Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Belfair Sheriff’s Office moving this month The Belfair office of the Mason County Sheriff’s Office is make its long-planned move to the former North Mason Regional Fire Authority headquarter sbuilding, 460 NE Old Belfair Highway, Nov. 22. The move should be completed by Dec. 5, officials said. During this time, the Belfair office will be closed for walk-ins and people needing assistance should call the main office at 360-427-9670, ext. 313, according to the sheriff’s department. Recovery court gets grant The Mason County Family Recovery Court r...
Shelton resident Jerry T. Upson, 43, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kenneth D. Simmons, 68, after Upson was seen on surveillance video with a handgun entering and leaving the victim’s home numerous times Oct. 27, according to the probable cause document filed by the Mason County Sheriff’s Office. Simmons’ brother Martin called police Oct. 28 after driving to Simmons’ house at 990 E. Mikkelsen Road and finding him on the couch “cold to the touch, with an apparent gun shot wound to the head,” the document states. Simmon...
Shelton hunter Roger Norris, 55, has new respect for the rugged Hamma Hamma area in Olympic National Forest and the rescuers who helped bring him out of the wilderness alive. Search teams found Norris on Oct. 7, almost a week after he lost his way back to camp and suffered injuries in a fall. "We thought it was going to be a recovery," Mason County Search and Rescue President Keenan Kealy said. "They just don't know me very well," Norris laughed, while recounting his ordeal. The outdoorsman...
Mason County Public Works Department “immediately strengthened internal controls” and implemented new procedures to deal with cash after the state Auditor’s Office found almost $50,000 went missing in 2021, according to an investigation report released Oct. 19. In September 2021, the county discovered money in a deposit bag from one of the landfill stations was not properly deposited after a customer called to ask why a check payment made a month earlier hadn’t cleared. When the county investigated, it found money from several deposit bags we...
State lawmakers from the 35th District will have a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 9 at The Hub, 111 Northeast Old Belfair Highway in Belfair to discuss the Belfair bypass project. Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, Reps. Dan Griffey and Travis Couture, both R-Allyn, and state Department of Transportation officials will discuss the project route and timeline and answer questions. The Highway 3 Freight Corridor project will skirt Belfair, creating an alternative route for traffic. "We know how vital...
It’s 2:10 Monday afternoon, and parents, guardians and friends are parked in the gravel Huff’n’Puff Trail lot, waiting for Shelton High School students to be released for the day across the street. When these drivers pull onto Shelton Springs Road, few will signal which direction they are turning. Across the street, a steady stream of student cars are pulling out of one driveway, a line of buses out of the other. In between is a single crosswalk, in faded white paint without flags or signa...
The Shelton City Council is slated to award a contract at its Nov. 7 meeting to pressurize the water transmission pipeline from its Well 1 to its High School Reservoir, on the hill above Shelton Timberland Library. The Shelton City Council and staff members discussed the project Oct. 24 at a study session. The city began accepting bids for the project Tuesday. The transmission pipeline is currently guided by gravity. The Well 1 Rebab Project began in 2018 with Gray & Osborne, Inc. initiating...
Shelton School Board honored by state For the sixth consecutive year, the Shelton School Board received the award as a Board of Distinction from the Washington State School Directors’ Association. The recognition celebrates school boards across the state that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to student success. In this year’s program, 34 school boards, including several first-time applicants, received the honor. The 34 school boards range from districts with a couple hundred students to more than 30,000. “Each selec...
Unemployment rate in county drops The Mason County unemployment rate dropped in September to 4.6%, according to the Washington Employment Security Department. That’s lower than the 5.1% rate in August, but higher than June’s 3.9% and July’s 4.3%. The county’s highest unemployment this year was 8.1% in February. The county numbers are not seasonally adjusted because the sample size is too small, according to the state website. One dead in U.S. 101 collision Shelton resident Elliott Madea, 32, died in a car accident Oct. 26 after attempt...
Cannabis license granted Amazinggardens LLC doing business as The Dab Lab, applied with the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board for a cannabis license to operate at 160 W. Westfield Court Unit F, Shelton. Deep Well Farms had a cannabis license approved for operation at 340 E. Millwright Road Bldg A, Shelton, according to Mason County commissioners. Green light for veterans Residents and businesses are encouraged by Mason County commissioners to display a green light for veterans Nov. 6-12. At the regular meeting Oct. 24, commissioners...
The Mason County hearing examiner will reconsider the approval of a controversial Taylor Shellfish floating oyster bag farm in Oakland Bay after the seafood company objected to requirements that the black color of the oyster bags be replaced with blue or green and that it pay for a monitoring plan prepared by a third-party expert to check for environmental impacts. These were the only two significant conditions added by the examiner before approving Taylor’s permit in its entirety and filing it on Oct. 9, according to a report by Hearing E...
Set to retire in five days, Carole Beason calls her three years as Shelton's police chief "the highlight of my law enforcement career." Beason became Shelton's first female police chief when she replaced the retiring Darrin Moody. On Nov. 1, she'll be replaced by Chris Kostad, who has worked for the department for 21 years. Beason said she'll miss the people of Shelton and attending local events. "This is such a great community," she said. "Chief Beason is the consummate professional," City...
The Humane Society of Mason County is providing around-the-clock care for seven puppies found abandoned in a Walmart bag at the Matlock logging gate Oct. 17. The puppies were less than two days old and still had their umbilical cords attached, according to HSMC. The finder called police to report the incident and HSMC Executive Director Katherine Johnson said she hopes the sheriff will pursue criminal charges for abandonment and abuse. “At HSMC, we believe in not just rescuing animals but also in education. We are actively working toward r...
Tourism grants get preliminary approval The Shelton City Council on Oct. 17 gave preliminary approval to granting $97,247 in tourism fund grants to seven organizations that draw visitors to the area. The council can make the grants official with a final vote at its Nov. 7 meeting. The money comes from the collection of lodging taxes from the hotels and motels in the City of Shelton. The grants were recommended by the city's Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. If approved, Kristmas Town Kiwanis will...
Compared with 2021, the number of reported burglaries and vehicle thefts in Shelton were up last year, vandalism and intimidation were down, and unlawful imprisonments remained the same at five both years. Those are among the statistics presented to the Shelton City Council on Oct. 17 by Captain Chris Kostad, who on Nov. 1 will replace the retiring Carole Beason as Shelton's police chief. The department's annual report found that in 2022, the department responded to 12,070 calls and 246 911...
Police arrested Shelton homicide suspects William Williams, 40, and Kennedy Karpf, 24, “without incident,” on Oct. 11 in Medford, Oregon, according to the Medford Police Department. The pair were sought in connection with the shooting death of Janus Afo on Sept. 28 in downtown Shelton. Police say they used a SWAT team, drones and crisis negotiators to surround a residence in Medford where Williams was staying. Williams surrendered within 15 minutes. Karpf was at a nearby business and was also arrested without incident, according to police. Pros...
Hundreds of proposed housing units may be on their way to the Shelton area. Pending projects in the works include subdivisions in Grandview, Coffee Creek, Meadows Edge, Olympic Heights, Natalie Heights and Bayview Terrace, Jae Hill, the City of Shelton's community and economic development director, told an audience Oct. 12 at Windermere Real Estate's Economic and Housing Market Forecast at Mason General Hospital in Shelton. Those six proposed subdivisions are on 1,024 lots, Hill said. Another ha...
A Shelton motorcyclist died after being struck by a suspected drunken driver on state Route 16 near Gig Harbor on Oct. 7. Shelton resident Alicia Perrin, 30, died at the scene after her motorcycle was struck by Mecca Kay Berkin, 54, of Federal Way. Berkin was speeding on the wrong side of the road when she struck Perrin, according to the Washington State Patrol. Perrin's boyfriend was riding another motorcycle and managed to dodge Berkin's 2014 Honda Civic, according to charging documents....
The Mason County Assessor’s Office asks residents to report anyone claiming to be assessor “volunteers” after a constituent called about a suspicious encounter that happened Oct. 8. The landowner said someone claimed to be a volunteer with the Assessor’s Office, but refused to answer questions. The man was about 40 years old, slender, about 185 pounds and riding a KTM-like motorcycle, according to the landowner. The Assessor’s Office does not have volunteers and only sends out field appraisers who travel in marked county vehicles and wear visi...
Police are still searching for Shelton residents William Williams, 40, and Kennedy Karpf, 24 in connection with the shooting death of Janus Afo on Sept. 28 in downtown Shelton. A 1999 beige Toyota Camry allegedly belonging to the couple was found abandoned at 390 E. Batstone Cutoff Road in Shelton by police after they received an anonymous tip. The car is being processed for evidence. Prosecutors have charged Williams with second-degree murder and felony possession of a firearm. Karpf is charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance....
Board OKs money for Coroner’s Office Mason County commissioners approved $10,640.64 for the purchase of a new body lift, storage rack and walk-in cooler storage boards for the Mason County Coroner. County inmates to be housed at Nisqually center Mason County commissioners approved a jail services agreement at Tuesday’s meeting that will pay $130 per inmate per day to house inmates of Mason County in the Nisqually Detention and Corrections Center operated by the Nisqually tribe. Chief Deputy of Corrections Kevin Hanson said jail staffing “ha...
League schedules speed dating event for candidates The League of Women Voters of Mason County hosts “Speed Dating with the Candidates” at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the PUD3 meeting room at 2621 E. Johns Prairie Road, Shelton. Candidates for Mason County Superior Court judge, Shelton School Board and Shelton City Council have been invited to participate. At this event, the public sits at tables around the room and the candidates rotate from table to table to answer questions directly from the voters. Contact [email protected] for more inf...
Police were searching Wednesday afternoon for two suspects allegedly involved in the shooting death Sept. 28 of a man in downtown Shelton. Shelton residents William Charles “Brother” Williams, 40, and Kennedy Marie Karpf, 24, are wanted for questioning in the death of Janus Afo, who was shot early Thursday morning in front of a house in the 700 block of Cedar Street in Shelton. Williams was inside a vehicle when Afo began kicking the side of the car, according to court documents. Williams opened the passenger door and shot Afo in the neck, acc...
Twenty-four years ago, a teenage Abe Gardner as an Eagle Scout project led a campaign to create a memorial to Shelton-area students who died young. Today, Gardner - an emergency prevention specialist with North Mason Regional Fire Authority - is seeking permission from families to add the names to the two-sided memorial at the entrance to the trail across the street from Shelton High School. No names have been added since 2014. Interested families can contact him at 360-801-9555. In 1996 or...
Meeting Oct. 18 on Theler wetlands trail projects A public information meeting on the planned restoration and improvements to the Mary E. Theler Wetlands trail in Belfair will be from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Belfair branch of the Timberland Library, 23081 NE state Route 3. Email www.pnwsalmoncenter.org to RSVP. On Sept. 26, the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group Project Manager Andy Hokit and state Department of Fish and Wildlife employees talked about the goals and benefits of the...
