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  • One year later: Remembering the McEwan Prairie Fire

    June Williams|Jul 11, 2024

    Central Mason Fire & EMS Chief Jeff Snyder joined state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz on July 2 at the site of last year's McEwan Fire to talk about fire safety on forest lands. Snyder gave a brief history of the McEwan Fire that started on the Fourth of July last year around 2 p.m. Central Mason was dispatched to a possible brush fire behind Rainbow Lake and units arrived within minutes, he said. The fire was about one-fourth of an acre but there was "rapid fire growth," Snyder...

  • Elma man charged with manslaughter in woman's death

    June Williams|Jul 11, 2024

    Police have arrested an Elma man in connection with the death of a woman whose decomposing body was found in a ravine near Schafer State Park. Joshua Morris, 43, was seen on video surveillance May 22 leaving the Lucky Dog Casino with Joanna Ruth Saunders, 29, according to court documents. Saunders was later identified as the body found June 11 on West Beerbower Road in Elma, about 1 mile away from the state park. Mason County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Morris on July 3 for manslaughter. Deputies discovered Saunders June 11, after gravel pit em...

  • Potlatch substation maintenance longer than planned

    June Williams|Jul 4, 2024

    Mason PUD 1 customers went longer than expected without power after overnight maintenance on the Potlatch substation June 27. Residents of Union, Lilliwaup and Hoodsport were scheduled to have electricity cut from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. so Bonneville Power Administration could service the substation. Power was restored by 8 a.m. Mason PUD 1 General Manager Kristin Masteller told the Journal in an email that BPA didn’t give a reason for the delay but sometimes work takes longer than anticipated. “After BPA restored power to their sub that feeds our...

  • Port of Allyn names Merrill executive director

    June Williams|Jul 4, 2024

    Port of Allyn commissioners agreed to drop “interim” from Executive Director Travis Merrill’s title at the July 1 regular meeting. Merrill has been the interim director since January, after former Interim Executive Director LeAnn Dennis died in December 2023. Dennis was serving in the position after Executive Director Lary Coppola died in October. “You’ve earned your title.” Commissioner Judy Scott said. Port discusses $25K refund Port of Allyn Commissioners tabled discussion on a $25,000 refund for connection hookup fees paid last year by Rona...

  • North Mason looks at changes to program

    June Williams|Jul 4, 2024

    Changes coming to the North Mason School District’s Highly Capable Program should see more students qualify for the program, Savannah Elliott, district assessment coordinator highly capable services coordinator, told the North Mason School Board on June 24. Starting in the fall, a new ability test for students in kindergarten through 12th grade will use nonverbal methods that are good for use with a diverse student population, Elliott said. She told the board how the hiCap program has evolved. In previous years, a single data point could d...

  • Murder on Skokomish Reservation

    June Williams|Jun 27, 2024

    Mason County Sheriff Deputies arrested Dale Red Hawk LaClair, 40, for murder Tuesday after finding LaClair “shirtless and covered in blood” and Paul William Peterson, Jr., 35, apparently beaten to death on the front lawn of a home on the Skokomish Indian Reservation, according to court documents. MACECOM began receiving calls about a man crying for help around 5 a.m. June 25 and dispatched deputies to North Salish Court on the reservation, according to a probable cause document. “When the initial responding deputies arrived, they conta...

  • Matlock Fire 12 appoints final commissioner

    June Williams|Jun 27, 2024

    Fire District 12 commissioners filled the vacant seat 2 position at the June 19 meeting, appointing Matlock resident Steven Ingram. Earlier in the meeting, Commissioners Trina Young and Dave Persell interviewed Ingram and Kenneth Smith, asking the candidates about their experience and how they would approach the commissioner job. Smith, who volunteered with District 12 from 2011 to 2018, said he also worked in fire districts in Spokane and California. Persell asked Smith when he first learned about the “fraud situation” at the district. “Wh...

  • Public defender updates

    June Williams|Jun 20, 2024

    Mason County Chief Public Defender Peter Jones briefed commissioners June 17 on how preparations are going for presumed changes to his office. The Washington Supreme Court is accepting comments on updated standards through October, Jones said. It’s the first step in passing the standards and making them mandatory, according to Jones. The new proposed rules have been alarming for Mason and other smaller counties that will have to dramatically increase their budgets for indigent defense. Potentially updated Washington State Bar standards will d...

  • News Briefs

    Compiled by reporter June Williams|Jun 20, 2024

    Jackson resigns from United Way United Way of Mason County Executive Director Ted Jackson resigned June 6, the organization said in a news release. "Mr. Jackson has served UWMC with dedication, and the Board of Directors extends its gratitude for his service," according to the statement. UWMC Board President Dani Cook told the Journal in an email the group is "taking time to evaluate the program," and will not currently be seeking a replacement executive director. Jackson was a Port of Allyn commissioner until his resignation Jan. 19. He is...

  • Crime & Courts

    Compiled by reporter June Williams|Jun 20, 2024

    Fight outside CHOICE graduation ends with arrests Shelton police arrested three men fighting outside the June 6 CHOICE High School graduation at the Shelton High School Performing Arts Center, according to court documents. Damien Castellane, 21, James Elmund, 19, and Malique Ekstein, 20, were arrested for assault and obstructing a law enforcement officer, according to a probable cause document. Shelton Police Officer M. Mullins got called for a “verbal disturbance” at the center at 6:10 p.m. and en route, MACECOM told him it escalated to a “ph...

  • Fjordin Crossin this weekend in Hoodsport

    June Williams|Jun 20, 2024

    A bit of old Norway is coming to Hoodsport this weekend with the Fjordin Crossin festival. The event celebrates a Nordic tradition of “sending a barrel of aquavit in a ship from Norway across the equator and back again,” according to the event’s website. The local version will send a barrel of the Hardware Distillery’s dill aquavit across the Hood Canal and back to Hoodsport. It happens Saturday at the Hoodsport Dock and is sponsored by the Hardware Distillery and Be the Traveler/Hood Canal Events. Starting at 11 a.m., food booths and other v...

  • Port of Allyn commission approves water system plan

    June Williams|Jun 20, 2024

    Port of Allyn commissioners approved a contract with WestSound Engineering to redesign a plan to incorporate the Allyn Carey Water System into the port’s system at a special meeting June 10. Commissioner Judy Scott said she’d worked with WestSound Engineering before. “I’ve been pleased with their work,” Scott said. Scott and Commissioner Michael Curtain approved the $14,922 contract. Commissioner John Sheridan did not attend the meeting. Interim Executive Director Travis Merrill said that he and Jeff Carey met with WestSound engineer Michael J...

  • Fire 12 hopes for insurance

    June Williams|Jun 13, 2024

    Fire District 12 commissioners held a regular meeting June 5 in the Matlock Grange, discussing steps they are taking to reinstate insurance coverage and other district business. “There’s a lot to do,” District 12 Acting Chief Mike Brown said. Brown was appointed acting chief by Commissioners Trina Young and Dave Persell following their suspension of Bryan Walsworth. Brown said he and Young are working to get insurance back for the district. In May, it lost insurance coverage due to years of mismanagement, was declared a disaster area by the c...

  • Former Shelton cemetery manager faces civil suit

    June Williams|Jun 13, 2024

    The former office manager of Shelton Memorial Park cemetery is facing a civil lawsuit in addition to criminal charges for theft and money-laundering. The Shelton Cemetery Association sued Dustee Munro in Mason County Superior Court June 6, seeking recovery of $265,700 she allegedly stole. “The Shelton Police Department’s declaration of probable cause recommends that plaintiff should seek recovery of $265,702.47 from defendant, including for misappropriated funds of $118,957.40, undocumented charges of cost to customers of $126,945.07, unp...

  • Accident Briefs

    Compiled by reporter June Williams|Jun 13, 2024

    Fatal crash on state Route 108 A 19-year-old died June 9 on state Route 108 near milepost 7 when his Lexis R33 left the road on a curve and went down a creek embankment, according to the Washington State Patrol. South Mason Fire stabilized the vehicle and “rapidly worked to extricate the sole occupant,” Casey Dickerson of Poulsbo, a SMF Facebook post states. Dickerson was removed from the car within 8 minutes of firefighters arriving at the scene and airlifted to an unidentified medical facility, but died “despite extensive resuscitation effor...

  • Belfair loses primary care clinic

    June Williams|Jun 13, 2024

    Belfair Clinic’s primary care clients knew when Dr. Raul Dominguiano unexpectedly left his practice there in January something was amiss. Former patients told the Herald their beloved “Dr. D” would never walk out on them without notice unless Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, who operates the clinic in collaboration with Mason County Public Hospital District No. 2, was involved. Belfair resident Monna Haugen told the Herald in March that her partner had an appointment with Dominguiano on Jan. 6, but received a call the morning of the visit...

  • Most of seized dogs get homes

    June Williams|Jun 6, 2024

    The majority of 64 dogs seized from a Grapeview property in April have been placed in permanent homes, Humane Society of Mason County President Katherine Johnson told the Journal. Skittles, a rat terrier, is the last dog remaining at HSMC from the confiscation and is available for adoption through the group's website at hsmcwa.org. Other rescue partners, including Joint Animal Services of Thurston County, Seattle Humane Society, Kitsap Humane Society, Smidget Rescue, Pasado's Safe Haven, and...

  • Lake Cushman area timber harvest will affect travel

    June Williams|Jun 6, 2024

    Travelers around Lake Cushman should be prepared for extra traffic and temporary trail closures while the U.S. Forest Service harvests timber in the Big Stewardship area near the lake and in Olympic National Forest. The logging operations started June 3 and are expected to last until October, according to a Forest Service news release. “Travelers should anticipate encountering traffic control measures on North Lake Cushman Road between the junction of state Route 119 and Forest Service Road 24 until a quarter mile past the entrance to North M...

  • Matlock fire district dismisses secretary, volunteers

    June Williams|Jun 6, 2024

    Fire 12 continues to clean house, with new commissioners suspending district secretary Rachel Noga indefinitely at the May 29 special meeting and terminating 15 volunteers, including former commissioners Cinda Compton and Kelli Walsworth and former fire chief Bryan Walsworth at the May 31 special meeting. The dismissed volunteers were all hired by the previous board prior to the May 17 disaster declaration, Commissioner Trina Young said in an email to the Journal. On May 17, Fire 12 lost its insurance coverage due to mismanagement, according to...

  • Port of Allyn approves water management change

    June Williams|Jun 6, 2024

    he port’s water system satellite management company at the June 3 meeting. Northwest Water Systems in Port Orchard will be dropped for the smaller H2O Water Management Services in Mason County. Interim Executive Director Travis Merrill recommended the change due to dubious Northwest Water charges, he said. “Northwest Water has been billing us for tests that aren’t required for the last two years,” Merrill said. He also found several “errors in billing,” he told commissioners. Some tests done in 2023 and 2024 include gross alpha and radium test...

  • Rescue at bridge

    June Williams|May 30, 2024

    Mason County emergency responders rescued a teenager who fell by the High Steel Bridge on Saturday, May 25. The 19-year-old man was apparently hiking in the closed area underneath the bridge and fell 400 feet down the side of the canyon, according to the Mason County Sheriff’s office. “Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our Special Operations Rescue Team, he was rescued and sustained only minimal injuries,” MCSO said in a Facebook post. MCSO, West Mason Fire and Fire District 6 assisted in the rescue. The post shows a rescuer pulling himse...

  • New Fire 12 commissioners

    June Williams|May 30, 2024

    Mason County commissioners appointed Trina Young and Dave Persell as commissioners for Fire District 12, positions 1 and 3 respectively, on May 24. In their first action, Young and Persell quickly called an emergency meeting May 25 to suspend District 12 Fire Chief Bryan Walsworth and appoint Mike Brown as acting chief. They also approved hiring attorney Eric Quinn as the district’s legal representative for $500 a month. Young will serve as the commission’s chair and Persell will act as secretary. Last week, Fire District 12 lost insurance cov...

  • Defenders need more money

    June Williams|May 30, 2024

    Mason County Chief Public Defender Peter Jones advised commissioners on a huge budget increase his office will be seeking in 2025 and got preliminary approval to pursue contract attorneys at the May 20 briefing. Jones said “to continue to operate” at current levels, the public defender’s office will seek over a half a million dollar increase in its budget next year. “That has a total budget impact of almost $580,000. I figured before we got to the budget I would present that to you and let you know,” Jones said. The commissioners signed of...

  • Courts & Crime

    Compiled by reporter June Williams|May 30, 2024

    Airbnb guests find banana thief A couple staying at an Airbnb rental in Union awoke May 13 to find a thief stealing a banana. The suspect later told police he was looking for a house his friend had rented, “but was unable to provide any information about the residence or his friend,” Mason County Sheriff’s Deputy S. Fischer wrote in a probable cause document. Clay McKennell was staying at the rental on state Route 106 when the “unknown subject broke in and took a banana and started going through the bedrooms,” according to the document....

  • Belfair woman dies in crash

    June Williams|May 30, 2024

    Belfair resident Letricia Macomber, 50, died in a single-car crash May 22 on state Route 106 when her Tesla left the road and hit multiple trees and a power box, according to the Washington State Patrol. Macomber was driving west in a red Tesla at 7:30 p.m. near Alderwood Road when she veered off the canal-side of the highway. Macomber’s vehicle caught on fire after the crash and she died at the scene, according to Katherine Weatherwax, State Patrol spokesperson for WSP’s District 8. Detectives will not be investigating because there are no...

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