Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Two people suffered injuries in a propane explosion Aug. 22 at the Alderbrook Resort & Spa maintenance building. One person was critically injured and airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and the other person was treated and released by Mason General Hospital, Union Fire Chief Clint Volk told the Journal. “A very large underground propane tank” ignited by static possibly caused the explosion, though that is not confirmed, according to Volk. “The investigation is ongoing for the cause,” Volk said. Union Fire, along with Central...
North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach announced her retirement at Monday's board meeting. She will work throughout this school year and retire June 30.. "This will be my eleventh year at North Mason. This will be my last year," she said at the meeting. "I am looking forward to taking on new opportunities and I think it's a wonderful opportunity for the district as well to have new leadership," Rosenbach said. Board Member Erik Youngberg thanked Rosenbach for serving the distr...
A packed City Council meeting Aug. 6 might not have been a spontaneous uprising of downtown business owners fed up with crime and the homeless. A flyer posted on social media seemed to suggest the city was hosting a forum on the topic. “A City in CRISIS!” the flyer said. “If you would like to see positive change in our amazing city? Please attend the City of Shelton Council meeting held at City Hall Civic Center on Tuesday August 6, 2024 at 6:00pm,” the flyer reads. It then lists a Zoom meeting ID and password and states “For questions...
Three new Washington State Patrol Troopers in Shelton are part of the first lateral program that allows certified law enforcement officers to sign on with WSP after shortened training. Troopers Noah Cameron, Levi Gundacker and Daniel Osborn graduated with six other troopers in May. “We need more great people to join our agency who’ll help us continue to meet the needs of Washingtonians. The bottom line is we have to think outside the historical box and still maintain the high standards for which our agency is known. Each of these nine has alr...
While some Mason County residents spent their summer vacation chasing the sun, North Mason Firefighter/EMT Elli Lechner took leave to volunteer as an instructor at Camp Blaze, a weeklong camp where young women can try out a firefighting career. Teenagers ages 16 to 19 participate in live fire training, vehicle extraction, aerial ladder climbing, hose handling and rappelling, among other activities, according to the camp's website. "Think summer camp meets fire academy," Lechner told the Herald....
North Mason Timberland Library seeks user input The North Mason Timberland Library in Belfair is asking users to take a survey to “better understand your needs, preferences and experiences with our library system,” according to its website. Staff want feedback to help decide priorities for the library. The survey takes about five minutes, according to the library and responses are anonymous. The survey is at www.trl.org. North Mason Chamber hosts cocktail party The North Mason Chamber of Commerce hosts a free end-of-summer cocktail party fro...
Fire District 12 Commissioner Dave Persell resigned at the Aug. 14 meeting, so the board could appoint a “more qualified individual. Perhaps one that the voters of this district already voted onto this board,” he said, seeming to suggest Nick Jones, who was the only elected member of the previous commission. Mason County commissioners appointed Trina Young and Persell to Fire 12 positions 1 and 3 respectively, on May 24. Persell said previous commissioners agreed “not to apply for any of these vacated seats until all three seats have been...
The Shorelines Hearings Board meets next week to review appeals on the Taylor Shellfish proposed floating oyster bag farm in Oakland Bay. A Mason County hearing examiner ruled Nov. 21, approving the project with certain restrictions. Friends of Oakland Bay filed a petition for review challenging approval of the project, which will take up 9.1 overwater acres with a 50-acre project boundary for floating aquaculture gear. The group claims the farm is inconsistent with public access policies, doesn’t comply with views and aesthetics policies a...
Judge protects some evidence in North Mason school suit A judge has ruled video recordings of a bus ride and a police interview of a kindergartner allegedly abused on the bus by another student are confidential and exempt from public disclosure. Mason County Superior Court Judge Monty Cobb granted a protective order Aug. 6 in the suit filed by parents of a 5-year-old kindergartner against 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, acc...
United Way of Mason County dissolves United Way of Mason County announced Aug. 14 it will dissolve. “With a heavy heart, United Way of Mason County announces its dissolution. After many years of dedicated service to the community, the organization will cease operations and quit taking pledges effective immediately,” Board of Directors Chair Dani Cook said in a statement. When Executive Director Ted Jackson resigned June 6, Cook told the Journal United Way was “taking time to evaluate the program,” and would not be immediately seeking a new exe...
Port of Allyn commissioners unanimously approved a $25,000 refund of a deposit paid by a memory care center for an application of determination of water quality. “It’s a formality at this point,” Commissioner John Sheridan said. Ronald and Debra Jamerson were developing the assisted living facility in Allyn. “We are unable to proceed with the project,” Ronald Jamerson wrote in a letter to the port requesting the refund. The port discussed returning the money at July’s meeting when Executive Director Travis Merrill said the port doesn’t have a r...
Arriving at work one Monday morning, Kathleen Blanchette found remnants of a fire at the front door of Forest Funeral Home on West Railroad Avenue in downtown Shelton. "I have installed outdoor cameras at my business at the advice of the police," Blanchette told the Shelton City Council at its Aug. 6 meeting. "I have also put in extra lighting, but I still have human feces, both front and back at different times, in the built-in planters out front. There has been soiled men's underwear, there...
Mason County Strike Team firefighters are back home for now after spending two weeks deployed at the Big Horn Fire in Klickitat County and the Retreat Fire in Yakima County. "It's been two weeks and we come home tonight," West Mason Chief Matthew Welander said. Welander spoke with the Journal from the Retreat Fire on Aug. 6 as the team was being demobilized. Firefighters split their time between the two fires, spending about seven days at each fire, Welander said. The Big Horn Fire is no longer...
Republican Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, appears to have made it through the 6th Congressional District primary and will face Democrat Emily Randall in November’s general election. “I am very pleased with tonight’s returns. After my opponents outspent our campaign by 8 to 1, the results show voters desire steady and tested leadership in Congress during these tumultuous times. We have clear momentum heading into November and will continue to unite the Olympic Peninsula to bring real change to Congress,” MacEwen said in a statement. “Throug...
The Squaxin Island kelp bed is the last major kelp bed in South Puget Sound and has declined 97% since 2013, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. The Squaxin Island Tribe and DNR plan to conserve the kelp bed and create a "priority habitat zone" to protect and restore the bed, according to a DNR news release. "Squaxin people have been stewarding these waters and lands for thousands of years. Kelp beds have also been stewarding these waters for thousands of years, providing nou...
The passing of Linda "Blondie" Jones on July 18 saddened a community that went to Blondie's restaurant for homestyle cooking and socializing with "family" they had in fellow customers, staff and especially Linda. "She treated her customers like family," longtime patron Bill Lopez said. "She'd come up to the table and check on you," he said, even though Jones hadn't performed official waitress duties in years. Lopez said no matter what happens to the restaurant, a Shelton staple for 23 years,...
Fire District 12 has obtained insurance, commissioners announced Aug. 1, moving the embattled district one step closer to normal operations. In May, Fire 12 lost insurance coverage, was declared a disaster area and saw all three of its commissioners resign. The district’s insurer canceled the policy May 17 due to mismanagement and several steps were required for reinstatement. That happened last Thursday. “We have a long way to go but it sure feels good to get over this mandatory hurdle,” Commissioner Dave Persell told the Journal. “We still h...
Starting Monday, fish barrier removal work on U.S. Highway 101 at the Thurston/Mason County border will reduce lanes and increase travel times, according to the state Department of Transportation. Both directions of U.S. 101 will be reduced to one lane in each direction at the county line. Between milepost 356.62 and 357.89, the speed limit will be reduced from 60 mph to 45 mph and the median at Old Olympic Highway will close. There will be no access to U.S. 101 from Old Olympic Highway near the work zone. West Old Olympic Highway, farther...
Monte Ritter told Mason County commissioners he lives in the Shelton Urban Growth Area “just outside the city limits” and has had trouble for years with his neighbors’ illegal burning. People who live in an urban growth area “have to abide by the fire code as if you were in the city, not in the county,” Ritter said. Shelton Fire Marshal Keith Reitz told the Journal outdoor burn bans in UGAs are state mandated “from a smoke management standpoint.” Burning woody debris from cleared land is not allowed in UGAs, Reitz said. The Olympic Regional Cle...
Mason County commissioners unanimously approved raising building height limits in the Airport Industrial Zone from 36 feet to 45 feet at their July 30 regular meeting. The Port of Shelton applied for the ordinance amendment so it can replace a building that burned down in April 2021. The 32,000-square-foot building was being used as a marijuana manufacturing facility when it burned in a three-alarm blaze. The building was originally used for metal fabrication by an aerospace company and the port hopes to bring back similar manufacturing to the...
All campfires, including charcoal, are now banned in Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest, including coastal areas of the national park. The restrictions started July 26, according to a news release from Olympic National Park. Anything that produces ash is banned. Visitors can use pressurized or bottled liquid fuel stoves that have an on-off switch or valve capable of immediately extinguishing the flame, lanterns or heating devices in campgrounds and wilderness areas, if no flammable materials are within 3 feet of the devices, the...
Washington State Patrol Academy cadets practiced submersed vehicle rescue as part of a water safety training July 16. The training has changed over time, Cpl. Louis Worley told the Journal. "We used to make it more difficult," Worley, who is with the training division, said. Cadets were expected to perform the passenger extraction in very cold water, typically around 55 degrees, simulating conditions of Pacific Northwest rivers, lakes and the Puget Sound. That changed around 15 years ago,...
Board approves Sand Hill Elementary emergency repairs The North Mason School Board authorized emergency replacement of a fire control panel at Sand Hill Elementary at a special meeting July 26. “There are not parts easily available or even available at all,” so replacement was not an option, Superintendent Dana Rosenbach said at the meeting. The board contacted the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction because the $88,780.50 needed for the panel was not in the district’s budget, according to Rosenbach. Board members agreed to decla...
Schafer State Park celebrated its centennial Saturday, July 20, with food, games, storytelling and discussions about the past and future of the park. Around 700 people attended the event, according to Shafer Park Ranger Angela Galli, who told the Journal it was "a great turnout." Galli said officials originally planned for 300 attendees. Trina Young, president of the Friends of Schafer and Lake Sylvia State Parks (FOSLS), put attendance at around 800, and said more than 50 Schafer family...
Drunk driver crashes, thinks he’s home Police say an intoxicated Seabeck man drove into a ditch near Allyn and thought he was in his driveway. Shawn Ferguson, 29, drove off state Route 302 near the intersection of East Coulter Creek Road around 10 p.m. July 9 and his car landed “with its nose within the south bound ditch and the rear bumper of the vehicle was just outside of the southbound fog line,” Mason County Sheriff’s Deputy J. Ogden wrote in a probable cause document. Ferguson allegedly exited the crashed vehicle with a bottle in his han...
