Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 608
A 36-year-old Belfair man died in a two-car accident Friday evening on state Route 3 near Grapeview. According to a Washington State Patrol news release, Richard T. Falk, 36, of Belfair, died at Harborview Medical Center after being injured in his Jeep Wrangler in the accident. According to the release, the Jeep was northbound and crossed over the centerline, and striking a southbound Nissan Murano driven by a 37-year-old Shelton woman. The woman was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in...
Derek Smith is the new North Mason boys basketball coach. He was hired May 18. Smith, 28, has been the JV basketball coach and head football coach at Muckleshoot Tribal School in Auburn for the past three years and was the head baseball coach for one year. While he attended Whitworth University, he was an assistant coach at a middle school for two years. He was a varsity and JV intern football assistant at Mead High School in Spokane County. He coached at Lakeside High School just outside of Spo...
Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners John Pais, Albert Wilder and Brian Jutson hired Bryan Walsworth, the husband of the ex-chief, as pro-tem fire chief starting today. Kelli Walsworth was relieved of her duties Wednesday. The hiring comes a year after the department said it began searching for a new fire chief. “Bryan is the most qualified of any applicant,” Pais said during the May 23 meeting at the district’s station in Matlock. “He’s been through fire academy, he’s an EMT. He’s a...
The state Department of Natural Resources sold logging rights in the Sherwood Forest to the Stella-Jones Corporation on May 23 as part of the Sure Wood Timber Sale. According to a photo from Mason County Climate Justice’s Julianne Gale, Stella-Jones Corp. based in Tacoma had the highest bid for the timber at $3,622,843.50. Bell Timber Co. had the second-highest bid at $3,451,926.56 and the Murphy Co. had the third highest bid of $3,031,765.10. “I’m deeply disappointed that the Department of Na...
Girls Who Click workshop on June 10 Girls Who Click, an event for girls age 13-18 who want to learn the basics of wildlife filming and photography, will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 10 at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. The event will be led by Erin Ranney, a wildlife cinematographer who has worked on many projects. For more information about the workshop, go to www.girlswhoclick.com. Wildfire Ready Neighbors Saturday The state Department of Natural Resources will be a part of the Mason County Forest Festival to talk to...
Shelton senior Jacob Miller ended his prep running career with a fourth-place finish Saturday in the 3,200-meter race in the state 2A track and field championships at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. Miller finished the race in 9 minutes, 19.57 seconds. He also finished sixth in the 1,600-meter race in 4:18.31. Shelton senior Jaydon Blackburn placed 17th in the 3,200-meter race in 9:49.26. Shelton junior Anthony Sanchelli finished seventh in the discus with a throw of 143 feet, 3 inches. In...
North Mason wrestler Jake Mathews will continue to wrestle in college after signing a letter of intent May 23 with Colorado State University-Pueblo. Mathews was the Olympic League MVP, the Journal's All-County boys wrestler of the year, league champion and district champion. Mathews finished fifth at 152 pounds in the 2A state boys wrestling tournament in February at the Tacoma Dome. "I'm stoked for Jake; he's a kid who didn't necessarily think college was a pathway for him and wrestling has...
Kat Mertsch won the women's pro open and Richard Wysocki won the mixed pro open in the Disc Golf Pro Tour's Silver Cascade Challenge from Friday to Sunday at Shelton Springs Disc Golf Course. Mertsch of Rose Bud, Arkansas, won the women's pro open tournament at 11-under, three shots clear of second-place Sai Ananda of Spokane Valley. Wysocki of Scottsdale, Arizona, won the mixed pro open with a score of 29-under par, three shots ahead of second-place Matt Bell of Hopatcong, New Jersey. The...
The Mason County Forest Festival is hosting the Men's Open Super Six and the Women's Featured Four logging competitions at 1 p.m. Saturday at Loop Field in Shelton. According to Forest Festival board president Mick Sprouffske, the opening ceremony is at 12:45 p.m. The men's competition will feature six events, including three chopping events - the springboard chop, standing block chop and the underhand chop, and three sawing events - the single buck, stocksaw and hotsaw competitions. The women's...
A 33-year-old Snohomish County man died in a solo skydiving accident Saturday afternoon in the 11000 block of U.S. Highway 101 near Sanderson Field. According to Mason County coroner Jaime Taylor, the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the chest. Taylor said the parachute clipped a tree, causing the person to hit the tree. “We don’t get skydivers all of the time,” Taylor told the Journal. “We’ve had a few but it’s not unusual.” Taylor identified the victim as Kapil Dinani. According to...
State reps vote ‘yes’ on drug bill State Republican Reps. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture, both from Allyn, voted ‘yes’ on a law on drug possession and use May 16 during a 2023 special legislative session. According to a news release, the state Supreme Court invalidated the state’s felony drug possession law in 2021 in a case known as the Blake decision. “If you do compromise correctly, not everyone gets what they want — no one is totally happy. That is what we have here,” Griffey said in a news release. “This bill is miles ahead of the very...
Shellfish hearing moved to June 14 The Taylor Shellfish proposed floating oyster bag proposal in Oakland Bay has been moved to 1 p.m. June 14 at Mason County Building 1. According to the agenda on the hearing examiner’s website, Taylor Shellfish is applying for a shoreline substantial development and shoreline conditional use permit to grow Pacific oysters and install a floating oyster bag system in Oakland Bay. The system will use an estimated 9.1 acres of surface water within a 50-acre area for the floating oyster gear. Also seeking public c...
Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners John Pais, Albert Wilder and Brian Jutson could lose their positions after the county auditor certified recall petitions filed against them. The recall measure will be on the Aug. 1 ballot. Matlock resident Kristin Masteller, who is one of the leaders of the recall effort along with Matlock resident Amanda Gonzales, told the Journal she was given papers for the recall effort for all three commissioners, dated May 9. "I am very pleased that we were able...
Mason County qualified 11 track and field athletes for the state track and field meets today through Saturday in Tacoma and Yakima. In the state 2A track and field meet at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma, Shelton junior Anthony Sanchelli will be the first local athlete to compete in state in the 2A boys discus finals at 3:10 p.m. today. Shelton junior Maryjane Hageman will compete at 3:30 p.m. today in the 2A girls 100-meter hurdles. North Mason senior Kezlie Thygesen will compete in the 2A...
Shelton boys tennis Shelton’s Jayden Lovingfoss and Wyatt Wagner play in the opening round of the state 2A boys tennis tournament Friday at Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle. Lovingfoss and Wagner will face a Fife opponent in the opening match. If the Shelton duo wins at least one match, they will compete Saturday for a chance to earn a medal. Shelton track The Shelton boys finished seventh and the girls ninth at the 2A District IV track and field championships at Columbia River High School in Vancouver. In boys results, Shelton senior J...
Shelton Police, Mason County Sheriff’s Office, Squaxin Island Police and Skokomish Police responded to what turned out to be a false account of a student with a gun at Shelton High School. According to the City of Shelton social media, the original call Thursday morning stated a student was in the parking lot with an AR-15. Police responded, searched the area and found no sign of a suspect or a shooting. The Shelton School District was given the all-clear just before noon. There were similar ...
A fire that began Saturday on Kamilche Point Road just south of Shelton spread to 41 acres before it was contained and extinguished by the state Department of Natural Resources. According to DNR spokesperson Janet Pearce, the fire is in "mop-up mode," which means DNR crews are ensuring there are no hot spots that could reignite the fire. "People may see a little smoke when we do mop-up and getting all the hot spots that are left," Pearce told the Journal. "It's always a good sign doing a...
The state Department of Natural Resources is scheduled to sell timber in the Sherwood Forest at 10 a.m. May 23 at the South Puget Sound Region Office in Enumclaw. Mason County commissioners addressed the topic at their Monday briefing. Commissioners were asked by people attending the regular commission meeting May 9 to write a letter to the state DNR asking them to cancel or postpone the sale, known as the "Sure Wood Timber Sale." It appears unlikely the commission will write such a letter. At...
The Mason County Sheriff’s Office arrested Tyler John Lagasa, 28, and Hope Bates, 21, for assault in the first degree with domestic violence on Thursday evening on East Sleaford Road near Shelton. According to MCSO Chief Deputy of Operations Jason Dracobly, neighbors reported hearing screaming, yelling and shots fired. When deputies arrived, Lagasa and Bates went into the house and barricaded themselves inside. According to the probable cause affidavit, after they went into the house, MCSO spoke...
Central Mason fire has busy weekend Central Mason Fire and EMS responded to 62 calls last weekend. According to a news release, CMFE fought a brushfire Sunday morning off Ritz Road on Harstine Island. The fire was 100-by-20 feet burning in clear-cut, and crews were able to contain the fire and hand it to state Department of Resources crews for mop-up. On Sunday afternoon, CMFE responded to a separate brush fire off of Pickering Road that featured burning powerlines overhead. Crews arrived to find a 66-by-33 foot brush fire with flames up to 20...
The Shelton High Scholl girls powerlifting team won its fifth state powerlifting championship May 6 at the Mini-Dome in Shelton. Madison Gill at 181 pounds, Neveah Haskins at 198 pounds and Amanda Cruz Santos each won the state championship in their respective weight classes. Raquel Ruiz at 165 pounds, Aurora Marcy at 198 pounds and Brooke Sheetz in the unlimited class each finished second. Judy Gaze at 220 pounds and Alexandra Cheatham at 123 pounds finished third. Mylee Cuzick finished fifth...
The Shelton Springs Disc Golf Course is hosting the Cascade Challenge on Memorial Day Weekend. This is the first Disc Golf Pro Tour event held in the state. The 150 pros will be playing from the hardest tees, which are called Misery Whip at Shelton Springs, which has a few defensive elements and more mandatory rules and additional out of bounds. First round passes sold out quickly but there are additional tickets available and Mason County Disc Golf Club secretary Justin Holzgrove said they are...
Shelton baseball Shelton’s season came to an end on May 10 with a 7-2 loss to Mark Morris in the 2A District IV baseball tournament in Ridgefield. The Highclimbers finished the season 10-10 overall. Shelton track The Shelton boys and girls track teams each finished fourth at the Evergreen Conference Championships on Friday at Tiger Stadium in Centralia. In girls results, Shelton junior Lily Bennett won the 3,200-meter race in 12 minutes, 30 seconds. Shelton junior Moa Skold won the high jump with a height of 4 feet, 7 inches. Shelton junior Mar...
Mason County Climate Justice and the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition are suing the state Department of Natural Resources over two timber sales in Mason County. The lawsuit alleges that DNR, agency director Hilary Franz and the Board of Natural Resources failed to comply with the State Environmental Policy Act. According to attorney Jennifer Calkins, who is representing the parties pro bono, the lawsuit was filed May 3 in Mason County Superior Court. The two timber sales include Sherwood Forest,...
Residents can make their voices heard about Taylor Shellfish’s proposal for an oyster-growing operation in Oakland Bay at a public hearing at 1 p.m. May 24. The meeting is with Mason County hearing examiner at the Commission Chambers at 411 North 5th St. in Shelton. Commissioner Sharon Trask, who represents the area where the proposed oyster bag farm would be sited, has directed people to make their voices heard by attending the public hearing or by emailing the county and Taylor Shellfish. Jeff...
