Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Mason County Fire District 12 officials misappropriated public money and broke state laws, according to an accountability audit and fraud investigation report by the state Auditor’s Office released Tuesday. According to the fraud investigation report, the district misappropriated almost $70,000 in public money and $95,000 in unsupported expenses. State Auditor Pat McCarthy, along with other members of the state Auditor’s Office, attended the district’s regular monthly commissioners meeti...
Shelton High School personnel want more students to show up, and for more freshmen to get off to a good start. Those are the school's two major goals for this school year. Principal Bruce Kipper presented the school's plan Sept. 13 to the Shelton School Board. Principals at the Shelton School District's other seven schools will unveil their plans in the coming weeks. The school wants to raise attendance by 10%, and increase by 10% the number of freshmen who earn six or more credits during...
City downtown homeless forum scheduled for Oct. 11 The City of Shelton has scheduled a community forum on homelessness from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Shelton Civic Center. Some of the nonprofit groups that partner with the city will give presentations, and residents can share their thoughts. The city's new task force on homelessness, which includes members of the council, business owners, Mason County Commissioner Sharon Trask and others, met Tuesday to hear from a Jefferson County commissioner...
Steve Duenkel must be a happy man today. Duenkel has been running hard for the job of Mason County auditor since filing his candidacy last winter. He's been doing his homework and traveling the expanses of this county, knocking on doors and showing up at community events, where he's raised dark suspicions about the legitimacy of our elections, and about incumbent Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire ("Why is he in that office? A lot of people are wondering, 'Why is he here?' ") In fact, Duenkel...
Homelessness is a multifaceted, contentious issue and it's important to acknowledge that there is no one right answer that will single-handedly solve the problem. We are listening and understand concerns of the residents, business owners, and other community members who have to deal with this issue and the direct and indirect impacts on our community. We intend to deliver solutions. Responding to homelessness has been a focus for many years in Shelton and Mason County. In this column, I'd like...
Hail Port Townsend Editor, the Journal, Port Townsend has exceeded all communities I've visited in my peripatetic life in being extraordinarily vibrant. Once thought to be in competition with Seattle for seagoing freight, she's rather become enchanting through achieving accomplishments: Perpetual motion, anti-gravity, and agelessness. Perpetual motion: There's a skateboard park near the harbor. I've witnessed adolescents and one old guy, possibly in this 30s, lean and tough as rawhide, ramp...
The Shelton Centennial Lions Club will break ground for its basketball and pickleball courts at 11 a.m. Monday in the Shelton Civic Center parking lot. Work is scheduled to begin the next day, and the project is expected to take 40 days, said Kathy McDowell, a member of the group and a Shelton City Council member. "It's been a long process," she said. Such a facility was recommended in the city's Downtown Visioning Plan in 2015. "The court was in those plans, somewhere in town," McDowell said....
Garbage truck tips on state Route 3 A garbage truck tipped over due to a flat tire Sept. 12 on state Route 3 in Bremerton. According to a Washington State Patrol report, the garbage truck was driving south and had a flat right-front tire that blew and caused the driver to lose control and tipped on its side. The road was closed at milepost 35 just south of state Route 304 and the road was closed for more than three hours. Recreational burn ban lifted Mason County has lifted the recreational burn...
United Way workplace campaigns to begin United Way of Mason County on Oct. 1 will launch its workplace fundraising campaigns for 2022-2023. Since 1966, Mason County businesses, nonprofits, school districts, county and state employees have participated in workplace campaigns to help improve education, financial stability and health for county residents. United Way of Mason County has supported food banks and Mason County Public Health to secure lodging and food to families quarantined with COVID. The agency also worked with Mason County...
The Shelton High School swimming pool reopened Monday to students after cracks in the plaster walls were repaired. The state Department of Health on Friday certified the pool's safety said Jeff Slakey, the Shelton School District's interim communications specialist. The pool reopened in time for the girls swim team to host a meet Tuesday. When the water was drained from the pool this summer, district employees noticed cracks in the plaster on the walls of the pool, Slakey said. The contractor...
The Port of Hoodsport has readjusted its timeline to remove debris and dead and decaying trees from its parks. During the port’s Sept. 7 meeting, port commissioner Terry Brazil said Forest McCullough of Northwest Land & Tree had “really been going to town” on cutting the park’s timber. Brazil said McCullough was fortunate to get help from port maintenance man Scott Lindgren on the project, “because he hasn’t got a lot of other help.” Brazil said McCullough has been shipping “a lot of rotten t...
From the first impeccably staged fight scene of "The Woman King," it's impossible not to hear its implicit sales pitch in your head: Hey, kids, do you like the Dora Milaje of Wakanda, from the Marvel Cinema Universe's "Black Panther?" Because these African warrior women were the Dora Milaje in real life. During the 19th century, the West African kingdom of Dahomey did indeed maintain an all-female fighting force known as the Agojie, which was one of the only standing armies (and one of the only...
Shelton's Jacob Miller won the boys race by two legs as the Highclimber boys earned a win in an Evergreen Conference meet with Aberdeen and Rochester on Sept. 14. Miller beat Aberdeen's Will Boling with a time of 13 minutes, 57 seconds. Shelton runner Jaydon Blackburn finished third with a time of 14:08 and Carson Bursch placed fourth with a time of 14:20. Landon Bursch placed seventh for Shelton with a time of 15:29 and Jack Parker placed 10 with a time of 16:14. The Shelton girls had no...
Shelton Football Shelton lost 48-6 against W.F. West in its opening EvCo game of the season Sept. 16 in Chehalis. The lone touchdown for the Highclimbers was a Mason Goos’ 55-yard pass to Weetly Cordova. The Bearcats scored 13 in the first quarter and 14 in the second quarter to build a 27-6 lead at halftime and cruised to victory in the second half. Goos was 16 of 32 for 187 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Bradley Eleton led the rushing attack with six carries for 22 yards. Dante Trikoff was the leading receiver with nine c...
An unfortunate trend in Washington and across the nation must be stopped: the bad behavior of coaches, parents and fans at high school and middle school athletic events. We’ve all seen it: the yelling, harassing, berating, disrespecting, and even assaulting referees, umpires and other officials during and after games. Oftentimes, the harassment continues on social media. Perhaps you’ve witnessed it firsthand or been one of those offenders yourself. Not only is this behavior unacceptable and embarrassing, but it’s having serious conse...
Port of Allyn’s commissioners adopted long-overdue updates to the port’s marina rules, but deferred any action on redistricting until they could consult with Mason County officials. Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola reminded port commissioners they’d already deferred action on updating the port’s marina rules during their previous month’s meeting, so the issue was placed on the agenda again this month. Coppola pointed out that when the marina rules were adopted by the port in 2015,...
There was a fair going on this week and Mary entered some exhibits. Mary does not say which fair, but she won some prizes. Maybe the Puyallup? Remember from last week her regular hairdresser left and would be out of town for a while? So, Mary gets her hair done at a beauty salon in Gorst. Summer is coming to an end, folks, so enjoy what's left. Friday, Sept. 17, 1948 Slept late as I was tired. Then cleaned house and up to see about taking weaving to the fair. Called on Robertsons on my way home....
Grace Victoria Wickward, 91, passed away at home in Shelton, Washington on the 26th of August 2022. She was surrounded by family and the view of the lake she loved. Grace was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on the 12th of February 1931, to Frederick Robert Litster and Emma Nott. She was the youngest of five children and grew up feeling like she had lots of "parents." Grace grew up during the Depression. After her father passed away, the family relocated to Victoria, British Columbia. The family... Full story
Mary "Mary Beth" was born on April 15, 1948, in Olympia, WA, to James E. and Patricia Connolly. Early detection and lung cancer research enabled her, a non-smoker, to live well with lung cancer for 18 years. She died of complications from lung cancer on September 8, 2022. She grew up in Shelton, WA, and graduated from Shelton High School in 1966. When not studying, she filled her time with extracurricular activities; everything from Latin Club and school plays to cheer team. Childhood summers at... Full story
John David Russell passed away suddenly September 7, 2022. John was born October 14, 1961. John was the owner of 'JD Fiberglass' in Shelton, WA for several years. He has returned home to Michigan with family. Donations can be made to The Humane Society in John's name.... Full story
Joyce Spatz passed away September 11, 2022, at Puget Sound Health Care Facility in Olympia, WA. She was 96 years old. Joyce Wilma Lahr was born July 6, 1926 to Will Lahr and Ethel Hodgson of Shell Rock, Iowa. After graduating high school she moved to Washington, DC to enter the Cadet Nurses Training Program. Joyce married Everette Spatz, February 14, 1946. They lived in Washington State their entire marriage. Joyce is survived by sons Patrick and Eddie (Loretha), daughter Susan Beauchamp... Full story
Patricia Ann Johnson passed away at her home on August 30, 2022. She is survived by her husband of 52 years Ronald Johnson, sons Jason and Tim, grandkids Brittany, Alysa, Cole, Cameron, Parker and Layla, and great-grandkids LJ, Barney and Kacen. Patricia was an amazing and loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Patricia enjoyed being with family, camping, campfires and just spending time together. She will be missed greatly and will forever in our hearts.... Full story
To our family, friends, colleagues, and community members, I wanted to express immense gratitude for all the kind words and support over the past couple weeks since losing our truck driver, Duane Wharton. I sincerely appreciate those of you that rallied around us during this tragedy by offering help to us in any way possible. While this has been ex-tremely hard to deal with, the support of this community has gone above and beyond, making the grief possible to handle. Thank you, Jim Oakes Jimini Paving... Full story
