Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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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,...
Not all nerds are nerds about everything, so while I'm a nerd about a broad spectrum of media, my one big shortfall is that I've never been a nerd about video games. I'm prefacing my review of the "Halo" streaming series on Paramount+ by saying this so you will know I am reviewing this series from the standpoint of someone for whom this is an introduction to the "Halo" mythos. Of course, I was aware of the "Halo" franchise and had even watched my younger cousin Shawn play a few rounds, so I got...
The League of Women Voters of Mason County heard from a pair of veteran journalists on "The Decline of Local Journalism and Its Impact on Democracy" during its March 15 meeting. Sally Carpenter Hale retired in 2019 after 40 years with The Associated Press, most recently as director of regional media for Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. As the AP's bureau chief in New Jersey, she directed that state's coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and their aftermath. Dee Anne Finken reported for the Fresno and Sacramento Bee newspapers early in...
Artist Alice Durrie has embraced an eclectic variety of media in her attempts to capture and convey the beauty she sees in seemingly insignificant and naturally occurring phenomena around her. Belfair Self-Storage manager Barbara Treick said she looks forward to sharing Durrie's visions and handiwork with appreciative audiences in April. Durrie traces the origins of her 25-year professional art career to influences that include her father, an interior decorator whom she watched create domestic...
Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger were able to lean on their movie careers to get elected governor of California, which led Reagan to higher office and Schwarzenegger back to Hollywood. Donald Trump's high profile from his reality TV show was credited with helping him win the presidency, although his social media presence played at least as large a part in that. But none of those three entertainers went directly from playing the president of their country on TV to getting elected...
Port of Grapeview officials received a monthly update last month on the work of the Case Inlet Fishery Task Force from task force facilitator Brad Pomroy. The task force is supported by the Grapeview and Allyn ports, with Grapeview Commissioner Art Whitson and Allyn Commissioner Ted Jackson representing their ports. Pomroy said the task force has spent the better part of the past year getting up to speed on salmon matters in Case Inlet and working to understand who stakeholders are. Pomroy cited...
The Port of Grapeview agreed to put property up for sale for a minimum price of $100,000 after a public hearing at the port’s March 15 meeting didn’t draw any negative reactions. The 1.74-acre parcel designated as 12108-21-90041 is zoned commercial residential and sits on Grapeview Loop Road on the corner of Okonek Road. It was previously part of the port’s industrial development district before the port commissioners unanimously voted to remove it from the district March 15. The removal of property from the industrial district required commi...
The Port of Hoodsport is still dealing with the fallout of its hazard trees and is considering upcoming waste disposal needs. The port’s vouchers for February totaled $14,797.30, which port Operations Manager Kathleen Wyatt said is higher than the usual total of about $8,000. Wyatt said the port’s vouchers included $7,000 for Hoodsport-based Northwest Land and Tree to have hazardous trees removed, plus $900 for the port’s annual IT, domain and web tech fees, and attorney fees of $225 from when Wyatt consulted with legal counsel about the Fjord...
So much of the 10-episode first season of "Star Trek: Picard" in 2020, on what's now Paramount+, was devoted to cleaning up the collateral damage of 2002's "Star Trek: Nemesis" and J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" reboot that it left me wondering what a second season of "Picard" might look like. I shouldn't have been surprised, because even without those loose ends that were demanding to be addressed, the second season of "Picard" (which premiered March 3) is still much like the first. It offers a...
The Port of Dewatto closed out its regular meetings for the winter with an update from port campground coordinator Joe Newman, who said he visited the campground several times during the winter to clean up debris. Newman told port commissioners Feb. 9 that a "large amount of debris" remains scattered through the campground and predicted it would take "quite some time" to get it removed. Newman pledged to do as much cleaning as he could before the March 26 cleanup of the campground. The...
Port of Allyn commissioners initially agreed last month that they were ready to move forward with a comprehensive scheme update before two of the three commissioners reacted favorably to a suggestion on how to solicit more public comment before taking action. But in spite of posting the community survey for its comprehensive scheme update on its website and Facebook page, plus adding links to it on every Facebook group covering Mason County and contacting local media, Port Executive Director Lary Coppola said only “a small number” of sur...
With 2022's "The Batman," writer-director Matt Reeves has achieved something unusual within the broad field of big-screen adaptations of DC Comics' Dark Knight. In a story that spans Oct. 31 through Nov. 6, we're introduced to Bruce Wayne during his early days of leading a dual life, but it's not an origin story. We don't see his parents getting shot, and both the Batcave and Batman's tools have already been built. It's two years into Bruce's crusade, and he's questioning how much good he's...
As the North Mason Regional Fire Authority's headquarters building at Fire Station 21 nears completion, the district aims to make it a place where they can get business done while also providing a place the public can enjoy. The fire district is seeking proposals for public art to be displayed inside the under-construction new headquarters at 490 NE Old Belfair Highway. According to North Mason RFA Fire Chief Beau Bakken, the goals of this project are to increase the community's interest in...
This year's Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle ran from Feb. 9-13 and saw first-time entrants Crazy Hill Garden and Botanicals of Belfair win both the Gold Medal overall and the People's Choice Award. Crazy Hill co-owner Elton Busby credited his partner, Michael Kerkes, with following his dreams to completion by coming up with a design to submit. The Seattle show accepts submissions only from those it has invited to take part. Although the show had other award categories, Busby said the...
Ivan Reitman died Feb. 12 at 75 years of age, leaving a half-century legacy of filmmaking that transformed cinema. Reitman logged close to 70 movie and TV credits as a producer, and 17 feature films as a director. He also created four short films, a music video and an unsold pilot that aired as a TV movie. Reitman directed some of cinema's classic comedies, making "Saturday Night Live" alum Bill Murray the comedic lead everyone believed he could be, and musclebound action hero Arnold...
Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola presented updates on the port's finances, a community survey, the well project and the status of the Oyster House. Coppola said Feb. 7 that the port received its staging area expense reimbursements from the state Recreation and Conservation Office, but only the construction cost portion, which was slightly more than $41,000. "We have not yet gotten the amount we spent for staff payroll, which is approximately $9,000," Coppola said. "They seem to...
Mason Health Superintendent and CEO Eric Moll gave the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce a look at how COVID-19 affected the hospital. Moll told the gathering Feb. 17 that Mason Health's inpatient numbers are "still high by historical standards," but not as high as it was last month. Moll estimated the hospital averaged about 13 patients pre-pandemic, whereas the five months prior to February were trending around 30, more than double the preceding (and current) numbers. According to...
The saga of fake German heiress Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin), whose larcenous misdeeds were first made famous by articles in Vanity Fair and New York magazines in 2018, seems almost tailor-made for a TV miniseries adaptation, so I couldn't help but check out the nine-part "Inventing Anna" on Netflix. With Shonda Rhimes at the helm as executive producer, it's no surprise that this adaptation of Jessica Pressler's "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People" for New York is well-cast and...
