Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Shelton freshman Tawan Benedict was the district champion in the 100-yard butterfly as the boys swim team finished second at the District IV 2A Championships at Dick Mealy Pool at Mark Morris High School in Longview. Benedict finished the 100-yard butterfly in 55.72 seconds, two seconds faster than the second-place finisher. He finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:05.33. Charlie Morson finished second in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:00.51 and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:41....
North Mason senior Jake Mathews won the 152-pound tournament at the Region 2 2A wrestling tournament Saturday in Belfair. Mathews won his opening match by pin in 18 seconds against Washington's Kai'lee Hale before earning a technical fall win against Orting's Talgat Aldabergen. Mathews defeated Bremerton's Brennan Galloway by a 14-4 major decision to capture the title. North Mason junior Pedro Salvador finished second in the 145-pound tournament. Salvador earned an opening victory by pin...
The Shelton Police Department issued a statement regarding an incident at Oakland Bay Junior High School on Jan. 26. According to the statement, a picture of a gun circulated on social media warning Oakland Bay students to “watch their backs” at the school Jan. 27. The person who posted said at 1:30 p.m., they planned to “shoot it up.” Shelton police started working with the Shelton School District to determine the origin of the image and credibility of the threat. The investigation continu...
A kitchen fire at Smoking Mo's on Feb. 2 caused damage to the downtown Shelton restaurant. According to a news release from Central Mason Fire & EMS, crews found a kitchen fire. The incident was considered a commercial building fire, which added additional units to respond. The sprinkler system in the building activated, keeping the fire small and limiting damage. Fire damage was mostly contained to the kitchen area, but the rest of the restaurant sustained some smoke and water damage. The...
Mason County commissioners approved a letter opposing the Board of Natural Resources trust lands Carbon Project, including 400 acres near Elk Lake. Elk Lake is just south of the Jefferson County line. According to the state Department of Natural Resources Carbon Project website, the project is to protect some of the most ecologically and culturally valuable forests while generating revenue for schools and services that state trust lands support. DNR is trying to move an estimated 10,000 new...
Nurse rate increased Mason County commissioners amended the contract with Healthcare Delivery Services for Jail Registered Nursing to $85 an hour from $60. According to the information packet, the vendor requested to modify the contract prior to the expiration of the contract at the end of the year due to nursing market competition and being unable to recruit qualified applicants. The commissioner’s briefing July 18, 2022, asked for a wholesale increase of $472,000, and the commissioners were not in favor of the contract adjustment. The c...
State awards grant Mason County received $150,000 in a state grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office as part of more than $2 million in grants to help communities plan for outdoor recreation facilities. According to a news release, Capitol Land Trust received the grant for planning for recreational uses at Bayshore Preserve. The preserve is a former golf course restored to a wildlife habitat. The land trust has not been able to afford the costs of building infrastructure needed to support the level of interest and use on the...
The Shelton boys basketball team concluded the regular season on Monday with a 66-47 win against Rochester on the road. The Highclimbers earned a 54-53 win on Feb. 2 in Centralia against the Tigers and earned a win on senior night against Aberdeen 87-55 on Jan. 31. Shelton has won five in a row to end the regular season and finish 11-8 overall and 6-6 in Evergreen Conference games. After losing the entire starting lineup last season, coach Sam Krieger said the Highclimbers had a pretty good seas...
The Shelton High School boys wrestling team finished third at the subregional wrestling tournament Feb. 4 at Black Hills High School in Tumwater. The only Highclimber earning a league title was Logan Peach at 132 pounds. Peach won the championship match by a 6-3 decision against Black Hills’ Khristian Brant. Shelton’s Ty Fleshman at 120 pounds, Cole Borden at 126 pounds, Mario Boxley at 170 pounds and Daniel Tausa at 285 pounds each earned second place in their respective tournaments. Ric...
Mary M. Knight girls basketball The Owls lost the final three games of the regular season last week. Mary M. Knight lost to Naselle 79-32 on senior night Feb. 1. The Owls traveled to Taholah on Feb. 3 and lost 66-20 to wrap up the regular season Mary M. Knight boys basketball Mary M. Knight finished the regular season last week with two losses to Coastal League opponents. The Owls lost 48-26 on Feb. 1 at home, and traveled to Taholah on Feb. 3 and fell 80-10. MMK ends the season 0-18. North Mason girls basketball The Bulldogs dropped the final...
The Shelton Police department arrested two suspects Jan. 27 for an assault at Kneeland Park. According to police documents obtained through a public records request, Officer Warren Ohlson stated he arrived at Kneeland Park for a disturbance call and found a man who was bleeding from the left side of his face. The man said he was walking downtown and came across two women, whom he did not know, and exchanged combative words. The women followed the man to Kneeland Park, where the verbal...
A proposed sex-offender home in Tenino, which is in the 35th Legislative District has drawn the attention and action of Reps. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture and Sen. Drew MacEwen after outrage from the community. According to a news release, MacEwen introduced Senate bill 5544, which closes a loophole in state law by imposing public notice requirements for the state Department of Social and Health Services when it puts former sex offenders into low-security adult group homes operated by private...
The Mason County Board of Health met Jan. 24 and talked about the rough flu season and a new strategic health plan for the county. Public Health Officer Dr. Keri Gardner said it has been a rough season for the “tripledemic,” which includes influenza, COVID-19 and RSV. Gardner said this year’s influenza was mostly influenza A, and it is an H1N1 virus, similar to what caused the swine flu in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The flu vaccine does help, and she recommends people get their flu shot....
The internal investigation into Mason County Fire District 12 will wrap up by the middle of February, according to lawyer Brian Snure. Snure, part of the law office conducting the investigation, told the Journal in an email he anticipates receiving the investigators report on or sometime near Feb. 13. “I will need some time to review it and any supporting documentation and will need to discuss with my client before a decision is made regarding releasing a summary (or the report itself),” Snu...
The North Mason girls basketball game against Crescent on Saturday in Crescent was ruled a no-contest after Bulldog coach Alex Fitzhugh pulled his players and left after the game got aggressive and parents started getting involved. According to Fitzhugh, Crescent was “playing dirty” and the North Mason players reacted. “I was telling the refs to watch out and the girls felt defeated,” Fitzhugh told the Journal on Monday. “One sister defended the other and I called the game. The crowd started com...
Sen. Drew MacEwen and Rep. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture are in Olympia representing Mason County residents. Here is what the three Mason County representatives have been working on so far: MacEwen MacEwen is the primary sponsor of 15 bills in the Senate, according to the Legislature’s website. Among the bills are Senate Bill 5206 in the Senate High Education and Workforce Development committee, which would keep the University of Washington and Washington State University in the same a...
Belfair man dies in motorcycle accident Belfair resident Erik D. Vaubel, 52, was killed in a motorcycle accident on state Route 16 on Sunday evening near Port Orchard. According to a Washington State Patrol news release, Vaubel was traveling west on Route 16 near milepost 17. He was on a curve when his motorcycle struck the concrete barrier and then hit a guardrail. He fell off his motorcycle and ended up in the road. Man arrested after standoff with Sheriff’s Office The Mason County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ronald Matthew Stromberg over the...
Shelton boys basketball Shelton lost to Evergreen Conference opponents, but won two nonleague games against Bremerton and Kingston last week. The Highclimbers fell 50-47 to W.F. West in Chehalis on Jan. 17 and came home Jan. 19, losing to Black Hills 52-24. Shelton bounced back Friday and Saturday, defeating Bremerton on Friday at Terry Gregg Court 55-43 and a 54-50 win against Kingston Saturday in Shelton. Against the Bucs, Weetly Cordova scored 13, Mason Goos added 12 and Gabe Menefee added 11. Against the Knights, Cordova had 18, Goos had...
Whether you drive by the North Mason Regional Fire Authority station during the day or night, you'll notice some friendly words light up a new sign outside the station. The sign was not included with the price of the new fire station built on Northeast Old Belfair Highway, according to Assistant Fire Chief Scott Cooper. There was hope the North Mason Firefighter's Association could donate the station a sign. "What happened was that, because of COVID-19, they were unable to do any fundraising...
Four power stations were attacked on Christmas, leaving thousands without power in Pierce County. Those attacks have put local PUDs on alert, including Mason County PUD 1 and 3. “Vulnerabilities of the electrical grid is something that all power providers, from the large power market administrations like BPA, to the local power companies that deliver the electricity to the customers, are all cognizant of and continue to address in various ways,” PUD 1 General Manager Kristin Masteller wrote the...
Commissioners approve WSU agreement Mason County commissioners approved a memorandum of agreement with the Washington State University Extension for 2023. According to the information packet, the MOA provides money for the extension to provide programs in Mason County based on the 2023 budget. The amount approved for the agreement is $90,072 and is in the 2023 budget. Suppressor purchase approved County commissioners approved the sole-source purchase of a R556I Integral Suppressed Upper through Federal Eastern International to upgrade the...
Editor’s Note: Fire 17 responded to a story in last week’s edition with a letter to the editor that can be found on page 5 of this week's PDF (above). Mason County Fire District 17 disputes a claim that the district cannot respond to calls. According to Jenni Glasco, a resident of Mason County Fire District 17 who works at Brinnon Fire, the point of concern was forgotten by Fire 17 in an email response to last week’s Journal story about the dispute between the two districts. “I started this with...
Four people have been arrested in the Jan. 4 slaying of a Kitsap County man whose body was found near Camp Lyle McLeod on the Tahuya Peninsula, about 5 miles west of Belfair. The suspects have been charged in the shooting death Alejandro Rodriguez, 27, a Kitsap County resident. Brenda Maja Hudson-Culp, 27, Breanna Lynn Stewart, 24, Crystal Marie Dodson, 45, and Jacob Elijah Joe Ualika, 23, were all arrested in connection to the slaying. All four were charged with one count of murder in the...
Mason County Fire District 17 based in Lilliwaup, and Brinnon Fire appear to be at odds with each other over a recent proposal for the two fire districts to merge. According to a Dec. 31 letter to the community, Brinnon Fire Chief Tim Manly submitted a merger proposal for the two districts to “streamline resources and provide even better patient services. A merger would have increased Mason County levy rates proportional to Jefferson County residents.” The two fire districts had been wor...
Meet Rhodes, Duenkel The group Take Back Mason County is hosting a meet-and-greet at 6 p.m. Jan. 19 at The Beginnings Christian Church at 123 W C St. in Shelton with newly elected county clerk Charles Rhodes and county auditor Steve Duenkel slated to be in attendance. Refreshments will be provided. Contact Rebecca Bechtolt at 360-490-3239. Temporary promotion extended An extension of the temporary promotion of Corrections Support Officer Brad McQuade to alternative sentencing unit coordinator until March 16 was approved by county...
