Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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The unemployment rate in Mason County continued to fall in March, according to a report released Tuesday morning by the state Economic Security Department. Mason County’s resident civilian labor force employment rate was 6.4% in March, down nearly 2% from February’s rate of 8.1%. The data in the report is not seasonally adjusted at the county level. Statewide, the rate was 4.5% and the national rate was 3.5% Both of those numbers, however, are seasonally adjusted and aren’t directly comparable to the county-by-county rate, which the depar...
The Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual awards gala on Friday at Little Creek Casino Resort. Winners of each category were announced, including Bradley Air Co. winning Business of the Year. Boss of the Year went to Gina Finley of Turning Pointe Survivor Advocacy Center and Citizen of the Year was awarded to Justin Baze and Rookie of the Year went to O'Connell Archery. Nonprofit of the Year was awarded to Shelton Family YMCA and Volunteer of the Year went to John Lester of...
Geist appointed to parks board Mason County commissioners appointed Kathleen Geist to the Parks Advisory Board at the April 11 meeting. According to the information packet, the Parks & Trails Advisory Board consists of seven members serving four-year terms with one alternate appointed by county commissioners, with an effort to fill the board with two members from each of the three commissioner districts and one "at-large" member. The purpose of the board is to provide guidance, direction and...
CMFE extinguishes residential fire Central Mason Fire and EMS extinguished a residential structure fire off of Anthony Road in Shelton early Sunday morning. According to a news release, crews arrived on scene to find a double-wide mobile home engulfed. After an interior search and fire attack, crews were able to confine the fire and stop flames from spreading. The fire caused flame and smoke damage throughout the structure and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under...
One person is dead and four others injured, including one critically, in a series of weekend shootings across Mason County. On Saturday, Shelton Police responded to three shootings within four hours, according to a Shelton PD news release. The first occurred at 7:38 p.m. near East Fir and Otter streets in Shelton’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and was determined to be a homicide. Officers arrived to find two victims, one dead and another critically injured with multiple gunshot wounds. The i...
Four of the five seats on the Shelton School Board are on the fall ballot. The terms of board members Keri Davidson, Sandy Tarzwell, Karla Knudsen-Johnston and Lauren Gilmore all expire at the end of the year. Matt Welander’s term representing director District 3 doesn’t expire until the end of 2025. Davidson, the board’s chair, has been on the board since 2016. In an email to the Journal, she said she plans to run for another term as the at-large position No. 2. “I first ran for the school board when my daughters were in kindergarten and fir...
Community members met at the Matlock Grange last Saturday as recall petitions for Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners began collecting signatures. According to minutes from the meeting written by Trina Young and provided to the Journal, recall backers have two weeks to gather signatures. Once the petition signatures have been validated by early May, the community will know whether the special election can proceed and be on the ballot in August. If Fire District 12 commissioners Albert...
City sells land to hospital district The Shelton City Council on Tuesday voted to sell two surplus properties on North 13th Street for $800,000 to Public Hospital District No. 1 of Mason County. According to the city report, the parcels "are an important opportunity for the district's long-range planning to provide critical health care facilities for the community." The parcels total 1.83 acres of steeply sloped land adjacent to Mason General Hospital. The $800,000 will go into the city's Water...
Assessor’s Office renewal applications The Mason County’s Assessor’s Office mailed renewal applications this week to exempt recipients on the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Exemption from Real Property Taxes program. According to a news release, the intended recipients live in Union, Hoodsport, Lake Cushman, Colony Surf, Lilliwaup, Harstine Island, Pickering, Spencer Lake, Phillips Lake, Timberlake, Agate, Shorecrest and surrounding areas. Applications need to be submitted by June 30. For more information, contact the Assessor’s Office...
Old Belfair Highway project Mason County commissioners approved an update to the project limits of the Old Belfair Highway county road project at the April 11 meeting. According to the information packet, commissioners approved a resolution May 21, 2019, for Old Belfair Highway to widen and realign a portion of the road. The project includes an extension of an existing structural plate aluminum arch culvert as well as improving the road geometrics to a 50 mph design standard. Public Works received Rural Arterial Trust Account money from the Cou...
Port of Hoodsport officials agreed they need to address some matters as they work to renew the lease on its dock. Cailan Neeler, ports program manager for the state Department of Natural Resources, contacted the Port of Hoodsport in July about the impending expiration of the port’s 30-year lease of the dock from DNR. Port of Hoodsport Commission Chair Lori Kincannon said current port officials had been unaware of the upcoming need for a dock lease renewal from DNR, given that the original lease...
Scholarships 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 scholarship r...
Celebrate Earth Day Saturday by helping remove trash from a Tahuya forest or plant trees and shrubs at the new site of the Shelton Farmers Market. Volunteers can help plant native plants, fruit trees and shrubs from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday next to the Shelton Civic Center, 425 W. Cota St. The Mason Conservation District, the Shelton Skookum Rotary Club, Shelton Youth Connection, the Shelton Farmers Market and the City of Shelton are sponsoring the event. In collaboration with the state...
Ryder was Sgt. Heather Prigger's best friend. In April 2017, the Mason County Sheriff's Office bought Ryder from a kennel in Shelton. The dog remained with Prigger until his death last month due to an aggressive form of canine cancer. Sheriff's Office K9s live with their handlers and essentially become their dogs. As soon as Prigger saw Ryder, she said she knew he was the dog for her. "I fell in love with him," Prigger told the Journal. "He was incredibly friendly, loving. We had an instant...
The state Supreme Court ruled 9-0 Monday that the recall petitions against all three commissioners of Mason County Fire District 12 , which covers Matlock, can move forward. According to state Supreme Court documents, the court concluded that all of the recall charges found by Mason County Superior Court Judge Monty Cobb were factually and legally sufficient to proceed, were upheld and allowed to move forward. The document also stated the charges the Superior Court found were insufficient to...
Shelton Yacht Club in Tacoma festival The Shelton Yacht Club will participate in the Tacoma Yacht Club's Daffodil Marine Festival at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. According to a news release, the annual decorated boat parade runs until 2 p.m. along the Tacoma waterfront and can be viewed along Ruston Way from restaurants and parking areas. Boats will be decorated with thousands of daffodils and other flowers. The Shelton Yacht Club's boat will be Moneytaker III, owned by Bruce and Susan Moneymaker. Shel...
For the first time in seven years, the Friends of the Shelton Library will host a book sale. It's from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday on the lower level of the library at 710 W. Alder St. Hundreds of books will be on sale for $1 for paperbacks, $2 for hardbacks. Only cash will be accepted. Customers are encouraged to bring their own boxes and bags. Friends of the Shelton Library will use the sale proceeds to support library programs and events. The donated books have been kept in an off-site...
The Friends of Foothills Dog Park (formerly Friends of Lake Cushman Dog Park) is getting ready for the grand opening of its dog park in Hoodsport, just off of state Route 119, on April 22. The group has invited Mason County and Port of Hoodsport commissioners, as well as the Mason County Parks Advisory Board, Mason County Parks and Trails Manager John Taylor, Parks Maintenance staffer Carol Olson and Program Support Technician Anne White, all of whom the group credited with supporting their...
Shepard excelling at St. Louis University Kaitlin Shepard of Shelton earned a spot on the dean’s list for the fall semester at Washington University in St. Louis. To qualify, a student must earn a semester GPA of 3.6 or better and be enrolled in at least 14 graded units. Shepard is enrolled in the university’s College of Arts & Sciences. Making the grade at Oregon State Four students from Mason County earned spots on the scholastic honor roll for winter quarter at Oregon State University. To qualify, a student must earn a GPA of 3.5 or bet...
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 ¼-mile and the Junior Jog, also ¼ 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 West Railroad Avenue in front of the S...
The Shelton City Council unanimously approved the annexation of 40 acres of land into the city at its Tuesday meeting. According to the background information, the city received notice in February of the intent to petition for annexation. The property being annexed, known as Meadows Edge, is in the Shelton urban growth area and is adjacent to the Shelton Springs subdivision and south of Island Lake. The property is the site of a proposed 36-lot subdivision, which is under review by Mason County...
The heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems are failing at Oakland Bay Junior School, and windows, flooring, toilet partitions, countertops, wall coverings and lighting need to be replaced. Robert Herron, the Shelton School District's director of facilities and maintenance, presented that assessment March 28 to the Shelton School Board. A $4 million capital investment could return the school back to near-new condition, he said. "Oakland Bay is 33 years old and OSPI (the state Office of...
Mason County ranked 25th out of the state’s 39 counties in health outcomes as measured by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in a study released last week. At the Mason County Board of Health meeting March 28, Director of Community Serivces Dave Windom talked about the ranking prior to its release, stating he wanted to make the point that because the county moves up or down in the rankings doesn’t mean it is better or worse. “Also, I saw the measures changed, so they...
A 30-year-old Shelton woman suspected in the shooting of her boyfriend was found dead March 18 at the High Steel Bridge in Mason County. According to court documents, the deceased woman is Chantel Dawn Peterson, who was charged with domestic violence assault in the first degree for the Feb. 12 shooting of Elijah Gossett in Shelton. The cause of death was suicide, according to court documents. At the time of her death, Peterson was free on $5,000 bail following her initial arraignment on Feb....
