SHELTON'S STUDENT MEDIATORS pose in the wake of their"summit meeting" last week with Capital. Seated, from left, are Jacob Hicks, Paige Barrett and Jacob Hanes. In back are Dee Sigmond, Robyn Stewart, Kyle Burbridge and Adam Spurling. Not pictured: Alex Olson. Officials at Shelton and Capital high schools brought together students from the schools before Friday night's big football game to talk about their "unhealthy rivalry."

THINGS GET sticky when contractors working on the ongoing sewer project in downtown Shelton come across two sites on Franklin Street where the soil is contaminated. Cleanup is expected to take about two weeks, a Shelton official said. First Street will be closed at Franklin November 12 for the two-week cleanup.

PARTICIPANTS ENJOY exploring the renovated central garden labyrinth during Harmony Hill's SummerFest. This is said to be one of the few wheelchair-accessible labyrinths in the United States.

WRINGING HER HANDS during a brief breather late in regulation Tuesday is Climber sophomore veteran Megan Lund. Alas, though the hosts dominated the second half and wound up outshooting Capital 15-7 on the night, they wound up on the short end of a 3-1 shootout tie-breaker and settled for second in league.

THE HIGHCLIMBER marching band took first place in the small-band division at the Harvest Marching Band Festival on Saturday.

AFTER NEARLY half a century of cutting hair, Belfair barber Ray Stites is hanging up his clippers. He and his wife hope to spend more time in sunny Arizona.

High winds bring down trees, disrupt power

It huffed and it puffed and it blew some powerlines down. While not quite living up to pre-storm predictions, last week's high winds did do some damage throughout Mason County. This tree came crashing down onto State Route 3 in downtown Belfair on Thursday afternoon. Work crews and some good Samaritans were quickly on the scene to redirect traffic and remove the tree from the roadway. Officials from PUD 3 say about 300 customers lost power at various times on Thursday. The next morning, crews noticed some distribution lines rubbing together near the Collins Lake Substation. As a result, they had to disconnect the Haven Lake feeder, disrupting power to some 900 customers for just over an hour. Officials aren't sure if the line damage was storm-related or not.