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 - 23 of 23
West Mason Fire will be on the ballot in August with a $0.50 emergency medical services levy and a lid lift to $1.50. If the levy and lid lift are approved, it would be $2 per day for a $400,000 house, West Mason Fire Chief Matthew Welander told the Journal. The levy and lift will pay for staff and a new fire engine. The lid lift requires a simple majority to pass, while the EMS levy needs 60% approval to pass because it is a new tax for the area. “We need people to come out to the c...
Mark Ziegler, director of the City of Shelton's Parks, Recreation and Facilities Department, is the city's interim city manager as the search begins to replace Jeff Niten. The Shelton City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday evening to name Ziegler to the interim position until a replacement is found. The Shelton native has worked for the city for 30 years. March 31 is the last day for Niten, who departs after four years to be the city manager for the City of Mountlake Terrace. Like Shelton, the suburban...
Improving the city's Western Gateway on West Railroad Avenue, and building two roundabouts on Wallace Kneeland Boulevard, remain the top three priorities on the City of Shelton's proposed Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan. The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening hosted its first public hearing on the proposed plan. The council is scheduled to vote on the document at its April 4 meeting. No one from the public offered comments Tuesday. The city's code states that the plan is designed...
“Ya know, Nietzsche says, ‘Out of chaos comes order.’ ” — Howard Johnson “Oh, blow it out your alpaca, Howard.” —Olson Johnson This is a newspaper. It should remain free of profanity outside of quotation marks, so we’ll use some substitute words when talking about the movie “Blazing Saddles.” This spoof of the Western movie has a lot of cussin’ and degradin’ words directed at people based on their shade, race, foreignness, physical traits, sexual designs ... just about everything that can be po...
Let’s consolidate Editor, the Journal In response to the editor’s opinion March 16 in the Journal, I would like to convey my experiences on the subject. When we retired and moved to Mason County in 1997, one of the first things that I noticed was that there were seven school districts in Mason County, serving a county of less than 50,000 people. I was raised in Seattle, and at that time Seattle had a population of over 500,000 with one school board serving eight high schools, and many junior high schools and elementary schools. When I rem...
The owner of 40 acres of Mason County land north of the Shelton Springs subdivision and south of Island Lake wants to annex the property into the City of Shelton to build a subdivision. The Shelton City Council on Tuesday accepted the initiation of the annexation process for the property known as Meadows Edge. The square, wooded property, which also borders a corner of the city's Huff'n'Puff Trail, is inside Shelton's urban growth area. The council is scheduled to have a preliminary vote on the...
North Mason School District Career and Technical Education Director Alexia Hadfield enlisted two CTE students to discuss the district's new CORE+ Maritime and Culinary Arts programs before the school board March 16. Student Alex Landreth credited the CORE+ Maritime program with giving him an "incredible experience." His yearlong course covered how boats are manufactured, which he said gives him a head start toward a career in boat-building. He'll be heading off to West Sound Technical Skill Cent...
A bus is now available to North Mason School District students who want to be involved in extracurricular activities. North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach said her schools’ partnership with Mason Transit Authority and the North Mason Teen Center of the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound stemmed from Mason Transit and the Teen Center striking up a collaboration. Rosenbach credited North Mason School District Director of Transportation Maurine Simons, Mason Transit A...
Free dump vouchers The United Way of Mason County and Youth Connections of Belfair is handing out vouchers for the 2023 Days of Caring. According to a news release, vouchers became available Wednesday at the United Way of Mason County 790 E. Johns Prairie Road in Shelton and at the Youth Connection of Belfair on state Route 3. There are 300 vouchers available in Shelton and 150 available at Youth Connection of Belfair. To receive a voucher, you must fill out the required paperwork, have a valid identification and proof of a Mason County...
The effort to recall Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners was not heard in the state Supreme Court on March 9 as originally scheduled. According to court documents, the respondents, Matlock residents Kristin Masteller and Amanda Gonzales, had an attorney file a motion March 16 for the Supreme Court to issue an order announcing the decision of the court with an opinion to follow. The document states the respondents proposed a briefing schedule and requested the case be on the court’s M...
Woman found dead at High Steel Bridge The Mason County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Journal an incident of a woman found dead at the High Steel Bridge this weekend. The Journal did not have more information by press time but will report more information as it becomes available. Belfair pedestrian killed in accident A 22-year-old Belfair man was killed Friday while walking along state Route 300 near Belfair. According to a news release, Alexander M. Kendall, 22, was declared dead at the scene. A 2014 Volkswagen Jetta driven by a 2...
Goldsborough Creek run and walk Registration is underway for the Goldsborough Creek Run and Walk, a Mason County Forest Festival event staged June 3. Participants can register for the 7-mile walk, 7-mile run, 2-mile run or walk, the senior quarter-mile and the Junior Jog, also a quarter-mile. Register online at Runsignup.com, or pick up a form at the Mason General Hospital Foundation office in the Shelton Gateway Center, Anytime Fitness, the Shelton YMCA and Shelton Athletic Club. The courses of 2 and 7 miles begin in Shelton Valley and end on...
Scholarships available for Harstine residents The Harstine Island Women’s Club and the Judy and Charles Chase Scholarship Fund Management Committee are offering scholarships to full-time residents of Harstine Island who are entering or continuing their post-high school education. Applicants must have obtained a diploma with an accredited high school program or earned a GED. Applications will be accepted through May 15. Winners will be announced by May 31. The number and amount of the scholarships will be determined at the time the s...
Firefighters from North Mason Regional Fire Authority, Central Mason Fire & EMS and Mason County Fire District's 11 and 3 competed in the 32nd Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Firefighter Stairclimb on March 12 at the Columbia Center building in Seattle. North Mason's Mickey Cotter, Elijah Freese, Kyle Barker, Tavia Henry and Travis Wilson finished 54th as a team. "As a whole, we did great. Our top guy, Mickey, shaved a minute off his top time and reached his goal," NMRFA firefighter Wilson said. "I...
The ides of March yielded great fun for nerds, with intriguing developments in the third season of "The Mandalorian" on Disney+ and bombastic, mostly all-ages adventures in the sequel "Shazam! Fury of the Gods." Three episodes into its third season, there's less of a sense of urgency to the ongoing plot arcs in "The Mandalorian," which is, I suspect, why they're getting resolved more briskly, to ensure the viewership doesn't succumb to what's already been alleged in the entertainment press as...
The North Mason boys and girls lost their opening meet of the track season against Kingston on Wednesday in Belfair. The Kingston girls defeated the Bulldogs 64-40. North Mason's Natalya Garcia won the 100-meter dash in 14.16 seconds. Cali DuPont won the 400-meter race in 1:10.91. Kezlie Thygesen won the 1,600-meter race in 5:31.81. Kisslyn Kama-Tandal won the shot put with a throw of 19 feet, 6 inches, and Adrianna Tupolo won the discus with a toss of 95 feet, 5 inches and the javelin with a th...
Nettie Jean Harper of Union, Washington, died on March 14, 2023. Born on November 30, 1942 in Bremerton, Washington to Richard E. Harper and Kathryn F. Bacon, she first lived in Indianola on the Kitsap Peninsula. After the end of the war, her family moved to Seattle, where she graduated from Franklin High School. Nettie completed her B.A. degree at Mills College in Oakland, CA and later her M.A. at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. After she married Kelly Richard Johns they first...
Shelton baseball The Shelton baseball team earned its first win of the season against Port Angeles 5-2 on Saturday in a nonleague game on the road. Shelton (1-1) began Evergreen Conference games this week, traveling to Tumwater on Tuesday before hosting the Thunderbirds on Wednesday. The Highclimbers host Aloha, Oregon, at 2 p.m. Friday in a nonleague game. Shelton girls golf Shelton was scheduled to face Rochester at Alderbrook Golf Course on Monday, but no results were posted in time for the Journal’s print deadline. The Highclimbers are sche...
Almost one year ago, after months of public hearings and commissioner debate, the Belfair sewer project was approved to go out to bid and move forward with construction. Since then, the project has been going great, according to Public Works Director Loretta Swanson. Harbor Custom Homes built the portion of the sewer line that runs next to the Belfair View apartments and the Olympic Ridge housing development up to the Navy rail. Swanson said that part is complete. The contract was awarded to...
Rain, rain and more rain this week. I think Mary and Sam might have given their dog to friends. If they did, I'm sure the waking them up in the morning to be fed was the deal breaker for the poor pup. I would like to write about hankies. We do not see many people carry hankies today. Often, I would get a birthday card from my grandmother in Iowa and inside would be a hanky and a couple of quarters taped inside. When my mother's only sibling passed away a few years ago, her children had a few...
Erik Murphy Ehrmentrout, 31, a resident of Olympia, passed away February 23, 2023, at home. Arrangements are by Forest Funeral Home and Crematory. James A. Rogers, 83, a resident of Shelton, passed away March 3, 2023, at Evergreen Health Medical Center, in Kirkland. Arrangements are by McComb & Wagner Family Funeral Home and Crematory. Bryan S. Tallman, 61, a resident of Shelton, passed away March 9, 2023, at Mason General Hospital. Arrangements are by McComb & Wagner Family Funeral Home and Crematory. Bryan Patrick Duggan, 68, a resident of...
