Kitsap Sun - March 6th 2015 edition

KITSAP SUN « Friday, March 6, 2015 «3A
LOCAL/FROM THE COVER
DUNK
from 1A
Saturday,therewasaparty
goingon,”hetoldthestudents.
“There was drugs;
there was drinking.”
He remembers a break-in,
hisfatherleaningagainst
thedoor,ahandwithagun,
adrugdealgonewrong,he
later realized.
Bythetimehewas8,his
mother had gone straight
andhadgivenhisfatheran
ultimatum to clean up his
life or leave. His father, bags
packed, facing the loss of his
family, chose recovery and
redemption.
At 10, Dobbs got a basketballhoopfromhisdad.
He’d spend hours emulating
the moves of idol Michael
Jordan and other basketball
greats. He dreamed of
becoming a professional
athlete.
Although family life was
looking up, Dobbs was defiant.
At11,hetriedpot;at13,he
was smoking it weekly. By
15,hewasusingcocaineand
meth, stealing and selling
drugstosupportalifestyle
glamorizedbythecrowd
he hung with. His parents
kicked him out, and he
droppedoutofschool.
At nearly 18, he was arrested—forthefirstand
lasttime—aftercommitting
burglary and leadingpoliceonawildchase
through Phoenix. He faced
sixtonineyearsincarceration,
with the likelihood he’d
besentencedasanadult.
“Ihadturnedmyback
on my goals and dreams
to be part of a lifestyle I’d
heardinmusicandonTV.
Itallcamecrashingdownat
thatpoint,”hesaid.“Inthe
back of my mind, I always
told myself I was going to
changeoneday.Irealized
I may never have that opportunity.”
Back against the wall, he
called on God, begging for a
second chance.
At his trial, the charges
were lowered, and he had
only to pay restitution. His
attorney said it was a “miracle.”
PHOTOS BY MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN
SlamdunkartistKennyDobbsperformsadunkbyleapingover
teacher Corinne Goller and Vice Principal Jackie Finckler (not
seen) during an assembly Thursday at Kingston Middle School.
That was the turning
pointforDobbs,whotold
thekidshenowputsGod
first in his life.
In his “dream journal” he
wrotedownhisaspiration,
notdeadyet,toplayprofessional
basketball. But first he
hadtomakeupcreditsand
graduate from high school,
which he did through an
accelerated program and
Dobbshastheaudience’sattentionashegivesaninspirationaltalkbeforeshowcasinghisdunking
abilities during the assembly.
online studies.
Hishonedhisskillatslam
dunking through rigorous
practice and freewheeling
experimentation. His
prowess in a local Hoop it
Up contest earned him attention
and an invitation to
the 2008 Shaquille O’Neal
DunkmanContestinLos
Angeles. He has since
toured with the NBA as a
celebrity dunker, performingathalftimeshowsand
celebrity games.
Dobbsalsohasbeenactive
working with youths
in Phoenix, serving three
yearsaschairmanofthe
ArizonaStateYouthAdvisory
Council for Alcohol
and Substance Abuse Prevention.
In partnership
with the Native American
Basketball Invitational,
he launched the
Uprise Youth Movement
to entertain and inspire
youngsters like the Kingston
students.
In2012,hewasdrafted
by a development team for
theDallasMavericks,but
a serious injury put him
on the sidelines. In the
meantime, he decided to
dedicate himself entirely
to the art of slam dunk and
youth empowerment, with
special concern for the vulnerabilityofNativeAmericanyouth.Hisfoundation,
Dare2Dream, hosts conferences
and other youth activities.
“I realized the substance
abuse, gangs, drugs, dropouts,suicide,youknow,all
that was much higher in
Native American communities,”hesaid.“Isaid,basically,
why spend my time
anywhereelse?Ishouldbe
impacting Native American
youthandtheNativeAmerican
community.”
Dobbshadaprivatelunch
with the Native American
boys of Kingston Middle
School (the girls earlier in
theyearhadalunchwith
vocalartistStarNayea),and
Dobbslaterdidanassembly
for Chief Kitsap Academy.
Cindy Thompson, the
middle school’s Native
American education liaison,
said Dobbs’ message of
hopewasjustwhatthekids
needed.
“Things just kind of started
rough (this year) with the
Marysville (Pilchuck High
School) shooting,” Thompsonsaid.“Somearecousins
(of the students who died
in the shooting), some have
participated in canoe journeyswiththosekids.We
were helping pick up the
pieces here.”
After the assembly all the
students clambered around
Dobbs for photos, high-fives
and autographs. Sixth-grader
Skyler Yanca said Dobbs’
storyofdifficultlifechallengesresonatedwithhim.
“It was awesome, I’ve
seen a lot of that.”
Poulsbobuyinghouse
inbidtopreventfloods
■ City Council
OKs$1salefor
site near creek
By Rachel Anne Seymour
rachel.seymour@kitsapsun.com
360-792-5242
POULSBO— Poulsbo will buy
a two-story home on 0.35
acres along Eighth Avenue
for $1.
Buyingthehouse,which
comes after unanimous approvalWednesdaybythe
City Council, allows the
city to demolish it for an estimated$50,000andrestore
thesouthernforkofDogfish
Creek, including installing
alargerculverttoprevent
flooding.
The vacant and foreclosedhomehasbeenahard
sell because of flooding issues
in the basement from
thenearbycreek,althoughit
is assessed at $106,040.
The south fork is a tributary
of Dogfish Creek,
whichflowstoLibertyBay.
Phil Struck, a consultant
with engineering firm
Parametrix, advised the
city engineer that a new
culvert channel would contain
“most storm events,” although
“peak storm flows”
would continue affecting
the property.
Struck also said that the
citymightberequiredto
own the property if it is
looking for grants to help
with the restoration project.
While the creek has overflowedintotheEighthAvenue
house, it also is a salmon
waterway, making building
a new house or fixing the
current flooding problem
difficult.
Replacing the culvert
with a larger one will help
with flooding as well as
make travel for salmon
easier.
The culvert is undersized,
accordingtothecity’srestoration
plan for the creek,
andisidentifiedastheonly
“potential/partial barrier”
in the fish-bearing portion
of the creek.
Salmon and other fish use
the culvert to swim under
Eighth, said Mayor Becky
Erickson, and the creek
eventually runs under state
Highway 305.
While the Suquamish
Tribe has released salmonids
into Dogfish Creek in
the past, according to the
creek restoration plan, the
tribealsoanticipatesthat
the creek could receive future
coho strays from its AgatePassageseapens.
City officials had been
reaching out to acquire the
Eighth Avenue property
for months when Erickson
received a phone call a
fewweeksagothatthecity
couldbuythehousefor$1.
Councilwoman Connie
Lord described this as a
“landmark opportunity” to
help Dogfish Creek.
“Wehavehadsuchahistory
of problems at that
intersection with the road
flooding out,” she said.
“Thewholebottleneckwas
thispieceofproperty.Ithas
MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN
Poulsbo will purchase this Eighth Avenue vacant house for $1,
tearitdownandusethelandtoimproveDogfishCreek.
impacted the public works
facility and other houses.”
Previousownersofthe
house sued the city and state
because of flood damage to
the house. The lawsuit was
settledinmediationinJuly,
saidKyliePurves,thecity’s
risk manager.
During the lawsuit, the
house went into foreclosure
andisheldbyFreddieMac.
Thesalewillbefinalized
oncethecityattorneyhas
reviewed the title and “appropriateduediligence”is
done, said Erickson.
The money for demolishing
the house will
come out of the Dogfish
Creek restoration’s capital
improvement fund.
Thecityhasamitigation
agreement with the SuquamishTribefromanother
property purchase in which
the city has agreed to spend
$50,000 on Dogfish Creek
restoration.
The money to demolish
thehousecouldcoverthat
obligation, Councilman Ed
Stern said.
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