Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
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Chris Kostad, who has worked for the Shelton Police Department since 2002, will become the city’s new police chief in November. The city last week announced Kostad will replace Carole Beason, who recently announced her intention to retire. She has been in that position since January 2021. Kostad is a captain, a position he has had since 2021. He has also been a corporal, sergeant and lieutenant in the department. A news release from the city states that as captain, Kostad manages the department’s daily operations, including hiring, sta...
Gwen Ila Long was born April 26, 1931, and passed away peacefully on August 30, 2023, with her daughter Linda Fisher by her side. She was born to Merton and Ila (Smith) Munn in Mitchell, South Dakota. She married the love of her life Leonard Long and they had a life full of adventures, including raising four children, moving 18 times, and finishing her teaching degree along the way. She taught at Evergreen Elementary School in Shelton, Washington, taught preschoolers in Las Vegas and eventually...
Roger Lewis Hoff, 84, passed away on September 9th, 2023. He was the husband of Linda Hoff. They shared 60 years of marriage together. Born in Tacoma, Washington, he was the son of Leslie and Caroline Hoff. Roger and his family moved to Shelton, Washington when he was a young child. He graduated from Irene S. Reed High School in 1957. After high school, he attended Grays Harbor College where he played baseball. After college he was a member of the Army National Guard. Roger worked for Manke and...
Steven J. Bogart of Shelton, WA passed away on August 11, 2023, surrounded by his loving family. Steven, fondly known as "Bogie", was born to Floyd and Georgene Bogart on May 27, 2023, 1953, in Everett, WA. He was an amazing father, grandfather, husband, brother and friend. He loved and lived for hunting and fishing. He moved to Forks, WA to be a logger. He made many friends over the years while living there. While he lived in Forks, he not only made an impact in the logging industry, but he...
Daniel Florek, Sr., born April 17, 1952, passed away peacefully at the home of his son and best friend, Dan Florek, Jr. He was born to Florian and Evelyn in Roseburg, Oregon. He had a love for hunting and the only thing that he enjoyed more than that was hunting with his family. He always had his son by his side, along with numerous brothers and nephews, but nothing made him more excited than to hunt with his granddaughter Karen and great-granddaughter Alizabeth. He liked fishing, picking mushro...
Herbert "Skip" Smythe Rand, III, age 76, passed away July 28, 2023 at Shelton Health and Rehab. He was born July 29, 1946 in Bangor, Maine, to Herbert S. Rand, Jr. and Wilda Rose (Sucy) Rand. Skip joined the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and became an Elite Cobra Helicopter Pilot. He was a highly decorated Veteran and received numerous commendations, including a Purple Heart. He continued to be an instructor for the next generation of pilots. He retired with over 20 years of military...
Eugene Smith, 75, a resident of Shelton, passed away August 30, 2023, at home. Arrangements are by McComb & Wagner Family Funeral Home and Crematory. Gwen Long, 92, a resident of Shelton, passed away August 30, 2023, at Hearts of Warmth Adult Family Home in Lacey. Arrangements are by McComb & Wagner Family Funeral Home and Crematory. Richard Dean Conant, 95, a resident of Shelton, (U.S. Army Air Corps) passed away August 30, 2023, at Alpine Way in Shelton. Arrangements are by Forest Funeral Home and Crematory. Anita Remerowski, 75, a resident...
The Shelton City Council is slated to vote Tuesday evening to raise basic monthly water service rates from $46 to almost $75 by 2029 to meet operating expenses and pay back loans. The council unanimously gave preliminary agreement to the proposed rates at its Sept. 5 regular meeting. They were recommended by the consulting firm of FCS Group. The proposed basic rate for monthly water service, before any water is used, would rise 14% from $46.09 currently to $52.54 in 2024; increase 14% again in 2025 to $59.90; another 14% in 2026 to $68.28; 3%...
In the fall of 1937, Shirley "Winkie" Jaccard was a frightened 14-year-old taking the 40-minute bus ride from her family's isolated farm in the Pickering area to enter the eighth grade at Shelton Junior High School. Her education so far had been conducted inside the one-room Grant School - one year, she was the school's sole girl. She and her four siblings rose at 4 a.m. to milk cows and tend to chickens before their half-mile hike to Grant School. The family's outhouse was perched directly over...
Turning Pointe Survivor Advocacy Center in Shelton recently completed redesigning and renovating its kitchen that serves adults and children who are victims or witnesses of domestic violence. The project was funded by $130,000 in private donations, including money from the Ben B. Cheney Foundation, Mary Kay Ash Foundation, Sampson Family Foundation and Forest Foundation. The kitchen was closed to clients for three months while staff and volunteers prepared meals for them. "The idea was to...
Remember in spring 2020 when we started hearing the phrase “a novel coronavirus?” We don’t hear that phrase much now. This particular coronavirus has lost all its novelty. COVID-19 infection rates, and hospitalizations and deaths, have been rising around the country for the past couple of months. Some of the symptoms have evolved, but the disease remains. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the latest dose to treat the current strain that’s going around, and those doses could b...
How trust works Editor, the Journal, Trust. Trust is everywhere in our lives. Look at the trust we have of the stuff we put in our mouths. Toothpaste, mouthwash, licking the glue on the envelope, the food we eat, the drugs (legal and illegal) we take and so on. Even our money says, "In God We Trust." Trust is also like a rubber band; sometimes it stretches. Take a relationship where one person beats the hell out of the other partner and they say, "I am sorry and I won't do it again." Well, "agai...
In the summer of 1935, 25-year-old Dave James came to Shelton to edit the Shelton Independent, the "only Democratic newspaper on the West Coast - or maybe in the world." This story is adapted from a story James wrote for a 1985 Shelton centennial supplement to the Shelton-Mason County Journal. A. J. Chitty had started the weekly Shelton Independent in 1927, much to the annoyance of Grant Angle, who had been publishing the Shelton-Mason County Journal since 1886. According to James, "Chitty was...
League hosting schools discussion The League of Women Voters of Mason County is hosting a panel discussion on the governance role of school directors at noon Tuesday at Olympic College Shelton library, located at 937 Alpine Way. Representatives from the Washington State School Directors Association and Washington Association of School Administrators will be joined by six school directors and superintendents from across Washington. This civics education program is designed to increase the understanding of the roles and responsibilities of...
Quixote Village fundraiser event in Shelton Sept. 30 The second annual Quixote Communities’ Tiny Homes Big Future Celebration fundraiser is hosted from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 30 at The Pavilion, 190 W. Sentry Drive in Shelton. Quixote Communities has three villages for homeless people, including one devoted to local veterans that recently opened in Shelton. At the event, the nonprofit will thank its 2023 Partners of the Year: Mason County VFW Post 1694, Mason County VFW Post 1694 Auxiliary and the Puget Sound Veterans Hope Center. April Pooler a...
MCSO buys drone system The Mason County Sheriff’s Office agreed with county commissioners to an annual contract with Brinc Safeguard LEMUR Tactical Drone system, and to provide supplemental funding to the 2024 budget and allow the office to purchase two drones this month. According to the information packet, the drones will be used by the SWAT team for calls and to assist patrol when appropriate. The LEMUR is a purpose-used drone “specifically designed to be flown into buildings in order to clear rooms ahead of deputies, to identify pot...
Mason Health and eight other regional hospital systems took steps this summer to meet new statewide goals aimed at creating safer workplaces. Participating hospitals are working to reduce injuries and create safer work environments by launching safety campaigns for employees. Those hoping to receive top performer status this year are required to inaugurate and complete safety campaigns, running from Aug. 1 through Nov. 30, that focus their employees’ attention on how to conduct themselves m...
After nearly half a century, the rock band Foreigner is in the middle of its “Historic Farewell Tour,” which began in late 2022 and is set to conclude in 2024, but not before appearing at Little Creek Casino on Sept. 23. Keyboardist Michael Bluestein, a band member since 2008, admitted to bittersweet feelings about the band’s last tour even as he appreciates the chance to feed off the fans’ energy, live and in-person, during the band’s cross-country tour. “It’s thrilling that the band’s catalog...
Meet Ray Shoesmith. He's a fascinating animal. Australian actor, writer and director Scott Ryan spent the better part of 20 years honing this character, and the results impressed no less than actress Helen Mirren and her husband, director Taylor Hackford. Ryan's first draft of Ray's character came in a low-budget but critically acclaimed 2005 independent film called "The Magician," streaming on Amazon, which established Ray in Melbourne, before Ryan transplanted the character to Sydney, for...
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...
Shelton cross country Shelton’s Carson Bursch participated at the Ultimook Race on Sept. 2 in Tillamook, Oregon. Madison Lohmeyer finished 47th in the girls race. Jack Parker finished 65th in the boys race. The Climbers raced in Rochester against the Warriors and Aberdeen. Shelton travels to the Fort Steilacoom Invitational on Saturday at Fort Steilacoom Park. Shelton girls soccer Shelton opened the season with a scoreless home tie Sept. 5 against Olympic, and traveled to Lacey on Saturday, falling to Timberline 6-0 in a nonleague game. The Cli...
Port of Grapeview Commissioner Art Whitson said several matters worthy of public interest were raised at the port’s special meeting Aug. 22. Under the port’s maintenance plan, landscaping, irrigation and septic systems were addressed, its trees have been trimmed, and its restrooms and gutters have been cleaned, although replacing the women’s restroom toilet requires some work. Whitson praised AAA Septic in Shelton, which had to deal with hundreds of pounds of invasive roots infiltrating the p...
The Port of Allyn’s special meeting Aug. 24 saw port officials and port district residents comment on the port’s comprehensive plan for harbor improvements, with Port Commissioner Ted Jackson suggesting that broadband expansion be added to the community survey regarding the plan. Jackson recommended a specific grant writer for his fellow commissioners to meet, and Port Executive Director Lary Coppola agreed a lot of unclaimed grant money is available that could help the port’s work on its infra...
