Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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The Port of Dewatto has been ensuring it maintains enough money in the bank to address expenses. During the port’s April 13 meeting, campground coordinator Joe Newman reported the campground’s initial turnout numbered “just a few” campers, although he said a camping group reserved quite a few more slots by mid-April. Newman said about 25 volunteers helped out at the campground for its cleanup March 26, and with a few more hours during that week, he was able to get the rest of the leaves and bru...
Two months after Barbara Treick's art wall at Belfair Self-Storage showcased multimedia artist Alice Durrie, that same space is devoted in June to Durrie's wife, professional photographer Teresa "Tree" Smith. Durrie described Smith as her artistic "muse," and the feeling is mutual. Smith characterized their relationship as "symbiotic," in which each one's artistic pursuits thrive because of the other. "We encourage and support each other in the practice of our crafts," Smith said. "I'm able to...
So, after reprioritizing my entertainment expenses, I'm subscribed to Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+ and Peacock. Remember when streaming was supposed to be simpler than cable? I'd been tempted by Apple TV+ before, as it premiered "Ted Lasso" in 2020, followed by series adaptations of "The Mosquito Coast" and "Foundation" in 2021, but it took the hauntingly gothic atmosphere promised by trailers for "The Essex Serpent" to fully sell me on my seventh streaming subscription...
The summer and fall series of art and music fairs at the Rest-A-While RV Park in Hoodsport kicks off from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. It will include a memorial to recently deceased Journal columnist and writer Mark Woytowich at 2 p.m. “Mark was such a treasure in our community, and is very missed,” said Rest-A-While Operational Manager Elizabeth Bennett, who recalled Woytowich as being warmly received by his fellow vendors and attendees at her seasonal fairs, where he sold his book “Where Waterfalls and Wild Things Are.” “Being the Shelton-M...
Hawkins Middle School eighth-graders Bradley Williams, Dylan Prideaux, Sophia Mairs, Owen Oblizalo and Yariel Barajas presented their "Project Citizen" to the North Mason School Board on May 19. Williams described Project Citizen as teaching students to work with government to create public policies to help solve community problems. "Our class voted from a long list of problems," Williams said. "The majority picked school shootings, so we came up with policies to prepare for and prevent these...
The North Mason Regional Fire Authority spoke with the Shelton-Mason County Journal on Monday about its new headquarters building at 490 NE Old Belfair Highway. "It's been a crazy morning," North Mason RFA Chief Beau Bakken said. "We spent all of last week making the move into this facility. By the afternoon of Friday, May 13, we knew we had to have everything over here that we would need in order to function." Bakken deemed Friday night the station's "special soft grand opening," leading into t...
I'm trying something different for this week's reviews. Please let me know if it works for you. I often review the start of new shows (or the start of new seasons of returning shows), but unless the entire season dumps at once, rarely do I review the conclusions of those season-long arcs. This matters because most modern television and streaming shows are written as season-long arcs, which was absolutely not the case with TV shows when I was growing up in the 1980s. Eighties TV had notable...
The North Mason School District selected Erik Youngberg on May 10 to fill the District 1 School Board position left vacant by Art Wightman, whose resignation was accepted at the board's March 24 meeting. In his letter to the board, Youngberg described himself as a fifth-generation resident of Mason County who wants to make a difference in the community by doing what he can to ensure future residents "continue to have a great school system." Youngberg said he learned to cope with childhood...
A proposed community dog park was put before the Port of Hoodsport for consideration on April 13. Resident Bill Long, who moved to the area several years ago from University Place in Pierce County, is the founding member and president of SUN (Safe, Unleashed, Natural) Dogs of Pierce County, a nonprofit organization that developed and paid for an off-leash area at Chambers Bay starting in 2005. It operates in partnership with University Place and Pierce County. The group raised more than $40,000 to fence and develop that park, and Long said he...
As I'd anticipated, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" was well exceeded by "Everything Everywhere All at Once" as a free-for-all romp across multiple universes, but what I suspect surprised a lot of moviegoers over the weekend is the "Multiverse of Madness" pales even in comparison to "Spider-Man: No Way Home," which benefited from focusing more on fan service than on fan homework. While I'd still defend the "Doctor Strange" sequel as a solidly entertaining and well-made Marvel...
The Belfair Self-Storage art wall is devoting May to showcasing Allyn resident Michael Osborn's "Kustom Laser Art by Oz" lasear-cut wood artwork, complete with an artist reception featuring Osborn at 5 p.m. on May 20 at the business, 23270 NE state Route 3. Osborn's roots as an artist are in Euless, Texas, with a job at Fegan Fine Art & Restoration to restore several truckloads of antiques from homes flooded by Hurricane Katrina. Osborn discovered he enjoyed "working with my hands to restore...
When the Port of Allyn followed up on Sweetwater Park during the port commissioners' May 2 meeting, Port Executive Director Lary Coppola said Kathleen Barrantes, the grant writer the Salmon Center hired, had come up with a plan for a series of grants from various agencies to fund the project. "Because of the delays in moving this project forward, the cost has more than doubled, which is why a professional grant writer was brought in," Coppola said. He added that the local arborist, qualified und...
The Port of Allyn reviewed several technical matters during the port commissioners’ May 2 meeting. Port Executive Director Lary Coppola said he sent a letter to Mason County commissioners to say the port was reducing its Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy request for its water system project from $500,000 to $100,000. “However, there is a new set of hoops we have to jump through for the federal government, and we are just now navigating that maze,” Coppola said. “We should have the bid...
What's perhaps most notable about "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," a charmingly affectionate sendup of the iconically bizarre public persona of Nicolas Cage, is that its most compelling performance doesn't come from the actor you'd expect. In both his best and worst work as an actor, Cage has always managed to distinguish himself from his peers, in no small part because he never gives any performance less than his all. To his credit, he commits just as wholeheartedly to this film's...
As of April 21, the North Mason School District needs makeup days and a new board director. Superintendent Dana Rosenbach submitted a waiver to make up for the days the district missed due to weather and emergencies. Rosenbach said state law requires a district to go past June 14, at least, in instructional days, including any makeup days, before that district can be considered for a waiver. “In a typical year, you would have had to make up at least three days, plus hit that June 14 mark, b...
A performance by the Hawkins Middle School Orchestra for the North Mason School Board on April 21 led middle school Principal Robert Kalahan to catch the school board up on the school’s progress through COVID. After the orchestra played the songs “Sparkle,” “Pepperoni Pizza” and “Dragon Slayer,” Kalahan said seeing all the students “playing together was something I was really hoping for” and is indicative of “a lot of really great things happening” at Hawkins Middle School. “Another exam...
North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach spoke out at the school board’s April 21 meeting about how the decade-old McCleary v. Washington decision has affected funding for smaller school districts. Rosenbach criticized the effect of “regionalization” on the legal funding mechanisms for school salaries and compensation. “A group will present the 2023 Legislature with a report on how it’s working, with some recommendations for adjustments,” Rosenbach said. “The committee is...
Hoodsport business owner Jan Morris offered an update on the May 15 Fjordin Crossin event to Port of Hoodsport commissioners April 13. Morris, owner of The Hardware Distillery, said event organizers are trying to enlist local and regional politicians. She’s landed a commitment from U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor. “He’s going to lead our little parade, and be on the boat,” Morris said. As of April 13, Morris was still searching for a bus to provide transportation from the school. She’s discussed it with Mason Transit Authority, but the M...
Tell me a tale of the past, and I'll often spot what you're saying about the present. The first two "Godfather" films ostensibly chronicle the ascendance of the Mafia in American culture in the 20th century, but they're as much about our country questioning its faith in its own institutions in the wake of Watergate. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas created Indiana Jones and "Star Wars" as tributes to the Saturday morning adventure movie serials they grew up with, but they prophesied how their...
7 p.m. on May 13 marks the first of North Mason High School’s six presentations of its spring musical production “The Addams Family,” which NMHS Drama Club Adviser Hilary Gennaro noted is long overdue. “We were set to produce this two years ago, right before COVID hit,” Gennaro said. “It’s been a long and winding road to get to this point. Some of the same students who were cast two years ago as sophomores now have the chance to play these characters as seniors, right before they graduate.” “The Addams Family” was a production Gennaro...
Shelton's Museum Contempo has used the social media skills of one local artist to provide all of the gallery's artists with global exposure. Museum Contempo is at 68 SE Lynch Road in Shelton, but Shelton glass blower Ty Nault has also furnished the venue with a virtual display space. Museum Contempo curator Andrea Mastrangelo credited Nault's photography skills and social media savvy with drawing the attention of Google Arts and Culture, and Gluseum, which she thanked for granting the virtual...
"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" premieres May 6, but in spite of how much I'm a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and of director Sam Raimi in particular, I'm sure that film has already been outshined by A24's "Everything Everywhere All at Once," a multiversal sci-fi action comedy martial-arts slice-of-life indie-film drama co-produced by the same Russo brothers who directed some of the biggest big-screen hits of the MCU, plus some of the funniest episodes of "Community." It's...
Shelton High School graduate Ty Nault went from pushing paper to being inspired by the artwork within walking distance of his office jobs. He followed up on his childhood fascination with stained glass by creating Molten Glass Works. Nault's pre-artisanal career took him through stints in the insurance and medical business. Mailroom duties gave way to being an information technology worker for DaVita HealthCare Partners' Tacoma branch. During lunch breaks with a coworker from 1998 through 2005,...
On March 30, Bruce Willis' family announced his retirement from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia, which impairs the ability to comprehend language and communicate. The Los Angeles Times reported that speculation about Willis' condition circulated through the film industry for years prior to his family's announcement. Willis' receding hairline and solid jawline lent themselves to the many crimefighters, criminals and military men he played over the decades, while his stare could switch...
I did not attend the premiere of Marvel/Sony's "Morbius," because however long or convoluted my reviews are, I actually don't believe in wasting your time or mine. Check out the other reviews online, and you'll see you're not missing much. "Morbius" is no "Venom." 'MOON KNIGHT' Instead, I took in a mixed bag of streaming selections, starting with the surreal first episode of "Moon Knight" on Disney+. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe owes its existence to the Wesley Snipes "Blade" films,...
