Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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While commissioners for the Port of Grapeview repeatedly noted they’ve made no final decisions regarding next year’s budgets for the port, the three commissioners acknowledged several areas of overall agreement at their Oct. 6 budget workshop. “As we’ve gone over the operations budget, we’ve seen how difficult it’s going to be for this port just to maintain the facilities that it has, which are very minimal,” Jean Farmer said, before she and fellow port commissioners turned to the preliminary c...
The Port of Allyn has a busy month ahead. Port of Allyn Executive Director Lary Coppola warned at the port’s Oct. 3 meeting that while revenues are performing as expected “for this time of year, and in this economy,” the port’s expenses have exceeded its budget “in several instances,” notably what they’ve paid in legal fees, “so money is tight and cash flow somewhat problematic.” The same meeting saw port commissioners approve a loan, with interest, from the port’s water fund to its general fund...
The Olympic Sunset View apartments will soon have people coming and going, as they are set to begin renting to tenants in November. Harbor Custom Development Chief Operating Officer Jeff Habersetzer said it was a challenging construction site. "It's on a bit of a hillside and after a very wet winter, we came through the other side in pretty good shape," Habersetzer told the Journal. "The project is really rounding into form now and it's going to turn out to be a big success for us." The...
During the North Mason School Board’s Sept. 15 meeting, high school counselor Rebecca Roberts spoke about the work being done for the Comprehensive School Counseling Plan before Board Director Laura Boad moved to approve the plan as presented. According to Roberts, the American School Counseling Association has a model they’ve published for more than a decade outlining the best practices in counseling. “School counseling has shifted, in the last decade or two, from being very individualized (to)...
The North Mason Chamber of Commerce celebrated the best of business and people in 2021 at its annual gala Sept. 17 at Alderbrook Resort in Union. Five awards were handed out at the gala, including citizen of the year going to Dr. Don LePere of Kiwanis Club of North Mason. LePere has been a member of North Mason Kiwanis Club since 1985 and has been the secretary for 34 years. In the business of the year category, Peninsula Community Federal Credit Union won. The credit union offered PPP loans to...
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,...
Hoodstock cofounders Kelli Kohout and Shannon Crabb-Stanton are thrilled to take stock of the fifth year of the program they kicked off, which returned to Hood Canal in Union on Aug. 20. They agreed this year’s event exceeded their expectations. Kohout and Crabb-Stanton said support from concert-goers and event sponsors helped make 2022 the “biggest year yet” for Hoodstock. Among this summer’s crop of community partners, the Alderbrook Resort and Spa distinguished themselves, Kohout said, b...
The Port of Grapeview is set to convene a special meeting Sept. 13 to address its redistricting, which is required every 10 years for federal, state and many local government agencies. The purpose of redistricting the port is to balance the populations in each of its three districts to ensure equitable representation. Port Commissioner Mike Blaisdell, who’s leading the current redistricting effort, pointed out that since the 2010 census, the port district’s population has increased by 302 residents. Blaisdell cited “tremendous support” from Ma...
Port of Grapeview commissioners made Mason County’s latest free Wi-Fi hot spot official before following up on diver-safety matters during their Aug. 16 meeting. Art Whitson, District 1 commissioner, said this summer’s Grapeview Water Festival and Art Show saw its vendors exceed online capacity, leading to “a lot of internet drop-outs and frustrated folks,” before they were shifted over to Wi-Fi access on port property. “We already had everything ready to go,” said Jean Farmer, District 3...
The Aug. 18 meeting of the North Mason School Board saw Superintendent Dana Rosenbach congratulate Director of Transportation Maurine Simons and her crew for being recognized by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for their annual inspections over the past two years. She also shared details about OSPI’s 2022-23 education requirements and Inclusionary Practices Project. State school chief Chris Reykdal and State Patrol Chief John Batiste cosigned a July 22 letter lauding the N...
The Dewatto yard sale, barbecue and potluck scheduled for Saturday has been canceled because not enough people signed up to participate. During their Aug. 10 meeting, Port of Dewatto commissioners acknowledged the lack of interest in the event, with “only a couple of people” wanting to take part, in spite of the efforts of Port of Dewatto neighbors Rich and Kathy Kroll to stage the gathering. When Kathy Kroll asked port Manager Jeana Crosby what it would take to stage such an event, Crosby tol...
Last year's Allyn Days was reduced to a single day due to COVID-19, but this year will see the full three-day weekend lineup run from Friday through Sunday. Allyn Community Association President Jason Ilarraza said he's thrilled all three Allyn Days will be presented this year, though he acknowledged the event is still recruiting volunteers to conduct some of the event activities. If you're willing to pitch in, call Ronnie Colburn at 360-275-5002. "Our sponsors have been absolutely fantastic,"...
The North Mason School Board heard from Director of Information Technology Clint Forsythe on June 16 about this year’s technology uses and upcoming plans for technology for the district. Forsythe said while the district has gained more computers, it’s created more challenges and complications, especially with the number of aging computers still in use. He said the district has achieved a 1:1 ratio of computers to students across its schools, even though several of them are more than three yea...
The Port of Allyn and Mason County resident Bradley Carey agreed to settle lawsuits June 9 concerning alleged violations of Washington’s Public Records Act, Open Public Meetings Act and related claims, according to port Operations Manager LeAnn Dennis, who released copies of the settlement agreement to the public June 23. According to the settlement, Carey had asserted claims related to the state acts and other statutory claims against the port and individuals. Carey served lawsuits to Port o...
The Port of Dewatto continues to cope with vandalism at its Dewatto River Campground. The most recent incident of vandalism was “the carving of racist comments” on the campground’s trees, the port announced on its Facebook page June 8. The port had already devoted a portion of its commissioners’ May 11 meeting to sorting out the financial effects of an incident of vandalism that had occurred just days before. Dewatto River Campground Coordinator Joe Newman told commissioners that on May 8 someo...
North Mason School Board members marked the deaths of two people before recognizing the civil service of two others during their May 19 meeting. District 4 Director John Campbell moved to amend the meeting’s agenda to discuss sending the board’s condolences to the family of Shelton-Mason County Journal columnist Mark Woytowich, who died May 6. Campbell described Woytowich as an environmentalist, activist and “very good friend” of the North Mason School District who helped make the communi...
Erik Youngberg, the new director of District 1 on the North Mason School District Board of Directors, assumed another role during the board’s May 19 when District 3 Director Laura Boad nominated him to be the board’s Washington Interscholastic Activities Association representative for the 2022-23 school year. Youngberg accepted the position. District 5 Director Arla Shephard Bull said the WIAA is “the organization governing athletics, interscholastic activity and competitions in Washi...
After many delays, Mason Transit Authority’s Belfair Park & Ride officially opened May 23 on Northeast Log Yard Road. “I’ve been hearing from a couple of drivers that have been up here that they’re really enjoying having a space to work out of and happy to have a permanent place to be for their breaks and rest breaks up in the north county area,” MTA General Manager Amy Asher told the Herald. “Our park and ride’s getting used. We have a lot of the folks from the worker-driver program parki...
North Mason School District Transportation Director Maurine Simons shared with the school board May 19 details about the return of the “Fill the Bus” event, scheduled to take place Aug. 20 at the QFC parking lot in Belfair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. “QFC does a great job of putting together packages that have the school supplies all together, right near the front,” Simons said. “The bus drivers will be out there. It’s all volunteer time.” She added, “We’ll have our little ‘Buster Bus’ out there for...
The Port of Dewatto has been ensuring it maintains enough money in the bank to address expenses. During the port’s April 13 meeting, campground coordinator Joe Newman reported the campground’s initial turnout numbered “just a few” campers, although he said a camping group reserved quite a few more slots by mid-April. Newman said about 25 volunteers helped out at the campground for its cleanup March 26, and with a few more hours during that week, he was able to get the rest of the leaves and bru...
Hawkins Middle School eighth-graders Bradley Williams, Dylan Prideaux, Sophia Mairs, Owen Oblizalo and Yariel Barajas presented their "Project Citizen" to the North Mason School Board on May 19. Williams described Project Citizen as teaching students to work with government to create public policies to help solve community problems. "Our class voted from a long list of problems," Williams said. "The majority picked school shootings, so we came up with policies to prepare for and prevent these...
The North Mason School District selected Erik Youngberg on May 10 to fill the District 1 School Board position left vacant by Art Wightman, whose resignation was accepted at the board's March 24 meeting. In his letter to the board, Youngberg described himself as a fifth-generation resident of Mason County who wants to make a difference in the community by doing what he can to ensure future residents "continue to have a great school system." Youngberg said he learned to cope with childhood...
When the Port of Allyn followed up on Sweetwater Park during the port commissioners' May 2 meeting, Port Executive Director Lary Coppola said Kathleen Barrantes, the grant writer the Salmon Center hired, had come up with a plan for a series of grants from various agencies to fund the project. "Because of the delays in moving this project forward, the cost has more than doubled, which is why a professional grant writer was brought in," Coppola said. He added that the local arborist, qualified und...
