YEAR IN REVIEW 2023 - FEBRUARY

FEBRUARY 2023

A profile on an anti-government and law enforcement extremist set to air on NBC's "Dateline" on Feb. 4 featured the recollections of his former wife, a longtime Shelton resident, and his son, a 2002 Shelton High School graduate.

Lloyd Barrus is serving three concurrent life sentences without parole in a Billings, Montana prison. He was in the driver's seat when he and his now deceased son Marshall Barrus lured Broadwater County Deputy Mason Moore into chasing them, and Marshall then shot him in the face. Moore left behind three children.

It wasn't Lloyd Barrus' first high-profile confrontation with law officers. In March 2020, he fired shots at a California Highway Patrol helicopter in Death Valley, forcing the pilot to land.

Debra del Bosque, a Shelton resident who works in the kitchen at the Mason County Senior Activities Center, shared the details of her tumultuous marriage to Lloyd in an interview last June with "Dateline's" Keith Morrison at the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton. Son Al Burrus joined them in the interview.

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Two of the three Shelton City Council members whose four-year terms expire at the end of the year say they will not run for re-election.

In response to a question from the Journal, Deidre Peterson and James Boad said they don't plan to seek new terms on the Nov. 7 ballot. Kathy McDowell, the longest serving member whose tenure stretches back to the three-member Shelton City Commission, said she plans to run for another term.

"I have two projects to finish and want to get those done," McDowell wrote to the Journal. "We finished the largest project, the basketball court (In the Civic Center lot) and want to get the other projects done."

Those projects are adding a student to the council as a non-voting member, and launching a Blue Star Family Flags program, she wrote.

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Voters approved replacement levies in the Shelton and Pioneer school districts on the Valentine's Day ballot.

The Shelton levy received 2,539 "yes" votes for 51.87%, and 2,356 "no" votes for 48.13%. The Pioneer levy received 1,810 "yes" votes for 54.9%, and 1,487 "no" votes for 45.1%. Both needed a simple majority to pass.

The final ballot count was set for Feb. 23 with only an estimated five ballots to add to the total. The count is scheduled to be certified Friday. Voter turnout was 36.56%.

Ninety Mason County residents also cast ballots for the Elma School District's bond, which failed with 35.36%. The Mason County voters cast 36 "yes" votes, and 60 "no" votes.

In the Pioneer School District, property owners will be assessed an estimated $1.28 for every $1,000 of assessed property value from 2024 through 2027. The owner of a home valued at $300,000 will pay about $384 per year, or about $32 per month, the district states.

The levy will collect $2,802,110 in 2024, $2,886,173 in 2025, $2,972,758 in 2026, and $3,061,940 in 2027.

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Chantel Dawn Peterson, 29, was charged with first-degree assault, a Class A felony, for a shooting Elijah Gossett in the early morning of Feb. 12 in Shelton.

Peterson had her initial arraignment in court on Feb. 27. There was no date set for her trial before the Journal went to print. She was released on $5,000 bail while awaiting her trial date.

According to Shelton Police reports obtained from a public records request, Officer Mike DeRoche recounted that dispatch received a suspicious call from someone who said they heard gunshots outside their house and heard screams from their neighbor to the right. The person said they heard about three or four gunshots and believed they heard someone say "You shot me."

DeRoche arrived at the scene and heard someone yelling or moaning, and found Gossett on the porch covered in blood, and observed a bloody kitchen knife nearby on the ground. Gossett had gunshot wounds to his chest, face and arm and when asked what happened, Gossett reportedly told police that his girlfriend, Peterson, shot him at their residence.