Mason County’s Kobe Bogh slides into home plate during the Mason County Youth Baseball All Star Tournament on Sunday. The Mason County All Star 10-year-olds finished fourth and were 4-2 on the weekend. For more on the tournament, see page C-2. 

 

June 25: In what can only be described as a 180-degree turn towards department consolidation, Mason County leadership fired two directors in the past two weeks. One has alleged age discrimination played a role in her termination. City commissioners agreed this week to designate the Public Safety Building, which was the home of city hall for more than 50 years, on the Shelton Historic Register. The 1,894-square-foot core of the building was built in 1932 by Joseph Wohleb, who also designed a number of buildings near the Capitol in Olympia. The City of Shelton has given notice to Fire District 5 that it could back out of a merger in a year and a half unless significant progress is made. The city and fire district signed a contract last September to consolidate operations as a way to save costs for both agencies. Former Shelton resident Novella Carpenter has a memoir that’s just been published, which has made it onto Oprah Winfrey’s summer reading list. Carpenter, 36, lives in Oakland, California, where she maintains an urban farm on a vacant lot next to her residence. Officials at Fire District 8 in Tahuya have decided not to renew a contract for advanced life support services out of Belfair. The current contract for paramedic services with Fire District 2 expires at the end of this month. North Mason residents Hank and Sunshine Nance took over Boxlight, which specializes in computer projection systems, on May 1 after it fell into receivership and have opened a new headquarters in Belfair. The Shelton Timber losing streak continued to nine games as the team lost to River Ridge 16-11.

Deaths: John William Bartroff, 73; Thomas V. Kidwell; Georgia DeBritz Huntley, 69; Wayne Floyd Miller, 70; Paul James Budinich, 82.

Births: Huestin Cash Bradley.

 

June 18: Mason County commissioners Tuesday failed to balance the budget as expected after staff presented confusing financial numbers and a judge warned that sought funds were not available as previously thought. The commissioners voted to cut their Current Expense Fund budget by $756,000, leaving two primary options to later balance the budget. After treating hundreds and hundreds of students in the Shelton School District during a 30-year career, school nurse Carol Acocks retires at the end of the current school year. She treated a gamut of ills, from slivers to fractures, bee stings to things kids stick up their noses, such as spit wads and seeds. Shelton city commissioners continued a public hearing for the second time this week on a proposed intergovernmental agreement with Mason County regarding development applications. The next hearing will be held on August 3 and city officials asked that written comments be submitted by July 13. The Port of Hoodsport has a dilemma: A legal opinion by Mason County Deputy Prosecutor Monty Cobb says that most of the vouchers submitted by the port do not, and cannot, have the proper signatures. That’s because two of the three port commissioners, John Wyatt and Jack Hamlin, resigned on May 13. Shelton city commissioners enacted an emergency moratorium on new development applications Monday night. The moratorium ordinance was put into place, with an initial one-year term, due to concerns about the city’s 30-year-old sewage treatment plant operating beyond its capacity. The surprise move came without a public hearing, public notice or any public comments after a pair of executive sessions following commission meetings on June 1 and 8. At the time, the stated purpose of the closed sessions was “possible legal action.” Last weekend’s Relay for Life in Belfair was, by all accounts, a success. The goal of this year’s event is to raise $62,000, which is not out of reach. Organizers at the start of the week said they’d brought in $48,500. Shelton native Jordan Afo is a Utah prep football star who has received scholarship offers from Brigham Young University and Utah State and plans to visit with coaches at the University of Washington this summer.

Deaths: William Charles McDowell, 64; Irving J. Reedy, 59; William Avery, 66.

Births: Allyeska Akuti Jeffrey, Braxton Guy Middleton, Carter Donald Paysse.

A canine sailor and its person ride a light breeze in Jarrell’s Cove a day after the June 4 storm that brought gusting winds and temperatures that plummeted by 30 degrees in just hours. 

June 11: It’s not much by comparison, but Mason County’s budget gap grew by $33,000 from one week to the next. Budget Director Ione Siegler reported Monday the shortfall was actually $789,000 and not $756,000 as advertised by the Mason County commissioners the previous week. Officials involved in the Pacific Northwest Salmon Center project feel State Senator Tim Sheldon, who also chairs the Mason County Commission, is interfering with their efforts to develop 90 acres at the mouth of the Union River in Belfair. Sheldon this week said the allegation is baseless. Near record-setting highs last Thursday plummeted over 30 degrees in five hours when a sometimes gusty wind blew through Mason County. The high on June 4 was 92 degrees at 4:53 p.m., only one degree shy of the record set in 1978. Two hours later the winds picked up and by 7:53 p.m. the mercury was down to 63 degrees. Fire District 6 in Union has been singed by one conclusion in a citizen hotline investigation by the Washington State Auditor’s Office. The investigation concluded Fire District 6 Commissioner Steve Grout had a beneficial interest in his wife Dee’s employment as the Union fire department’s deputy chief and in her salary when he voted on those matters in 2008. An Olympia woman was injured Sunday afternoon in a fall on Mount Ellinor and three teenage hikers were rescued the same day from the cliffs below the Steel Bridge. Firefighter Cass Monroe of Fire District 5 used ropes and harnesses to help the stranded hikers. About 60 people showed up for an open house to get updated information about the Belfair sewer project. Mason County Utilities and Waste Management Director Emmett Dobey said customers can initially expect rates to be as high as $87 and as low as $70 per month. The Shelton Timbers were hitting the ball so hard on Tuesday evening, head coach Don Daniels had to remind his young baseball club they were not home-run hitters. But sluggers they were in a 16-6 league win over River Ridge that featured three homers and a 10-run third inning.

Deaths: Robert F. Goad; Rudolph A. Schneider, 78; Michelle Renee Wilson, 34; Judy K. Coleman, 68; Stanley C. Ingraham, 78; Steven V. Williams, 58; James Richard Dawson, 83; Irving Reedy, 59; Lew F. Luehrs; Edward V. Leaf, 78; Michael G. Stevens; Richard Dean Johnson, 80.

Births: Charli Jene Dawson, Brionna Sue Asche, Katelyn Joy Sartori, Soren Grey Olofson, Talon Bronx Campbell and Triston Lucas Campbell

The Mason County Board of Commissioners Tuesday announced plans to close an expected $756,000 budget gap without hitting the sheriff’s, auditor’s or clerk’s individual budgets a second time. Arraignment is scheduled Monday in Mason County Superior Court for a 50-year-old Harstine Island man who reportedly held two paramedics in an ambulance at gunpoint. Keith Chynoweth, of 101 East McMicken Road, is charged with unlawful imprisonment. He was sent a summons to appear June 8. Shelton city commissioners held a public hearing Monday on a resolution to establish an interlocal agreement with Mason County regarding applications within the Shelton Urban Growth Area. The agreement comes in anticipation of the city’s eventual expansion into areas of the UGA that are currently part of Mason County. “What we’re trying to do is manage growth and development in a way that expands Shelton in a compatible fashion so that when there’s an annexation there won’t be a lot of problems or hiccups,” Steve Goins, director of community development and public works, said. Library patrons will have to stay on their toes as Timberland Regional Library plans to start charging fines for overdue materials this fall. The change in policy affects all Timberland libraries in Mason County as well as those in Thurston, Grays Harbor, Lewis and Pacific counties. More than $175,000 in scholarships were awarded to Shelton High School seniors during the annual Senior Awards Night ceremonies held last Thursday evening. The Shelton track and field squad left the 4A state meet without hardware on Saturday at Mt. Tahoma High School, but did gain plenty of valuable experience. In the highly anticipated girls 400-meter race, sophomore standout Brenna Thompson was disqualified after a lane violation around the turn 200 meters into the race. Thompson’s time of 57.50 seconds was good enough for a fifth-place finish before Shelton coach Doug Sells was directed to the scorer’s tent and given the bad news.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 28: They’re not sure how to do it, but county leaders decided to again cut the budget. This time it’s $756,000. The move comes less than six weeks after county leaders cut $1.1 million from the $119-million 2009 budget, affecting all county departments. Mason County commissioners threw a heavy dose of cold water on the idea of partnering with the Belfair Water District on a massive sewer system in the Belfair Urban Growth Area during a meeting earlier this week. The water district, along with a nonprofit group called the Alliance for Cooperative Innovation, submitted an unsolicited proposal to the county earlier this month asking for 30 days to explore the possibility of overseeing and managing construction of the sewer. The skies were blue over Shelton Memorial Park on Monday for the annual Memorial Day observance. Dick Taylor, a retired Navy commander and former Shelton city commissioner, was the main speaker in front of a crowd of around 250 people, many of them military veterans. Bradley Jay Jeans, a Shelton man who committed sex offenses with a child, was sentenced in Mason County Superior Court to life in prison with a minimum term of confinement of more than 26 years in prison. For the second year in a row teenage sisters from Shelton received the “favorite sailboat” award at the Olympia Wooden Boat Fair. Mishawn and Danielle Ewart, both Shelton High School students and the youngest members of the Shelton Yacht Club, won with their entry of a vintage 1935 28-foot Ed Monk-designed sailboat. Tom Worlund has been chosen as principal at Hawkins Middle School in the Belfair School District. He is currently the assistant principal at Gig Harbor High School. SHS sophomore Brenna Thompson won the 400-meter dash at the 4A West Central District meet on Saturday in Tacoma. She and javelin thrower Jon Ownby and discus thrower Michelle Davis are headed to the 4A state meet this weekend.

Deaths: Dean Haselwood, 38; Ruby Constance Eaton, 73; Elaine M. Campbell, 83; Bob D. Beasley, 68; John O. Swanson, 82; Sally Natland; Marian Robbins, 100; Charles E. Chase, 80.

Births: Andrew Allen Johnson, Jacob Allen Shilman.