Thursday, November 15, 2018 - Week 46
You going to eat all of that?
Journal photo by Dana Kampa
Two-year-old Samantha “Jo Jo” Kilmer eyes the holiday delicacies on the table Nov. 10 at the New Community Church of Union. The church held a Thanksgiving dinner for community members, dishing up more than 500 meals throughout the day.
Two-year-old Samantha “Jo Jo” Kilmer eyes the holiday delicacies on the table Nov. 10 at the New Community Church of Union. The church held a Thanksgiving dinner for community members, dishing up more than 500 meals throughout the day.
Election results holding
By MICHAEL HEINBACH
michael@masoncounty.com There wasn’t a lot that changed after the Mason County Auditor’s Office reported the totals from its most recent ballot count for the Nov. 6 midterm general election. As of Nov. 9, Sharon Trask, Republican candidate for the Board of Mason County Commissioners, held a firm lead over Democrat Kevin Schmelzlen in the race to succeed outgoing County Commissioner Terri Drexler, who did not seek re-election. Trask lost a fraction of a percentage point from results posted following the Nov. 6 initial ballot count, but is still projected to comfortably earn her first foray into public office. The latest results show Trask, a small business owner and Legislative assistant to Rep. J.T. Wilcox (R-Yelm), earning 13,519 of the 26,003 ballots cast in the county commission race for 51.99 percent of the vote. Schmelzlen had 12,484 votes, for 48.01 percent. Trask held 52.63 percent of the vote after the election night count.George A. Steele widened his margin over Shelton attorney Eric Valley in the race to succeed Mason County District Court Judge Victoria Meadows. Steele, a Shelton Municipal Court judge, District Court judge pro-tem and private practice attorney, tallied 12,832 votes (57.92 percent), compared to 9,323 votes for Valley. In the most lopsided contested county race, incumbent Casey Salisbury, seeking a fourth term as Mason County sheriff, nearly doubled the vote total of challenger Darin Holland, a U.S. veteran and real estate agent. Salisbury earned 16,885 votes (65.79 percent) to Holland’s 8,780 votes for 34.21 percent. It appears that Patti McLean was successful in her bid to unseat two-term Mason County Assessor Melody Peterson. After the most recent ballot count, McLean received 54.55 percent of the 25,078 ballots cast in the assessor’s race (13,679 votes) compared to 11,399 votes (45.45 percent) for Peterson. For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition. |
Local paraeducators want ‘living wage’
By GORDON WEEK
gordon@masoncounty.com Liza Smith has worked as an educational assistant for the Southside School District for 17 years. She makes $17.58 an hour. Heather Kowalski is a paraeducator in the Shelton School District and a single mother with five children. “We are dedicated, hard-working people and we should not make less than people at Walmart,” she told the Shelton School Board on Tuesday evening. She added, “We get spit on and screamed at, and we get paid the least amount.” The paraeducators in both districts, and some other classified employees, are working without a new contract as negotiations drag on. The two unions say they want the same thing: living wages the employees deserve, especially after the teachers in both districts received raises from the state’s McCleary decision to fully fund education in the state. They say they work with the most difficult students in their districts. The 209 members of the Shelton School District’s Education Support Personnel (ESP) include paraeducators, bus drivers, librarians, nurses and others. The district’s contract with the ESP expired on Aug. 31, and the matter has gone to mediation. The district is “not even bringing our lowest paid members up to $15 an hour,” said union president Sheila Iverson of the district’s offer. The union is set to meet with mediators on Monday, she said. For the past two months, members of the union have shown up in force, dressed in red, at the Shelton School Board meetings. Four members of the union, and a supporter, stepped up to the microphone during public comments at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday night in the Oakland Bay Junior High School cafeteria. For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition. |
Journal photo by Shawna Whelan
Rand Iverson, above, 72, of Matlock, reaches to hit the ball during a pickleball match Saturday at the Mason Transit Authority’s Transit-Community Center in Shelton
Rand Iverson, above, 72, of Matlock, reaches to hit the ball during a pickleball match Saturday at the Mason Transit Authority’s Transit-Community Center in Shelton
Hockey in Seattle hits speed bump
By MICHAEL HEINBACH
michael@masoncounty.com
Just a few weeks ago, all signs pointed toward the National Hockey League moving forward with its plan to have an expansion franchise begin play in the 2020-21 season in Seattle.
Long in the works, Seattle’s bid for an NHL hockey team is now nearly a reality. But on Monday, the league hinted that reality might have hit a minor snag that could keep Seattle’s yet-unnamed NHL franchise from making its debut on schedule.
Though the NHL Board of Governors will likely vote in favor of Seattle’s expansion bid during the league’s annual meetings Dec. 3 and 4 in Sea Island, Georgia, a story posted Monday by Dan Rosen, NHL.com senior writer, casts some doubt as to whether the team will actually drop the puck for a 2020 inaugural season as it planned.
Rosen writes that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has heard rumblings that a refurbished KeyArena, the future home of Seattle NHL hockey, isn’t scheduled to reopen until November 2020, a month after the NHL campaign begins. In the eyes of the league, that doesn’t bode well for the possibility for NHL hockey hosted in less than two years in the Emerald City.
Rosen’s story on NHL.com states that the league is wary of the Seattle ownership group’s desire to have Seattle in the NHL fold come the start of the 2020 regular season. He states the league is against having its newest franchise debut in a temporary home.
“They’ve mentioned that possibility, but I don’t think that’s an ideal way to bring in an expansion franchise by playing in an alternate venue for any period of time, really,” Daly told NHL.com. “We’ll see how that plays out. I know they have an interest in starting in ’20-21 and we’d like the accommodate them any way we can.”
For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.
michael@masoncounty.com
Just a few weeks ago, all signs pointed toward the National Hockey League moving forward with its plan to have an expansion franchise begin play in the 2020-21 season in Seattle.
Long in the works, Seattle’s bid for an NHL hockey team is now nearly a reality. But on Monday, the league hinted that reality might have hit a minor snag that could keep Seattle’s yet-unnamed NHL franchise from making its debut on schedule.
Though the NHL Board of Governors will likely vote in favor of Seattle’s expansion bid during the league’s annual meetings Dec. 3 and 4 in Sea Island, Georgia, a story posted Monday by Dan Rosen, NHL.com senior writer, casts some doubt as to whether the team will actually drop the puck for a 2020 inaugural season as it planned.
Rosen writes that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has heard rumblings that a refurbished KeyArena, the future home of Seattle NHL hockey, isn’t scheduled to reopen until November 2020, a month after the NHL campaign begins. In the eyes of the league, that doesn’t bode well for the possibility for NHL hockey hosted in less than two years in the Emerald City.
Rosen’s story on NHL.com states that the league is wary of the Seattle ownership group’s desire to have Seattle in the NHL fold come the start of the 2020 regular season. He states the league is against having its newest franchise debut in a temporary home.
“They’ve mentioned that possibility, but I don’t think that’s an ideal way to bring in an expansion franchise by playing in an alternate venue for any period of time, really,” Daly told NHL.com. “We’ll see how that plays out. I know they have an interest in starting in ’20-21 and we’d like the accommodate them any way we can.”
For more of the Shelton-Mason County Journal, subscribe to our weekly edition.
