Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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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....
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...
Trio of bluegrass bands at Shelton High on Friday The groups Runaway Train Bluegrass Band, the Union City Council Bluegrass Band and The Rank Strangers perform at the ninth annual Bluegrass from the Forest Midwinter Celebration from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday in the Shelton High School Performing Arts Center, 3737 N. Shelton Springs Road. Tickets are $20 and are available at the door and at www.bluegrassfromtheforest.com. Children ages 15 and younger are admitted for free. Kristmas Town Kiwanis hosts the concert. The group also presents the 19th...
FEBRUARY 2023 A profile on an anti-government and law enforcement extremist set to air on NBC's "Dateline" on Feb. 4 featured the recollections of his former wife, a longtime Shelton resident, and his son, a 2002 Shelton High School graduate. Lloyd Barrus is serving three concurrent life sentences without parole in a Billings, Montana prison. He was in the driver's seat when he and his now deceased son Marshall Barrus lured Broadwater County Deputy Mason Moore into chasing them, and Marshall...
MARCH 2023 Shelton City Manager Jeff Niten will leave his position to be the new city manager of Mountlake Terrace. Niten made the announcement March 7 at the Shelton City Council meeting. His last day is March 31. Niten prefaced his remarks by saying his departure was in "the rumor mill." "It's bittersweet," he said. "I really enjoyed my time here and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity to work with council to address the issues we wanted to address." Niten said he will set...
APRIL 2023 The Shelton City Council gave final approval for the annexation of 40-acres of land, known as “Meadows Edge,” into the city at the April 4 meeting. According to the background information, the city of Shelton received notice in February of intent to petition for annexation. The property being annexed is in the Shelton urban growth area and is north of the Shelton Springs subdivision and south of Island Lake. The property is owned by one person and is the subject of a 36-lot subdivision, which is under review by Mason County staff. Th...
MAY 2023 Lance Gibbon, a former superintendent of the Oak Harbor and Snoqualmie Valley school districts, will be the new superintendent of the Hood Canal School District, pending a contract agreement. On May 1, the Hood Canal School Board voted unanimously to hire Gibbon. He replaces Jose-de-Jesus Melendez, who resigned in February after seven months on the job to return to his family in Oregon. According to the district at the time, he was to complete the remainder of his contract on...
JUNE 2023 A former Shelton High School freshman counselor was arrested June 2 at his Shelton residence by Mason County Sheriff's Office deputies after a two-month investigation. Samuel Martin Caffey, 29, faces charges of child rape, child molestation, sexual misconduct with a minor, delivery of a controlled substance and possession of child pornography. Caffey was booked into Mason County Jail on Friday afternoon and made his initial court appearance Monday in Mason County Superior Court, where...
JULY 2023 A brush fire about 4 miles northeast of Shelton forced the evacuation of 200 structures July 4. The fire, driven by wind, began at about 2 p.m., just west of the Rainbow Lake community near the intersection of East McEwan Prairie Road and East Mason Lake Road. According to a news release from Central Mason Fire & EMS, the fire is burning on industrial timberland and private land that is flat and accessible terrain. "The crews did an outstanding job of protecting life and structures,"...
AUGUST 2023 George Blush and Tristen Smith will compete for a seat on the Shelton City Council in the November general election, and voters solidly support increasing the size of the Mason County Fire District 5 board of commissioners from three to five. Those are among the preliminary results of the Aug. 1 primary election posted at 8 p.m. The initial voter turnout was 28.17%. The results are scheduled to be certified Aug. 15. In the contest to whittle the Shelton City Council member No. 1 seat race from three candidates to two, Blush...
SEPTEMBER 2023 Chris Kostad, who has worked for the Shelton Police Department since 2002, will be the city's new police chief starting in November. The city in early September announced that Kostad will replace Carole Beason, who recently announced her intention to retire. She has served in that position since January 2021. Kostad is currently serving as a captain, a position he has held since 2021. He has also served in the department as a corporal, sergeant and lieutenant. A news release from...
OCTOBER 2023 After more than 40 years of prodding and mandating by Mason County and the state, the City of Shelton signed off on the final cleanup of the toxic C Street landfill. The Shelton City Council on Oct. 3 voted unanimously to close out the contract on the construction part of the cleanup of the 17-acre landfill west of downtown Shelton and U.S. Highway 101, which was completed in June. "Staff does not expect any additional action on the City's part pertaining to this project and can be...
NOVEMBER 2023 In three Shelton City Council races on Nov. 7's ballot, the longest-serving member was handily defeated by a fellow lifelong Shelton resident, a downtown businessman was elected after losing a council race two years ago by five votes, and a third contest was too close to call on the initial count. Melissa Stearns, a local Realtor and lifelong resident Shelton, defeated eight-year incumbent Kathy McDowell for a four-year term as council member 2. On the first ballot count, Stearns...
DECEMBER 2023 An “atmospheric river” of torrential rain over several days caused the Skokomish River to crest at its second-highest recorded point Dec. 5 and flooded and closed roads throughout Mason County. The National Weather Service on Dec. 5 issued flood warnings in parts of western Washington, including much of the Olympic Peninsula. Flooding and hazardous conditions prompted the state Department of Transportation to close state Route 106 from U.S. Highway 101 to Alderbrook at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 5. Other roads closed that day included Skokom...
The Shelton High School football team opened the home portion of its 2023 schedule Friday night against the Bremerton Knights. The Highclimbers led 23-21 late in the fourth quarter, but the Knights scored in the final minute to escape with the win. The Climbers trailed 14-0 and 21-7 before mounting a comeback. A 4-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter made it 21-14 at the break. A safety and a fourth-quarter touchdown gave Shelton the lead before Bremerton scored with 38 seconds left...
A co-ed softball team representing tournament sponsors Hanson Excavation and Maples Excavation and Septic went undefeated during the 25th annual Fuddpuckers Draft co-ed softball tournament held Saturday and Sunday at Callanan Park in Shelton. Players for the winning team were James Reyes, Adam Beeler, Kobe Bogh, Audra Oien, Hailey Mentzer, Hannah Wells, Louis Rodriguez, Jorge Zambrano, Chelsey Ceniza, Guy Sarson, Andrew Wilson and Izzy Wilson. Dillon Walker was named male tourament most...
The Highclimbers lost 3-2 to Ridgefield on Tuesday in the opening round of the District IV baseball tournament in Ridgefield. Shelton took an early lead but was unable to hang on. The Highclimbers had the tying run on third base in the top of the seventh inning. The Highclimbers faced Mark Morris on Wednesday in Ridgefield in a loser-out game. If Shelton wins, they will play the loser of Tumwater-Columbia River on Friday at 3 p.m. in Ridgefield with a spot in the state tournament on the line....
Shelton police are asking for help identifying three suspects in the fatal April 15 shooting at the intersection of Fir and Otter streets in Shelton’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. According to a social media post by the City of Shelton, camera footage was used to capture a still image of three people walking away from the scene of the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective James Belleville at 360-426-4441 or email at james.belleville@ sheltonwa.gov. When reached by phone Wednesday, Belleville said he was unable to give f...
The unemployment rate in Mason County continued to fall in March, according to a report released Tuesday morning by the state Economic Security Department. Mason County’s resident civilian labor force employment rate was 6.4% in March, down nearly 2% from February’s rate of 8.1%. The data in the report is not seasonally adjusted at the county level. Statewide, the rate was 4.5% and the national rate was 3.5% Both of those numbers, however, are seasonally adjusted and aren’t directly comparable to the county-by-county rate, which the depar...
Aberdeen recorded a team score of 154 to earn a victory at the Sibley Scramble on Monday at Alderbrook Golf Course in Union. Shelton finished ninth. Alena Hall from Shelton and Lexie DeLisle from W.F. West paired up as a team and carded a 98. Shelton's Ali Sorley and Morgen Shrum shot a 105 and Andrea Fogo and Savannah Oliver recorded a 122. Aberdeen's Britt Raicich and Kaitlyn McCracken won the tournament with a 68. Elma's Olivia Moore recorded the closest to the pin on hole 12 and Tumwater's...
North Mason High School's Teegan Skjonsby is taking her volleyball talent to the next level. Skjonsby signed last week with Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon, to compete for Wildcat volleyball. Skjonsby, who was a team captain for the Bulldogs, helped North Mason earn a third-place finish at the Olympic League postseason tournament and a berth in the West Central District III tournament in the fall. Linfield competes at the NCAA Division III level in the Northwest Conference, which...
A multifamily house fire early Wednesday morning in Shelton displaced 22 people. Central Mason Fire & EMS responded to a call at 2:45 a.m. at the corner of North First and West Pine streets where dispatch reported more than 20 people lived. "Crews arrived in minutes and found a working fire with several occupants located on second-floor balconies," a news release from CMFE state. "Crews conducted a search of the first and second floor in black smoke conditions. All occupants have been accounted...
A pedestrian was killed on West Railroad Avenue in a possible vehicular homicide late Saturday night. According to a Shelton Police Department news release, the collision occurred in the 1600 block of Railroad Avenue, just outside of the city limits. Officers arrived at the scene at 11:40 p.m. The pedestrian was walking in the middle of the road at the time of collision, according to police. The driver was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide and DUI. According to Washington State Patrol’s Katherine Weatherwax, the pedestrian was p...
The Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce honored its members and celebrated its 100th anniversary at its awards gala April 29 at the Little Creek Casino and Resort in Shelton. The sold-out event drew 326 guests. Jamie Mell, owner of John L. Scott Real Estate & Mell Property Management, was named Boss of the Year. The Patty Wagon, owned and operated by Patty Perry, was named Business of the Year. Dawn Myers was honored as Citizen of the Year. The Youth Connection was named Nonprofit of the Year. Kealy Electric is the Rookie of the Year, and...
North Mason Baseball The Bulldogs lost three games in the past week as the regular season winds down. North Mason fell 13-2 on April 28 to Bainbridge in Belfair. The Bulldogs traveled to Poulsbo on Monday for a doubleheader against North Kitsap, losing 12-1 and 5-4. The Bulldogs (2-11 overall, 1-9 league) traveled to Port Angeles for a Tuesday doubleheader and faced Olympic on the road Wednesday. North Mason wraps up the regular season Friday at home on senior day against Bremerton. Boys soccer...
