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Articles from the January 4, 2024 edition


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  • Winter song

    Jan 4, 2024

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  • Council swears in new members

    Gordon Weeks|Jan 4, 2024

    Melissa Stearns, George Blush and Tom Gilmore were sworn in Tuesday evening as new members of the Shelton City Council, followed by the seven-member council unanimously re-electing Eric Onisko as mayor. Joe Schmit was re-elected deputy mayor. Stearns, a local Realtor and lifelong Shelton resident, defeated eight-year incumbent Kathy McDowell with 60.63% for a four-year term as council member 2. Blush, the owner of Nita's Koffee Shop and the nonprofit 5XL Shelton Food Bank that provides pet food...

  • Capturing an era of Shelton on film

    Gordon Weeks|Jan 4, 2024

    In the late 1960s and early '70s, Dennis Meurer wandered the streets of his hometown of Shelton capturing black-and-white images with his camera. A pair of young guys in blue jeans lean on a car inside the Mell Chevrolet sales room on First Street in the fall of 1970. Simpson employees work inside the mill's roundhouse, now gone. Shoppers stroll past the shops on West Railroad Avenue. "It was more or less for myself," Meurer said in an interview with the Journal. "It's a form of hoarding." His i...

  • CITY BRIEFS

    Compiled by reporter Gordon Weeks|Jan 4, 2024

    More money for Safe Routes to School The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening gave preliminary approval to adding almost $20,000 to a design contract for sign improvements on the streets outside Evergreen Elementary School and Shelton High School. The council can make the move official with a second vote at its Jan. 16 meeting. The council is working to help students at Shelton High School and Evergreen Elementary School with three projects through a state program called Safe Routes to...

  • THESE TIMES

    Kirk Ericson|Jan 4, 2024

    The world is getting worse and better, and it’s all happening at the same time. Don’t generalize. Generalizing is always bad. The odor of a banana makes honeybees want to sting you, according to an interview with a North Mason beekeeper that ran in the Dec. 14 edition of the Journal. So … that’s one more thing you must keep in mind as you go about this hard and complicated life: Never attack a beehive with a banana. When dogs and cats suddenly find themselves in the middle of a sunbeam while l...

  • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

    Jan 4, 2024

    Join a caucus Editor, the Journal, Dear fellow neighbors of Mason County, All across our state the precinct caucus will take place Saturday, Jan. 13. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. for registration, with the caucus beginning at 10 a.m. and will conclude by approximately noon. What is a precinct caucus? At its core, the county caucus is about unity. It's about bringing together diverse voices under shared principles and goals. It's a significant gathering of the "grass-roots" right here in our...

  • HISTORY AT A GLANCE

    Jan Parker|Jan 4, 2024

    In 1928, the newly organized Tacoma-Oriental Steamship company purchased seven freighters and renamed each of them for a Pacific Northwest town or county. The SS Cuprum was renamed Shelton. The remaining six ships were named after Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Bellingham, Olympia and Grays Harbor. Mason County Journal Editor Grant Angle wrote: "The budding City of Shelton ought to feel 'all puffed up' over the nice recognition of its present and prospective part in the shipping affairs of Puget...

  • COMMISSION BRIEFS

    Compiled by reporter June Williams|Jan 4, 2024

    WIC contract extended At the regular Jan. 2 meeting, commissioners extended the performance period of a Women, Infants and Children contract through Feb. 29. The additional time is for continued staff training. The WIC program provides supplemental food, health care referrals and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk, according to the federal website. WIC will be a three-way partnership with Mason County...

  • COUNTY BRIEFS

    Compiled by reporter June Williams|Jan 4, 2024

    Driver hits pole to avoid deer A driver suffered injuries when his car rolled over and struck a pole on state Route 3 near mile post 18 in the early morning of New Year’s Day as he swerved to avoid a deer, according to the Washington State Patrol. Grapeview resident Caleb Tobin, 22, was taken to Mason General Hospital for treatment. Tobin’s Kia Forte was totaled, police said. Arson suspect pleads not guilty Mason County Judge Daniel Goodell entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Jacob Rivera,44, at Rivera’s initial appearance Jan. 2. River...

  • COMMUNITY BRIEFS

    Compiled by reporter Gordon Weeks|Jan 4, 2024

    Treats at Civic Center to honor police Members of the Shelton Centennial Lions Club will hand out treats, homemade and from a local bakery, at 9 a.m. Friday at the front door of the Shelton Civic Center to say thank you to the Shelton Police Department. Actors wanted for mystery dinner Connection Street Theatre hosts auditions for “A Valentine’s Murder Mystery Dinner” at 5 p.m. today in the fellowship hall at Faith Lutheran Church, 1212 Connection St., Shelton. Performers ages 16 and older can audition for 10 to 12 roles: three male, four...

  • First tenants move into Veterans Village

    Gordon Weeks|Jan 4, 2024

    Nathan Beck spent nights sleeping in a tent next to the Shelton Walmart for six months, then two years inside the Community Lifeline shelter in downtown Shelton before moving into the new Shelton Veterans Village about six weeks ago. Instead of contending with rats, rain and eviction threats, the U.S Navy veteran has a warm room with a bed, desk, chair, a small refrigerator and a bathroom. In the community building, he can cook food and has a storage space in a refrigerator. "I haven't had any...

  • IN THE DARK REVIEWS

    Kirk Boxleitner|Jan 4, 2024

    "Ferrari" is every inch a Michael Mann film, which means its acting, cinematography and production are all impeccable, but for once, I didn't find the result entirely compelling. Mann has sought to make this movie since the turn of the millennium, which makes sense. Mann's obsession with propulsion likely inspired lesser directors such as Michael Bay. Mann's narratives tend toward masculine protagonists, who pathologically need to pursue that which could lead to their own unraveling. Within the...

  • Shelton continues hot streak

    Jan 4, 2024

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  • PREP ROUNDUP

    Jan 4, 2024

    Shelton boys basketball Shelton won 45-41 against Elma on Dec. 29 at Terry Gregg Court and earned a 54-36 win against Hockinson on Dec. 28 in Shelton. The Highclimbers (4-5, 1-1) traveled to Centralia on Tuesday to play the Tigers. Shelton hosts Aberdeen at 7 tonight in the Mini-Dome. Shelton wrestling Shelton wrestling finished second at the Greely Open wrestling tournament at Graham-Kapowsin High School in Graham on Dec. 28. Aiden Dodge won the 120-pound tournament, defeating Orting’s Tyler Brinkman, Eatonville’s Mark Devera, Rogers (Puyallup...

  • Battling Bulldog

    Jan 4, 2024

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  • Port of Allyn interim director LeAnn Dennis dies

    June Williams|Jan 4, 2024

    Port of Allyn commissioners observed a moment of silence at the regular meeting Jan. 1 for interim Executive Director LeAnn Dennis, age 55, who died Christmas Day. “LeAnn will be greatly missed. She left a big hole,” Commissioner Judy Scott said. Scott read a statement from Dennis’ daughter, Alena Dennis, at the meeting. “Anyone who ever met LeAnn would tell you that their lives changed forever after knowing her. She made everything brighter and gave her whole heart to anyone who showed her kindness and love. Her commitment to caring for her...

  • MARY'S MEMOIRS

    Clydene Hostetler|Jan 4, 2024

    The end of the year has come. No birds to hunt, so Mary and Sam go to Los Angeles to see friends. Mary got embarrassed when their dog Queenie dug up a couple of bushes. I had the same experience when I was visiting my parents at their new home in California. My German shepherd was a puppy and she dug up several rose bushes my stepdad had just planted. Oh gosh! Sam's birthday Dec. 29. Happy New Year to all! Sunday, Dec. 25, 1949 The sun was warm and bright when we arose, so we ate breakfast and...