Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 29
Someone unsuccessfully tried to steal a ballot drop box at the Belfair North Timberland Library parking lot late Thursday, Feb. 1 or early Friday, Feb. 2, Mason County Auditor Steve Duenkel told the Journal. Vandals tried to dig up or pull out the box, which is fixed to a cement block. Library staff phoned Election Administrator Marie Stevenson about the incident "reporting that someone attempted to remove the ballot drop box located in the library parking lot," according to a news release....
Short-term rental regulations are coming to Mason County. The extent of new rules and fees for owners will be hammered out in the coming months by county commissioners and members of the Planning Department. “The Planning Department has been directed by the Mason County Board of Commissioners to review the short-term vacation rental (Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway, etc.) situation in Mason County. The county has never regulated, nor does it currently regulate short-term rentals. The state, however, enacted certain statutes, RCW 64.37, regarding s...
A Shelton High girls basketball player was cited by Shelton Police for assault in the fourth degree, a gross misdemeanor, on Jan. 31 after a fight broke out during the Climbers game with Aberdeen at Terry Gregg Court at the Shelton Mini-Dome. With 3:35 remaining in the third quarter of the contest, Aberdeen’s Jaylynn Phimmasone — identified by the Bobcats’ roster — collected a rebound and under tight defense from Shelton’s Jasmine Rivera slipped on the floor near the baseline. Video of the in...
A required investigation following the March 24, 2020, fatal shooting of Kathryn Hale by Mason County Sheriff’s Deputy Dylan Helser largely complied with state laws, but the investigating team failed to document certain communications and properly restrict access to the case file, according to a Feb. 1 report by the Washington State Auditor’s office. The report says the Mason County Sheriff’s Office and Region 3 Critical Investigation Team, led by investigators from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Grays Harbor...
We deeply regret to announce that Erlene Jessie Davenport Kirschner passed away quietly on April 13, 2023. She was 105. Erlene was born in Seattle, Washington, graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1937 and had a successful career as a bookkeeper from 1937 to 1943. Erlene was a very active outdoor enthusiast. She enjoyed climbing and skiing along with trips to Hood Canal. After her marriage to Charles Kirschner in 1943, they lived in Little Rock, Washington, DC, Bakersfield, San Francisco,... Full story
Emelyn Swan McKay, 97, passed away peacefully on January 1, 2024 at her home in Shelton, Washington. Emi was born on February 15, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest of five children. She grew up in the Wynnewood house with her parents Ann Josephine d'Invilliers and George Whitfield Butts III (Major Butts in the Engineering Corp in WWI), brother George IV, sisters Louise (Sissy), Ann (Dubby) and Elizabeth (Coo), all deceased. She was Aunt Kiki to all of their children. Emi was... Full story
Samuel Raymond "Sam" Lev, age 85, died peacefully at home in Shelton, WA, on December 19, 2023, after a seven-year battle with cancer. Sam was the youngest of three children born to Edwin Samuel Lev and Violet Myrtle Kittleson in Sheboygan, WI. He graduated from Sheboygan Falls High School in 1957 and attended the University of Wisconsin and Whitewater State University. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1961, attended Naval Flight School at Pensacola, completed flight training, and qualified for... Full story
Frances Easter Croskrey passed away on the 6th of January 2024 peacefully, at home in Shelton. She was born on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1929. She spent her first 12 years in the small town of Valier, MT. It was the depression and they lived in a small house. Her mom raised all their food and it was canned on a coal burning stove. In 1942, the family moved to Kalispell. In 1946, William Croskrey, a sailor home from World War II and looking for a place to stay, that room was in the home of... Full story
After 84 years of life, Judy Stark passed away on January 17, 2024. Judy was born in Kelso, Washington on April 10, 1939, to Don and Gladys McDonald of Rose Valley, Washington. Judy attended The Rose Valley School through junior high, then graduated from Kelso High School in 1957. From there she went on to Lower Columbia Community College before graduating with a degree in education from Western Washington College in Bellingham, Washington. This is where she met the love of her life, her... Full story
Muriel "Merle" Marie (nee Napier) Wilson was a devoted and doting wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend. In an interview several years ago, recorded by one of her granddaughters, that is how she wanted to be remembered. Indeed, she will. She left a warm feeling in the hearts of everyone with whom she was associated. Muriel died on February 3, 2024, at the age of 93, peacefully in her bed at her home in Alpine Way, aided by the competent and compassionate staff at Alpine... Full story
Shirley Margaret Jaccard (née Jones), fondly known as "Winkie," passed away at the age of 100 on December 16, 2023, in Shelton, Washington - the same town where she first graced the world on September 17, 1923. Always fiercely determined to meet her goals, Winkie was the first in her family to graduate from college, earning a BA in Business from WSU in 1941. She worked at the Bremerton shipyard during WWII and then married Gilbert Jaccard in 1947. They built a home in Bellevue and raised four... Full story
Cathy Luhm, a resident of Seattle, passed away January 20, 2024, at home. It is unknown at this time who is making arrangements. Dorothy Irene Legacie, 96, a resident of Shelton, passed away January 25, 2024, at Mason General Hospital in Shelton, WA. Arrangements are by Funeral Alternatives, Tumwater, WA. Earl Adams, 90, a resident of Grapeview, passed away January 29, 2024, at Alpine Way in Shelton, WA. Arrangements are by McComb & Wagner Family Funeral Home and Crematory. Shirley Crosby, 83, a resident of Shelton, passed away February 1,... Full story
Richard Beckman, owner of Richard Beckman Realty Group in downtown Shelton, is running for the seat on the Mason County Commission occupied by Kevin Shutty, who told the Journal on Tuesday he won't run for re-election. This is the first campaign for public office by the 55-year-old Beckman, who is running as a Republican. Shutty, also a Republican, won the District 2 seat in 2017. Beckman was a member and chair of the Mason County Realtors Government Affairs Committee and pointed out he...
“But if Christ hadn’t delivered his Sermon on the Mount, with its message of mercy and pity, I wouldn’t want to be a human being. I’d just as soon be a rattlesnake.” — Kurt Vonnegut, “A Man Without a Country” Imagine, if you will … It’s circa 30 A.D. and Jesus Christ is in his late 20s and starting to make a name for himself. He’s on a hilltop near the Sea of Galilee and a crowd has gathered to hear the carpenter deliver a major speech. Among the assembled is an old man named Strange. He’s t...
A vote for music Editor, the Journal, Music education changed my life. Hood Canal School has no space for a music program. The current bond proposal will provide that space. I went through eight years of basic education in a school without music education. I missed out on: ■ Learning that music is math-intervals like thirds and fifths to make harmony; scales and note values and rhythms. ■ The joy of making music; feeling the rhythms and vibrations in my body; moving with the music and joi...
The Mason County Sheriff's Office celebrated its new North Precinct location in Belfair with an open house that allowed community members to inspect a SWAT vehicle, tour a mobile command center and partake of free food and drinks while listening to folk duo The Angel and the Outlaw on Feb. 2. The building, at 460 NE Old Belfair Highway, is the former home of North Mason Regional Fire Authority. It moved to a new building next door with hopes of creating an emergency management campus, according...
‘Shelton Stories’ Saturday at library Shelton Timberland Library hosts “Shelton Stories,” billed as “a day of events celebrating community,” on Saturday at the library at 710 West Alder St. The “Women Leaders of Mason County” exhibit is open all day on the main floor. Also on the main floor, coffee and doughnuts will be served at 9:30 a.m., the “Faces of Shelton: A Living Gallery” opens at 10:15 a.m., and readings from “Mason County Remembers” will be presented at 11 a.m. Downstairs, arts and crafts tables are set up between 10 a.m. and 2:3...
The income threshold for Mason County’s property-tax exemption program for senior citizens and people with disabilies has increased. A news release from the Mason County Assessor’s Office states that effective for the 2024 tax year, income thresholds for Mason County have increased to $55,000 due to subsitute House bill 1355. Exemption recipients enrolled in the Senior Citizen & People with Disabilities exemption program received an automatic adjustment to their 2024 tax statement. Taxpayers who meet the qualifications are encouraged to app...
Apply for Shelton Police Citizens Academy The Shelton Police Department is accepting applications for its Citizens Academy, an eight-week program highlighting the department’s community-oriented policing mission, partnerships with local agencies and a judicial overview. Starting Feb. 15, classes will be hosted in person from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursdays in the Shelton Civic Center. The Citizens Academy will have a maximum of 30 people. City of Shelton residents and business owners will be given priority, followed by Mason County residents. The goal of...
Furever Love, a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Mason County and Kitten Rescue of Mason County is this Saturday at Bent Bine Brewery in Belfair. Adoptable pets will be at the event, and there will be raffles, a live auction and kissing booth, according to the organizers. “Last year, HSMC experienced significant growth in both capacity and animals served. We moved into our new Belfair office and Community Clinic! Our small-yet-mighty staff and team of dedicated volunteers worked tirelessly to promote responsible pet ownership, deliver l...
A proposal to make voting mandatory drew criticisms from 2,000 people in a legislative hearing Jan. 25. “We are already in a moment of extreme distrust in elections, so you should not be doing anything to further that perception,” said Sharon Damoff. Lawmakers mainly dismissed the large number of people signing on to testify, as they believe one organization was responsible. “The election deniers have ramped up this year,” Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, said. “Conservative Ladies of Washington, they’ve got these mass emails asking people to sign up.” H...
Shelton High School students Sophia Nakhla and Richard Beckman were selected from thousands of applicants statewide to participate Feb. 16-17 in the Washington Music Educators' Association All-State Honors Groups in Yakima. Nakhla, a junior, will sing alto with the All-State Treble Choir. Beckman, a senior, will play tenor saxophone in the All-State Symphonic Band. The two will join other music students at the gathering and perform in Gala Concerts on Feb. 17 under the direction of noted...
The long-running soap opera "The Bold and the Young" is in its last days. The hunky hero has self-esteem issues, the actor playing the villainous old man on the series for 40 years is more interested in soup, and the heroines are slightly psychopathic. The executive producer gives the squabbling cast an ultimatum: complete one episode overnight or the show dies. But when the director ends up murdered, the other cast members start dying. Can the cast discover the murderer before the show is...
In adapting Martin Amis' 2014 novel, "The Zone of Interest" to the big screen, writer-director Jonathan Glazer takes seriously the phrase, "the banality of evil," originally popularized by Hannah Arendt in 1963. Arendt and Glazer express the legacy of the Nazis during World War II by focusing on how they hid their evil in plain sight, behind a screen of domestic mundanity. Glazer's adaptation of "The Zone of Interest" lacks a plot, as it centers on German SS officer Rudolf Höss (played by...
North Mason boys basketball The North Mason High School boys basketball team dropped two games last week, falling 80-79 in double-overtime senior night to Olympic on Jan. 30 and then lost a 63-54 decision at Bainbridge on Feb. 1. The Bulldogs faced North Kitsap on Tuesday and host Neah Bay in a doubleheader with the girls team at 6:30 p.m. tonight. North Mason girls basketball The North Mason girls basketball team split two games last week, blowing out Olympic 45-32 on the road on Jan. 30...
