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 state Legislature launched its 2024 short session Monday, with the 35th District that includes all of Mason County represented by Reps. Travis Couture and Dan Griffey, both Republicans from Allyn, and state Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton. The state's 98 representatives and 49 senators are scheduled to be in session through March 7. Couture is the assistant ranking minority member of the Appropriations Committee, the assistant ranking member of the Human Services, Youth and Early Learning...
Mason County cannabis retailers don't have the near-daily stolen vehicle smash-and-grab burglaries that the Seattle area does, but local pot shop owners struggle with security concerns that a proposed state bill aims to address. State Sen. Karen Kaiser's, D-Des Moines, substitute Senate bill 5259 will provide a tax break for retail cannabis store owners who install security upgrades. The bill requires stores to spend at least $3,000 on "physical security improvements" such as bollards, security...
Shelton Mayor Eric Onisko announced he will run on the August primary ballot for a seat in the state House of Representatives. Onisko will be running as a Republican in a bid to unseat fellow Republican Travis Couture, who is in his first term in Position 2 representing District 35. Onisko, a 56-year-old retired businessman, last week was unanimously elected for a second term as mayor of Shelton by the other six members of the Shelton City Council. In an interview with the Journal, Onisko said...
Voters in the Mary M. Knight School District (on the Feb. 13 ballot) will be asked to replace an expiring educational programs and operations levy approved by voters in 2022. Passage of the levy by a simple majority could raise more than $2.5 million. The replacement levy would collect $730,500 in 2025 and $818,200 in 2026. The district would also be eligible for more than $1 million in state-funded levy equalization money. The current levy rate for 2022 through 2024 is $2.33 per $1,000 of...
The light bulb in our kitchen started flickering last week and I realized I hadn’t replaced a light bulb in maybe a year. It used to be light bulbs going out was a constant irritant of modern life, but with incandescent bulbs being replaced by longer-lived fluorescent bulbs and LED lights, we can go months now without thinking about light bulbs. I brought this matter up with Mrs. Ericson. Remember when, I asked her, we used to put light bulbs on the list of things to get? Do you remember when w...
Have we learned? Editor, the Journal, After nearly 75 years, Capitol Lake will be turned back into an estuary, a decision demonstrating we have learned that estuaries are a biologically rich environment playing an important role in the lives of many species. Or have we? Near Capitol Lake, at the end of Hammersley Inlet, is the beautiful natural estuary of Oakland Bay. Our state government - the Department of Natural Resources - is considering whether to lease publicly owned aquatic lands a...
Public safety should be a top priority for this year's legislative session, Gov. Jay Inslee and bipartisan state legislators said on the eve of the 2024 legislative session. "We need additional officers on the street," Inslee told reporters. "And to help local police forces find their additional officers, I'm proposing a $10 million grant program." At the annual legislative preview with reporters, Republican and Democratic lawmakers and Inslee agreed they must work together to address...
State Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, has filed a bill to protect kids from parents abusing illicit drugs. In a news release Monday, Couture noted that an increasing number of children in Washington are dying from exposure to fentanyl and other drugs in the home. “Our children are our future and must be protected at all costs,” Couture stated in the news release. “The fact that children already under the care of the state with parents referred to the Department of Children Youth and Families are dying from fentanyl exposure is abhorrent and I...
1-year anniversary event scheduled for Quixote Village Quixote Village, which recently opened its Shelton Veterans Village, hosts a 10th anniversary celebration from 3 to 5 p.m. Jan. 19 at its Thurston County village at 3350 Mottman Road S.W., Olympia. The event includes light refreshments and a tour of the community. To attend, RSVP [email protected] by Jan. 15. Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged. Quixote Village is a tiny home village that provides supportive services...
Karpf sentenced to time served Kennedy Karpf, 25, pleaded guilty Jan. 5 to first-degree rendering criminal assistance in connection to helping William Williams, 41, who fled after allegedly shooting and killing Janus Afo on Sept. 28 in Shelton. Judge Daniel Goodell followed state’s recommendations and sentenced Karpf to time served in Mason County, 79 days, with no restitution or probation. Karpf’s attorney Rose Boughton said Karpf had “no criminal history whatsoever,” and that Karpf was “quite afraid” of Williams. “She knows this is a ser...
Residents in the Tahuya and Dewatto area who rely on land lines to call 911 had their service restored Jan. 3, almost two weeks after the initial disruption, according to Inland Telephone Company. Thieves who vandalized phone equipment, causing the outage, were likely attempting to sell copper wire stripped from equipment, Inland representative Amy Wait told the Journal. “Over the last two years we have experienced several damaged cables and vaults from vandalism, and we are working on a plan to help eliminate this by installing underground vau...
ICU nurse named Mason Health employee of month Intensive Care Unit nurse Tina Lohmeyer, RN, has been selected by her Mason Health coworkers as January's employee of the month. Lohmeyer is known for her "excellent patient care" while working in the ICU, according to a news release by Mason Health. "When I was a kid, my sister was at Harborview Medical Center, and I was really impressed and intrigued by the nurses I saw," Lohmeyer said. "I started at Mason General Hospital in 2006, after I...
Most people know Woodie Guthrie for his anthemic "This Land is Your Land." In 1941, the folksinger and activist composed 26 songs in 30 days traveling the Columbia River and visiting the Grand Coulee Dam project, penning tunes as an employee of the Bonneville Power Administration that included "Roll On Columbia." Olympia actor/teacher/musician/historian Joel Underwood brings the singer and the times to life with "That Ribbon of Highway: Woody Guthrie in the Pacific Northwest" at 2 p.m. Jan. 28...
As a Washington boy, there's no way I wasn't reviewing this week's premiere of "The Boys in the Boat," based on the 2013 book by Daniel James Brown, about the University of Washington rowing team that competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. I was joined during my screening by a fan of the book, retired English literature teacher Linda Boxleitner, my mom, who lives in Cape George, and my insights below borrow liberally from her own. I tend to see films about sporting or athletic competitions as...
Shelton girls wrestling The Shelton girls won the Mount Tahoma Classic girls wrestling tournament Jan. 6 in Tacoma. The Highclimbers had six girls win their respective tournaments. Shelton’s Amaya Carran won the 100-pound tournament with wins against Lake Washington’s Ela Caglar, Montesano’s Julianna Smith and Shelton’s Naima Harmon. Adell Anderson won the 105-pound tournament with wins against Interlake’s Dhruvi Neerudu, Mount Tahoma’s Aydin Harbin and Lincoln (Tacoma) Heather Johnson. Shelton’s Sofia Todd won the 130-pound tournament wi...
Port of Allyn commissioners were expected to vote on a proposed change to the gazebo rental policy at the Jan. 10 meeting that happened after the Herald went to press. Patty Noel, who was appointed interim executive assistant at the Jan. 1 meeting, proposed changing the current rental schedule that's set at 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., to a minimum four-hour rental with an additional hourly charge after four hours. "Right now, the gazebo is only able to be rented twice in one day," Noe...
Master Beekeeper Debra Langley-Boyer, a North Mason resident, has filed a claim with the county for reimbursement for the loss of her bees due to herbicide spraying. Langley-Boyer is asking for $4,035.48 and provided the county with an itemized list for the deaths of her bees in 2020 and 2023, including $800 for the loss of queens, $483 for honey lost and “unrecoverable” for native bee loss. “This is the second time (May 2023) Mason County has killed my honeybees and native bees due to spraying herbicides along the Tee Lake county road. The h...
Mary and Sam have been down south for the better part of the week still hunting ducks and geese. Sam did pretty good. They came home to snow. Sunday, Jan. 1, 1950 Sam got up early and went hunting. He came in about 9 with 2 geese and 5 ducks. Was he proud! Said it was very foggy out and the birds flew very low. Queenie really had a good work out. We ate breakfast at the other hotel, but it surely is poor. Then to the field where Sam shot a snow goose. Queenie got so excited. It was very cold...
Shelley left us on December 11, 2023, at the age of 61. She was born in Aberdeen, WA to Clifford and Jackie Harvey on October 23, 1962. She graduated high school in Port Angeles, WA, and settled into her career in computer software, working in the distribution industry. She enjoyed traveling for work and lived in Arizona, Virginia and Texas for varying lengths of time. She moved to Shelton to be closer to family. Shelley was preceded in death by her father, Clifford Harvey and her grandparents....
