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SEATTLE – Washington Gov. JayInslee signed several bills Wednesdaydesigned to help the Pacific North-west’s endangered orcas, measuresthat he said gave him hope the speciesmight be saved.

The measures include requiringmore oil shipments near the San JuanIslands to have tugboat escorts to pre-vent spills, allowing anglers to catchmore walleye and bass that prey onyoung salmon, and giving state agen-cies the authority to ban toxic chem-icals in consumer goods.

Other important parts include im-proving the state’s ability to enforcepermit requirements for work thathardens shorelines, such as by install-ing bulkheads near homes, and mak-ing vessels stay farther away from or-cas and go slower when they’re nearthem.

“These bills are helping to improvethe ecosystems that sustain bothsalmon and orcas, quiet the waters inwhich the orcas hunt and providethem more prey,” Inslee said as hesigned the bills in Olympia. “Whilethere will be more to do next session,these bills give me hope that we canprotect these iconic species for dec-ades to come.”

The legislation grew out of recom-mendations made by Inslee’s orca re-covery task force last fall. The orcasthat return every year to the waters be-tween Washington and British Colum-bia are struggling against toxins thataccumulate in their blubber, vesselnoise that interferes with their hunt-ing, and, most seriously, a dearth ofchinook salmon, their preferred prey.There are just 75 of the killer whalesleft, and researchers say they’re on theverge of extinction.

In December, Inslee, who is runningfor the Democratic nomination forpresident, proposed what he de-scribed as a “herculean effort” – and$1.1 billion in spending – to help thewhales. Much of the money was to gotoward protecting and restoringsalmon habitat.

The Legislature directed about$50 million to some importantsalmon-restoration efforts, includinga dam removal on the Nooksack Riverand flood-plain work along the Dunge-ness and Cedar rivers. Lawmakersagreed to pay $750,000 to begin plan-ning for what might happen if four

Gov. Insleesigns billsaiming tohelp orcasGene Johnson ASSOCIATED PRESS

See ORCAS, Page 2A

Sides square off as House committeevotes to hold Barr in contempt. 3A

Climate protection legislation

Gov. Inslee signs mandate forcarbon-free electricity by 2045. 4A

Weather

High 82° ❚ Low 49°Sunny. Forecast, 10A

Kikuchi, Healy lead Marinersto 10-1 rout of YankeesSPORTS, 1B

The Seattle-Bremerton route was re-duced one-boat service for severalhours Wednesday morning after the Ka-leetan was taken out of service becauseof a steering problem.

Crew members discovered the issueas the Kaleetan left Bremerton for its7:20 a.m. sailing to Seattle, according toWashington State Ferries spokespersonBroch Bender. WSF canceled the 10 a.m.sailing from Seattle and the 11:10 a.m.sailing from Bremerton.

“Because it’s an older boat, the steer-ing mechanisms are much differentthan modern boats,” Bender said. “Whatwe think happened is some of the elec-trical components failed.”

The ferry made it to Seattle and un-derwent repairs at Colman Dock. WSFannounced that Kaleetan would be backin service early afternoon with the 12:20p.m. sailing from Seattle.

The Kaleetan was built in 1967 and isone of WSF’s oldest ferries. In March, itwas taken out of service for a motorproblem, putting a strain on the TriangleRoute.

Steering problem sidelinesaging ferry on Bremerton route Christian VoslerKitsap SunUSA TODAY NETWORK

The Washington State ferry Kaleetan leaves the Bremerton dock on Tuesdaymorning. LARRY STEAGALL/KITSAP SUN

BREMERTON – Nickolas Watkins, a junior at Bremerton High School,

stretches out on a bench he calls his “favorite place” on campus. ❚ Wat-

kins closes his eyes and listens to the trickle of water into the pond be-

side him.

“Every day, I normally just sit out here to en-joy it,” Watkins said. “Sometimes you can hearbirds singing.”

With the school year winding down, stresspiling up and finals just around the corner, Ko-koro Gardens is entering its first year in fullbloom perfectly on cue.

Azaleas pop in psychedelic shades of ma-genta and hot pink. Green cushions of creep-

ing phlox burst with blooms. Flowering dog-wood blossoms seem to float on air. Every-where, there’s the tranquil sound of waterflowing from basalt column fountains.

Staff and students alike have found the gar-den a blissful oasis.

“It’s very serene and peaceful,” said securi-

A PLACE FOR RESPITE

Student Nickolas Watkins relaxes on a bench in Kokoro Gardens after class at Bremerton High School. The garden wasthe brainchild of the district’s head groundskeeper, Lance McCoy. MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN

Year-old Bremerton High garden enters full bloomChris Henry Kitsap Sun | USA TODAY NETWORK

“It’s probably

just the most

beautiful part

of our campus.

I feel like

it’s the

centerpiece of

our school.”Ammaya Robinett

Bremerton High School junior

See GARDEN, Page 4A

4A ❚ THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2019 ❚ KITSAP SUN

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ty guard Greg Terry. “Sometimes I go out there to clearmy head.”

“It’s probably just the most beautiful part of ourcampus,” said Ammaya Robinett, a junior. “I feel likeit’s the centerpiece of our school.”

Garden a community effort

A year ago, the garden was a courtyard filled withrangy grass and rampant weeds. A year ago, the gar-den was just a bright idea in lead groundskeeper LanceMcCoy’s head, an ambitious plan on paper in need ofexecution. Bringing the garden to fruition was a com-munity effort.

Bremerton School District’s Superintendent AaronLeavell stepped up to secure $15,000 in the budget forthe garden. Community groups, local businesses andindividuals donated $7,200 worth of plants and ma-terials.

One of the features of which McCoy is most proud isthe row of trees honoring former teachers and otherstaff.

Three local nurseries instrumental in the projectwere Dreaney Landscapes and Cooleen Gardens ofBremerton, and Valley Nursery of Poulsbo.

Volunteers from Peninsula Bible Fellowship clearedthe weeds and grass, providing McCoy and his crewwith a blank slate. Peninsula Topsoil & Landscapesupplies of Belfair provided free trucking of materials.And those are just some of the major contributors.

“So many people had a hand in it,” said McCoy.

‘It’s just what we needed’

Once all the plants and materials were delivered,McCoy and his fellow groundskeepers, Ken Scott andDan Mathes, spent most of the summer break install-ing the garden.

Part of the work involved renovating what wasmeant to be a rain garden. McCoy and his team im-proved the drainage system and filled the collectionareas with river rock accented with a winding path ofcrushed black basalt.

The garden’s official opening day was Sept. 10, 2018.

The garden has a Zen-like serenity that’s intention-al. McCoy was inspired by Bainbridge Island’s BloedelReserve, in particular, the Japanese garden. He chosethe name Kokoro, which in Japanese suggests the con-nection between heart, mind and soul, a state of well-ness and calm.

“The idea behind the garden is to kind of put abounce in everyone’s step,” McCoy said.

Students at the high school, where nearly 60 per-cent enrolled are low income, say the garden makesthem feel special and valued.

“It’s just what we needed,” said junior Darick DeJe-sus, who’s always on the go with school, sports andwork commitments. “When I do go out there, it kind ofclears my mind of being busy all the time.”

A place for everyone

Students and staff have used the garden to suit theirneeds.

Last fall, Robinett’s photography instructor heldclass in the garden. “There’s so many textures and ob-jects,” she said.

A science class tested its solar-powered cars on thegarden’s paved pathways. Students have been takingtheir senior portraits in the garden. And on one recentschool day, three ninth-graders stood at the center ofthe garden reading lines from Shakespeare’s “Romeoand Juliet.”

Paraeducator Beth Mateikat described the day oneof her students was highly agitated. Matiekat broughther to the garden.

“We went out there and sat on a bench in silence,”Mateikat said. “It was good for both of us.”

A labor of love

The garden looks like it just happened, but McCoy,Scott and Mathes each spend about an hour per weekmowing, trimming and weeding. And McCoy is alwaysadding a little something here and there. On the sameday the students were reading Shakespeare, he was onhis knees planting calla lilies.

Students help keep the garden tidy, picking up theoccasional piece of litter, but in general, McCoy said,everyone has been highly respectful of the space. Fu-ture plans include the installation of student artwork.

“It’s just so much fun,” he said. “This is an impor-tant project in my opinion because it affects over 1,000students and staff.”

McCoy can’t wait to see some of the plants grow intotheir appointed spaces. He’s eager to watch KokoroGardens grow ever more lovely with the passing yearsand seasons.

GardenContinued from Page 1A

Lance McCoy, head groundskeeper for the Bremerton School District, plants lilies in Kokoro Gardens atBremerton High School. The garden serves as a place for students to seek respite from the stresses ofschool life, but it has also been incorporated into lessons or as a place for instruction.MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee, who is seeking a path tothe White House on the message of climate change,signed a measure Tuesday that makes his state thefourth in the nation that has established a mandate toprovide carbon-free electricity by a targeted date.

The measure was among several environmentalbills that Inslee signed at a park in Seattle, surroundedby climate advocates and others.

The signing of the new state law comes less than aweek after Inslee unveiled his first major policy pro-posal of his presidential campaign, in which he calledfor the nation’s entire electrical grid and all new vehi-cles and buildings to be carbon pollution free by 2030.

“We are determined to build a solar and wind andelectrical system where people can access clean ener-gy and cleaner air to breathe for our kids as long asWashington state is here,” he said. “That’s a multi-generational commitment.”

Washington now joins California, Hawaii, and NewMexico, which have all established either renewableenergy mandates or clean energy mandates with the2045 target. Washington, D.C., passed a bill last yearestablishing 2032 date for a 100% renewable energymandate, and Puerto Rico this year established a 100%renewable energy mandate by 2050, according to theNational Conference of State Legislatures.

Megan Cleveland, an energy policy specialist atNCSL, said that the difference between a renewableenergy mandate and a clean energy mandate is whatresource portfolio the law requires.

In a renewable energy mandate, all the electricitysold in the state must come from renewable energysources like wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower.

Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., all fall inthis category.

A 100% clean energy mandate – like the measurespassed in California, New Mexico and Washington –requires all electricity to come from carbon-free sourc-es, which include renewable energy, but also other re-sources, such as nuclear energy.

“Clean energy mandates are less prescriptive thanrenewable portfolio standards, leaving room for othercarbon-free energy resources to be included,” Cleve-land said in an email.

NCSL said that there are at least six states consider-ing legislation to establish 100% renewable or cleanenergy mandates or goals: Minnesota, New Jersey,Massachusetts, Colorado, Illinois and New York.

Washington, which relies heavily on hydroelectricpower, already generates more than 75% of its electric-

ity from carbon-free sources, including renewable en-ergy. The measure would require utilities to eliminatecoal as an energy source by the end of 2025 as the firststep toward a goal to provide carbon-free electricity by2045.

Existing hydroelectric power would count towardthe goal, giving the state about 25 years to find carbon-free sources for the remaining 25% of its electricityneeds.

The penalty for noncompliance would be $100 foreach megawatt-hour, but it could go higher dependingon the type of source, with coal penalties the highest.

Republicans opposed the measure as it advancedthrough the Legislature, saying it would raise electric-ity costs without impacting global climate.

“This bill’s going to raise the cost of energy and itwill do absolutely nothing to improve the environmentin our state or in the world,” said Sen. Curtis King, aYakima Republican, during floor debate in the Senatein March, the same day that Inslee announced hispresidential campaign.

Inslee signed several other bills Tuesday that werepart of his legislative agenda this year, including ameasure that seeks to make large commercial build-ings more energy efficient.

Another establishes new minimum efficiency andtesting standards for certain appliances, includingportable air conditioners, showerheads and watercoolers. In order to be sold in the state, several of theappliances covered under the law, including comput-ers and computer monitors, must meet the state’s effi-ciency standards if they’re manufactured in or after2021.

Inslee also signed a measure Tuesday that restoresa sales tax break for electric vehicles that had expiredlast year.

Inslee signs mandate for carbon-free electricity by 2045Rachel La Corte ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, center, pulls off his“100%” cap, standing for a goal of 100% cleanenergy, while posing for a photo with supportersafter signing climate protection legislation Tuesdayin Seattle. ELAINE THOMPSON/AP