Free Republic

After a Supreme Court victory and being reinstated to his football coaching position, Joe Kennedy has submitted a letter of resignation to the Bremerton School District in Washington state. “We have come to learn of serious allegations of retaliation against coach Kennedy by the Bremerton School District,” Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel at First Liberty Institute, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “They’ve done everything they can to make him feel unwelcome,” Sasser said, adding that First Liberty Institute, the legal organization that represented Kennedy throughout his legal battle, is “going to investigate the situation to determine whether further legal...

High school football coach Joe Kennedy was given a significant victory from the Supreme Court earlier this year after the court found Bremerton School District’s decision to fire Coach Kennedy for praying on the field unconstitutional. The court ruled in Kennedy’s favor 6-3 shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. "The Court holds that both the free exercise and free speech clauses protect Kennedy's right to pray at midfield following high school football games." https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf

When the House of Representatives convened for a three-minute session on Monday, the proceedings opened with a written statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "I hereby appoint the Honorable Andy Kim to act as Speaker pro tempore on this day," Pelosi declared. As recorded by C-SPAN, Kim, empowered by Pelosi, then instantly announced: "The prayer will be offered by Chaplain Kibben." The Rev. Margaret Kibben stepped to the podium. "Would you pray with me?" she asked with a smile. "God our creator, redeemer, and sustainer, great are Your promises to us," said Kibben in words now immortalized in the Congressional...

Former Washington state high school football coach Joe Kennedy lost his job more than five years ago for silently praying on the field after each game, but his ongoing unemployment and an extended legal battle are not enough to deter the former Marine from his fight for faith. While coaching at Bremerton High School, Kennedy began kneeling alone in a silent, 15-second prayer at the 50-yard line at the conclusion of every game. He was suspended and later fired in 2015 for refusing to stop the public practice. Kennedy, a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who did a combat tour...

Joe Kennedy, who coaches football at Bremerton High School in Washington State, has been suspended for praying after a Friday night football game that Satanists had threatened to protest. A student had invited The Satanic Temple of Seattle to attend the game to protest the school’s tolerance of the coach’s prayer, and to force the Bremerton School District to clarify its policy. Although Kennedy does not instruct or encourage any students to join him when he prays, the school board had ordered him never again to pray in public. …

Coach Joe Kennedy has been booted from the locker room at Bremerton High School in Washington State, Fox News has learned exclusively. Superintendent Aaron Leavell placed the longtime coach on administrative leave after he refused to stop his post-game prayers.“Effective immediately, pending further District review of your conduct, you are placed on paid administrative leave from your position as an assistant coach with the Bremerton High School football program,” Level wrote to the coach in an Oct. 28th letter. “You may not participate, in any capacity, in BHS football program activities.”

A group of robe-wearing, incense-spreading, self-described Seattle Satanists plans to attend a Washington state high school football game on Thursday, in the latest turn of a controversy over a Christian coach’s postgame prayers. Bremerton High School senior class President Abe Bartlett said Wednesday that he was one of a few students who invited The Satanic Temple of Seattle to attend the game. He called it an effort to get the school district to clarify its policy: While officials last month asked assistant coach Joe Kennedy to stop praying at the 50-yard line, he has continued the practice and threatened a...

Drunken behavior during a port visit has led to the dismissal of another Navy commander and three other top officers, days after the leader of the USS Stennis carrier group was sent back to Bremerton. The Navy hasn't said much about why they've removed Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette from his command October 27. They are conducting an internal investigation involving his judgment. The Navy is offering more explanation about the commander of the USS Vandegrift, which is a frigate based in San Diego that was built at the Todd Shipyards. This frigate was not with the Stennis carrier group. Vandegrift...

Self-serving speech I was in attendance last Saturday at the commencement activities at the University of Washington. I was both embarrassed and angered by the pontification and obvious self-importance of Rep. Dicks. Never could I have imagined a commencement speaker at a major university being booed and heckled while speaking to the graduates. Then again, I could never have imagined anyone giving such a self-serving, self-glorification speech as he did. A speaker at such an event is supposed to inspire the graduates who are now going out into the world to seek their own destiny. They did not come to...

BREMERTON, Wash. -- Medics are treating a third grader who was shot at Armin Jahr Elementary School. The incident unfolded at the school, located at 800 Dibb St., at approximately 1:30 p.m. The 8-year-old girl, who was shot in the stomach, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition. She was alert and conscious at the time. "I ask my friends to pray for her," said Cindy Kocer, the injured girl's grandmother. "She'll be 9 in a couple of weeks." Investigators believe a third grader brought the firearm to school on Wednesday, and shot another student. The weapon has...

BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) - The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan is scheduled for work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in January 2012. The Kitsap Sun says it will undergo maintenance similar to the yearlong $250 million job the shipyard began in December on the aircraft carrier Nimitz.

Dorothy Provine, part Hollywood blond bombshell and part girl next door, has died. The Bainbridge Island resident and former film and television actress succumbed to emphysema on Sunday morning at Hospice of Kitsap County in Bremerton, according to her husband, veteran director Robert Day.

Cat Credited With Waking Up Bremerton Woman Amid Fire By Derek Sheppard (Contact) Monday, March 2, 2009   BREMERTON — In a rare role reversal, it was the cat who helped out the firefighters.More importantly, it was a cat who saved a woman's life with what would normally be a routine annoyance for cat owners — the early-morning face pawing.Around 6:45 a.m. Saturday, an elderly Bremerton woman's Veldee Avenue home filled with smoke billowing through the vents from the home's heater.The smoke alarm was going off, but she didn't hear it.Good thing she has a cat.The feline, whose name...

Saturday, May 31 2008 marked the official opening of the new Bremerton Marina. Mayor Cary Bozeman, Congressman Norm Dicks, and a host of other port, county and state officials were on hand for the celebration.

Navy Yard city A Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputy was placed on administrative leave Thursday after shooting a man in the leg while the man was in a tree at the corner of National Avenue South and Arsenal Way. The shooting is under investigation, although preliminary information indicates it was accidental, according to Deputy Scott Wilson, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office spokesman. The deputy, who has five years on the force, meant to fire a Taser, not the gun, Wilson said. The man, who is believed to be in his 20s, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was...

Welcome To Your New Home, USS Stennis January 8, 2005   By KOMO Staff & News Services          BREMERTON - Armed with a large red and black umbrella, Beth Wiruth stood ashore in Bremerton and anxiously watched Saturday as the USS John C. Stennis slowly made its way to its new homeport at Naval Base Kitsap. "The ship is in sight!" Wiruth shouted as she scanned the deck where more than 2,500 sailors wearing their winter dress-blue uniforms stood at attention. "Ahh, it's just the best sight. It's just the best sight!" Wiruth was one of...

Story Number: NNS040310-14 Release Date: 3/11/2004 8:59:00 AM By Journalist 1st Class Michael B. Murdock, USS Bridge Public Affairs ABOARD USS BRIDGE (NNS) -- In the early hours of Feb. 24, USS Bridge (AOE 10) cast off mooring lines and began her final underway period as a U.S. Navy vessel. The four-day underway period was needed to complete Ship’s Material Assessment and Readiness Test (SMART) and offload ammunition in preparation for Bridge’s transfer to Military Sealift Command (MSC) ownership. SMART is MSC’s version of the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV), and successful completion was required prior to Bridge...

A HERO'S WELCOME: HOMECOMING FOR A MARINE INJURED IN AFGHANISTAN A Welcome from the Heart(land) Lance Cpl. Ryan Mutek receives a huge welcome home from area supporters. Chris Barron Sun Staff April 12, 2003 Amid the commotion of a jubilant celebration, a young boy walked up to Ryan Mutek and thanked him. Mutek, a lance corporal in the Marines, didn't know the boy, 9-year-old Joey Brazeau of Kingston, but handed him his camouflage hat. It's a hat that's been with Mutek from boot camp to Afghanistan and now back home to Bremerton. "He was just the first person who walked...

BREMERTON — Many in a small crowd that gathered at a waterfront park in this Navy town yesterday wore red, white and blue and carried signs proclaiming "United We Stand" and "Peace Through Strength." They assembled to show their support for President Bush, for the troops and, if necessary, for military action against Iraq. While those at the rally stopped short of saying they wanted war, they made it clear that if diplomatic efforts fail to gain concessions from Saddam Hussein, they will readily support any action Bush proposes. "Saddam Hussein is a street thug and there's no question...