POULSBO — Tiny dinosaurs mingled with bears. Peter Pan and Captain Hook shook hands and Elvis was sighted — likely not for the last time — surrounded by aliens in Poulsbo as hordes of kids from all reaches of Kitsap County hit Front Street in search of sweet treats.
Halloween night brought over two thousand children and parents to Little Norway, and some of the best costumes this side of Transylvania. Superman took off work early from the “Daily Planet” and numerous Batmen left the crime of Gotham City up to Commissioner Gordon for a chance to engage in the family-oriented fun.

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After all the interviews are over, the forums adjourned, ads, flyers, yard signs, letters to the editor and newspaper endorsements appear—you, the voter decides who deserves your precious vote.

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For several years, senior Navy officials and politicians have heavily promoted the plan that the four oldest Trident submarines at Subase Bangor are worthy of being converted into cruise missile or other conventional platform assets, rather than being decommissioned.
But, funding for that conversion was the sticking point, until now.

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Election results for the general election will be posted to this website as they become available Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Remember to cast your ballot by mail or at the polls.

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SUQUAMISH — It was time for Vicky Enriquez to have some good luck.
Enriquez, a para-educator at Suquamish Elementary, endured her share of tragedies last year. Her husband Alberto died in a car accident and a daughter died in a fire.
Enriquez, who returned to work this year after a one-year leave of absence to be with her family, came back to a small piece of luck as she won a 1991 Ford Explorer as part of a raffle held by Hope4Youth.
Enriquez bought four raffle tickets at a garage sale for $20.

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TACOMA — Moments after an exhausting loss to Capital High School that ended the North Kitsap soccer team’s season, Viking head coach Teri Ishihara was doing something unexpected: she was smiling.
Ishihara, whose team had just lost in a shootout to the 8-5-1 Cougars, was proud of the Vikings’ run this year. She was also aware of one important fact: the young, speedy Vikings will graduate only two players from this year’s team.

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POULSBO — Appropriately enough, it took more than the usual 40 minutes of football to decide the winner of Friday’s Poulsbo/Kingston game.
The game is always the capstone of the season for the two cross-county rivals. But this year, with each team coming into the game with a 3-2 record, it promised to be close.

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POULSBO — When Coast Oyster Plant was razed into a pile of rubble along Fjord Drive, many nostalgic residents in Poulsbo recalled “better days” when the local shellfish industry boomed and families reaped the financial benefits that accompanied harvest time.
Others, however, looked to the future and envisioned small waterfront amenity which would serve generations yet to come. Poulsbo Parks and Recreation Director Mary McCluskey and the Poulsbo NK Rotary were among them — seeing more than broken oyster shells and rotten wood but an opportunity as well.

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POULSBO — The eroding rock wall at Waterfront Park is shaping up as the top issue for the Port of Poulsbo Commissioner candidates as they make their final pitches before the Nov. 6 general elections. With threatened moorage at the marina and structures along the shoreline, the matter is much more than an election issue though — it’s a fullblown problem.

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POULSBO — A trio of touchdowns by Vikings defensive back/receiver Reuben Scuffy wasn’t enough to collar the Cougars Thursday night.

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Five candidates–three North Kitsap School board positions. Voters this year have a variety of candidates and solutions to problems to choose from.
The candidate for district five, Kingston, is Brad Camp; he is unopposed.
There are two candidates for district three, Suquamish; Bethany McDonald, the board president who is pursuing her second term on the board, and Christopher Tibbs, an Olympic college student who is pursing his first.

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KINGSTON — You wouldn’t want Sam Slade to solve a crime for you. But you would certainly want him to entertain you.
Slade is the main character in the new play by Kingston Junior High drama program, “Touchtone ‘M’ for Murder.”

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For 15 days, Poulsbo resident Dee Dee Rattey comforted fears, eased worries and rescued the rescuers from emotionally surrendering to Ground Zero in New York City.
Firefighters, police officers, construction workers, steel workers, sanitation workers, and barge crew members on the front lines of the World Trade Center recovery efforts streamed into Respite Center number three where Rattey volunteered.
An American Red Cross volunteer for the past six years, Rattey took her skills to New York City on Oct. 6 and helped people, who spent hours digging through the rubble, to put their own pieces together.
Rattey, who specializes in trauma response counseling, left her private practice in Poulsbo and headed into a war zone.

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School board and fire commissioners races feature well-qualified candidates. Choosing one to vote for isn’t easy during this election.

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The candidates for the North Kitsap Fire & Rescue’s fire commissioners’ board are both seasoned commissioners—each with a dozen years of tenure. The Poulsbo fire commissioners race is just the opposite, featuring a contest between relative newcomers.
Due to the merger of the former Hansville Fire District 14 with NKF&R, current board members Leon Thomas and Idar Slothaug, each long-term members of their own fire boards, now must run against each other.
Both candidates have deep roots in their communities and bring unique qualifications to the board.
In the Poulsbo District 18 race, newcomer Ginger Jones-Magures opposes Randy Odden, who was appointed to the board last year

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Helen Keller’s story will be brought to life on stage at 7 p.m. Nov. 2, 3, 9 and 10 at the community center auditorium in Poulsbo. “It’s really a strong script,” drama teacher Sharon Ferguson said during a rare break from rehearsal this week.
“It’s a really strong script,” drama teacher Sharon Ferguson said during a rare break from rehearsals this week. “We have talented women this year. This is a women’s play — there aren’t many of them — and I wanted to make sure we had something to challenge the women.”
The play, which has a cast of 22, contains much drama; tension among the Keller family about how to raise the disruptive Helen; tension between the Kellers and Sullivan, who sought to discipline Helen; and tension between Helen and her teacher.

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Kitsap County fire districts are the county’s first line of defense against emergencies that range from heart attacks to fire, bioterrorism and earthquake damage. Just as the fire districts are being asked to do more, they face a potential funding loss of over $11 million during the next five years if Initiative 747 is passed by voters in November.

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Poulsbo is fortunate to have a number of qualified candidates running for the mayoral and city council seats, making these selections particularly difficult. Our endorsements are made based on a number of factors including observation of incumbent candidates in their elected positions, discussions with other city officials and community members, responses to questions in voter forums and the Herald.
Vital issues of growth, the Olhava property and Olympic College campus, repair of infrastructure and development of technology face this government. The mayor and council members endorsed here offer different individual viewpoints and philosophies about what needs to be done in our community, but they also need to work well as a team. We encourage each successful candidate to explore ways to also work in closer harmony with school district, port and county officials.

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Horror, intrigue, romance…a movie for every mood is currently showing in Kitsap County.

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They share a vision for a better Poulsbo, but other than that the candidates seeking the offices of city council and mayor this November are strictly individual in their thinking.
Some have common issues they feel need to resolved but by and large, the four incumbents and four challengers who will face off in General Election are seeking office for very different reasons. They come from different backgrounds, have varied qualifications and have separate views on how the city should be run.
Instead of taking sound bites from our candidates, the Herald gave them 100 words to say their piece as they answered the five questions that matter most in any city election

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