Thursday, March 21, 2019 - Week 12
Smiling sprinters
Chelsea Warrington and her daughter, Emmalyn, 3, cross the finish line March 16 at the corner of North Second and West Franklin streets in Shelton during the St. Paddy’s Day 5K to Cure ALS race. For more photos of the event, see page B-8. Journal photo by Justin Johnson.
Cheers, jeers for proposed tiny homes
By GORDON WEEKS
gordon@masoncounty.com At Tuesday evening’s Shelton City Council meeting, 38 people stepped up to the microphone to share their thoughts on a proposed tiny homes complex for homeless veterans, with 29 of them stating their support. The Shelton City Council hosted a public hearing on granting a lease to the nonprofit organization Panza to establish a 30-unit tiny homes complex on 13th Street near Olympic College Shelton. The council moved the proposal forward without taking a vote. The council can pass the agreement at its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. April 2 at the Shelton Civic Center. The proposed lease calls for a 30-year agreement between the city and Panza, which operates the 30-unit Quixote Village in West Olympia. Panza would pay the city $5,000 a year starting the second year of the agreement to lease the 3-acre plot. Thirty homes would be the maximum, unless Panza asks the city to add more homes and receives permission. Panza received a $3 million grant from the state for the project. The city has been debating the proposal for about six months, evoking passionate pleas from supporters and opposition to the project. On Tuesday night, the audience packed the chambers, the chamber entrance and back into the Civic Center lobby. For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition. |
Woman pleads guilty to theft from PUD 1
By MICHAEL HEINBACH
michael@masoncounty.com Noticeably trembling and clutching a tissue she’d used to wipe tears from her eyes, Cynthia Jeanne Carow pleaded guilty Monday in Mason County Superior Court to a charge of first-degree theft with aggravating factors. Following more than two years of investigation by the Mason County Sheriff’s Office and the office of Washington State Auditor Pat McCarthy, authorities accused Carow of bilking more than $10,000 from Mason County PUD 1. A detailed affidavit of probable cause outlines how Carow, while employed as PUD 1’s network administrator, misappropriated funds, added vacation time and altered power meter reading reports from her personal utility account. Though the 66-year-old Shelton resident faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine, Tyler Bickerton, deputy Mason County prosecutor, told the court Monday the state will recommend Carow serve a 90-day sentence — the top end of a standard-range sentence — plus restitution during her scheduled April 15 sentencing hearing. Bickerton added he would not object to Carow serving her sentence via jail alternatives, such as electronic-home monitoring or community service work. PUD 1 seeks to recover $10,117.17 in misappropriated funds and $8,331.51 — the cost of the state auditor’s office investigation — for a total of $18,448.68. Kristin Masteller, PUD 1 general manager, who attended both Carow’s Jan. 14 arraignment and Monday’s change of plea hearing, declined comment on behalf of PUD 1 until after Carow’s sentence is delivered. However, Masteller told the Shelton-Mason County Journal on Monday she plans to read a victim-impact statement aloud during the sentencing hearing. The statement, she said, would be approved by the PUD 1 board of commissioners. For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition. |
An architectural rendering shows the planned design and layout of the new Pacific Northwest Performance Center at The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton. The two-story, 9,585-square-foot center is expected to open in late spring or early summer. Courtesy graphic
New Performance Center coming to Ridge
By JUSTIN JOHNSON
justin@masoncounty.com
The explosive growth of Ridge Motorsports Park continues.
The park, which opened in 2012 at 1060 West Eells Hill Road in Shelton, last week announced the construction of the Pacific Northwest Performance Center, located near the west entrance to the park, adjacent to the park’s primary parking area and skid pads.
Scheduled to open in late spring or early summer, the two-story, 9,585-square-foot center will include the Ridge Training Center, Ridge Performance Shop, Grand Prix registration and a café on the ground floor, and a banquet hall and two event suites on the second floor.
“Ridge Motorsports Park owners Joe Manke and Rusty Gill have poured their passion into making this a phenomenal place, not only for races, but for the local community as well,” Ridge general manager Tracie Schmitt said in an emailed press release. “By supporting additional jobs for our region, and serving as a training platform for young adults, this complex creates beneficial opportunities, not only from a job and career standpoint, but from an economic standpoint.
The complex is designed to bring in events that support local economics.”
In addition to the Center acting as a hub to the motorsports park, it is also planned as a private meeting and event space.
According to the press release announcing the construction of the Performance Center, in 2016 Ridge Motorsports Park hosted 176 events. In 2018, that number climbed to more than 400.
For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.
justin@masoncounty.com
The explosive growth of Ridge Motorsports Park continues.
The park, which opened in 2012 at 1060 West Eells Hill Road in Shelton, last week announced the construction of the Pacific Northwest Performance Center, located near the west entrance to the park, adjacent to the park’s primary parking area and skid pads.
Scheduled to open in late spring or early summer, the two-story, 9,585-square-foot center will include the Ridge Training Center, Ridge Performance Shop, Grand Prix registration and a café on the ground floor, and a banquet hall and two event suites on the second floor.
“Ridge Motorsports Park owners Joe Manke and Rusty Gill have poured their passion into making this a phenomenal place, not only for races, but for the local community as well,” Ridge general manager Tracie Schmitt said in an emailed press release. “By supporting additional jobs for our region, and serving as a training platform for young adults, this complex creates beneficial opportunities, not only from a job and career standpoint, but from an economic standpoint.
The complex is designed to bring in events that support local economics.”
In addition to the Center acting as a hub to the motorsports park, it is also planned as a private meeting and event space.
According to the press release announcing the construction of the Performance Center, in 2016 Ridge Motorsports Park hosted 176 events. In 2018, that number climbed to more than 400.
For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.
