Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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A water main break April 24 at North Mason High School caused classes there and at James A. Taylor High School and Hawkins Middle School to be dismissed early. The schools were closed all day April 25 while repairs were made and students moved to remote learning. Buses operated on normal hours Thursday morning so students could come to school and collect computers and grab-and-go food. Buses then took students back home, according to the North Mason School District. Schools returned to normal schedules April 26 following repairs of the water...
Public defenders receive honors Mason County commissioners recognized two county public defenders who have received the Washington Defender Association President’s Award at the April 23 commission meeting. The award singles out the state’s best public defender, according to Mason County Chief Public Defender Peter Jones. Rose Boughton was named this year’s recipient and Ron Sergi won the award in 2018, but was not recognized by the county at the time, Commissioner Randy Neatherlin said. “This is pretty huge for Mason County public defense...
Mason County Superior Court Judge David Stevens on April 22 denied a writ of mandamus filed by a Seattle-area attorney suing a Mason County District Court judge for appointing him to defend a local man charged with DUI. Jonathan Lewis, who has a legal practice in Seattle, sued Mason County District Court and Judge George Steele on Feb. 27, saying Steele improperly appointed him to defend Martin Andres Alonzo, who was being charged with DUI for the third time and whose primary language is Kanjobal. Lewis said the appointment violated GR 42, a...
A husband and wife who confronted a group of men allegedly spray painting a Ukrainian flag with a heart symbol in the middle of Forest Road 23 say a man from the group threatened them with a gun. Reuben and Leila Bashans were driving down West Govey Road, known as Forest Service Road 23, near Browns Creek on April 14 when they came upon a group of men “actively spray painting something in the road,” according to a Mason County Sheriff probable cause document. Reuben Bashans said the men “were not moving out of the way, and he told them they...
The Bremerton's Sportsmen's Club is finally getting recognition for a good deed done in 1948. That's when the club donated waterfront properties on Wooten, Devereaux and Haven lakes in Mason County and Mission and Wildcat lakes in Kitsap County to the Department of Game, now the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The club wanted to preserve public access to the lakes at a time when shoreline property was being bought and developed for private use. Local fishers, canoers and kayakers now know who...
Fire District 12 Commissioner Nick Jones accused Chief Brian Walsworth of “dereliction of duty” at the April 9 commission meeting after Jones saw the state of disrepair in fire station 12-3, on Beeville Loop Road, he said. Community members told him April 3 that the station was left open, so Jones went to take a look with three witnesses. Jones said they went inside the open building after notifying the sheriff. “All I could smell was mouse feces and urine,” he said. There was a dead mouse in a fire engine compartment, rodent nests, and “a...
Mason County Sheriff's Office deputies seized more than 60 dogs and one horse from a woman in Grapeview during an animal cruelty investigation, according to a MCSO news release. Deputies confiscated animals on the property Sunday, April 14, with support from the Humane Society of Mason County volunteers. "This incident occurred in the Grapeview area. We are currently serving a search warrant at the location and working with outside agencies, including the Humane Society, to ensure these animals...
Couple sue Harstine Island HOA over wheelchair modifications A Grays Harbor County couple is suing the Harstene Pointe Maintenance Association for improperly denying them a building permit that includes Americans with Disabilities Act modifications, according to a complaint filed in Mason County Superior Court April 9. Daniel and Jolene Tupper want to add wheelchair access features to their home on Harstine Island that’s subject to the nonprofit homeowners association covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs). The Tuppers submitted t...
A horrific crash on U.S. Highway 101 at the intersection of Lynch Road 6 miles south of Shelton killed two Kitsap County residents and injured a Washington State Patrol trooper. Charles Ferree, 72, and Deolia Blandford, 49, both of Ollala, died at the scene of the accident when their vehicle collided with a southbound WSP patrol vehicle en route to an emergency April 6, according a WSP news release. The patrol vehicle was traveling south on U.S. 101 and had activated lights and siren at the time of the collision, Mason County Sheriff’s O...
Three suspects in a shooting at the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton on April 3 led multiple law enforcement agency officers on a high-speed chase, ending with their arrest in Thurston County. Roberto Evans, 22, Austin McCord, 19, and a 17-year-old juvenile were arrested in connection with the shooting that happened in the casino’s parking garage, wounding Damien Castellane, 21, and Roger Allen Turner Ford, 27, according to a Mason County Sheriff’s Office probable cause document. A third person, Malique Eckstein, 20, was “scared but uninj...
8th District Reps. Travis Couture and Dan Griffey, both Republicans from Allyn, and state Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, discussed the legislative session that ended March 7 at a breakfast hosted by the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce. At the April 5 event, at the Shelton Civic Center, Chamber President and CEO Diedre Peterson thanked the representatives for being “cognizant of the needs of our businesses and our communities.” MacEwen opened the wrap-up, saying it was a “contentious” session. The passage of HB 1589 “will affect th...
A Shelton floral company will pay workers back wages and fines of $1.85 million after the U.S. Department of Labor sued on behalf of the workers March 21 in US District Court, Western Washington. Shelton business Continental Floral LLC, known as Continental Floral Greens, owner Jim Milgard, Jr. and Pacific Northwest General Manager Scott Schauer agreed to a consent judgment March 26 and will not contest claims they didn’t pay migrant workers overtime wages, failed to provide the workers safe transportation and safe housing, and did not d...
Three convicted in murder cases with Mason County ties After a five-month trial, a jury in Kitsap County on Friday convicted three men of murdering a Seabeck family, including the father whose body was discovered on a tree farm on Northeast Dewatto-Holly Road, south of Forest Springs Road, in Mason County. The family, John Careaga, 43, his wife Christale Careaga, 37, and her 16-year-old son Johnathon Higgins and 16-year-old stepson Hunter Schapp were all killed in January 2017. The mother and sons were found inside their burned-out home near...
Installation of Jersey barriers along U.S. Highway 101 from the intersection of Wallace Kneeland Boulevard to state Route 3 in Shelton is one step closer after $2 million in legislative funding was approved March 7 for engineering. Additional funding will be needed for construction, according to Doug Adamson with the state Department of Transportation. A WSDOT project document shows the design has been funded but work hasn’t started. “Barriers are not placed with the assumption that the system will restrain or redirect all vehicles in all con...
Bigfoot protection on agenda At a briefing April 8, Mason County commissioners unanimously agreed to put a resolution on the next meeting’s agenda “declaring Mason County a sasquatch protection and refuge area” after Grays Harbor County elementary school students wrote in asking for protection of the cryptid. “We are the students of Miss Andrews class in 5th grade at Lincoln Elementary school in Hoquiam, Washington. The reason we are writing this letter to you is because we believe that Mason County should have laws to protect Bigfoot...
Editor’s note: The Journal does not identify minor victims of sexual crimes or their families. The parents of a 5-year-old kindergartner have sued North Mason School District after video footage showed the child being “sexually and physically abused” by a fifth grade student during a bus ride home, according to the complaint filed April 1 in Mason County Superior Court. The complaint states the child has developmental and speech delays and attended kindergarten in the North Mason School District. The district provided door-to-door trans...
Mason County Chief Public Defender Peter Jones told commissioners his office is about to be “hit by a train” thanks to updated Washington State Bar standards that “drastically” change attorney caseloads, which will affect how the county prosecutes and defends criminal cases. At a March 24 briefing, Jones requested commissioners immediately form a committee to study the problem and begin implementing changes to the county’s criminal justice system. “I think we need to start putting together a committee right now that figures out how to minimize...
A Port Orchard man has been arrested for stealing a car in Mason County and leading deputies on a high-speed chase down state Route 106. Joseph Hubbard, 22, of Port Orchard, was arrested on felony charges of eluding police and possession of a stolen vehicle March 26. A Mason County Transit employee called MACECOM on March 11 to report a man trying to break into parked cars at Northeast Log Yard Road in Belfair, according to a Mason County Sheriff incident report. While the caller was on the phone, he said the suspect had entered a gray Nissan...
A Seattle attorney suing Mason County District Court and Judge George Steele for appointing him to defend a local man charged with DUI wants the suit to proceed even though he’s been removed as the man’s counsel. Jonathan Lewis, who has a legal practice in Seattle, filed a writ of mandamus in Mason County Superior Court on Feb. 27. The writ is used when government officials have allegedly taken a legally prohibited action. Lewis says Steele improperly appointed him to defend Martin Andres Alonzo, who is being charged with DUI for the third tim...
A Mason County resident who contacted the Journal about his uncounted March 12 presidential primary ballot says its now been tabulated. Scott Gordon said the delay was because he mistakenly signed his wife’s return envelope. “I appreciate everybody looking into it,” Gordon said in a voice message. Mason County Auditor Steve Duenkel’s investigation showed the ballot arrived at the elections department Feb. 21 and was counted in the results for the March 12 presidential primary. When Gordon checked the status of his ballot through the Mason C...
Union property owner Philip Bayley is challenging $250,000 in fines and $33,492 in mitigation fees assessed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an illegal bulkhead. Bayley told the Journal the EPA’s news release about the judgment is “slanderous” because he still has motions before U.S. District Judge David Estudillo, who ruled on the case. The EPA sued Bayley, his mother, Joan, and their business Big D’s Beach Cabin LLC in 2020 for Clean Water Act violations related to a bulkhead that he says had all required permits. “Althou...
Fire District 12 Commissioner Nick Jones requested at the March 19 commission meeting that any “members or commissioners” in the district who are under investigation be immediately suspended until the inquiry is complete. Fire 12 covers western Mason County, including Matlock and some areas of eastern Grays Harbor County. “It was stated at the last meeting by Mason County Sheriff’s Office that members of the district are under investigation. We should work with the sheriff’s office to determine the names of the members or commissio...
Mason County resident Scott Gordon says he dropped off his March 12 presidential primary ballot at the Belfair post office drive-thru mailbox in February and was “shocked” to see it wasn’t counted. Gordon contacted the Journal after he checked on his ballot through the Mason County elections website. If you are a registered Washington voter, you can sign in and learn when your ballot was mailed, when it was received by Mason County and when it was accepted. “With all this talk about mail-in voting I decided to check on my ballot through...
The North Mason Food Bank will be relocating to a larger building, helped in part by $47,000 in state money secured in the last legislative session. The nonprofit group recently purchased the property at 24131 NE state Route 3, Belfair, in the old HD’s Pub’s building just a few miles from its current location. “For more than 20 years we have been operating out of a small, converted house on a main highway. Parking is extremely limited, and our clients have to back out onto the busy road. In addition, we are very small, so our folks wait outsi...
The 2024 legislative session ended with passage of budgets that bring in millions for Mason County and the 35th District. The state Legislature passed supplemental capital, operating and transportation budgets March 7 that include $16 million for local projects. "The millions we were able to get in this capital budget will make a significant difference in our community. I am proud to be a member of this 35th District team and what we have been able to accomplish together," state Sen. Drew...
