Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Four months after photographer Teresa "Tree" Smith's work first appeared on Barbara Treick's art wall at Belfair Self-Storage, Smith has returned. Smith said the months between her two showings have passed as she suspects they've passed for many others. Sometimes, it feels like a month since her last exhibition; other times, it feels like years. This vague sense of time passing has been compounded by caring for her mother, which led to a bit of artistic dormancy for her. "Creating art and...
We're closing out this year's spooky season with two engagingly suspenseful streaming series that premiered during the final full week of October 2022. "Cabinet of Curiosities" on Netflix Part of what makes Guillermo del Toro such an appealing figure is his effusive enthusiasm for the art of onscreen storytelling itself, which manifests not only in the craftsmanship and ideas inherent in his own films, but also in his frequent tributes to the works of other filmmakers. "Guillermo del Toro's Cabi...
Art Whitson, District 1 commissioner for the Port of Grapeview, was appointed Oct. 25 by Mason County commissioners to fill an open slot on the Mason County Clean Water Advisory Committee. The committee’s purpose is to implement laws designed to protect and improve water quality. Whitson’s responsibilities include establishing programs and projects to reduce nonpoint source pollution that threatens surface water quality in Mason County. He’s one of the committee’s nine stakeholder members...
The Port of Allyn Commission had a public hearing during its special meeting Oct. 24 about its proposed plans to not significantly revise its district boundaries this year. “I’m good with not moving things around, because water is going to find its own level,” Port Commissioner John Sheridan said. “It’s not significant enough.” Area resident Ken Van Buskirk noted the Port of Shelton has at-large commissioners, adding that Mason County officials had told him the Port of Allyn could create at-large districts of its own. A petition of 10% of its...
Port of Hoodsport commissioners devoted much of their Oct. 12 meeting to an update on the progress of tree and debris clearing at the port’s park spaces. Port Operations Manager Kathleen Wyatt reported revenue of more than $10,000 from the more than 34 truckloads of trees that have been removed so far, which will ultimately be added to the 2023 budgets for the Port of Hoodsport trail park and disc golf course. Commissioner Lori Kincannon said she looks forward to having that money applied to t...
"Black Adam" is a dark and explicitly political film with unlikely origins, since the ancient Teth-Adam began as an antagonist to magically empowered child hero Billy Batson in the relatively sunny and inoffensive "Shazam" mythos but evolved over time from a villain into the would-be liberator of the fictional Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq. Dwayne Johnson portrays Teth-Adam as a slave under Kahndaq's original tyrant king, during the dawn of civilization millennia ago, whose wizard-derived...
North Mason Superintendent Dana Rosenbach presented a draft of the capital facilities plan that she and Facilities Director Joan Moore have been working on at the school board's Oct. 20. Rosenbach said the district recently agreed to contract "with an expert in giving us the reports we need on the state of our buildings," because certain data needs to be compiled, updated and submitted to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction years ahead of time. In part, this is to help secure...
Before scheduling a public hearing for their next regular meeting Nov. 15, Port of Grapeview commissioners and the port manager last week reviewed proposed budget cuts they’d addressed at an earlier meeting. Port Manager Amanda Montgomery said the November meeting will also involve the passage of five resolutions related to the port’s budget. Port Commissioner Jean Farmer said the budget workshop was useful to familiarize the port commission’s two relatively new members with how port budge...
Two Halloween-appropriate horror films, and two first-season finales of streaming shows: Halloween Ends Watching "Halloween Ends" made me feel like the 2005 viral meme of Tyra Banks (herself a victim of Michael Myers, in 2002's "Halloween: Resurrection") when she screamed, "I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!" I will still defend 2018's "Halloween" as the best film in the franchise since the 1978 original, and its direct sequel, 2021's "Halloween Kills," started out with all the...
Port of Allyn’s Board of commissioners will have a special public meeting at their administrative office Oct. 24 to discuss commissioner district boundaries and a couple of other items that Port of Allyn Operations Manager LeAnn Dennis added to the meeting agenda. One of those items is routine — approving a $500 voucher for payment to the Economic Development Council of Jefferson County for its annual dues. “I think we’re also adding a discussion about electricity fees to the special meeting...
This past week on streaming offered a quartet of spooky and suspenseful films to get folks into the Halloween spirit. Mr. Harrigan's Phone "Mr. Harrigan's Phone," released Oct. 5 on Netflix, has the ominous buildup of a monkey's paw undead revenge thriller, but ultimately resolves itself into a compelling, nuanced character study, told from the perspective of small-town New England adolescence. Yes, it's based on the Stephen King novella of the same name, and it even stars Jaeden Martell from...
The HUB (Hospitality, Unity, Belonging) Center for Seniors is reviving its runway show next year. Beth Gizzi, executive director of the HUB, said the center has had a fashion show “on and off” since 2007, but COVID prompted an extended break. Gizzi said the show in May will be the HUB’s first wearable art fashion show, and possibly the first of its kind for the area as well. “We started a ‘found’ fashion show — items that are found in a thrift shop, like our own HUB shop — to showcase what g...
While commissioners for the Port of Grapeview repeatedly noted they’ve made no final decisions regarding next year’s budgets for the port, the three commissioners acknowledged several areas of overall agreement at their Oct. 6 budget workshop. “As we’ve gone over the operations budget, we’ve seen how difficult it’s going to be for this port just to maintain the facilities that it has, which are very minimal,” Jean Farmer said, before she and fellow port commissioners turned to the preliminary c...
The Port of Allyn has a busy month ahead. Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola warned at the port’s Oct. 3 meeting that while revenues are performing as expected “for this time of year, and in this economy,” the port’s expenses have exceeded its budget “in several instances,” notably what they’ve paid in legal fees, “so money is tight and cash flow somewhat problematic.” The same meeting saw port commissioners approve a loan, with interest, from the port’s water fund to its general fund...
Bewitching ladies in blasts from the past dominated this past week's streaming releases, targeted toward different ages of audiences, and to wildly varying degrees of success. Blonde Christopher Lee said actors occasionally can't avoid appearing in bad films, "but the trick is to never be bad in them." Ana de Armas has made a career out of abiding by that advice, with breakout roles in quality films, including 2017's "Blade Runner 2049" and 2019's "Knives Out." When I saw that Netflix's...
Belfair Self-Storage's artist of the month for October is visual artist Sharon Taylor, for whom business manager Barbara Treick will display a sampling of her pieces this coming month on the self-storage offices' art wall. "Describing the type of art that I create is somewhat difficult, because I don't have one particular type," Taylor said. "I love all art. I see art in just about everything. It really comes from my heart. I love to paint with acrylics and watercolor. I love using various...
During the North Mason School Board’s Sept. 15 meeting, high school counselor Rebecca Roberts spoke about the work being done for the Comprehensive School Counseling Plan before Board Director Laura Boad moved to approve the plan as presented. According to Roberts, the American School Counseling Association has a model they’ve published for more than a decade outlining the best practices in counseling. “School counseling has shifted, in the last decade or two, from being very individualized (to)...
I attended the Port Townsend Film Festival from 2016 to 2019, and wrote reviews of its films that were published in The Port Townsend Leader from 2017-19. After 2 years of COVID-prompted cancellations, followed by virtual screenings, the Port Townsend Film Festival has returned, under new management, to offer both virtual and in-person screenings for 2022. So, from Sept. 22 through Sept. 25, I planned to screen 12 feature-length films - eight documentaries and four narratives - plus two short...
The Port of Hoodsport has readjusted its timeline to remove debris and dead and decaying trees from its parks. During the port’s Sept. 7 meeting, port commissioner Terry Brazil said Forest McCullough of Northwest Land & Tree had “really been going to town” on cutting the park’s timber. Brazil said McCullough was fortunate to get help from port maintenance man Scott Lindgren on the project, “because he hasn’t got a lot of other help.” Brazil said McCullough has been shipping “a lot of rotten t...
From the first impeccably staged fight scene of "The Woman King," it's impossible not to hear its implicit sales pitch in your head: Hey, kids, do you like the Dora Milaje of Wakanda, from the Marvel Cinema Universe's "Black Panther?" Because these African warrior women were the Dora Milaje in real life. During the 19th century, the West African kingdom of Dahomey did indeed maintain an all-female fighting force known as the Agojie, which was one of the only standing armies (and one of the only...
Port of Allyn’s commissioners adopted long-overdue updates to the port’s marina rules, but deferred any action on redistricting until they could consult with Mason County officials. Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola reminded port commissioners they’d already deferred action on updating the port’s marina rules during their previous month’s meeting, so the issue was placed on the agenda again this month. Coppola pointed out that when the marina rules were adopted by the port in 2015,...
Hoodstock 2022 offered folks on the waters of Hood Canal its signature venue to take in an eclectic mix of music from regional performers while giving Cody Morris, brewmaster and founder of Hoodsport-based Potlatch Brewing Co., an unusual business opportunity. Potlatch Brewing teamed with Hoodstock because his company's scale allows it to produce small runs of what he deemed "special" beers, Morris said. He said he hopes Hoodstock might set a precedent for Potlatch Brewing to team up with other...
After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, the Mason County Concert Association kicks off its 2022-2023 season with The Everly Set performing a tribute to the Everly Brothers at 7 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Shelton High School Performing Arts Center. The series continues with Seraph Brass at 7 p.m. Oct. 24, the four-piece rock band Vinyl Radio at 7 p.m. Jan. 25, and the Sultans of String International String Trio at 7 p.m. March 17. All the shows are in the PAC at 3737 N. Shelton Springs...
As fond as I remain of the original "Karate Kid" films, Parts I through III never quite hung together well as a trilogy, even before they attempted to resurrect the franchise on the big screen - twice, with Hilary Swank and Jackie Chan (and we won't even get into the cartoon). Which makes it all the more impressive that the "Cobra Kai" streaming series, whose fifth season debuted on Netflix on Sept. 9, has not only managed to retroactively recast those disparate films as chapters of a...
Harlequin Productions in Olympia marks the changing of its seasons with its September stagings of the play “This Flat Earth,” followed by its annual gala and the season announcement for 2023. “This Flat Earth,” a 2018 play by Lindsey Ferrentino, depicts students and parents navigating the aftermath of a fictional middle school shooting in a seaside town. Admission to the play, which runs today through Saturday and starts at 7:30 p.m., is $35 for general audiences, $32 for seniors and militar...
