Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Public defense attorneys get raise Mason County commissioners approved a pay raise for public defense attorneys at their Jan. 30 meeting. Attorneys providing indigent defense for misdemeanors, heard in district court, will get a pay raise from $75 an hour to $100 an hour. Attorneys providing indigent defense for felonies, heard in superior court, will see their pay increase from $100 an hour to $125 an hour. Hourly indigent defense investigators will now make $75 an hour. Chief Public Defender Peter Jones thanked the commissioners at a...
Adams Street car fire Central Mason Fire & EMS crews fought a car fire on Adams Street in Shelton Monday morning. The call was reported about 10:15 a.m. and fire crews arrived in minutes to find a passenger vehicle in the alley between Adams Street and Olympic Highway North on fire. Crews quickly extinguished the blaze. The driver of the vehicle was evaluated at the scene for minor burns and transported to Mason General Hospital for further evaluation and care. The cause of the fire is under...
Port of Allyn Commissioner Ted Jackson has resigned, the remaining port commissioners said at a special meeting Jan. 23. Commissioner Judy Scott read Jackson’s terse resignation letter at the meeting. “Please accept this as my resignation letter as Port of Allyn Commissioner District. I have returned the Port of Allyn computer, cellphone, office key, and credit card to Travis Merrill. I have also provided Travis Merrill with the computer and cell phone passwords. Sincerely, Ted Jackson,” the letter said. The port has seen recent upheaval with t...
The City of Shelton is considering creating a 2.5-mile paved path that connects the Shelton Marina to Kneeland Park to the city's western boundary on Railroad Avenue. Jae Hill, the city's community and economic development director, gave a presentation on the proposal to members of the Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening at a study session at the Shelton Civic Center. In his report, Hill said "desired amenities" in preliminary concept plans envision a 12-foot-wide paved path separated from...
On the Feb. 13 ballot, voters in the Grapeview School District are being asked to replace an expiring educational programs levy that would tax property owners 63 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, the same as the levy that is expiring. If passed, the levy would collect $946,724 in 2025, $990,095 in 2026, $1.024.570 in 2027 and $1.042,216 in 2028. The Grapeview levy is one of five education funding measures on the Feb. 13 ballot. Voters in the Mary M. Knight School District are also...
The Port of Hoodsport dock adjacent to Ingvald J. Gronvold Park on U.S. 101 in Hoodsport could be open by May if approved repairs are promptly completed, Commissioner Lori Kincannon told the Journal in an email. Port commissioners signed off on the work at the Jan. 17 meeting after receiving a favorable bid from Marine Floats in Tacoma. "We are hoping that permits can be received and that repairs can be made quickly so that the dock can be re-opened before the upcoming shrimping season in May,"...
Coroner needs space in Belfair Commissioners approved Mason County Coroner Jaime Taylor’s request for $45,875.02 for additional equipment, including a cooler, storage racks and a lift, at the Jan. 22 meeting with department heads. Taylor also asked for an additional cooler space in Belfair. “We have a lot of calls up there,” she said. Belfair is about 40 minutes from the Shelton office and Taylor said it would be “fantastic” to have a permanent storage space in the north end of the county. Commissioners discussed whether the additiona...
A citizen initiative aimed at Washington cities could soon be required to block off zones near public transit for multifamily housing, if new regulations are approved by the Legislature. Some regulation is necessary, backers say, if cities want to provide affordable housing and make it easy for people to get to work. "I ran for office because of the enormous challenges that people of my generation, people in their 30s and 40s, face in finding a home in this state," Rep. Julia Reed, D-Seattle,...
Some fear artificial intelligence might open a chapter to a dystopian future. Others say the progress it promises is unlimited. To find a balance among those concerns, Washington state is considering launching a task force to determine how it can best promote the most beneficial uses while mitigating potential problems. Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-White Center, has introduced SB 5838 that would establish the task force. The bill has 17 Democratic and two Republican co-sponsors and the support of Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “The Legislature is set u...
Replacing brass water meters with an advanced drive-by system that eliminates monthly manual meter readings and reconstructing an aging water line from Well 1 to the high school water tank are among the City of Shelton's biggest capital projects this year. Public Works Director Jay Harris and Capital Projects Manager Aaron Nix gave the members of the Shelton City Council updates on those projects Jan. 9 at a work session in the Shelton Civic Center. City officials, including Mayor Eric Onisko, a...
Editor’s Note: A story in the Jan. 11 issue of local legislators and the current session stated that the Journal did not receive questionnaire responses from Rep. Dan Griffey, and his responses came after the Journal went to press. Here they are: 1. Are you introducing any bills? We want to do something right and real about sexually violent predators (SVPs) that are being released into our communities with virtually no notice to less restrictive alternatives (LRAs) that in many cases are not operated by or overseen by the state. These are j...
Portillo is Shelton's Officer of the Year Gary Portillo, who Tuesday night evening was sworn in as a corporal for the Shelton Police Department, is the department's Officer of the Year. Portillo received the award at the Shelton City Council meeting. Portillo is an 11-year law enforcement veteran who was hired by the Shelton Police Department in 2021. Before coming to Shelton, he was a law enforcement officer for the Nevada Department of Public Safety and the Clark County School District. With...
An initiative that will amend Washington’s police pursuit law and allow officers to “engage in a pursuit when there is a reasonable suspicion a person has violated the law” has been certified and presented to the Legislature, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said Jan. 12. Currently, a police officer can pursue a vehicle if there is reasonable suspicion that the person in the vehicle is committing or has committed a violent offense, a sex offense, a vehicular assault, domestic violence, has escaped or is driving under the influence. The pursu...
Alleged shoplifter returns to confront store employee A convenience store clerk obtained a temporary protection order against an alleged shoplifter after he was released from jail and returned to harass her, according to court documents. Police arrested James Elmlund, 19, at the Airport Grocery in Shelton on Oct. 15, for allegedly stealing candy and soda and assaulting employee Kimberly Espinoza, who tried to stop him. “Kimberly told me that she had witnessed the suspect in the store place items into his sweatshirt pocket. Kimberly, who was d...
A hardy group of community and AmeriCorps members performed restoration work in subfreezing temperatures at the Belfair Salmon Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 15., a federal holiday that encourages Americans to volunteer in honor of King. Local AmeriCorps members with the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Association organized the “Day of Service” event. AmeriCorps is a national service program that provides stipends for volunteers, who typically work full time for one year. AmeriCorps Environmental Educator Brett Larson originally pla...
The state Legislature launched its 2024 short session Monday, with the 35th District that includes all of Mason County represented by Reps. Travis Couture and Dan Griffey, both Republicans from Allyn, and state Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton. The state's 98 representatives and 49 senators are scheduled to be in session through March 7. Couture is the assistant ranking minority member of the Appropriations Committee, the assistant ranking member of the Human Services, Youth and Early Learning...
Mason County cannabis retailers don't have the near-daily stolen vehicle smash-and-grab burglaries that the Seattle area does, but local pot shop owners struggle with security concerns that a proposed state bill aims to address. State Sen. Karen Kaiser's, D-Des Moines, substitute Senate bill 5259 will provide a tax break for retail cannabis store owners who install security upgrades. The bill requires stores to spend at least $3,000 on "physical security improvements" such as bollards, security...
Voters in the Mary M. Knight School District (on the Feb. 13 ballot) will be asked to replace an expiring educational programs and operations levy approved by voters in 2022. Passage of the levy by a simple majority could raise more than $2.5 million. The replacement levy would collect $730,500 in 2025 and $818,200 in 2026. The district would also be eligible for more than $1 million in state-funded levy equalization money. The current levy rate for 2022 through 2024 is $2.33 per $1,000 of...
Public safety should be a top priority for this year's legislative session, Gov. Jay Inslee and bipartisan state legislators said on the eve of the 2024 legislative session. "We need additional officers on the street," Inslee told reporters. "And to help local police forces find their additional officers, I'm proposing a $10 million grant program." At the annual legislative preview with reporters, Republican and Democratic lawmakers and Inslee agreed they must work together to address...
State Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, has filed a bill to protect kids from parents abusing illicit drugs. In a news release Monday, Couture noted that an increasing number of children in Washington are dying from exposure to fentanyl and other drugs in the home. “Our children are our future and must be protected at all costs,” Couture stated in the news release. “The fact that children already under the care of the state with parents referred to the Department of Children Youth and Families are dying from fentanyl exposure is abhorrent and I...
Karpf sentenced to time served Kennedy Karpf, 25, pleaded guilty Jan. 5 to first-degree rendering criminal assistance in connection to helping William Williams, 41, who fled after allegedly shooting and killing Janus Afo on Sept. 28 in Shelton. Judge Daniel Goodell followed state’s recommendations and sentenced Karpf to time served in Mason County, 79 days, with no restitution or probation. Karpf’s attorney Rose Boughton said Karpf had “no criminal history whatsoever,” and that Karpf was “quite afraid” of Williams. “She knows this is a ser...
Residents in the Tahuya and Dewatto area who rely on land lines to call 911 had their service restored Jan. 3, almost two weeks after the initial disruption, according to Inland Telephone Company. Thieves who vandalized phone equipment, causing the outage, were likely attempting to sell copper wire stripped from equipment, Inland representative Amy Wait told the Journal. “Over the last two years we have experienced several damaged cables and vaults from vandalism, and we are working on a plan to help eliminate this by installing underground vau...
ICU nurse named Mason Health employee of month Intensive Care Unit nurse Tina Lohmeyer, RN, has been selected by her Mason Health coworkers as January's employee of the month. Lohmeyer is known for her "excellent patient care" while working in the ICU, according to a news release by Mason Health. "When I was a kid, my sister was at Harborview Medical Center, and I was really impressed and intrigued by the nurses I saw," Lohmeyer said. "I started at Mason General Hospital in 2006, after I...
