Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Pioneer School District closed Monday due to alleged online posts that said someone was coming to the middle school with a weapon, according to Superintendent Jeff Davis. Davis decided to shut down the school until police could investigate, he told the Journal in an email. “On Sunday evening, a student sent our middle school principal some social media threads that mentioned someone coming to the middle school on Monday with a weapon. Our principal contacted the Sheriff’s Department and provided the information. Based on the information tha...
The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening gave preliminary approval to a budget of almost $46 million for 2025. The budget can pass with a vote at the council’s meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Shelton Civic Center. No one stepped up to the microphone at the public hearing. The proposed budget totals $45,902,596, with a general fund appropriation of $16,789,551. The state requires that the budget be approved by the end of the year. The proposed 2025 budget is $1.9 million higher — a 4.3% increase — than the adopted 2024 general fund budge...
Commissioners continued to make progress on the 2025 county budget, with an estimated Jan. 1 beginning fund balance of $26.5 million, revenues at $43.9 million for a total beginning balance of $70.4 million for maintenance level, according to an Oct. 22 workshop. Department heads put in requests for funds and now it’s up to commissioners to decide what the county can afford. All three commissioners gave thumbs-down to creating new staff positions and nixed advanced requests for overtime. When commissioners see hundreds of thousands of d...
New Horizon Communities and South Sound Solar on Oct. 30 hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception marking the completion of the Shelton Veterans Village solar project in Shelton. "It takes a special dedication to come out in the rain," said Dave Redman, the program supervisor at the Shelton Veterans Village. Construction of the solar array on Shelton Veterans Village's 30 tiny homes and community center was completed in September. The Shelton Veterans Village has 156 solar panels, 102 of...
The Veterans of Foreign Wars #1694 and its auxiliary host a breakfast and Veterans Day ceremony Monday morning at Memorial Hall, 210 W. Franklin St., downtown Shelton. The doors open at 9:30 a.m., and breakfast is served at 11 a.m. Members of the Shelton NJROTC will participate in the ceremony. The microphone will be passed around so veterans can share their stories....
Monday's blustery weather met power lines in a head-to-head match. Numerous outages occurred throughout the day, but most customers in PUD1 had power back by the afternoon, according to General Manager Kristin Masteller. "These were all small tree and limb related outages due to the high winds today. All relatively quick fixes," she told the Journal in an email. Crews made repairs from Brinnon to Union, she said, logging driving hours between Bee Mill, Finch Creek, Galloway/Point Whitney and...
Mason County Public Health is monitoring a Halloween “trick” that could potentially sicken children with salmonella. The Panhandle Lake 4-H Camp Kids Haunted Halloween event Oct. 26 provided candy treats, but an individual at one cabin also gave away real chicken feet as a trick, according to MCPH. Many participants thought the chicken feet were rubber “so extensive handling by some of the recipients did take place,” MCPH said in a statement. No illnesses have been reported as of Oct. 28, according to the county. “The chicken feet were purc...
The body of 24-year-old Haley Benjamin, of Elma, was recovered Oct. 29 by Thurston County Sheriff's Office Dive Rescue Team. Benjamin fell through a decommissioned train trestle near Kelley Road in the Schafer Grade area near Matlock while hunting Oct. 25. A police drone located Benjamin, who was deceased, but the steep terrain was inaccessible that night and by the next morning, her body had been swept away by the rising river. "Over the last four days several agencies assisted in the search...
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...
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...
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...
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...
MACECOM, the county's 911 center, plans to move from the Shelton Civic Center to a Port of Shelton location and is finalizing a lease agreement, according to MACECOM Executive Director Joe Schmit. The move was also announced at the Oct. 15 Port of Shelton commission meeting. "We are working on lease negotiations with MACECOM," Port of Shelton Executive Director Wendy Smith announced at the meeting. "We're just thrilled," she said. The office building is 5,000 square feet on West Rose Nye Way in...
Second-half property tax payments for 2024 are due on or before Oct. 31, according to a news release from Mason County Treasurer Lisa Frazier. Payments can be made at the Treasurer’s office at 411 N 5th St., Bldg. 1 (2nd Floor) in the office between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. or at the drive-up payment drop box in the alley. For those mailing in their payment, payments must be postmarked no later than Oct. 31 to be considered on time and avoid interest charges. Postmarks and delivery can be delayed when using USPS to mail payment(s), so mail early. D...
The Mason County Sheriff's Office and Mason County Regional Swat Team arrested two burglary suspects Oct. 8 with the help of K9 Kylo, according to a MCSO news release. The bust took place on Northeast Dewatto Hills Road in Tahuya where police recovered nearly 20 firearms with 15,000 rounds of ammunition, two stolen commercial work trailers and Mason County Public Works traffic signs, the release said. A third suspect on the property escaped into the woods and was arrested Oct. 10, according to...
A woman has sued a nonprofit housing provider, the City of Shelton and four police officers for wrongly evicting her from a subsidized apartment in downtown Shelton. Michelle Engles, 62, claims Crossroads Housing and the Shelton Police Department violated the Residential Landlord Tenant Act by removing her from a one-bedroom transitional unit on Cota Street that Crossroads supplied, according to a federal complaint filed on Oct. 2. “Crossroads and Ms. Engles entered into a rental agreement under which Ms. Engles agreed to pay monthly rent, j...
Southside School District Superintendent Paul Wieneke is asking Mason County for help with Collier Road. Wieneke’s request was discussed at Monday’s Mason County commission briefing. “Southside School District has requested that you resend us your Right of Way Engineer for another feasibility discussion about the following Collier Road safe solutions: ■ Widening the west side of Collier Rd. to include a right turn lane (southeast to Arcadia Rd.), ■ Install flashing yellow warning lights at the intersection of Arcadia Rd/Collier/Binns Swiger, a...
On Tuesday evening, the Shelton City Council awarded a $947,571 contract to Keystone Utility Systems to install already-purchased new meter boxes, lids and transmitters to replace every water meter in the city. With the new system, employees will no longer be physically reading the meters at the sites but collecting the numbers with transmitters. The City of Shelton’s water customer meters are more than 20 years old and have “reached the end of their useful life,” the city states. The city is close to falling out of compliance with the state De...
Shelton moves on tourism grants The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening gave preliminary approval to awarding $97,000 in tourism grant requests to local organizations for 2025. The grant awards can be finalized with a vote at the council's meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Shelton Civic Center. The money comes from taxes collected from motels in the city. The city's Local Lodging Tax Advisory Committee met Sept. 18 to review the tourism grant applications, with local groups requesting...
The Shelton-Mason County Journal won 33 awards, including nine first-place prizes, at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2024 Better Newspaper Contest. Staff members received their awards at the 137th annual convention Oct. 5 at the Indian Summer Golf & Country Club in Olympia. The entries were judged by members of the Arizona Media Association. Fifty Washington newspapers sent entries. “Over the last four years, our paper has received more than 100 awards from WNPA,” Journal Publisher John Lester wrote in a statement. “Our reade...
