Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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I talked to Santa Claus on the telephone Sunday morning. After spending 40 minutes with Santa, I was left with a feeling of joy and optimism, which is always nice. You know what else is nice? Interviewing someone who gives you more usable quotes than you can use. It makes this job so much easier. Bob Partlow is a former newspaperman I worked with at The Olympian. He was the political reporter for the paper, stationed on the Capitol Campus, and I often copy-edited his stories. He quit the paper...
The Shelton-Mason County Journal encourages original letters to the editor of local interest. Diverse and varied opinions are welcome. We will not publish letters that are deemed libelous or scurrilous in nature. We reserve the right to reject any letter for any reason. When submitting a letter, please observe the following guidelines: Writers are limited to one original letter plus one rebuttal or counter-rebuttal per calendar month; Letters should be no more than 300 words; Letters will be edited for grammar, spelling, style, clarity and...
Judy and Rod Whittaker live at the corner of 2nd and Cedar streets in downtown Shelton. But for the past several weeks, they've been residing in Stinktown, USA. Shelton Creek cuts through their property, as it does through several residential properties downtown. More than a month ago, spawned-out summer chum started dying in the creek, raising a stink of such pungency, urgency and endurance that Judy said she would take a big inhale and hold her breath before walking out the door. "I take a...
A shoutout Editor, the Journal, I am the project coordinator for Bridges to Life For Washington Correction Center prison in Shelton. Bridges to Life is a faith-based restorative justice program based on victim impact. It’s a 14-week program. When the program is completed, we have a graduation ceremony and I would like to give a huge thank you and shoutout to Jaron Garza, general manager for Domino’s in Shelton for his generosity. I appreciate the support Jaron has given to the Bridges to Life program by helping out with pizza for our gra...
I lean into the aisle seeing the cockpit door from my seat 8D as the 737 enters the runway. The engines get loud, and I'm pushed back in my seat as we pick up speed. The nose comes up and then we are off the ground. I have done it too many times to even count. This time I keep looking at the cockpit door. I have an idea of what is going on in there but don't know all the details. I can't see the pilots, but I have faith in them. It grows into belief, and it becomes success as we leave the...
A good epitaph for a tombstone: “Sorry. I’m late.” ■■■ I was late to an appointment last week because my internet algorithm wasn’t right. It was promoting Grateful Dead songs and videos of people getting hurt on trampolines. I couldn’t let it go — if you don’t stay on top of your algorithm it can lead to worse developments, including songs from Metallica and clips of people being hit by commuter trains. I was late to my appointment, but the person completely understood once I explained why. ...
Building a trail Editor, the Journal, Years ago, the residents in Mason County asked the Park Board to build a trail between Shelton and Belfair. Our first problem is getting people off the side of state Route 3 between the Oakland Bay Marina and Bayshore. It would be hard and expensive to build a trail east of the railroad tracks, or next to Route 3. Then, after the state repaved Route 3 and put a 10-year moratorium on any work over it, we removed the people’s request from the County Comprehensive Plan because without crossing Route 3, i...
Although it is enjoyable and wholesome work in the great outdoors, growing Christmas trees is not as easy as you might think. My husband, Wes, and I worked as professional foresters. Now, we are Christmas tree growers which in many ways is more intense. However, you reap the benefits in six to eight years instead of 40 to 60! Hopefully after reading this article, you'll have a better understanding of what is involved and appreciate the knowledge and effort that it takes to provide families with...
Kirk Ericson, a columnist with the Shelton Mason-County Journal for the past seven years, has a new book out that contains more than 100 of his favorite columns. “Great Writing!” is his second book, after “Disappointment Awaits,” which came out in 2019. His work runs every week on page 4 of the Journal. Kirk sat down with Kirk earlier this week for a Q&A about his latest book and matters related to producing a weekly newspaper column. Kirk: First of all, Kirk, how tall are you? Kirk: That’s...
A better approach Editor, the Journal, As letter writer Ardean Anvik mentioned in the Nov. 21 Journal, the 6th Congressional District is once again represented by a Democrat. Just as Democrats feel they lack representation in the 35th Legislative District, Republicans in the 6th Congressional District face the same issue. The partisan split in the 6th Congressional District is 57% Democrat and 43% Republican, mirroring the statewide partisan split. Once again, a slight majority of voters receive 100% of the representation, while the rest receiv...
There was much apprehension and anticipation going into the 2024 general election based on the experience from 2020. Your elections team was determined to make the Nov. 5, 2024, general election the best ever. We began formal preparation and planning in December 2023. I attended two tabletop exercises and led two more local exercises to address possible threats and disruptions to the election and develop mitigation plans with input from our sheriff, the Office of Secretary of State, State...
It’s Thanksgiving, the day our republic has appointed for us to be thankful. So … I’m thankful this Thanksgiving for the people around me who don’t complain about their hardships or the deficits of others. This expression of thankfulness will require taking space to complain about complainers, which makes me guilty of the attribute I condemn, but extremism in the defense of thankfulness is no vice. I’m thankful for my mother-in-law, Mary. She’s 97 years old and she’s a real Mother Mary. Mother Mary had to go to the hospital a couple of nig...
Tempers flared last week, as Democrats sought to cast blame for the Republican landslide — I was particularly galled when a friend laid the blame on, “newspapers who are too chicken to …” Hold it right there. Losing my cool was a regular occurrence 30 years ago, but it takes a lot to get my Irish at age 64. Journalists, particularly the people in the newspaper business, are the most courageous people I know. Yes, soldiers and cops are brave but in my industry we don’t carry guns, at least not yet. When I started in this business, most of m...
“Boy, those French: they have a different word for everything!” — Steve Martin ■■■ What do you get when you cross a polar bear with a seal? A polar bear. ■■■ “When I was a kid, I got no respect. I had no friends. I remember the seesaw. I had to keep runnin’ from one end to the other.” — Rodney Dangerfield ■■■ One winter day in northern Minnesota, Ole asked Lena to walk across the lake and get him some cigarettes from the store. Lena said, “OK, give me some money.” “Charge it to my account,...
An election idea Editor, the Journal, In this election, as Journal reporter Gordon Weeks pointed out, Mason County voted solidly Republican, with all local partisan races being won by Republicans. However, the vote itself was not as one-sided as it might appear. Historically, Mason County has been roughly divided, with 45% of voters identifying as Democrat and 55% as Republican. This means Republicans hold just over half of the votes, but under our current system, the majority - about 55% - also holds 100% of the representation. This is a...
“What’s going on?” Nate asked when I entered the little grocery store he manages. The grocery’s just down the block from my house. It was early Monday morning, and Nate was in the vegetable section, tending to the broccoli and carrots. “I’m escaping,” I answered him. “From what?” he asked, broccoli in hand. I had just left the coffee shop two businesses down from the grocery store. “Loud talkers,” I told him. Nate laughed. In the coffee shop I often write my column in that Olympia coffee shop....
Belfair road work Editor, the Journal, In response the letter to the editor regarding the freight corridor Belfair bypass on Oct 31. As we know the bypass is a long-sought state Department of Transportation project. Because some of the bypass if funded by federal monies is needed to be called the freight corridor, I know it’s confusing, but the government sometimes works in mysterious ways. DOT has been working together to plan the project and Mason County Public Works has been working with DOT on where to install additional connector roads w...
Last year around this time, the U.S. Census Bureau reported a little more than 16 million living military veterans were in the United States. I’m one of them. Like civilian society, what’s made so many of our contributions important is how ordinary they’ve been. It’s tempting to fixate on grand gestures, and make no mistake, plenty of veterans have made significant sacrifices to serve their country, even those who are still with us, but what’s just as essential is all the everyday work that so m...
You often read or hear about a crowd or the appearance of someone’s hair being “unruly,” but you rarely encounter a “ruly crowd” or “ruly hair.” “Ruly” is an example of what’s called a “lost positive,” a word that has lost its use in our daily language. Other examples of lost positives are “couth,” “ept,” “whelmed” and “gruntled.” You can lead a cat to a scratching post, but you can’t make it itch. We have the word “reflection” — an image created by light being cast on another image — but we don...
In aisle 1 at Safeway, there are nearly 40 different types of toothpaste and at least two life lessons to be found. When I was in my early 20's, living in Alaska over 2,000 miles away from my parents, I called them. I was in love, again, and said to my dad, "This could be the one." He stated, "Don't get caught up on toothpaste issues." "What are toothpaste issues ?" I asked. First, there are several ways to discharge toothpaste from the tube. Just grab and squeeze, push from the bottom and...
When I was about 6 years old, my mother presented me with the Halloween costume she put together for me. It was a white shirt, a white apron and a tall white hat. And a pillow. “What is this?” I likely asked. “You’re going to be a French chef,” she likely said. “French chef” didn’t sound scary, or look scary, but what did I know? I went trick-or-treating that evening with the other kids in our suburban Spokane neighborhood, kids who were dressed as monsters or cartoon characters or vampires or w...
Ask permission Editor, the Journal, I feel the people that are placing signs in random yards should have to ask the property owner for permission. I had four signs placed around my mailbox. No one asked for permission. I took them down a short time later and discovered that my mailbox was bashed in. That's just not right! Ken Raymond, Shelton Appeal your property tax Editor, the Journal, I received my property valuation for 2024 a couple weeks ago. My valuation is up again despite the housing market crashing and real values going down. We must...
Oct. 19, 2024, marked my seventh anniversary filling this space in the Shelton-Mason County Journal, so let’s take time for me, shall we? That is, after all, what birthdays are for. Let’s start with a story. On Jan. 25th of this year, I published a column about stretching for seven straight hours. I wrote it up, decided it needed a little more, so I interviewed a yoga teacher I’ve taken classes from. I got a quote from her, included it toward the end of the column, and later dropped off a copy...
Vote local Editor, the Journal, Vote local, vote democracy, vote for affordable housing, vote public school funding, and of course, vote how you feel about woman’s right to choose. Look at your pamphlets; choose candidates who fall in line with what’s most important to you. Just vote! Andria Richardson, Lake Cushman Time for change Editor, the Journal, My family has been operating our business in Mason County for over a century and we are deeply committed to its success. I support local candidates because running for office is hard and expensiv...
Manny, an 11-year-old Mason County resident, was focused on his phone Saturday while longtime county resident Rob Wilson-Hoss briefed a gathering of 10 people on what was ahead on the trail, a roughly 2-mile hike that tracks Goldsborough Creek just west of downtown Shelton. As the narration continued, Manny took a position nearer his mother, leaning against her back and his arm slung over her shoulder so his cellphone screen could be visible in the shade provided by mom's head. It was 70...
