Kitsap Sun
Civil rights icon ‘kept the dream alive’
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a towering civil rights icon who battled alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., negotiated global hostage releases and shamed corporations for their lack of diversity and failure to support voting rights, died on Feb. 17. He...
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National Guard fully withdrawn from 3 cities
National Guard soldiers have fully withdrawn from Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, military officials said, ending federalized troop operations in half of the cities where the Trump administration launched them last year. The troops competed...
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President Trump’s comments risk Latinos’ support
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s attack on Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show – including a gripe that it was mostly in Spanish – has alarmed some Hispanic Republican strategists, politicians and business leaders who warn...
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Shelter in limbo
RBREMERTON — ev. Arienne Davison concluded a roughly ten-minute sermon last Sunday with a message about a proposed homeless shelter in the city’s Sheridan neighborhood. The project has weighed heavily on the mind of Davison and her congregation at St....
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Report: U.S. inflation ticked down in January
Inflation cooled a bit more than forecasters expected in January, with prices rising 2.4% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Feb. 13. The report, which was delayed two days because of a brief government shutdown, revealed that inflation...
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12s CELEBRATE CHAMPIONS
Downtown Seattle’s Fourth Avenue was lined with Seattle Seahawks fans from early hours on Wednesday, more than two dozen deep at some points, as a crowd estimated to potentially reach 1 million gathered to watch a Super Bowl parade following Seattle’s...
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Stained-glass for sparrows
HANSVILLE — After a biking accident forced Sean Brown to give up his job as a chef, he has pivoted to transform his creative outlet into a new career. He now uses his carpentry skills, working out of his garage to construct “Brown’s Bird Estates,”...
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Community greenhouse passes another milestone
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — Onion Day is about starts, and a season’s beginning, according to John Chang. But at Peaceful Morning Farms, Chang’s labor of love on 0.65 acres along Lovgren Road just off Highway 305, the story has, symbolically and tangibly, more...
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Seahawks Super Bowl parade in Seattle
Mostly sunny skies and a high of 50 degrees is anticipated for Wednesday, when the Seattle Seahawks plan to publicly display the Lombardi Trophy and then parade through downtown Seattle to celebrate the team’s second Super Bowl championship. The team...
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Cirrus scene at the shore
People are silhouetted against the sparkling water as they walk along the shore at Point No Point in Hansville on Feb. 5.
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Back for rematch
Regardless of what type of season the Seattle Seahawks experience — good, bad or somewhere in between — Kirk Parrish spends the winter months chasing the same goal: trying to make the team’s roster better. That’s what Parrish, a 1987 North Kitsap...
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MAGA vs. Bad Bunny splits Super Bowl
Sen. Tommy Tuberville was thrilled to attend the Super Bowl in 2025 when he hitched a ride on Air Force One, joining President Donald Trump and severFeb. al other Republican lawmakers for the big game. “Happy Super Bowl Sunday,” the Republican senator...
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UNSEASONABLE SILVERDALE
A pair takes advantage of the spring-like weather with a stroll along the Silverdale Waterfront Pier on Feb. 4.
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Lawmakers turn focus to reform ICE
WASHINGTON – The latest government shutdown is over, and Capitol Hill is already bracing for another high-profile brawl over President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts that could land one federal agency with a shutdown all its own. As...
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‘One donation can save up to three lives’
SILVERDALE -- Arriving at the Bloodworks NW’s donation center late Thursday morning, Meg Hall is thrilled to see a full parking lot out front. A half dozen patients are already inside the small office building, a couple miles from St. Michael Medical...
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Students grow with grocery’s partnership
POULSBO -- Tuesday mornings are usually unremarkable for most people. Meetings, classes, maybe the occasional dentist appointment. But at Poulsbo’s Red Apple Market, Tuesday mornings have become the highlight of the week. It’s because that’s the day...
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RESURFACED
“Some of my neighbors didn’t like it,” Alan Newberg said during a drive on Jan. 27 from his home in Brownsville to Newberry Hill, near Silverdale. Newberg is fairly well known in Kitsap as a former art teacher at Olympic College and a founding member...
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Shutdown still possible despite DHS compromise
Lawmakers appeared to be closing in on a deal endorsed by President Donald Trump to avoid an extended government shutdown, but a key player said a brief government closure may be inevitable as there still was work to be done Jan. 30 as funding was set...
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Democrats demand DHS fixes to avoid shutdown
Less than three months after a record-breaking government shutdown, the country stood on the brink of a partial shutdown as the Senate failed to advance a massive spending package that must pass by Jan. 30. Just the week before, the six-measure bill...
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Government shutdown looms after MN killing
WASHINGTON – Another government shutdown is on its way. Since the killing of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis sparked nationwide uproar, there’s little hope on Capitol Hill for an eleventh-hour miracle in the next few days to salvage...
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Pedestrians, cost cited by locals and state rep
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND -- As the Washington State Department Of Transportation moves closer to adding a roundabout at a busy Bainbridge Island intersection, some community members and local officials are concerned if the chosen site is the right fit for the...
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SEAHAWKS SOAR TO SUPER BOWL
Sunday’s AFC and NFC championship games put the full spectrum of football performances on display. h With a berth in Super Bowl 60 on the line, the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos made clear early that they would be engaged in a defensive...
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Minnesota officials vow accountability
Minnesota leaders are vowing to hold federal officials accountable for the fatal shooting on Jan. 24 by a Border Patrol agent of a 37-year-old ICU nurse, whose death has sparked fresh protests in a state already rocked by the recent killing of Renee...
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A pair of 12s spread Seahawks spirit
ILLAHEE – It’s a question any courteous neighbor would ask, if he were responsible for triggering frequent noise by passing cars on an otherwise quiet Kitsap residential road. So Vinni Dietrich, feeling a bit guilty, checked with a few nearby...
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Minnesotans start strike to protest surge by ICE
MINNEAPOLIS – Scores of businesses across Minnesota were closing up for the day on Jan. 23 in what religious leaders and labor unions described as a general strike to protest President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of immigration enforcement...
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Health plan rate spikes could leave more uninsured
BREMERTON – Not long after Rebecca Nystrom relocated from Arizona to start a graduate program at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, her husband became seriously ill. Alongside her daughter, who has autism and mobility issues, medical...
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WINTER ON THE WATER
Owen Butler, 11, of Bremerton, glances back at the shore while paddling around Island Lake with his parents Chris Butler, Louise Brown and younger brother Leo Butler, 8, on Jan. 20. The moderate weather of January in Western Washington is anticipated...
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DOJ investigating MN demonstration
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into a Minnesota demonstration that interrupted a church service Jan. 18. A group of protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul, alleging that Pastor David Easterwood serves as the acting...
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Federal probe into Good questioned
First Amendment groups are concerned that the federal government’s investigation into the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis will have negative implications for free speech. The concern follows New York Times reporting that the Department of...
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RIDE THE TIDE
A flock of Barrow’s goldeneye ducks ride the waves at the Big Beef Shoreline Preserve in Seabeck on Jan. 15.
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Machado gains little in White House visit
WASHINGTON – Venezuelan opposition leader Marina Corina Machado got her courtesy luncheon with President Donald Trump on Jan. 15 but gained little else politically after the White House secured a $500 million deal for Venezuelan oil through ongoing...
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The future of Bremerton’s homeless shelter uncertain
The Salvation Army will continue to run a low-barrier, 24/7 homeless shelter in downtown Bremerton through March 31. That comes despite announcing plans last December to reduce operational hours on Jan. 1 because of a drop in county funding. While it...
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Volunteers launch effort to create a community center
SILVERDALE — Volunteers have formed a nonprofit in hopes of finding a suitable property to open a Silverdale community center, a long-held goal in Kitsap’s largest unincorporated community. The vision is to create a place where people of all ages can...
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‘Having a great time’
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — It was Iris Queen’s first time joining locals and visitors from outside the county to celebrate the new year at Bainbridge’s annual Mochi Tsuki. She was asked to help pound the rice in a granite bowl to make mochi outside the north...
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PEACE AND HONOR
Poulsbo’s first city council meeting of the new year on Jan. 7 started off with a special appearance from the Suquamish Tribe, and a subtle action that the entities intend will symbolize peace and cooperation. Following the oaths of office taken by...
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Protests spread after fatal shooting by ICE
The city of Minneapolis is reeling in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration agent, as federal and local authorities clash over the latest violence in President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown. The woman,...
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SPARROW SIGHT
A song sparrow pauses next to a vine of ivy as it hops along a fence at Illahee State Park in Bremerton on Jan. 5.
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Trump: Case against Maduro ‘infallible’
Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was transported by helicopter on Jan. 5 to a federal courthouse in Manhattan for an arraignment on federal narco-terrorism charges. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were facing a four-count indictment linking...
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City plans to keep shelter open through winter
BREMERTON – Officials from the city and the housing authority, along with state legislators, are ironing out a lastminute plan that would allow the Salvation Army to maintain 24/7 operations at its downtown homeless shelter for at least the remainder...
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Mamdani promises new era for NYC
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Jan. 1 inauguration and block party reflected a diverse city looking to make good on the 34-year-old democratic socialist’s promises to address affordability. On a freezing New Year’s Day, the Democratic mayor...
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Construction a big part of 2026’s plan for education
Large piles of dirt and construction equipment now seen off Wheaton Way and, less visibly to commuters, Dibb Avenue just a few blocks west, sit as reminders of two significant additions coming to Bremerton in 2026. Two new elementary school buildings...
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‘Made in USA’ gets boost from tariffs
Forty-one years ago, when Sara Irvani’s grandfather launched a footwear company in Buford, Georgia, half the nation’s shoes were made in America. Today, the figure is down to 1%. “From the late 1890s through the 1970s or so, there had actually been...
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Taking a look back at what 2025 had to teach us LESSONS LEARNED
One thing about being a journalist I’ve always found remarkable, as common as it seems, is that people will almost always talk to you. A reporter can walk up to a stranger, knock on a door or make a cold call, say we’re with the Sun and pose a...
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Experts expect economy to grow in 2026
A seesaw year for the U.S. economy in 2025 looks set to give way to a stronger 2026 thanks to tailwinds from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, less uncertainty around tariffs, the ongoing artificial intelligence boom and a lateyear run of...
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County set to add new Harper Estuary bridge
Kitsap County is making progress on restoring the Harper Estuary in South Kitsap, with a specific construction plan lined up for 2026 and 2027 following more than two decades of planning. The county awarded a construction contract with Scarsella...
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‘DEEP CONNECTION’
The places Indigenous peoples call home have intertwined with their ways of life for millennia. Their stories, foodways and cultures relate directly to their homelands. Lands, waters, plants and animals, the creatures that inhabit the waters below and...
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Port Orchard’s dome home
PORT ORCHARD — In a rural area of South Kitsap, a nuclear engineer and veteran, Jim Perkins, built a unique house in the 1980s. He roofed it with multiple perfect triangles and made the exterior of the architecture just like a dome. Bryn Schueler, who...
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Colleges not connecting with rural kids
Many high school seniors are currently in the midst of the college application process or are already waiting to hear back from their selected schools. For high school students in rural parts of the United States, the frantic pace of the college...
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WINTER WISH GRANTED
POULSBO – North Kitsap High School freshman Marques Reed began winter break with a huge smile — and an oversized check — that will hopefully make his biggest wish come true this season. Reed was the recipient of $6,820.62 in donations during a...
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Road fixes, $1B for new ferries at top of gov’s transportation plan
LACEY — Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson unveiled a plan Dec. 19 to steer $3 billion into preserving the state’s roads and bridges and building three new ferries over the next decade. Ferguson would raise the money through borrowing, with the sale of...
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Immigration arrests in WA surge
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown intensified across Washington in the late summer and early fall, new data indicates. Between July 29 and Oct. 15, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 950 people in Washington....
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Brown shooting suspect found dead
Jeanine Santucci, N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Katie Mulvaney, Michael Loria and Thao Nguyen PROVIDENCE, RI – Though the suspect connected to the deadly Brown University attack and the fatal shooting of an MIT professor was found dead in New Hampshire, the...
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Nimitz reunions lead into holidays
NAVAL BASE KITSAP -- Rain pounded down from afternoon into the evening, but the moody weather did little to dampen the smiles and tears of children, partners, parents, and friends of sailors on the USS Nimitz. After 270 days away at sea, the crew...
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Nimitz returns home before move to Norfolk
BREMERTON — The USS Nimitz is back home. The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier sailed through Puget Sound from Naval Magazine Indian Island to Naval Base Kitsap on Tuesday, Dec. 16, arriving just after 2 p.m. on a wet, blustery day. Approximately 3,000...
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CEDAR SNACK
A black-tailed deer snacks on the low-hanging limbs of a cedar tree in a yard near Brownsville on Dec. 13.
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Acquisition to protect city’s OB-GYN care
Dr. Kathy Hebard delivered a dire warning before the local health board two years ago, declaring that the dwindling number of OB-GYN providers left in Kitsap County were barely holding their heads above water. Little has changed since and Hebard’s own...
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STEP ASIDE, RUDOLPH
ABOVE: East Bremerton neighbors wave from the sidewalk as Bremerton Fire Department’s Santa’s Lights and Ladders Tour cruises by on Wednesday. Off-duty firefighters and their families volunteered their time to drive Santa around various neighborhoods...
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Abrego Garcia released from detention facility
In a whiplash series of events, federal judge on Dec. 12 blocked an effort to have Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to custody a day after his release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. On Dec. 11, District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the...
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Emergency declared over flooding from WA rivers
As floodwaters swelled around Washington, threatening low-lying communities along rivers, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a statewide emergency declaration on Wednesday. Ferguson said he’d also seek an expedited emergency declaration from the federal...
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New tower at St. Michael to expand specialty care
SILVERDALE -- St. Michael Medical Center unveiled its recently finished 74bed medical tower for the first time during a ceremony on its Silverdale campus Tuesday, Dec. 9, ending a decade-long relocation of the county’s only-full service...
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Event keeps growing to help kids in Kitsap
Kitsap County saw a record turnout of participants at this year’s charity law enforcement event aiming to provide aid and cheer during the holidays. Around 140 students from the North Kitsap School District showed up at the Poulsbo Walmart last...
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‘Something we’re all very proud of ’
BREMERTON -- It’s been over two years since local and state elected officials gathered as the ribbon was cut for a groundbreaking affordable housing project by Kitsap Community Resources. That event, celebrating the 36unit Mills Crossing townhome...
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ANNIVERSARY FOR A HOLIDAY TRADITION
Waltz of the Flowers dancers leap across the stage during the final rehearsal for Peninsula Dance Theatre’s production of the Nutcracker. At 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Bremerton Arts Center, PDT will perform the holiday classic...
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SEASIDE SEARCH
A pair of killdeer pick their way among the barnacle covered rocks at the Tracyton boat launch on Dec. 1.
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Solidarity meal offered to show power of community
POULSBO — “Ok, we need 30 meals to go,” Danielle Castillejo shouted as she re-entered the front doors of North Point Church, before turning and heading back out into the cool afternoon. Poulsbo Middle School had let out moments earlier on Dec. 2, and...
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Plastic carryout bags will be more expensive
Plastic bags for carryout from restaurants and retailers in Washington State will become more expensive next year. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, the price of plastic film carryout bags in Washington will increase by 4 cents, from the current 8 cents to 12...
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‘I wish this country supported artists’
Being an artist is not viewed as a real job. It’s a sentiment I’ve heard time and again, one that echoes across studios, rehearsal halls and kitchen tables – a quiet frustration that the labor of making art rarely earns the legitimacy or security...
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HOLIDAY HEROES
Bremerton firefighter Jim Whitsett helps Wooldands Elementary student Josh Baker try on a new winter coat during the Coats for Kids event at Woodlands Elementary school in East Bremerton Nov. 25. Firefighters from around the county helped distribute...
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Trump vows further migrant crackdown
President Donald Trump said Nov. 27 that U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, of the West Virginia National Guard, died after being shot the previous day in an ambush near the White House, a shooting that drew claims from his administration of Biden-era...
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Tree farms around Kitsap ready for holiday traditions
The arrival of Thanksgiving means Christmas is around the corner, and families around Kitsap have either already searched for a tree or will do so soon. Kitsap tree farms are now opening for the holiday season, with plenty of options to pick and cut...
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Mobsters brought down by their words
The bloody mob war that is the focus of the new Netflix series “Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia,” which premiered Oct. 22, is full of the murder, mayhem, treachery and deceit that have been the hallmarks of the nation’s Cosa Nostra family...
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SEASON OF SHARING
KINGSTON – After 37-year-old Kyle James restocked one of Kitsap County’s little free pantries in October, he noticed how the donations seemed to disappear overnight. He guessed this likely had to do with the government shutdown, as thousands of...
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Raid turns up drugs, stolen property and 8 arrests
Several people were arrested in a major drug bust west of Bremerton on Friday, Nov. 21 that temporarily closed a nearby road in the morning. According to a statement by the Kitsap County Sheriff ’s Office, detectives and SWAT served a narcotics search...
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SUN STROKE
A double kayak is paddled past a large boat docked in the Brownsville Marina on a beautiful sunny afternoon Nov. 11. Rain is likely to return to the region for the rest of the week and through the weekend.
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Roundabout proposed for Highway 303
A roundabout is proposed to be built on Highway 303 just east of the Central Valley Road overpass near Silverdale, as part of the state’s project to remove barriers to fish migration. The Washington State Department of Transportation is planning to...
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