Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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After nearly a decade of planning, the Belfair Park & Ride opening was commemorated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony late last month. “It was great to have them there to thank them for their hard work over the last eight to 10 years that this project has been going on,” Mason Transit Authority General Manager Amy Asher told the Journal. “There’s a lot of folks that were there, including our previous general manager and it was good to have everyone there that has been working on it for a long ti...
Mason County Fire District 12 commissioners on Nov. 16 appealed a recall petition filed against them to the state Supreme Court. Mason County Superior Court Judge Monty Cobb ruled all three recall petitions can move forward after a hearing Nov. 3. Kristin Masteller and Amanda Gonzales were the plaintiffs moving the recall petition forward. They are hosting a community meeting at 1 p.m. Nov. 28 at the Matlock Grange to discuss the next steps for the recall petitions. “The community has e...
A single mother of four with little income is hoping you pluck her wish list off the Christmas Giving Tree at T's Café and Espresso in downtown Shelton and make her family's holiday brighter. Her requests and others hang in purple paper from the sparkling tree at the café at 118 S. Third St., one of several Mason County sites where donations are being accepted. This is the third year T's Café has hosted the Giving Tree donation drive. Mason County residents who are low-income, disabled or un...
Port of Hoodsport officials recently contacted the Shelton-Mason County Journal to sum up the work being done at the Hoodsport Trail Park and the Hoodsport Hills Disc Golf Course, both of which are closed to the public. Port Commissioner Lori Kincannon said the removal of diseased, dying and fallen hazardous trees at the Hoodsport parks started in mid-July, and upon assessment of those trees, workers discovered that poria-laminated root rot was widespread and that the Douglas fir bark beetle...
Three Mason County residents were among 12 arrested in Lewis County last weekend as part of “Operation Net Nanny,” a multi-agency operation identifying people allegedly involved in the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. According to a news release, Zachary Case, 21, of Belfair, Wayne A. Rigby, 72, of Shelton and Antonio T. Nolasco, 36, of Shelton, were all taken into custody. The primary crimes being investigated are rape of a child in the first degree, rape of a child in the second deg...
The Shelton City Council on Tuesday passed a $40.5-million budget for 2023. The $40,492,117 budget also has a General Fund appropriation of $15,949,791. The budget must be approved by the end of the year. Last November, the council approved a $41.1 million budget for 2022. The expenditures in the 2023 budget include $15,949,791 for the general fund, $2,066,825 for the street fund, $2,824,585 for the capital improvement fund, $7,030,664 for the sewer fund, $3,505,951 for the water fund, $1,906,410 for the solid waste fund, $1,617,991 for the...
The Port of Hoodsport’s budget hearing last week saw its port commissioners unanimously approve all three budget-related measures, which included a $40,000 transfer of money to the port’s parks and a $5,000-per-year increase in the annual contracted fee for Port of Allyn Executive Director Kathleen Wyatt. Wyatt outlined the specifics of next year’s port budget. Wyatt said the port’s ending balance for 2022 had originally been projected at $95,956, but its true ending balance for 2022, and the...
Almost two years after the crime, Jordan and Jareau Afo each pled guilty to criminal charges Nov. 8 in Mason County Superior Court. The Afos are scheduled for a sentencing hearing Dec. 20. According to court records, Jareau U. Afo, 28, pled guilty to one count of second-degree murder for killing Derrick Wily. Jordan T. Afo, 31, pled guilty to one count of criminal assistance in the first degree and unlawful disposal of human remains. According to a Shelton Police report, Jareau choked Wily to...
Don Wilson has retired after 33 years of service on the Public Hospital District commission of Mason County. According to a news release, Wilson announced his retirement at the November meeting. The Board of Hospital District Commissioners appointed Don Welander to fill Wilson’s seat as commissioner No. 1 and on the finance and facility committees. “It is with gratitude that I announce the retirement of Don Wilson from our public hospital district board,” Public Hospital District No. 1 Superintendent & Mason Health Chief Executive Offic...
The Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging’s Case Management and Information and Assistance programs connect adults with disabilities with social and health services to help them remain in their homes. Most clients have modest means and health conditions that limit their ability to care for their daily needs. Your donations will help them have a spark of joy and a small wish fulfilled during the holiday season! This year, much like last year, we will be doing things a little differently — we are asking for donations via PayPal or check by...
The Mason County Jail has space for 93 inmate beds and a current target population of 60, but staffing shortages mean only people arrested on felony charges are being booked into the facility in downtown Shelton. The City of Shelton has reserved seven of those inmate beds, but is looking at booking up to 20 beds per month with the Nisqually Tribe for a year, which would be a temporary solution. Mason County and City of Shelton administrators talked about staffing shortages at the county jail...
Recall petitions for Mason County Fire Protection District 12 were allowed to proceed after a motion hearing on Nov. 3 in Mason County Superior Court. Judge Monty Cobb presided over the hearing. Kristin Masteller and Amanda Gonzales, who filed the recall petitions, were in attendance. Fire commissioners John Pais, Albert Wilder and Brian Jutson did not attend the hearing and were represented by attorney Aaron Haynes. About 25 people attended the hearing. "The Matlock community showed up last...
Mason County Fire Marshal Randy Collins said the 2022 fire season was “quieter than most” regarding wildfires within the county. Collins said he thinks most of that has to do with the late spring rains and not having any mega heat waves, like the temperatures reached in 2021. From September 10 to 16, Mason County instituted a recreational burn ban when the National Fire Danger Rating System was elevated to very high fire danger, which caused red flag fire conditions. “With the exception of th...
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer say they want the City of Shelton and Mason County to benefit from a new $1 billion federal grant program to help bring businessses to the county. On Friday, Cantwell and Kilmer met with city, county and economic leaders at the Shelton Civic Center for a roundtable discussion on economic development opportunities. They then boarded a bus to tour local development and infrastructure sites, including the Port of Shelton's industrial parks....
Members of the group Multilingual Shelton are asking the Shelton School District to hire an administrator to coordinate the English Learner and Dual Language programs, hire more dual language-certified teachers, and "restore quality and integrity" to Evergreen Elementary School's program. On Oct. 20, about 100 people packed the gym at Evergreen Elementary School in downtown Shelton to hear updates and concerns about the Shelton School District's dual language program. The group Multiligual Shelt...
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...
