Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach announced her retirement at Monday's board meeting. She will work throughout this school year and retire June 30.. "This will be my eleventh year at North Mason. This will be my last year," she said at the meeting. "I am looking forward to taking on new opportunities and I think it's a wonderful opportunity for the district as well to have new leadership," Rosenbach said. Board Member Erik Youngberg thanked Rosenbach for serving the distr...
A packed City Council meeting Aug. 6 might not have been a spontaneous uprising of downtown business owners fed up with crime and the homeless. A flyer posted on social media seemed to suggest the city was hosting a forum on the topic. “A City in CRISIS!” the flyer said. “If you would like to see positive change in our amazing city? Please attend the City of Shelton Council meeting held at City Hall Civic Center on Tuesday August 6, 2024 at 6:00pm,” the flyer reads. It then lists a Zoom meeting ID and password and states “For questions...
Sharon Johnston remembers playing in the field at her grandparents' Peste Farm in Shelton before the U.S. government in 1941 exercised eminent domain and acquired the property for use by the U.S. Navy, which planned to build a Naval Air Station on the property and adjoining land. Now 86, Johnston on Aug. 19 stood on the property for the dedication of a plaque and two benches that celebrates it as the former site of the G. Peste Farm, established in 1909. In February 2023, the Port of Shelton...
The City of Shelton is working to improve pedestrian and vehicular safety at some of the city's most dangerous crossings. At its Aug. 20 meeting, the Shelton City Council gave preliminary approval to accepting a federal grant of almost $1.3 million for the design and construction of four Systemic Pedestrian Improvement Projects. The council can make the move official at its meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Shelton Civic Center. If passed, the grant will be used at four intersections. At the...
The railroad tracks from the former Simpson Lumber Co.'s yard in Dayton and its mill on the Shelton waterfront used to rumble with activity. Simpson is gone and the rails are no longer used, except by the Vance Creek Railriders in the woods west of Shelton. Blackberry bushes, shrubs and small trees are sprouting through the tracks. At its Aug. 20 regular meeting, the Shelton City Council gave preliminary approval to accepting a $679,000 grant to remove the rails from three crossings. The...
Three new Washington State Patrol Troopers in Shelton are part of the first lateral program that allows certified law enforcement officers to sign on with WSP after shortened training. Troopers Noah Cameron, Levi Gundacker and Daniel Osborn graduated with six other troopers in May. “We need more great people to join our agency who’ll help us continue to meet the needs of Washingtonians. The bottom line is we have to think outside the historical box and still maintain the high standards for which our agency is known. Each of these nine has alr...
Fire District 12 Commissioner Dave Persell resigned at the Aug. 14 meeting, so the board could appoint a “more qualified individual. Perhaps one that the voters of this district already voted onto this board,” he said, seeming to suggest Nick Jones, who was the only elected member of the previous commission. Mason County commissioners appointed Trina Young and Persell to Fire 12 positions 1 and 3 respectively, on May 24. Persell said previous commissioners agreed “not to apply for any of these vacated seats until all three seats have been...
An estimated 300 shopping carts are stolen from Shelton stores each year, and the city is considering adopting laws governing them. The members of the Shelton City Council and city staff have devoted two work sessions, on June 11 and Aug. 13, to talking about adopting shopping cart ordinances designed to help prevent their theft. At the Aug. 13 session, they discussed a proposed ordinance to introduce at the council’s regular meeting Sept. 3. Mayor Eric Onisko said he hand-delivered copies of the proposed shopping cart ordinances to the m...
The Shorelines Hearings Board meets next week to review appeals on the Taylor Shellfish proposed floating oyster bag farm in Oakland Bay. A Mason County hearing examiner ruled Nov. 21, approving the project with certain restrictions. Friends of Oakland Bay filed a petition for review challenging approval of the project, which will take up 9.1 overwater acres with a 50-acre project boundary for floating aquaculture gear. The group claims the farm is inconsistent with public access policies, doesn’t comply with views and aesthetics policies a...
Aug. 30 used to be a depressing date for Shelton resident Jamie Ellertsen. That's the birthday of her brother, who overdosed on drugs and died at age 21. Then Ellertsen, who overcame her own drug addictions, discovered eight years ago that Aug. 31 was International Overdose Awareness Day. She messaged Abe Gardner, another recovered addict, about staging an event in Shelton. "I didn't think anyone would show up," Ellertsen said in an interview with the Journal. About 25 to 30 people did show up a...
Council OKs license plate cameras at city entrances The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening gave final approval to contracting with Flock Safety to install 12 cameras at city entrances that read vehicle license plates and within 20 seconds alert Shelton Police of stolen plates or cars, missing persons or abducted children. The council gave the measure preliminary approval at its Aug. 6 meeting. A two-year subscription to Flock Safety will cost the city $40,800 the first year, $36,000 the second. The first year’s cost includes startup f...
Judge protects some evidence in North Mason school suit A judge has ruled video recordings of a bus ride and a police interview of a kindergartner allegedly abused on the bus by another student are confidential and exempt from public disclosure. Mason County Superior Court Judge Monty Cobb granted a protective order Aug. 6 in the suit filed by parents of a 5-year-old kindergartner against North Mason School District after video footage showed the child being “sexually and physically abused” by a fifth grade student during a bus ride home, acc...
United Way of Mason County dissolves United Way of Mason County announced Aug. 14 it will dissolve. “With a heavy heart, United Way of Mason County announces its dissolution. After many years of dedicated service to the community, the organization will cease operations and quit taking pledges effective immediately,” Board of Directors Chair Dani Cook said in a statement. When Executive Director Ted Jackson resigned June 6, Cook told the Journal United Way was “taking time to evaluate the program,” and would not be immediately seeking a new exe...
Union Fire Department firefighters battle a blaze Friday in the 200 block of Alderney Road in Union....
Arriving at work one Monday morning, Kathleen Blanchette found remnants of a fire at the front door of Forest Funeral Home on West Railroad Avenue in downtown Shelton. "I have installed outdoor cameras at my business at the advice of the police," Blanchette told the Shelton City Council at its Aug. 6 meeting. "I have also put in extra lighting, but I still have human feces, both front and back at different times, in the built-in planters out front. There has been soiled men's underwear, there...
Mason County Strike Team firefighters are back home for now after spending two weeks deployed at the Big Horn Fire in Klickitat County and the Retreat Fire in Yakima County. "It's been two weeks and we come home tonight," West Mason Chief Matthew Welander said. Welander spoke with the Journal from the Retreat Fire on Aug. 6 as the team was being demobilized. Firefighters split their time between the two fires, spending about seven days at each fire, Welander said. The Big Horn Fire is no longer...
The success of the inaugural Shelton Art Walk on July 27 might help the city secure state money to establish a Downtown Shelton Creative District. The event hosted by the City of Shelton, the Creative District Committee and the Shelton Downtown Merchants featured more than 80 local vendors and artists on West Cota Street. About 20 businesses exhibited works by artists. The city spruced up the street by painting new angle-in parking spaces and adding streetlights and 18-inch planter boxes with tr...
The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening gave preliminary approval to installing 12 cameras at city entrances that read vehicle license plates and within 20 seconds alert Shelton Police of stolen plates or cars, missing persons or abducted children. The council can make the move official with a vote at its Aug. 20 meeting. At a June 25 study session, the council heard presentations on the system by Flock Safety that is used in 61 communities in the state, including Olympia, Kent, Marysville, Omak, Centralia and Aberdeen. At that work session...
The passing of Linda "Blondie" Jones on July 18 saddened a community that went to Blondie's restaurant for homestyle cooking and socializing with "family" they had in fellow customers, staff and especially Linda. "She treated her customers like family," longtime patron Bill Lopez said. "She'd come up to the table and check on you," he said, even though Jones hadn't performed official waitress duties in years. Lopez said no matter what happens to the restaurant, a Shelton staple for 23 years,...
Joe Schmit, who resigned from the Shelton City Council in April, on Tuesday was appointed executive director of the MACECOM Board of Directors. MACECOM is the primary public safety answering point for Mason County and operates around the clock. It is overseen by a board of directors of leaders from city, county and tribal governments, and emergency responders. “Joe brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to MACECOM and, coupled with his deep commitment to serving our community, will ensure the public and first responders have access to l...
Applications being accepted for tourism money The City of Shelton is accepting applications for tourism funding grants, allocated through the city’s lodging tax fund. Grant criteria and applications are on the city’s website. Completed applications should be submitted in person at the Shelton Civic Center, 515 West Cota St. Aug. 31 is the deadline to apply. The City’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee will review applications before submitting its recommendations to the Shelton City Council. Applicants can also present their requests to the LTAC....
Fire District 12 has obtained insurance, commissioners announced Aug. 1, moving the embattled district one step closer to normal operations. In May, Fire 12 lost insurance coverage, was declared a disaster area and saw all three of its commissioners resign. The district’s insurer canceled the policy May 17 due to mismanagement and several steps were required for reinstatement. That happened last Thursday. “We have a long way to go but it sure feels good to get over this mandatory hurdle,” Commissioner Dave Persell told the Journal. “We still h...
Starting Monday, fish barrier removal work on U.S. Highway 101 at the Thurston/Mason County border will reduce lanes and increase travel times, according to the state Department of Transportation. Both directions of U.S. 101 will be reduced to one lane in each direction at the county line. Between milepost 356.62 and 357.89, the speed limit will be reduced from 60 mph to 45 mph and the median at Old Olympic Highway will close. There will be no access to U.S. 101 from Old Olympic Highway near the work zone. West Old Olympic Highway, farther...
