Disqus - Latest Comments for CharlieBermant

Re: http://www.rollingstone.com/preview.php/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-ten-best-opening-acts-in-rock-history-20120711

CharlieBermant — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 12:00:57 -0000

I know that Queen was supposed to open for Mott the Hoople in 1974, because I had tickets to the DC show. But Brian May had some kind of big bad disease and Aerosmith actually played the show.

Re: From Kilmer, more sleight of hand - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:16:35 -0000

I would like to respond directly to this writer, who goes by the "Peninsula Politics" tag, except there seems to be no way to do so on this blog.
"Penny" enumerates several instances of bias in our paper and challenges our objectivity. Editor Jeff Rhodes may or may not offer his own response. In the meantime, I would like to address two specifics. She points to a botched quote attributed to Tim Sheldon and getting Dr. Schoenike's name wrong as examples of this bias (although he concedes the former could be due to "sloppy reporting").
In fact, both errors were mine. I inserted a mistaken word into the Sheldon quote, which was pointed out to me by NoSpin in an online post. I corrected it online, and sent instructions that it be corrected in print. As for Sumner's correct first name, I botched that as well. I was so busy figuring out a word game to get his last name right (Shoe--Nike--with an added C after the S) that I neglected to correct the initial error I made with his campaign announcement). Jeff used me as a source for his column, compounding the mistake.
Both mistakes are attributable to carelessness and bad proofreading, not bias.
For balance, skip through Penny's blog. I didn't run a spell check, but immediately spotted words like "Bremeron" and "threre." Do these indicate stupidity on the part of the writer, or did she write the posts too quickly and forget to proofread?
Penny gets away with making accusations without allowing comment or even signing her name. Jeff Rhodes could be the most biased person on the planet, but he does take responsibility for everything he writes. Penny doesn't have the guts to make these accusations in a signed statement. I can't speak for Jeff, again, but if she had the stones to state these complaints in a cogent, signed letter to the paper in the form of an op-ed piece, it might get published. In this case, the only stones she has are getting thrown at us.

Re: Legislators preview upcoming session - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:03:23 -0000

Thanks for spotting this. I fixed it online, and sent a correction to the printer.

Re: Port Orchard continued to reinvent itself during 2009 - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:43:34 -0000

Lary,
When I cited the businesses that closed it was a reference to downtown and not Port Orchard in general. I added "downtown" both in print and online, as a clarification. Thanks for calling my attention to this.
I'll stand by the "may have burned a few bridges during the first year in office" statement. I might add that you built some others and everything has evened out with positive results. Which was the point of the story.
I will also plead guilty to leaving out some details, for space reasons. You've provided these details in your comment, which benefits the reader and lets me off the hook.

Re: Both Kitsap County and Port Orchard face tough budget choices - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:43:03 -0000

"Out of our control" is correct. Two examples are the decrease in sales tax revenue and the increase in the cost of providing benefits. Hope that helps.

Re: Both Kitsap County and Port Orchard face tough budget choices - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:02:49 -0000

My apologies to both of you, and your jurisdictions. Jim Avery politely called me "math challenged" earlier this week, a characterization that turned out to be correct. Aside from the corrections I will tackle this again, and try to explain it in a more cogent way.

Re: Seaquist preaches ferry gospel - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:37:18 -0000

Thanks. It's fixed online and will do so in the paper as well.

Re: Port Orchard council contest turn into a big money race - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:19:34 -0000

The check has been paid, and has cleared according to Wet Apple's documents.
I did not see a contradiction in the quotes you mention. The mayor is not involved in the company's day to day operation, but does share some information with his wife about certain matters. Since this is a hot-button issue that has come up before, this particular sentence makes sense.

Re: City Manager Mark Dombroski to resign - Bainbridge Island Review

CharlieBermant — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:28:48 -0000

Re: City Manager Mark Dombroski to resign - Bainbridge Island Review

CharlieBermant — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:36:11 -0000

Re: City Manager Mark Dombroski to resign - Bainbridge Island Review

CharlieBermant — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:22:55 -0000

Re: City Manager Mark Dombroski to resign - Bainbridge Island Review

CharlieBermant — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:07:17 -0000

Re: 'Needless' primary polarized schools, auditor - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:01:59 -0000

Sorry Naomi, that I was unable to answer this earlier, due to a variety of insignificant reasons. From what I understand, she was told two things by the auditor: She could not serve if elected, nor could she withdraw. So she continued her campaign, in a limited way, to have an opportunity to speak out.
The law requires that a candidate live in their district when they file candidacy papers and when they take office, but in between is a nebulous area. If she had won she would have had to either resign or move back to the district.
When I talked to her the day of the primary she did not expect to place in the top two, and said she was just letting everything play out to its conclusion. She expected to come in third. Speculating here: If she had come in first or second, I'd guess that the third place candidate who would have filed a challenge to remove her from the ballot, and it would have become an election issue.

Re: School district 'not optimistic' about election mixup - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:41:54 -0000

You might be correct about the "Assistant" part with regard to Suzanne. I have always referred to Dolores as "Elections Supervisor" and she has not corrected me.

Re: School district 'not optimistic' about election mixup - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:53:27 -0000

Kathryn:

Just out of curiosity, why did you speak to Ms. Gilmore about this on June 8? Porter had not yet taken any action at that point, at least not officially.

Re: School district 'not optimistic' about election mixup - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:54:02 -0000

If Porter had come in on June 15 and tried to withdraw they more than likely would have allowed it. She claims to have come in on the 12th, but that can't be accurate because the office was closed. The auditor acknowledges she came in and changed her registration late on the 17th, although it was not entered until the following day.

Re: School district 'not optimistic' about election mixup - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:40:01 -0000

According to Kitsap County Elections Manager Suzanne Boltz, the ballots were ordered on Monday, June 15.

Re: Give me an ‘

CharlieBermant — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:44:13 -0000

At the Independent, we don't let MS Word get anywhere near our "writtings." Too rich for our budget, and would be overkill for us even if we could afford it. I do agree that the local grammar average is the same as anywhere else, or anywhere else worth living, and the Independent makes its share of little mistakes. But there might be a difference between a story we write in an afternoon and a sign that stays on a downtown building for several years. Admittedly, you don't need good grammar to install floors. And if I am the only one who has ever noticed this, maybe it's not all that important.

Re: Coppola caricature reflects merchant's displeasure with 'Paint the Town' - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:05:45 -0000

I'm sorry if I gave you incorrect information about how to delete posts. Since I am logged in as an admin I don't always see the same things that you do. Nevertheless, Alex C has answered the question well. As far as delete abilities go, I am told that Mary cannot delete anything but her own posts. It’s hard to track exactly why any post is deleted, but it usually happens either because the poster him- or herself decides to take that action or because someone on the staff decides the post is inappropriate for one of the reasons listed at the end of the original article.

Re: Coppola caricature reflects merchant's displeasure with 'Paint the Town' - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:19:34 -0000

Sarge’s post was deleted by our administrative staff, as it was judged inappropriate. If he had just “called Mary on her slanderous statements" it would have stayed, but he veered into more personal territory.

Re: Marine service helps stranded boaters - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:03:26 -0000

Name-less:

During the interview Izzy told me that he was on call 24/7. I asked whether that meant he could never drink alcohol. He answered that he did not drink at all. I printed his answer, although I expected he would give me a different answer.
I would not use this exchange as an example of "where journalism is going." On the other hand, the point of these business profiles is to allow our readers to get to know some of the people opening new businesses and what they offer. Their personal habits sometime have something to do with the story, because it tells about their motivation. In this case, hearing that the guy never drinks and he will never be rescuing me while he has a bad hangover is a critical detail about how he runs his business.

Re: Downtown business owners compete for library site - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:26:57 -0000

I asked that of her, and she responded that she would recuse herself from any vote that has anything to do with the property and its transfer. In these cases the council member usually does the right thing, if they do not the item is immediately flagged by their colleagues.

Re: Delilah visits downtown, scopes out paint prospects - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:02:48 -0000

I've added a word to the story to indicate that the post in question was deleted.

Re: Cadaver dogs searching SK area where foot was found - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:22:25 -0000

I need to apologize for a lack of context in the video. I asked Sheriff Boyer why people were making so many jokes about a disconnected foot, and thought the quote would stand on its own. After repeated viewing it's clear that he is responding to something that isn't clear. Please consider this when watching this video.

Re: Coppola tells Port ‘we need money' - Port Orchard Independent

CharlieBermant — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:56:40 -0000

The reference to SEED has been corrected, and I will also request its correction for the print edition. I apologize for the mistake.
Accordingly, I am not sure how saying that you are "not yet committed in her re-election contest" is any less clear--or any different--than what you say above.