Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Sorted by date Results 701 - 725 of 1021
The North Mason School District is investigating alleged racist behavior during and after a volleyball game against Bremerton on Oct. 18 in Belfair. The allegations were against North Mason students and parents. According to a news release, allegations have been made about a group of North Mason students and the Bremerton volleyball team and an incident that involved racial harassment and intimidation. “This investigation has been difficult for my athletic director (Ray Bonnell) because of s...
Recall petitions for Mason County Fire Protection District 6 commissioners Richard Heinrich, Mike Sheetz and Troy Woodard didn’t move forward after a hearing Oct. 4 in Mason County Superior Court. Fire 6 is also known as Union Fire. The case was heard by Superior Court Judge Monty Cobb and Robin Fender was the plaintiff. “Petitions for recall are dismissed,” Cobb said toward the end of the hearing. “This is not a frivolous petition for awarding of fees under CR 11. There are things here that ca...
The motion hearing for the recall petition for Mason County Fire Protection District 12 commissioners is set for 2 p.m. Nov. 1 in Mason County Superior Court. Judge Monty Cobb will be presiding over the hearing. Fire commissioners John Pais, Brian Jutson and Albert Wilder had a special meeting Oct. 20 and voted to retain a law firm to defend the district. Whether the action taken at the meeting is legal is in question, considering the fire district did not properly advertise the special meeting...
Port of Hoodsport commissioners devoted much of their Oct. 12 meeting to an update on the progress of tree and debris clearing at the port’s park spaces. Port Operations Manager Kathleen Wyatt reported revenue of more than $10,000 from the more than 34 truckloads of trees that have been removed so far, which will ultimately be added to the 2023 budgets for the Port of Hoodsport trail park and disc golf course. Commissioner Lori Kincannon said she looks forward to having that money applied to t...
Recall petitions have been filed for Mason County Fire Protection District 12 commissioners Brian Jutson, John Pais and Albert Wilder. According to the documents, Wilder, Pais and Jutson “committed several acts of misfeasance and malfeasance and has violated his oath of office through neglect and a knowing failure to faithfully perform the duties imposed on him by law.” Wilder and Jutson had 17 listed allegations in the petition and Pais had 16 listed allegations. The allegations cited are att...
If Southside School District's replacement levy on the Nov. 8 general election ballot fails, the 120-year-old school district might be absorbed into the Shelton School District. The district, which has about 200 students in kindergarten through seventh grade, is asking for the replacement of an expiring Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) levy that would collect $1.97 per $1,000 assessed property value in 2023 through 2026. That levy would collect $641,803 in 2023, $673,894 in 2024,...
Mason County has begun the process of establishing the 2023 county budget with commissioner workshops earlier this week. The commissioner’s 2023 preliminary budget is due to the public by Nov. 21. A public hearing to certify levies must occur before Nov. 30 and the budget hearing is scheduled Dec. 5. The Mason County Sheriff’s Office 2022 maintenance level budget includes $1,143,172. MCSO’s salaries and benefits are $11,933,157, operating maintenance level budget is $3,404,382 and expen...
The City of Shelton's homelessness task force recommends the city create a mitigation site for homeless people for one year, support grant applications for current shelters and for rapid re-housing, provide storage lockers at a mitigation site and support affordable housing. Those recommendations were announced at a "Shelton Spotlight" community forum Tuesday evening at the Shelton Civic Center. The City Council will vote on the recommendations in November, City Manager Jeff Niten told the...
Election systems in Mason County and around the state are fully certified in accordance with Revised Code of Washington requirements. Citing increasing misinformation around the certification and technical aspects of voting systems in Washington, Stuart Holmes, acting director of elections at the Office of Secretary of State, submitted a letter to the editor (the full letter can be found on page 5) refuting a claim made by Mason County auditor candidate Steve Duenkel in a previous letter to the...
A four-car, chain-reaction accident sent two people to hospitals and partially blocked U.S. 101 near Shelton for almost four hours Tuesday night. According to a Washington State Patrol news release, a 65-year-old Shelton man was southbound in a 2017 Kia Soul just north of the Shelton-Matlock exit. His car crossed the centerline and struck a 68-year-old Shelton man’s vehicle and a 42-year-old Shelton man’s 2019 Kia Soul. The 2019 Kia then hit a Nissan Sentra driven by a 59-year-old Shelton man...
The HUB (Hospitality, Unity, Belonging) Center for Seniors is reviving its runway show next year. Beth Gizzi, executive director of the HUB, said the center has had a fashion show “on and off” since 2007, but COVID prompted an extended break. Gizzi said the show in May will be the HUB’s first wearable art fashion show, and possibly the first of its kind for the area as well. “We started a ‘found’ fashion show — items that are found in a thrift shop, like our own HUB shop — to showcase what g...
The Shelton City Council on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a $40.2 million budget for 2023. The council will host a second public hearing on the proposed budget at its meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 1. The budget must be approved by the end of the year. Last November, the council approved a $41.1 million budget for 2022. The proposed expenditures in the 2023 budget include $15,011,415 for the general fund, $2,068.316 for the street fund, $2,824,585 for the capital improvement fund, $7,035,937 for the sewer fund, $3,510,407 for the water fund,...
Mason County Fire District 12 in Matlock has begun the process of an internal investigation to look into the allegations raised in the state Auditor’s Office fraud investigation and accountability audit reports. The reports were released Sept. 20 at the fire commissioner’s regular monthly meeting, with state Auditor Pat McCarthy attending over Zoom, where she raised concern for what the audit found. Brian Snure, lawyer for Fire District 12, told the Journal the investigation process is pro...
Mason County Fire District 12 in Matlock says it is conducting an internal investigation into the allegations of fraud and misappropriation of public money by the state Auditor’s Office. The accountability audit and the fraud investigation reports were released Sept. 20 at the fire commissioners’ regular monthly meeting. The fraud investigation report alleges the district misappropriated almost $70,000, and had $95,000 in questionable spending. Mason County Sheriff’s Office Chief Criminal Deput...
Children who are victims of or have witnessed domestic violence have more space to play, learn social-emotional skills, and connect with their peers at the Turning Pointe Survivor Advocacy Center shelter in Shelton. On Friday, the nonprofit organization celebrated the completion of a 400-square-foot addition to accommodate its growing youth programs with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with employees, board members, donors and public officials. The two new offices will be the focal point for youth...
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...
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....
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...
The person believed to have caused the three-car accident that claimed the lives of Rita L. Lyman of Shelton and Duane M. Wharton of Olympia last Wednesday on U.S. Highway 101 near Shelton said he recalls drifting toward the centerline and hearing his wife scream, according to incident reports. According to a Washington State Patrol news release, Wharton, 58, was driving the dump truck and Lyman, 66, was driving the Toyota 4Runner that the truck crushed. The Mazda driver, Mitchell Larsen, 66,...
Workers broke ground last week for the Shelton Veterans Village, designed to house 30 homeless Mason County veterans on North 13th Street near Olympic College Shelton. The village, which will be operated by the nonprofit organization Quixote Communities, is expected to open next summer. Quixote Communities also has tiny home villages in Olympia and Orting. All three communities will benefit from the Tiny Homes Big Future fundraiser from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hands On Children's Museu...
Shelton City Manager Jeff Niten said some residents are misinformed about the city's new rules on homeless encampments as well as believing the problems caused by some downtown street people are not being addressed. "There is a concern the city is doing nothing," Niten said at the Shelton City Council's meeting on Sept. 6. On the contrary, the city manager said, the changes passed by the council on Aug. 2 are amendments to a 1995 ordinance that "strengthens the criteria" for allowing a homeless...
Teresa Sanders is no stranger to The Pavilion in Shelton. During the 2000s, her three children attended high school prom in the building down the road from Gillis Auto. For four years, Sanders dropped customers off at the building when she was driving for the Patty Wagon. Both parents were members of the center operated by the Mason County Senior Activities Association until her stepmother died. At the nonprofit's annual membership meeting two weeks ago, Sanders was introduced as the new activit...
Two people died and at least one other person was seriously injured in a three-vehicle wreck early Wednesday morning on U.S. Highway 101 near the Shelton Matlock Road interchange. According to Washington State Patrol spokesperson Katherine Weatherwax, around 7:30 a.m. a southbound Mazda pickup truck crossed the centerline and struck a northbound dump truck loaded with gravel, knocking the dump truck into a southbound Toyota 4Runner. The drivers of the dump truck and the 4Runner were killed....
