Thursday, March 26, 2020 - Week 13
BREAKING NEWS: For updated information about COVID-19, the new coronavirus, go to the Mason County Public Health website.
A new life sheltering at home
The four Olsen children — from left, Lydia, Cassius, Owen and Luke — make a vanilla cake at home. They attend Southside School, which like all other schools in the state is closed due to the spread of the coronavirus. Their mother, Gigi, is on the Southside School District Board of Directors. Courtesy photo
Deputy shoots, kills woman
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County board approves $8M loan for sewer extension
By ADAM RUDNICK
adam@masoncounty.com A plan to pay for extending the Belfair sewer system was approved earlier this week by the Board of Mason County Commissioners. The board approved accepting up to an $8 million loan from the state’s Public Works Board on Tuesday during the board’s regular meeting at commission chambers in downtown Shelton. According to the contract, the loan will pay for two or three sewer lift stations, a gravity sewer and pressure main extending the Belfair Waste Reuse Facility to the Puget Sound Industrial Center at Lake Flora Road in Bremerton. Money from the loan will pay for engineering, cultural and historical resources, environmental documentation, review, permits, public involvement, easements, bid documents and construction, the contract states. The BOCC originally had an agenda item that proposed increasing the sewer rate for 2020, but that item was removed — as were other financial stipulations — from the agenda on Monday. Mason County received the loan offer from the state’s Public Works Board in August. On Feb. 11, staff presented a sewer extension predesign report and a sewer system financial analysis to the county commissioners. For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition. |
This undated historical photo shows football players at a muddy Loop Field in Shelton. With local sports shuttered due to the novel coronavirus, the Shelton-Mason County Journal is reaching into its archives to find historical sports photos and stories of interest. Journal file photo
Respect the closures and let’s get through this
By JUSTIN JOHNSON
justin@masoncounty.com
If you’re anything like me, and judging by the number of people I saw out and about this weekend in the mountains, staying inside when the weather is nice out makes you a little stir crazy.
With the sporting world on pause during the coronavirus pandemic and social distance recommendations in effect, I’ve taken to making drives around the county to get out and get some fresh air.
Being in a high-risk category for serious complications of COVID-19, I have been doing my best to avoid other human interactions other during my work here at the Shelton-Mason County Journal and an occasional trip through one of our local drive-thrus.
Friday, I thought I’d take a drive through Olympic National Forest in the sunshine, rolling the windows down as I bounced along the Forest Service roads, over the High Steel Bridge, and eventually ending up at Brown’s Creek Campground on the south fork of Skokomish River.
Along the route that I had chosen to take, I only passed a couple of fellow wanderers, but once I got to the campground, it was clear that the mountains were going to get crowded over the weekend as several tents and campers were already set up in the campground.
A little farther down the road, the Skokomish Lower South Fork trailhead parking lot was packed with cars and tents were set up along Le Bar Creek.
At that point, I headed home knowing that it would be difficult for me to get out and walk around without coming within the mandated 6-foot social distancing circle.
On the way back, on U.S. Forest Service Road No. 23, it was much more crowded then the lesser-used roads through the forest.
The parking area at the Green Diamond Resources Co. gate near the historic Vance Creek Bridge was packed and cars were along the road.
I knew that it was likely that the restrictions that were in place last week were going to get stepped up, and on Monday afternoon Gov. Jay Inslee did just that.
In a televised address, Inslee announced a “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order that, among other steps, closed all campgrounds, parks and recreation areas throughout the state starting Thursday. The legally binding order is set to last for at least two weeks.
I love the mountains. I love the waterways, but we need to get this virus under control and Inslee’s decision is the right one.
It will save lives. It will buy our health care workers time.
Last week, I wrote about my anxiety around COVID-19 and my personal health.
Getting outside in the sunshine definitely helped, but it’s also a risk that I didn’t need to take. And neither did anyone else.
I knew that it was likely that the restrictions that were in place last week were going to get stepped up, and on Monday afternoon Gov. Jay Inslee did just that.
In a televised address, Inslee announced a “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order that, among other steps, closed all campgrounds, parks and recreation areas throughout the state starting Thursday. The legally binding order is set to last for at least two weeks.
I love the mountains. I love the waterways, but we need to get this virus under control and Inslee’s decision is the right one.
It will save lives. It will buy our health care workers time.
Last week, I wrote about my anxiety around COVID-19 and my personal health.
Getting outside in the sunshine definitely helped, but it’s also a risk that I didn’t need to take. And neither did anyone else.
We are all in this together. We truly are.
My continued health as a high-risk individual depends on everyone doing their part. My parents living in Idaho are 67 and 72. Their lives likely depend on slowing down this pandemic.
Please don’t think you can’t be affected by it, even if you’re younger and healthy. You might think you’re not going to get too sick or it’s not going to be that bad, but it might not be you who pays the price. It could be your parents, or your aunt or your uncle who does.
Our trails and parks aren’t going anywhere.
They’ll be here in two weeks or three weeks, or whenever we shut this virus down.
Until then though, let’s stay home and stay safe the best we can.
justin@masoncounty.com
If you’re anything like me, and judging by the number of people I saw out and about this weekend in the mountains, staying inside when the weather is nice out makes you a little stir crazy.
With the sporting world on pause during the coronavirus pandemic and social distance recommendations in effect, I’ve taken to making drives around the county to get out and get some fresh air.
Being in a high-risk category for serious complications of COVID-19, I have been doing my best to avoid other human interactions other during my work here at the Shelton-Mason County Journal and an occasional trip through one of our local drive-thrus.
Friday, I thought I’d take a drive through Olympic National Forest in the sunshine, rolling the windows down as I bounced along the Forest Service roads, over the High Steel Bridge, and eventually ending up at Brown’s Creek Campground on the south fork of Skokomish River.
Along the route that I had chosen to take, I only passed a couple of fellow wanderers, but once I got to the campground, it was clear that the mountains were going to get crowded over the weekend as several tents and campers were already set up in the campground.
A little farther down the road, the Skokomish Lower South Fork trailhead parking lot was packed with cars and tents were set up along Le Bar Creek.
At that point, I headed home knowing that it would be difficult for me to get out and walk around without coming within the mandated 6-foot social distancing circle.
On the way back, on U.S. Forest Service Road No. 23, it was much more crowded then the lesser-used roads through the forest.
The parking area at the Green Diamond Resources Co. gate near the historic Vance Creek Bridge was packed and cars were along the road.
I knew that it was likely that the restrictions that were in place last week were going to get stepped up, and on Monday afternoon Gov. Jay Inslee did just that.
In a televised address, Inslee announced a “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order that, among other steps, closed all campgrounds, parks and recreation areas throughout the state starting Thursday. The legally binding order is set to last for at least two weeks.
I love the mountains. I love the waterways, but we need to get this virus under control and Inslee’s decision is the right one.
It will save lives. It will buy our health care workers time.
Last week, I wrote about my anxiety around COVID-19 and my personal health.
Getting outside in the sunshine definitely helped, but it’s also a risk that I didn’t need to take. And neither did anyone else.
I knew that it was likely that the restrictions that were in place last week were going to get stepped up, and on Monday afternoon Gov. Jay Inslee did just that.
In a televised address, Inslee announced a “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order that, among other steps, closed all campgrounds, parks and recreation areas throughout the state starting Thursday. The legally binding order is set to last for at least two weeks.
I love the mountains. I love the waterways, but we need to get this virus under control and Inslee’s decision is the right one.
It will save lives. It will buy our health care workers time.
Last week, I wrote about my anxiety around COVID-19 and my personal health.
Getting outside in the sunshine definitely helped, but it’s also a risk that I didn’t need to take. And neither did anyone else.
We are all in this together. We truly are.
My continued health as a high-risk individual depends on everyone doing their part. My parents living in Idaho are 67 and 72. Their lives likely depend on slowing down this pandemic.
Please don’t think you can’t be affected by it, even if you’re younger and healthy. You might think you’re not going to get too sick or it’s not going to be that bad, but it might not be you who pays the price. It could be your parents, or your aunt or your uncle who does.
Our trails and parks aren’t going anywhere.
They’ll be here in two weeks or three weeks, or whenever we shut this virus down.
Until then though, let’s stay home and stay safe the best we can.
