Thursday, August 9, 2018  - Week 32

Taking a swim

Journal photo by Shawna Whelan

Two seals swim in Oakland Bay earlier this month near the Shelton Yacht Club. The seals were not the only ones trying to stay cool, as temperatures soared in the 90s this week. According to the National Weather Service, temperatures could cool into the upper-70s by the weekend.

County, court seats come into focus

By MICHAEL HEINBACH
michael@masoncounty.com

The race to fill the soon-to-be-
vacant seat on Board of Mason County Commissioners came into better focus following Tuesday evening’s initial count of primary election ballots.

Results of the first ballot count, released shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday by the office of Mason County Auditor Karen Herr, show Democrat Kevin Schmelzlen leading the race for the District 3 commissioner seat with 1,448 of the 3,584 votes counted (40.4 percent) in the four-candidate primary election. Republican Sharon Trask was the second-leading vote-getter, with 1,090, or 30.41 percent of the vote in the race to succeed Terri Drexler, who is not seeking re-election.

“I’m humbled and I’m thrilled by the community support that I received,” said Schmelzlen, who first gained notoriety locally almost three years ago by starting a now defunct community cleanup organization called Shelton To The Top. “That’s a big number we put up tonight.”  

The top two vote-getters in each race on Tuesday’s primary ballot will advance to the Nov. 6 general election. As of Tuesday night, the county elections department had counted 12,897 primary ballots for a 33.36 percent turnout of Mason County’s 38,661 registered voters. The elections department estimated that there were 487 ballots remaining to be counted.

The county was scheduled to release a second ballot count total at 4 p.m. Wednesday, after the Shelton-Mason County Journal’s print deadline. A final ballot count is slated for Aug. 20 and the county’s Canvassing Board is scheduled to certify the primary as official at 2 p.m. Aug. 21.

The initial ballot count saw former Mason County commissioner Mary Jo Cady, who prefers the Republican Party, earn 575 votes (16.04 percent) and Independent candidate Kathy Chaussee collect 471 votes for a 13.14 percent share. Fewer than 500 votes remain to be counted, according to the county auditor’s office.

Trask, who learned of the results while hosting a barbecue for about 25 people at her home, said Tuesday night she’s excited about the prospect of moving to the general election.

​“Everybody that came to the house tonight to support me and everyone who voted for me showed me they have confidence in me to be able to make the changes they want in our local government,” said Trask, a legislative assistant for state Rep. J.T. Wilcox (R-Yelm) in Olympia. “I guess the numbers show that I still have a lot of work to do to make sure that the voters have the confidence in me they need to have that I’m going to be able to do this job.”


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City seeks millions from state for projects

By GORDON WEEKS
gordon@masoncounty.com

The City of Shelton’s wish list to local legislators includes $2 million to improve the intersection at Wallace Kneeland Boulevard and Shelton Springs Road, $500,000 to pave the parking lot next to the Shelton Civic Center, and $150,000 for the formation of a homeless intervention team.

The Shelton City Council unanimously approved its preliminary 2019 legislative agenda on Tuesday evening that identified priorities for possible state capital and transportation funding. The requests can become official with a vote at the meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 21 at the Shelton Civic Center.

The members of the city council had discussed its priorities for projects and possible funding sources at a budget meeting on July 13.

The city also wants $1.5 million for an outdoor community gathering area with parking at Evergreen Town Square on Railroad Avenue. The project calls for utilities, repaving the parking lot, landscaping and site amenities.

The homeless intervention team would help people find proper housing, food, medical treatment, recovery resources and reunite them with their families. The intervention team would include one police officer who would “proactively pursue lasting solutions other than arrest where applicable,” the city report states.

The city requests $500,000 to pave the gravel parking lot directly east of the Shelton Civic Center on West Cota Street. The city states the paving of the lot would make the site usable for community events, city park programs and additional city center parking.

The city also wants $150,000 for the expansion of the Mason County Historical Museum on Railroad Avenue. The money would be used to purchase the building next to the museum for additional displays and inventory.

The city requests $2 million for improvements at the intersection of Wallace Kneeland Boulevard and Shelton Springs Road. The city reports that high traffic volumes call for reconfigurations, and officials have discussed placing a roundabout at the intersection.

The city wants $1 million for the improvement and replacement of sidewalks and ADA ramps surrounding Evergreen Elementary School.

The city is asking legislators to help get $2 million for a water main for well No. 1. The city wants to rehabilitate the water main between well No. 1 and the high school water tank, which is about 3,500 feet long. The line is currently operating as an unpressurized, unprotected open-air system. The rehabilitation would include lining the water main with pipe to allow line pressurization and protection of the water source from pollutants and other contaminants.

​For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.

Courtesy photo

Shelton High School’s McKenzie Salazar-Fox competes in the shot put event July 23 at the United States of America Track and Field Junior Olympics in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Young Olympian hits mark

By ALEXANDRA SMITH
alexandra@masoncounty.com

McKenzie Salazar-Fox, an incoming junior at Shelton High School, finished second in the shot put event July 23 to 29 at the United States of America Track and Field Junior Olympics in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she closed out a sterling sophomore  year. She broke the Shelton sophomore class record in the shot five times during the school year, and missed the all-time school record by 4 inches.

After finishing her freshman year with a fourth-place finish at the WIAA State Track and Field meet and ending up No. 18 on the all-time state freshman finishers list, Salazar-Fox followed up this year finishing fifth at the state meet — four of top five finishers were from the South Sound Conference. She also earned the No. 16 spot on the all-time state sophomore list.

Entering USATF Jr. Olympics after winning the Pacific NorthWest USATF Championships and then the Region 13 USATF Championships, Salazar-Fox was seeded third entering the competition.
Qualifying for the finals on her first effort, she improved her distance on her third attempt, going into final ranked third. The No. 1 seed, from Texas, struggled through preliminaries and entered seeded fourth. Salazar-Fox fouled on her fourth throw and fell to fourth, then improved on her fifth throw to move back into third.

The No. 1 seed took the lead on her performance in the sixth and final round at 13.09 meters, overtaking her fellow Texan who had led from the beginning of the competition. Salazar-Fox’s last throw was enough to advance her to second place, just .01 meters shy of the leader, less than a 1/2 inch from a national championship.As part of Team Evolution from Aberdeen, where Salazar-Fox trains, she was joined by three other teammates who attended the Junior Olympics, coming home with a national championship earned by Karlee Freeman of Raymond in the discus. Third place in the shot was taken by Karlee Freeman. Eight place in boys shot was brought home by North Beach High School’s Nat Ivey.

This was Salazar-Fox’s best finish at the Junior Olympics, having finished fifth as a 10 year old, fourth as a 12-year-old and second this year as 16-year-old. 
Salazar-Fox had the opportunity to be watched by coaches from various colleges throughout the nation and is on the radar of schools such as USC, Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona State, though she can not be formally recruited until start of the school year. 
Next up for Salazar-Fox is start of volleyball season at Shelton High School in late August, where she has played on varsity both of her high school years.


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