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PENINSULA DAILY NEWS March 21, 2016 | 75¢
Port Townsend-Jefferson County’s Daily Newspaper
Lawmakers wrestle with budget deal
Culinary kick-off nears
Divisions in Legislature said to hamper process BY WALKER ORENSTEIN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLIE BERMANT/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Arran Stark, Jefferson Healthcare food service manager, right, discusses parsley’s proper place in the kitchen with head cook Bobby Dean.
PT hospital’s cafeteria set to reopen April 18 Chef at Jefferson Healthcare gets ready with crew BY CHARLIE BERMANT PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT TOWNSEND — Chef Arran Stark spent four years redefining hospital food. In April, he plans to pick up where he left off — and then some. “We’ve been in limbo and I don’t do limbo very well,” said Stark, 44, Jefferson Healthcare
hospital’s food service manager. “We finally have something to build a rhythm around, and that feels good.” The cafeteria at the hospital at 834 Sheridan St., in Port Townsend will be reopened to the public April 18.
Shut in June It was closed in June for refurbishing and to accommodate the construction of the hospital’s new Emergency and Special Service building, which is now scheduled to open this fall. The reopening date was post-
poned several times, from October, November and February. Stark and the 14-member staff finally moved back into the facility March 1 and will continue to “work out the kinks” for another four weeks before the reopening. Stark took over the cafeteria in 2011, transforming it from serving heated food out of a box into a destination point for freshly prepared inexpensive menu items. To upgrade the kitchen, construction crews rebuilt about one quarter of the kitchen area. TURN
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OLYMPIA — As lawmakers prepared to enter the second full week of supplemental budget negotiations in an overtime special session, the political gridlock of Congress has felt closer to home for some who follow politics in Washington. Though lawmakers don’t have to navigate filibusters to pass legislation like their counterparts in the District of Columbia, they’ve now failed to reach a budget agreement without going into a special session six times in the past seven years. An increasingly polarized and politically divided Legislature is at least partially to blame, according to Cornell Clayton, a political science professor at Washington State University. The two factors combined make it difficult for lawmakers to reach compromises “on even routine matters like the budget,” he said. Democrats control Washington’s House by a one-vote margin. Republicans also have toothpick-thin 26-23 majority when accounting for one Democrat who caucuses with Republicans.
Stalemate “It leads to a politics of stalemate and brinkmanship,” Clayton said. “You see it in Washington, D.C., and in the state of Washington.” Lawmakers haven’t shared much about remaining disagreements in budget negotiations since each chamber released proposals in February. Last week, the Senate made a
ALSO . . . ■ State lawmakers debate salaries for teachers/A4
public offer that moved closer to the original House plan. Republicans would alter the two-year budget approved in 2015 by $178 million and would use around $190 million from the state’s emergency fund to pay for costs from last summer’s wildfires. “We’ve worked hard to recognize concerns with our budget, address those concerns, and recognize we’re in a divided state government and we have to work toward compromise,” said Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, after Republicans unveiled the plan last week. “I think this budget shows that.” Democrats have advocated for measures not in the Republican budgets, such as raising minimum salaries for new teachers and spending money from the emergency fund to reduce homelessness. House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, a Democrat from Covington, said lawmakers made “good progress” recently and said he was cautiously optimistic a deal could be reached early this week. “Actually I think we work pretty well together despite the fact we have split control,” Sullivan said. Washington was still ranked the fifth most polarized state in the nation in 2015, according to research by Boris Shor, a professor at Georgetown University. TURN
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Students to have hand in awarding grants Morrison presentations set Thursday BY CHARLIE BERMANT PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
CHIMACUM — Students will help select the organizations that receive Morrison Grant money. “This will encourage kids to develop an interest in philanthropy,” said Carla Caldwell, the executive director of the Jefferson County Community Foundation that is administering the annual grant. “It’s important to involve them in the decision-making process and to give them an understanding of the granting process and how that works with nonprofits.” Caldwell said one of the foun-
dation’s long-term goals is to provide more opportunities for young people in Jefferson County to become involved in “engaged philanthropy.” The Morrison Grant is named for philanthropist Edgar Morrison, who made a bequest to the Tacoma Community Foundation with the stipulation that an annual amount be used to benefit Port Hadlock, according to Earll Murman, foundation board member. This year’s grant will be between $8,000 and $10,000, Caldwell said. Murman said he expected the students to select the organiza-
tions that will best serve the community rather than the ones they like the best. “If you give people the opportunity, they will make good decisions,” he said. “This is a grant to benefit youth so the students from Port Hadlock are the ones who best know what is needed.” There are seven potential grant recipients: the Jefferson County Library, the Jefferson Teen Center, Girl Scouts of Western Washington, Jumping Mouse Children’s Center, East Jefferson Little League, Jefferson Mental Health Services and the Puget Sound Voyaging Society/Community Boat Project. Each will make a short presen-
“It’s important to involve them in the decision-making process and to give them an understanding of the granting process and how that works with nonprofits.” CARLA CALDWELL Executive director, Jefferson County Community Foundation tation to a group of 15 students and two JCCF board members at a private meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Chimacum High School Library, 91 West Valley Road. The presentations are each five minutes long, with three minutes allowed for questioning. The students were selected to represent a cross section of the school population, Caldwell said. After the presentations, the
students will meet privately to select the top three contestants, passing these recommendations to the foundation board that will make the final selection from that list. For more information, go to www.jccfgives.org, email debbier@ jccgives.org or call 360-385-1729.
________ Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
INSIDE TODAY’S PENINSULA DAILY NEWS 100th year, 68th issue — 2 sections, 16 pages
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CLASSIFIED COMICS COMMENTARY DEAR ABBY HOROSCOPE NATION PENINSULA POLL PUZZLES/GAMES SPORTS
B3 B7 A7 B7 B7 A3 A2 B4 B1
*PENINSULA SPOTLIGHT
SUDOKU WEATHER WORLD
A2 B8 A3