Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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In the initial general election ballot count on Tuesday evening, Republican Pat Tarzwell was leading Tom Beben, who states no party preference, in their contest for a four-year term representing District 2 on the Mason County Commission. In the first ballot count released at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Tarzwell had 14,320 votes for 53.31% and Beben 12,963 votes for 47.36%. Tarzwell ran a small manufacturing business for 33 years. Beben owns the High Steel Beer Co. “It’s not over yet, but it looks pretty darn good,” Tarzwell told the Journal on Wedne...
State Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, will return to Olympia holding his current office, falling short to Democratic challenger State Sen. Emily Randall in the 6th Congressional District race. Tuesday’s initial count across the entire district showed Randall with 167,826 at 57.3% and MacEwen with 124,717 at 42.58%. In Mason County, MacEwen captured 55.32% of the vote to Randall’s 44.52%. The 6th District encompasses most of Tacoma and all of the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas from the Mason-Thurston county border north. “It’s not the result...
A steady downpour didn't prevent adults and kids from enjoying the Trunk or Treat event on Halloween at Hood Canal Market Fresh. Offerings included a bouncy house, a deejay, a costume contest and refreshments....
Madison McClanahan, a 2024 graduate of Shelton High School, was crowned 2025 Miss Teen Rodeo Washington. McClanahan, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Idaho, earned the title at the annual competition Oct. 11 and 12 in Ellensburg. On the first day, she competed in the horsemanship competition at the Kittitas County Fairground and the public speaking and media interview in the theater in the Central Washington University student union building. The next day, McClanahan visited...
Mason County Auditor Steve Duenkel wants the community to know its election ballots are safe. Fires set in ballot drop boxes in Vancouver, Washington, and nearby Portland early Monday morning prompted Gov. Jay Inslee to issue a statement later in the day saying there will be 24-hour enhanced security around ballot drop-off locations in Washington. “Mason County Ballot Drop Boxes have multiple layers of security,” Duenkel told the Journal in an email Tuesday. “All drop boxes have internal fire suppression devices. All have internal GPS monit...
An Elma woman hunting Friday in the Matlock area fell through an old train trestle, plunging 100 to 150 feet and dying on impact with the riverbank, according to the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office. An Aberdeen Police Department officer used a drone in steep terrain to locate the victim, 24-year-old Haley Benjamin, and determined she was dead. She fell from a decommissioned train trestle near Kelley Road in the Schafer Grade area, according to the Mason County Sheriff’s Office. Fire 12 in Matlock got the original call, Chief Mike Brown told the...
The Youth Connection has submitted building permits to the City of Shelton to remodel its two-story building at 2nd and Cota streets that will include 12 apartments upstairs for homeless youths ages 18-24. The almost $7 million project is projected to be completed by the end of 2025, with an opening in January 2026. If the building permits are approved, Youth Connection will then put the project out for constriction bids, said Susan Kirchoff, executive director of the nonprofit organization. The upper floor of the building is now mostly empty....
The Mason County Planning Advisory Commission staff presented another draft for short-term rental regulations, including a permit requirement and mandatory management plan that includes rules of conduct for guests, according to a public hearing Oct. 21. Mason County commissioners directed the PAC to come up with rules for short-term rentals to address residents’ concerns about overuse of septic systems, beach trespassing and harvesting, and noise complaints, according to the county. The PAC solicited public comments and hosted several workshops...
A Union woman was arrested Oct. 18 on 15 counts of animal cruelty after deputies performed a welfare check and discovered numerous animals, including dogs, cats, sheep, goats and horses living in deplorable conditions, according to a Mason County Sheriff’s Office probable cause document. Jenny King, 63, said the animals belonged to her and “stated nothing was wrong with her dogs and failed to acknowledge the animals’ condition,” MCSO Detective Drogmund wrote in the document. King was allegedly caring for homeowner Brian Cook. Cook’s friend ca...
Olympic Highway North, last repaired in the 1990s, is "shattered," says City of Shelton Public Works Director Jay Harris. At an Oct. 22 study session devoted to city's pavement preservation program, Harris told the Shelton City Council, "You can tell about every 20 feet you hit a crack, another crack, another crack, every 20 feet or so you go ka-thump, ka-thump, ka-thump, when you're going down the road, there's what's called the old market road is laying under there." He added, "We can't let...
Journal reader Tammy Reeves submitted these photos of her Agate area yard....
Allyn church hosts Holiday Bazaar St. Hugh Episcopal Church hosts its Holiday Bazaar from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 280 E. Wheelwright in Allyn. The offerings include colorful driftwood, seashell art, seasonal arrangements, soup mixes, handmade items and baked goods. The silent auction items include a Trader Joe's Italian dinner basket, a Seattle sports basket, an Ali'i Hawaiian ukulele. Coffee, cider and freshly baked scones will be available. Last year's proceeds from the sale, and the...
Mason Health hosted its popular Trunk or Treat Halloween event on Friday in the parking lot of Mason General Hospital....
Olympic College has lowered student competency grade requirements from a “B” to a “C” to qualify for college credit in the Career and Technical Education Courses, according to a presentation at the North Mason School Board meeting Monday. North Mason students can now receive college credit “upon successful completion of the dual credit course with a grade of ‘C’ (2.0) or better,” according to a letter from the Olympic College CTE Dual Credit Office. CTE is expanding and focusing on developing the Health Science program into multiple pathwa...
Port of Allyn commissioners agreed to explore leasing the port’s meeting room several days a week to Grassroots Learning, a family-based education co-op, at the port’s special meeting Monday. “This is the ideal location with the Port’s waterfront park just outside, where the children already come each day to play,” Executive Director Travis Merrill wrote in a report. The co-op would lease the space from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday – Friday or Tuesday – Thursday, according to Merrill. Grassroots offers “a hybrid of homeschooling and group learn...
Mason County Sheriff Ryan Spurling filled in new Matlock Fire 12 commissioners on the FBI’s investigation into alleged fraud committed by the former administration, saying the inquiry is proceeding. “I can tell you that I’m satisfied that they’re still moving forward,” Spurling said at Fire 12’s Oct. 14 meeting. “Last week I called the supervisor of the FBI agent who’s involved in the investigation,” Spurling said. “They asked me not to divulge anything right now because it may compromise some of the investigation,” he said. While much of w...
The Shelton School District’s policies on student discipline aren’t changing, but the language in the rules is being updated and clarified. The Shelton School Board on Tuesday evening gave preliminary approval to revisions to its student discipline policy at its meeting in the Mountain View Elementary School cafeteria. The board can make the changes official with a vote at an upcoming meeting. Dusti Trickle, the district’s director of student wellness, told the board the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction filed emerg...
A man allegedly caught on video surveillance leaving his neighbor’s home holding a gun shortly before the neighbor was found shot to death faces trial this week. Jury selection and trial proceeding started Tuesday for Shelton resident Jerry Upson, charged with first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful firearm possession in connection with the death of Kenneth D. Simmons. Upson was seen on surveillance video with a handgun entering and leaving the victim’s home numerous times Oct. 27, 2023, according to the probable cause document filed by...
Taylor Shellfish is facing another challenge to a floating oyster bag farm in Oakland Bay that was approved by a Mason County hearing examiner last year. Friends of Oakland Bay filed a land use petition in September, disputing the county's interpretation that Taylor is not subject to certain zoning rules. The suit, filed in Thurston County Superior Court, says zoning allows only a "hobby farm" that includes "small scale commercial agriculture." Community Development Director Kell Rowen said in...
All are welcome when New Horizon Communities and South Sound Solar hosts a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the completion of the Shelton Veterans Village solar project from 11 a.m. to noon Oct. 30 at 2471 N. 13th St. in Shelton. Construction of the solar array on Shelton Veterans Village’s 30 tiny homes and community center was completed in September. A reception will follow the ribbon cutting. The Shelton Veterans Village has 156 solar panels, 102 of them on the tiny houses and 54 on the community center. South Sound Solar designed and i...
