Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Starting March 12, students and employees in Mason County’s seven school districts will no longer be required to wear face masks in school buildings or on buses. People have the option to continue to wear masks, which will remain available at schools. Gov. Jay Inslee made the announcement Monday. Schools in Oregon and California passed identical measures. In a post Tuesday, North Mason School District stated, “Students and staff will have the choice to wear a mask at school, with the expectation that others’ choices will be respected. One s...
The Shelton City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved new and amended noise ordinances that outlaw sounds of repetitive squealing tires and screeching car engines, continuous noise from pets and off-hours construction. The council gave preliminary approval to the ordinances at its Feb. 15 meeting. The rules go into effect Sunday. No one from the public or the council commented on the changes. The city’s current noise ordinances were adopted in 2006. The council discussed the proposed additions and changes Nov. 23 at a study session. The laws...
Mason County commissioners resumed a public hearing Tuesday about the Belfair sewer, and once again, decided to continue the public hearing to allow more time for county staff to gather information. After the first public hearing Jan. 31, which lasted more than four hours, the commissioners voted 2-1 to continue the public hearing at 6 p.m. April 5. Commissioners Kevin Shutty and Sharon Trask voted again to continue the public hearing in April, with commissioner Randy Neatherlin opposed. The...
Two years into the pandemic, CHOICE High School is in “a bit of an uphill battle,” Principal Stacey Anderson told the Shelton School Board. “This has been the toughest year for me and my staff and for the kids, harder than last year by far,” Anderson said as she presented the school’s improvement plan Feb. 23. “We’ve had more fights this year than any year I have been principal.” Those conflicts prompted the school last week to begin limiting one student at a time in the restrooms. Anderson also delivered encouraging news to the board, and...
Two-year-old Cedar High School, in the middle of its first school year on the Olympic College Shelton campus, has set attendance and graduation goals for its 100 students. Cedar High Principal Amber Hosford detailed the school's improvement plan at the Shelton School Board's Feb. 23 meeting. By the end of the school year in June, the school seeks to have at least 70% of current seniors graduate. After debuting all online in the fall of 2020 from the CHOICE High School building, Cedar High...
The Shelton City Council on Tuesday postponed a decision on proposed animal ordinances that would limit the number of chickens to five hens, and require dogs to be walked on leashes that can’t extend beyond 20 feet. The council gave preliminary approval to new animal ordinances at its Feb. 15 meeting. At Tuesday’s meeting, council member Joe Schmit made a motion to postpone the decision until the council discusses the wording at a study session April 12. That motion passed unanimously. Under the proposed ordinance, residents in neighborhoods in...
Way back in the 20th century, those of us in Mrs. Jannsen’s 12th-grade English class at Mead High School in Spokane County had to read the novel “Fathers and Sons.” Ivan Turgenev, a Russian, wrote it, and it was published in 1862, so imagine our excitement. The book’s main character was a young man named Yevgeny Bazarov — a name I had to retrieve from the internet — but what has stuck with me is that Bazarov was a nihilist, a philosophical outlook rooted in its Latin base “nihil,” wh...
Czar Vladimir Editor, The Journal I am naturally standing in support of Ukraine. Part of this is that I am a rare bird, second-generation American and 100% Ukrainian. And a Uniate to boot. So, I have some perspective in this. The war criminal, Vladimir Putin, claims that Ukraine belongs to Russia. This is laughable given that it is an indisputable sovereign nation, recognized as such by Russia itself. Now, if the war criminal wanted to induce Ukraine into a closer relationship, he could have done so easily. He could have run Russia in a way...
Last year I wrote about my springtime seed choices with a little trepidation. I was concerned one of the smaller catalogs might receive enough exposure to sell out faster. This year I'm happy to put Experimental Farm Network - experimentalfarmnetwork.org - front and center. I'm pleased for them, but not the prospects of future seed availability: my news feed delivered a writeup including them from The New York Times. Next year I'll have to order even earlier. EFN's catalog was my largest seed...
Contract amended for fire investigation services Mason County commissioners amended an agreement between the city and the Mason County Fire Chiefs’ Association at its March 1 meeting. According to the information packet, the scope of work includes “investigations into origin, cause, circumstances and extent of loss from fire whether of civil or criminal nature” and “to ensure cooperation among local fire districts, the state fire marshal and all state and county law enforcement and regulatory personnel.” One of five criteria is needed fo...
The Shelton Yacht Club announced Jim Ross is the 2022 commodore. According to a news release, Ross and his wife, Joanne, retired and moved to Washington in 2013. Ross joined the yacht club in 2017 and was elected rear commodore in 2020 and was vice commodore in 2021. Ross owned a 36-foot Grand Banks Trawler while living in Southern California. In 2016, the couple bought a Ranger Tug 27. In Dec. 2020, they traded for a 39-foot main ship 390. Ross's theme for the club's cruise schedule is...
Olympic National Forest gets money to repair damage Olympic National Forest received $1.7 million in disaster relief money to help access along Forest Service Road 29. According to a news release, the road has been closed since November due to debris flow and washouts caused by extreme weather. As a vital emergency route, the money will allow for installation of temporary structures that will allow access through the northwest portion of the Olympic Peninsula. Preliminary work, including design and planning, is underway by staff to prepare...
On Dec. 31, 1886, at the age of 18, Grant C. Angle published the first edition of his Mason County Journal. (Some years later, he changed the name to the Shelton-Mason County Journal.) A one-year subscription was $2 "in advance." A single copy cost 10 cents. This story comes from that first issue, beginning with a quote from Angle's first editorial. "Mason County is the least known of any county in the Territory, but with direct steamboat communication with Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle, and the...
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...
In 1960, three teachers at Central Grade School in Snohomish created an elementary play day that include 50- and 75-yard dash races. Dan Dittmer finished third in both events. "Little did I realize those two races would be the beginning of a journey that finds me here 61 years later," Dittmer told an audience at the Washington Track and Field Coaches Association's Hall of Fame Banquet on Jan. 21 at Hotel Murano in Tacoma. A veteran of 51 years of coaching track and field across Western...
The Seattle Kraken’s inaugural season has not gone as well as some new hockey fans hoped. As of Tuesday, the Kraken have 37 points, which is the third worst total in the league, ahead of only the Montreal Canadiens and Arizona Coyotes. They have a seven-game losing streak going into tonight’s game against the Nashville Predators. No Kraken player is in the Top 50 in the league in points and the highest scoring player is Jared McCann with 33 points, including 21 goals. Goaltender Philip Gru...
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...
A couple of weeks ago I was sitting on a friend's deck and the sun had gone down and the frogs were singing up a storm. I always think that is a sign spring is around the corner. When Mary writes about going out in the sunny weather I am jealous. I am ready for sunny weather, with much higher temperatures of course. Friday, March 5, 1948 Arose at 8 and ate at coffee shop downstairs. Then to wholesale house and got our supplies for Masonic Temple. We found everything we wanted. Looked at Dohrman...
Kyle Joseph Ford, 33, of Shelton, WA, passed away on February 14th, 2022. Kyle was born on October 10, 1988 to Gerald and Tracy Ford. Kyle spent his childhood years living in the Skokomish Valley where he would make lifelong friends. At the age of 17, Kyle followed in his father's footsteps and joined Mason County Fire District Nine where he would spend several years serving his community as a Firefighter/EMT until he departed as Assistant Chief in 2018. In 2011, Kyle went to work as security... Full story
Waltraud M. Hall-Knapp of Shelton, Washington passed away peacefully while in her home on February 13, 2022, at the age of 84. Actively known as "Oma", Waltraud was from Weltersbach, Germany. She was a resident of Shelton for the last 17 years of her life, lived in Tacoma, Washington from 1971-1989, and spent the rest of her time in her home country of Germany or traveling the World to different Military bases. She is survived by her husband of 33 years, Charles Knapp; Her daughters Connie... Full story
Edo Lenting of Brinnon, WA, passed away peacefully at home on February 25, 2022, at the age of 93. Edo was born in the Netherlands where he grew up enjoying ice skating, swimming and visit-ing the nearby North Sea beaches. During WWII, he and his family suffered five years of Nazi Occupation. After the war he and his family emigrated to Carnation, WA. In 1951, Edo was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Kore-an War and served with occupation troops at the Landstuhl Army Medical Center in... Full story
Jeffery Greenfield, born on July 29, 1954 and passed on December 2, 2021, from cancer. Jeff was born in Great Falls, MT to Betty and Kenny Greenfield. The family lived in various places in Central Montana before moving to Tacoma when Jeff was 12. They then moved to Elma and Montesano area, where Jeff graduated from Elma High School in 1972. Jeff served in the US Navy in 1972-1975. He married Diane Krack in 1976 in Wenatchee. Jeff worked many years at Simpson Timber Co. before becoming disabled due to Asbestos. Jeff is survived by his wife... Full story
