County Briefs

Youth ride free on Mason Transit

Mason Transit riders under 18 now can ride for free on all routes, including routes that leave Mason County.

According to a news release, everyone rides fare-free within Mason County, but the new policy provides youths with free transit to Bremerton, Olympia and other destinations outside of Mason County. Youths used to pay $1.50 one-way for out of county trips.

“The fare change encourages young people to use transit and improves their access to schools, jobs and other resources,” Mason Transit Authority General Manager Amy Asher said in a news release. “It’s an immediate benefit to young people and offers long-term benefits to the community by helping create lifelong transit habits that reduce traffic and infrastructure demands.”

The fare change was funded by a state transportation package approved earlier this year. Other area transit agencies, including Intercity Transit in Thurston County and Kitsap Transit in Kitsap County, also are fare-free for riders under 18.

PUD 1 customer appreciation event

Mason County PUD 1 is hosting a drive-thru customer appreciation event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 21971 N. Highway 101 in Potlatch on Sept. 30.

According to a flier, there will be burgers, hot dogs, soft drinks and Olympic Mountain ice cream in celebration of public power week.

For more information, go to http://www.mason-pud1.org.

COVID-19 state of emergency to end

Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency will end by Oct. 31 after an announcement from Gov. Jay Inslee on Sept. 8.

According to a news release, nearly three-quarters of the 85 COVID emergency orders have already been lifted. An additional 13 orders will end Oct. 27 and the rest of the 10 remaining orders will be lifted Oct. 31.

Washington has the fifth-lowest COVID death rate among states, behind Vermont, Hawaii, Utah and Alaska.

For more information, read the full news release at http://www.tinyurl.com/5e2f9ufc.

COVID-19 cases declining locally

Mason County COVID-19 cases have dropped since the beginning of September.

The seven-day case rate is 73.1 and the 14-day case rate is 214.8 as reported Tuesday. The rate is down from the beginning of September, with the seven-day case rate of 132.5, but is only slightly down in the 14-day case rate from 271.1.

There were 13 cases reported from Sept. 9 to Sunday. The county finally reached the 60% vaccinated threshold mark.

New COVID boosters targeting the omicron subvariant are now available. To see vaccination booster clinics near you, go to http://www.masongeneral.com/about/covid-19.