Week of April 11, 2024
Week of April 11, 2024
The Journal encourages Announcements and News Releases of local, timely interest to our readers. Local photo submissions are also welcome. Include information on the who, what, when, where, why and how of your news lead. Deadline is each Monday by 5 PM. All submissions should include the sender's name, address and daytime phone number which will be used for verification purposes only. Submissions are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. To submit your Announcement or News Release: • Email [email protected] (preferred)...
On April 5, Allyn resident William Harris kicked off his campaign for Mason County Commission with a fundraiser at a home in LakeLand Village. Harris, a Republican, is running for the seat representing District 1, occupied by Randy Neatherlin, an independent. Neatherlin on Wednesday told the Journal he is "leaning toward" seeking a fourth term. This is the first campaign for public office for Harris, a LakeLand Village resident who last month announced his intention to appear on the November...
Three suspects in a shooting at the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton on April 3 led multiple law enforcement agency officers on a high-speed chase, ending with their arrest in Thurston County. Roberto Evans, 22, Austin McCord, 19, and a 17-year-old juvenile were arrested in connection with the shooting that happened in the casino’s parking garage, wounding Damien Castellane, 21, and Roger Allen Turner Ford, 27, according to a Mason County Sheriff’s Office probable cause document. A third person, Malique Eckstein, 20, was “scared...
A horrific crash on U.S. Highway 101 at the intersection of Lynch Road 6 miles south of Shelton killed two Kitsap County residents and injured a Washington State Patrol trooper. Charles Ferree, 72, and Deolia Blandford, 49, both of Ollala, died at the scene of the accident when their vehicle collided with a southbound WSP patrol vehicle en route to an emergency April 6, according a WSP news release. The patrol vehicle was traveling south on U.S. 101 and had activated lights and siren at the time of the collision, Mason County Sheriff’s...
Vietnam-era vet discusses rejoining Army after 9/11 Author Bob Shano talks about his new book "Never Too Old for War" and signs copies from 1 to 4 p.m. April 27 at the Shelton Timberland Library, 710 W. Alder St. Shano - a U.S. Army Vietnam-era veteran and native of the Bronx - felt compelled by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to return to the ranks as an infantry soldier. Shano has served in the Army as an infantryman, left the service in 1986 and had been out of the Army for 16 years....
A Shelton floral company will pay workers back wages and fines of $1.85 million after the U.S. Department of Labor sued on behalf of the workers March 21 in US District Court, Western Washington. Shelton business Continental Floral LLC, known as Continental Floral Greens, owner Jim Milgard, Jr. and Pacific Northwest General Manager Scott Schauer agreed to a consent judgment March 26 and will not contest claims they didn’t pay migrant workers overtime wages, failed to provide the workers safe transportation and safe housing, and did not...
Three convicted in murder cases with Mason County ties After a five-month trial, a jury in Kitsap County on Friday convicted three men of murdering a Seabeck family, including the father whose body was discovered on a tree farm on Northeast Dewatto-Holly Road, south of Forest Springs Road, in Mason County. The family, John Careaga, 43, his wife Christale Careaga, 37, and her 16-year-old son Johnathon Higgins and 16-year-old stepson Hunter Schapp were all killed in January 2017. The mother and sons were found inside their burned-out home near...
Shelton Deputy Mayor Joe Schmit said he is resigning from the Shelton City Council halfway through his second term because he wanted to work on long-term city policies and plans while most of the other council members, and the community, do not. "Instead of trying to resist or get frustrated, I felt it was time to step aside," Schmit said Tuesday in an interview with the Journal. He said he feels he is "at the crossroads" after six years on the City Council. "It's not so much a frustration, but...
Installation of Jersey barriers along U.S. Highway 101 from the intersection of Wallace Kneeland Boulevard to state Route 3 in Shelton is one step closer after $2 million in legislative funding was approved March 7 for engineering. Additional funding will be needed for construction, according to Doug Adamson with the state Department of Transportation. A WSDOT project document shows the design has been funded but work hasn’t started. “Barriers are not placed with the assumption that the system will restrain or redirect all vehicles in all...
Around 12:30 a.m. April 5, Central Mason Fire & EMS responded a house fire in the Shorecrest area. Crews arrived to find a fire in the attic. During firefighting efforts, a section of the home's ceiling collapsed striking firefighters and one firefighter was transported by ambulance to Mason General Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. The homeowner along with firefighters were able to rescue a mother cat and several kittens from the home. Crews remained on scene for several hours...
During a physical exam in 2003, Shelton resident Karen Hilburn was diagnosed with breast cancer. "I was in shock in that I had no symptoms, nothing," she recalled in an interview with the Journal. The small tumor was removed, and Hilburn underwent six weeks of radiation. "It's still so amazing to me that if you find out early enough, it's very preventable," she said. Hilburn had medical insurance and didn't have to stay overnight at a hospital. But she was struck by the thought of women who...
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group is seeking public comment on the planned restoration of 7 acres of estuarine habitat in the Mary E. Theler Wetlands Nature Preserve in Belfair. The project focuses on estuary restoration to improve habitat for fish and wildlife species, including Hood Canal summer chum salmon, which are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. It also includes removing a 1,250-foot breached levee to...
Terry Mehl is this year's Shelton Yacht Club commodore. Mehl chose the theme for this year's cruise schedule: "Doing More in 24." He and his wife, Donna, cruise in a Bayliner 3688 motor yacht, named Weather Wizard in homage to Mehl's Marine Corps career. They travel with a Shih Tzu, Rocky, and an African grey, Merlin. After graduating from Redmond High School in 1972, Mehl joined the Marine Corps and married Donna after boot camp. The couple moved to Lakehurst, New Jersey, for Mehl's schooling....
"He could be blustery. He could be rough and tough. He could be nice and kind and gentle. Whatever his moods - and most people judged him by either his faults or virtues - there was only one Rudy Werberger." This was the opening paragraph of a memorial article about Mason County grape grower, wine maker and Forest Festival promoter Rudy Werberger, written by Dave James in 1985. Rudy Werberger was born in Austria in 1881. At the age of 20 he emigrated to Roslyn, Washington, got a job in the...
Bigfoot protection on agenda At a briefing April 8, Mason County commissioners unanimously agreed to put a resolution on the next meeting’s agenda “declaring Mason County a sasquatch protection and refuge area” after Grays Harbor County elementary school students wrote in asking for protection of the cryptid. “We are the students of Miss Andrews class in 5th grade at Lincoln Elementary school in Hoquiam, Washington. The reason we are writing this letter to you is because we believe that Mason County should have laws to protect...
Just another week of attending functions and making decorations. Mary does like to socialize! Sunday, April 3, 1953 Today was a busy one. As soon as I ate, cleaned house and got ready to go to Havasu Club Installation. They served a nice lunch and I sat next to Ruby. She had some delicious shrimp and potato salad there. I left as soon as Ruby was installed as chaplain as I wanted to get my hair done. Wilma Westing's mother-in-law had passed away, so she said as the funeral was Tuesday, she had...
35th District Reps. Travis Couture and Dan Griffey, both Republicans from Allyn, and state Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, discussed the legislative session that ended March 7 at a breakfast hosted by the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce. At the April 5 event, at the Shelton Civic Center, Chamber President and CEO Diedre Peterson thanked the representatives for being “cognizant of the needs of our businesses and our communities.” MacEwen opened the wrap-up, saying it was a “contentious” session. The passage of HB 1589 “will...
Yesteryear Car Club The Yesteryear Car Club is offering a scholarship to any Mason County high school senior graduating in 2024 who plans to pursue a vocational/technical school education in automotive trades. May 1 is the deadline to apply. Selection will not be based on grade point average. Applicants are required to write a statement about themselves, their choice of vocation or trade, activities in school and the community, volunteer work, hobbies, work experience and plans. They must also include two letters of recommendations, and the...
The Shelton-Mason County Journal encourages original letters to the editor of local interest. Diverse and varied opinions are welcome. We will not publish letters that are deemed libelous or scurrilous in nature. We reserve the right to reject any letter for any reason. When submitting a letter, please observe the following guidelines: Writers are limited to one original letter plus one rebuttal or counter-rebuttal per calendar month; Letters should be no more than 300 words; Letters will be edited for grammar, spelling, style, clarity and...
Property tax Editor, the Journal, The assessor took an oath to support the U.S. Constitution, especially the first article in the Bill of Rights not to prohibit the free exercise of religion which has been done when children are being exposed to comprehensive sex-ed K-12th grade against the Holy Bible. Two-thirds of property tax funds public schools and the remainder also is illegal because the property tax is against our original state Constitution according to appellant, David Darby. At 91...
It seems as if 2024 is running at "fast forward" speed. Your elections team certified two of the five elections scheduled for the year, including the March 12 presidential primary. Many voters expressed concerns with having to identify a political party affiliation on their ballot return envelope. Presidential primaries are conducted for major political parties as part of their respective candidate nomination processes and the parties want to know who voted in their primary. From an elections...
“When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.” — Abraham Lincoln The grand unified theory in physics is the belief that there is a single explanation that can predict all the behaviors of all the forces in the universe. Theoretical physicists are searching for that elegant explanation of why forces behave the way they do, from the subatomic to the outer bands of the universe. Could there be a grand unified theory for the world’s religions? Could there be...
In the spring of 1977, a young woman with long flowing hair and a guitar caught the eye of Curtis Teague on a beach in Santa Cruz, California. He ran down a trail to greet the stranger. "I appraised her with loving eyes and said, 'I play guitar too,' " he recalled in a telephone interview with the Journal Monday. "I said, 'That's nice,'" Loretta Simonet remembered. Curtis returned five minutes later with a mandolin. They played together publicly that night at her scheduled gig, and they've been...
I'd meant to see "Dumb Money" near the end of last year, but recent absurdities in the news had me feeling weirdly nostalgic for the comparatively quaint online firestorms of the COVID era. Indeed, while the art of cinema has progressed now to where many movies have incorporated the realities of social media into their narratives, "Dumb Money" is the first film I've ever seen in which Reddit, as a forum, has legitimately earned a supporting cast member credit. Because the filmmakers wisely...
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