a former North Kitsap school board member who helped craft the "against" committee argument in local voters' pamphlet and is part of a citizen committee opposed to the bond, said that he and fellow committee member Kim Gerlach were witnesses to the theft, which involved what he characterized as a "blonde gal" in her 50s.

Henden told the Kitsap Sun that his committee's signs, some reading "VOTE NO NKSD BOND," have been disappearing frequently, leading him to use outdoor trail and game cameras, which take photos based on motion detection. Images captured on those cameras led Henden and Gerlach to stake out a location on Little Boston Road in Kingston on Friday morning where two anti-bond signs were located.

After Henden arrived at the location at around 6:10 a.m. Friday morning, he took cover behind some bushes. Shortly after, Henden saw a grayish Ford pickup truck slow down and stop. Around 6:30 a.m. a woman exited the vehicle, pulled the signs out of the ground, put them in the back of the truck, and then drove off. Henden then made a phone call to Gerlach, who was parked in her car off Eglon Road.

“He called me and said, I can’t believe it, someone just put two of our signs in the back of their truck," Gerlach said. "He told me what the truck looked like and I followed it."

Hoping to identify the driver, Gerlach began to follow the truck southbound on Hansville Road and onto Bond Road toward Poulsbo. At a stop light, Gerlach took a photo of the truck's license plate. Later, Gerlach said the truck left Bond and briefly stopped on Stottlemeyer Road.

Henden and Gerlach said they lost track of the truck as it approached Poulsbo city limits. Gerlach drove downtown to see if she could spot the truck again, and saw Evans entering the Poulsbo Sons of Norway building, where the Poulsbo Rotary Club held a meeting Friday morning. A gray truck that Henden and Gerlach believe was the same one they followed was parked in the Sons of Norway's small parking lot off Front Street.

At that point, Henden called 911 to file a report. Two Poulsbo police officers initially met with Henden and Gerlach in the Sons of Norway parking lot before they contacted the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, since the report originated outside of Poulsbo city limits. KCSO sent multiple deputies to the scene and to a site on Stottlemeyer Road identified by Gerlach.

The woman questioned by sheriff's deputies at the Sons of Norway confirmed that she was the owner of the gray truck, according to the KCSO statement.

At one point, a KCSO deputy asked Gerlach if the bond signs had grease on them. Gerlach noted that Henden had used grease on the signs, hoping they'd be a theft deterrent. What the deputy told Gerlach next came as a surprise: "I’ve got grease on my uniform," Gerlach said the deputy told her. "I picked up the signs on Stottlemeyer where you said she pulled over.”

Trail cams to watch for whoever is stealing your campaign signs? Do people really vote based on campaign signs in the first place?

On February 13, Bremerton voters will face a choice about whether or not to approve a 25-year, $150 million bond in a special election.

Two elementary schools on the city's east side, Armin Jahr and View Ridge, will largely be the recipients of the bond. Both are slated to be replaced, if voters approve — Armin Jahr was constructed in 1968, and has not seen any updates since the 1990s. View Ridge was constructed more than a decade earlier, post World War II, and now sits on an overall parcel of land owned by the school district off Wheaton Way that offers multiple options for reconstruction if the project moves ahead.

Other projects included in the proposed bond, which must be approved by 60 percent of voters to pass, include replacing the district's alternative high school, Renaissance, from its location near the district offices, upgrading HVAC systems at all schools in the district, and replacing a facilities building.

Aging facilities built for fewer students

View Ridge Elementary, just south of the Sylvan Way library and east of the busy Wheaton way corridor, houses 400 children, grades pre-k through fifth grade, though it was built for 300. About a third of the student body is situated in 12 portables outside the school, including preschool. The capacity situation, says Bremerton School District Assistant Superintendent Garth Steedman, is even worse at Armin Jahr, which sits not far from View Ridge on the west side of Wheaton Way, south of Blueberry Park.

“You know, these schools need to hold probably 600 kids. And yet right now, AJ [Armin Jahr] is bursting with 500 [students].” 

Armin Jahr was constructed in 1968, and was last remodeled in 2004. Its current enrollment is 488 students, and its capacity is 481. View Ridge has been remodeled around four times, the last time being in 1994, but the facility was built in 1956, making it 68 years old. School staff and district leaders say the buildings are showing their age.

As Principal Korene Calderwood walks around the facility, she notes that the roofs have had leakage issues, pointing to a hole in the ceiling. The school was built open concept, sometimes called "California style" with open breezeways, which may not necessarily be the best design for the Puget Sound area's consistent rainfall during several months of the school year. Calderwood describes the layout as “maze-like,” and notes that the impacts of the buildings being outdated fall on more than simply repair issues, but also student learning. 

“I think when you look at View Ridge and Armin Jahr, which were built in the 50s, were built for different purposes, different educational philosophies than we have now… so some of the purposes of building the school for educational purposes have changed over the years," Calderwood said during a recent tour. "And we are doing our best to meet the needs of our 21st century students in a building that was designed for the 1950s.” 

Superintendent James Crawford says that having students learn in an environment like that is inherently obstructive to their learning.

“When we're talking about bursting at the seams, we're not just talking about portables, we're talking about things like the learning lab over there in the library..." Crawford said. "Kids sitting in the hallway…those basic learning experiences do not lend themselves to improving student achievement. They just don't. And if that’s the infrastructure that you have, that means that… we don't have the ability to be able to do what the best practices are telling us to do, because the very nature of that building is just bursting.”

If the bond is passed, new buildings on each campus would be built to accommodate 550-650 students, a need the district points to as Bremerton is forecast to continue growing in population.

Equity issues at district's most diverse schools

On a national level, low-income students and students of color tend to attend schools that are older and have more maintenance issues, according to a 2018 report to Congress by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. That's also the case for Armin Jahr and View Ridge, according to the school district.

“Armin Jahr and View Ridge are the most diverse elementary schools in the district," Crawford said. "And obviously, they're the ones that need the most work. And so you've got kids that are diverse, a large portion of them are impoverished, inside schools that aren't up to date.”

Armin Jahr's student population is predominantly students of color, with almost half being Latino, according to Bremerton School District enrollment numbers. And 70% of students come from low-income backgrounds. At View Ridge around half of the student population are students of color and 63% are low-income.

“We're talking about decreasing the variables that are getting in the way of actually improving achievement," Crawford said. "The basic variable that gets in the way is the fact that the foundation of the school is not supporting what the educational practices are saying...and so then when you walk down the hallway, and you look at the kids that are that are trying to learn in a situation as best as possible, they happen to be black and brown. That's a huge problem.”

East Bremerton community campus

View Ridge Elementary school sits on 23 acres of land owned by the school District, with the school's campus contiguous to several ballfields and what used to be home to East High School, and then Bremerton Junior High, which was torn down in 2018. The old East gym is now well used as a community gym on the property, and a Boys & Girls Club facility was built next door, but other land at the site sits vacant, like neglected old tennis courts behind the community gym.

Breaking ground on a replacement school for View Ridge could present an opportunity for further development in the campus. The plan released by the district offers two options for the new View Ridge school building, one near the current site and another closer to the community gym, which could lead to other changes across the property.

Crawford and Steedman both said that development beyond the school replacements has not been planned, and the specific site for View Ridge and any further planning is a later step in the process, with Crawford equating the final placement to "a bunch of puzzle pieces, basically.

In district plans a new Armin Jahr is situated on the current campus, next to the existing school. Renaissance High School is currently located in a building on First Street, near Forest Ridge Park in West Bremerton.

“What we've put forth in terms of a bond is what you "see on paper and that's the replacement of Armin Jahr and View Ridge, consolidated services, relocation of Renaissance and HVAC [upgrades] across the system. Those are the five areas that are part of this proposal,” Crawford said.

“So you examine what kind of land is available. Where can we build? What is going to be most fiscally responsible for us in terms of timing? All those factors go into play when you start to kind of move around where buildings actually ought to be.”

If the bond passes, Steedman says that construction would begin on the development next spring, with construction happening hopefully around June 2025.

On February 13, Bremerton voters will face a choice about whether or not to approve a 25-year, $150 million bond in a special election.

Two elementary schools on the city's east side, Armin Jahr and View Ridge, will largely be the recipients of the bond. Both are slated to be replaced, if voters approve — Armin Jahr was constructed in 1968, and has not seen any updates since the 1990s. View Ridge was constructed more than a decade earlier, post World War II, and now sits on an overall parcel of land owned by the school district off Wheaton Way that offers multiple options for reconstruction if the project moves ahead.

Other projects included in the proposed bond, which must be approved by 60 percent of voters to pass, include replacing the district's alternative high school, Renaissance, from its location near the district offices, upgrading HVAC systems at all schools in the district, and replacing a facilities building.

Aging facilities built for fewer students

View Ridge Elementary, just south of the Sylvan Way library and east of the busy Wheaton way corridor, houses 400 children, grades pre-k through fifth grade, though it was built for 300. About a third of the student body is situated in 12 portables outside the school, including preschool. The capacity situation, says Bremerton School District Assistant Superintendent Garth Steedman, is even worse at Armin Jahr, which sits not far from View Ridge on the west side of Wheaton Way, south of Blueberry Park.

“You know, these schools need to hold probably 600 kids. And yet right now, AJ [Armin Jahr] is bursting with 500 [students].” 

Armin Jahr was constructed in 1968, and was last remodeled in 2004. Its current enrollment is 488 students, and its capacity is 481. View Ridge has been remodeled around four times, the last time being in 1994, but the facility was built in 1956, making it 68 years old. School staff and district leaders say the buildings are showing their age.

As Principal Korene Calderwood walks around the facility, she notes that the roofs have had leakage issues, pointing to a hole in the ceiling. The school was built open concept, sometimes called "California style" with open breezeways, which may not necessarily be the best design for the Puget Sound area's consistent rainfall during several months of the school year. Calderwood describes the layout as “maze-like,” and notes that the impacts of the buildings being outdated fall on more than simply repair issues, but also student learning. 

“I think when you look at View Ridge and Armin Jahr, which were built in the 50s, were built for different purposes, different educational philosophies than we have now… so some of the purposes of building the school for educational purposes have changed over the years," Calderwood said during a recent tour. "And we are doing our best to meet the needs of our 21st century students in a building that was designed for the 1950s.” 

Superintendent James Crawford says that having students learn in an environment like that is inherently obstructive to their learning.

“When we're talking about bursting at the seams, we're not just talking about portables, we're talking about things like the learning lab over there in the library..." Crawford said. "Kids sitting in the hallway…those basic learning experiences do not lend themselves to improving student achievement. They just don't. And if that’s the infrastructure that you have, that means that… we don't have the ability to be able to do what the best practices are telling us to do, because the very nature of that building is just bursting.”

If the bond is passed, new buildings on each campus would be built to accommodate 550-650 students, a need the district points to as Bremerton is forecast to continue growing in population.

Equity issues at district's most diverse schools

On a national level, low-income students and students of color tend to attend schools that are older and have more maintenance issues, according to a 2018 report to Congress by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. That's also the case for Armin Jahr and View Ridge, according to the school district.

“Armin Jahr and View Ridge are the most diverse elementary schools in the district," Crawford said. "And obviously, they're the ones that need the most work. And so you've got kids that are diverse, a large portion of them are impoverished, inside schools that aren't up to date.”

Armin Jahr's student population is predominantly students of color, with almost half being Latino, according to Bremerton School District enrollment numbers. And 70% of students come from low-income backgrounds. At View Ridge around half of the student population are students of color and 63% are low-income.

“We're talking about decreasing the variables that are getting in the way of actually improving achievement," Crawford said. "The basic variable that gets in the way is the fact that the foundation of the school is not supporting what the educational practices are saying...and so then when you walk down the hallway, and you look at the kids that are that are trying to learn in a situation as best as possible, they happen to be black and brown. That's a huge problem.”

East Bremerton community campus

View Ridge Elementary school sits on 23 acres of land owned by the school District, with the school's campus contiguous to several ballfields and what used to be home to East High School, and then Bremerton Junior High, which was torn down in 2018. The old East gym is now well used as a community gym on the property, and a Boys & Girls Club facility was built next door, but other land at the site sits vacant, like neglected old tennis courts behind the community gym.

Breaking ground on a replacement school for View Ridge could present an opportunity for further development in the campus. The plan released by the district offers two options for the new View Ridge school building, one near the current site and another closer to the community gym, which could lead to other changes across the property.

Crawford and Steedman both said that development beyond the school replacements has not been planned, and the specific site for View Ridge and any further planning is a later step in the process, with Crawford equating the final placement to "a bunch of puzzle pieces, basically.

In district plans a new Armin Jahr is situated on the current campus, next to the existing school. Renaissance High School is currently located in a building on First Street, near Forest Ridge Park in West Bremerton.

“What we've put forth in terms of a bond is what you "see on paper and that's the replacement of Armin Jahr and View Ridge, consolidated services, relocation of Renaissance and HVAC [upgrades] across the system. Those are the five areas that are part of this proposal,” Crawford said.

“So you examine what kind of land is available. Where can we build? What is going to be most fiscally responsible for us in terms of timing? All those factors go into play when you start to kind of move around where buildings actually ought to be.”

If the bond passes, Steedman says that construction would begin on the development next spring, with construction happening hopefully around June 2025.

Washington state has asked a judge to block a proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons, arguing the $25 billion deal would harm consumers and raise prices.

A series of harrowing air safety incidents has forced numerous emergency landings of airliners across Russia, leaving passengers screaming — in anger or fear.

Temperatures fell to 14 degrees overnight in Seattle, ushering in a bleak and biting chill the city hasn’t seen for over a decade. Temperatures are unlikely to surpass a high of 25 degrees Saturday as a blanket of clouds settles over the city.

But the dip in temperatures won’t bring snow, forecasters say. Snowfall is expected to miss the city and instead go south over Olympia and Lewis County.

“The big weather story here is the cold,” said Dana Felton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

The last time Seattle had a high of 25 degrees was in 2010. If temperatures fail to hit that mark, Saturday will become the coldest day in a quarter century.

Amid the frigid temperatures, thousands of people lost power in South Seattle, with more than 1,600 Seattle City Light customers between Interstate 5 and Seward Park remaining in the dark as of roughly 11:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, public health officials advised residents to bundle up, drive safely and recognize the signs of hypothermia.

Warning signs can include uncontrolled shivering, confusion, slurred speech, extreme exhaustion and lack of consciousness. If a person is experiencing hypothermia — which can be exacerbated by wet clothes, exhaustion, hunger or alcohol — they or others should immediately call 911 for medical help.

Pets and livestock should also be kept dry and warm with clean, unfrozen water, officials said.

The weekend cold front is the result of a cold air mass that has dropped down over the northern United States, as massive winter storms hit much of the country. Seattle will experience just the edge of the cold front, however. In Spokane, temperatures dropped below zero, and in Montana they have fallen below minus 25 degrees.

Friday’s high of just 10 degrees in Bellingham marked the coldest day there in 59 years.

Sunday and Monday will bring incrementally higher temperatures, with sun expected both days, before another weather system arrives Tuesday. Seattle could see a possibility of snow Tuesday afternoon, but forecasters expect mostly rain into the middle of the week.

Until at least Tuesday, severe weather shelters are open overnight at the Exhibition Hall at Seattle Center and the Salvation Army in Sodo. The Urban League is open for people younger than 25, and the YMCA’s Angeline’s Day Center is available for single women. Families with children should call the Family Shelter Intake Line at 206-245-1026.

The Federal Communications Commission is about to start winding down a program that gives $30 monthly broadband discounts to people with low incomes, and says it will have to complete the shutdown by May if Congress doesn't provide more funding.