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  • Letters to the Editor

    Mar 21, 2024

    Thank you, Gary Burleson Editor, the Journal, I was pleased to see that the District Court building was going to be named in honor of Gary Burleson. I knew Gary going back into the late '70s. During the '80s, we did battle many times and he and I developed a good working relationship. His was a thankless job. Even though it was in the days before social media, there were still many avenues for people to inappropriately react, jump to conclusions, or otherwise interject themselves into...

  • From the Publisher

    John Lester|Mar 21, 2024

    Standing alone in front of the mirror, seeing my brown eyes looking back at me, I replay what I've just said to my dad. I grip the bathroom counter and bite my lower lip. I've heard those words as a son countless times and have said them as a dad just as many, but this was a first. Dad said he wanted to take care of himself and Mom. I told my dad, "No, you can't do that." ■ ■ ■ I got to my parents' house in Sequim in February 2023, following a two-hour drive, and asked Dad what stores we need...

  • These Times

    Kirk Ericson|Mar 14, 2024

    I didn’t vote in the March 12 presidential primary. It’s the first time in years I’ve intentionally not voted. I’ve voted in 56 elections since the general election of 1992, according to my voting record at votewa.gov. The site doesn’t show you how you voted, just that you voted. For comparison, Mrs. Ericson has voted 68 times since 1992. In matters of citizenship, and civility, she is better than I am. The way Washington’s presidential primary ballot is arranged, if you voted for a Republican...

  • Letters to the Editor

    Mar 14, 2024

    A student's view on homelessness Editor, the Journal, I am Summer and I am a senior at Shelton High School. I am writing to you about the homeless issue in Mason County to further spread awareness, if this sees print. The issue we face as a community is considerable in size and many are uneducated about the topic. Currently, there are not enough shelters to accommodate the number of unhoused individuals, forcing those without housing to find camp elsewhere and trespass on private or public...

  • These Times

    Kirk Ericson|Feb 29, 2024

    Two months ago, a plastic freezer bag appeared on our front porch. Inside was a 100% Merino wool, long-sleeve black undershirt, with the tags still attached. All that was written on the freezer bag was "KIRK" (with the last "K" turned backward), with no hint who it was from. It had to be from someone who knows me well, well enough to know I have an affection for Merino wool, long-sleeve shirts, possessions that come free, the color black, and that I wear a size large. And perhaps the person was...

  • Letters to the Editor

    Feb 29, 2024

    How many more need to die on 101? Editor, the Journal, How many more of our citizens are going to die in head-on crashes on the U.S. Highway 101 bypass around Shelton? For years and years, I begged the Washington State Department of Transportation and the Legislature to simply install jersey barriers on the centerline. Impaired drivers easily cross the centerline with tragic results. The bypass has adequate width for centerline barriers, even crossing Goldsborough Creek. I have lost track of how many of our community have died because of...

  • These Times

    Kirk Ericson|Feb 22, 2024

    The world is not going to hell. It’s not going to heaven, either. It’s going to where it’s always been going and where it’s always been: Planet Earth. This world of ours is a mix, a kind of impure puree. Sometimes, the heaven part coagulates at the top, and sometimes, the hell part’s at the top. That’s the ebb and recharge of the universe’s experiment with Homo sapiens. Many of us humans have worked hard to learn how to exist amid other Homo sapiens, and many of us have worked hard to destr...

  • Letters to the Editor

    Feb 22, 2024

    Editor's note: In a recent letter to the editor, Mr. Graham questioned a letter writer's use of TinyURL links. TinyURL is a link-shortening website that allows for more user-friendly entry into an internet browser than typing out a full web address - some of which can be hundreds of characters long. The shortened links in question came from the Journal staff during the editing process. This note was intended to be included in last week's edition to clarify the process but was inadvertently left...

  • These Times

    Kirk Ericson|Feb 15, 2024

    I've lately been asking people how many people in the United States have died of COVID. Their answers are generally way low - before I checked the stat, my answer was way low, too. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,176,639 people died of COVID in the United States from January 2020 to February 2024. More than 1 million Americans dead. Imagine. That's almost double the deaths from the Civil War. "So, again, when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days i...

  • Letters to the Editor

    Feb 15, 2024

    A message to a candidate Editor, the Journal, My response to Richard Beckman's announcement that he is running for the District 2 commissioner seat. First, Kevin Shutty has been present at many of our Mason County Fire District 12 meetings and Matlock community meetings. As one of the leaders of our community, I invite you to attend the next community meeting. I am not sure that Kevin did everything that he could do, but he did more than most of the elected officials. Thank you, Kevin, for...

  • These Times

    Kirk Ericson|Feb 8, 2024

    “But if Christ hadn’t delivered his Sermon on the Mount, with its message of mercy and pity, I wouldn’t want to be a human being. I’d just as soon be a rattlesnake.” — Kurt Vonnegut, “A Man Without a Country” Imagine, if you will … It’s circa 30 A.D. and Jesus Christ is in his late 20s and starting to make a name for himself. He’s on a hilltop near the Sea of Galilee and a crowd has gathered to hear the carpenter deliver a major speech. Among the assembled is an old man named Strange. He’s t...

  • Letters to the Editor

    Feb 8, 2024

    A vote for music Editor, the Journal, Music education changed my life. Hood Canal School has no space for a music program. The current bond proposal will provide that space. I went through eight years of basic education in a school without music education. I missed out on: ■ Learning that music is math-intervals like thirds and fifths to make harmony; scales and note values and rhythms. ■ The joy of making music; feeling the rhythms and vibrations in my body; moving with the music and joi...

  • THESE TIMES

    Kirk Ericson|Feb 1, 2024

    It’s easy to be entranced by the innocent looks of toddlers. They appear to have no idea what’s coming at them. The wonderful thing about quitting cigarettes is you have the opportunity to start them all over again. When both our boys were living at home and would go out for the evening, returning after I went to bed, one of my first destinations the next morning was to check the shoe rack to ensure their shoes were there. Seeing those shoes always gave me a serene feeling. All was well wit...

  • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

    Feb 1, 2024

    Gun insanity: Revisited Editor, the Journal, This letter is in response to Dr. Busacca's Letter to the Editor on Jan. 11, "Gun Insanity." Dr. Busacca, you have been a long-standing, respected member of Mason County, but your letter, while spirited, veers away from historical precision and distorts key statistics. First, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guns are not the leading cause of death for people under 20. I suspect you got that statistic from a flashy headline...

  • THESE TIMES

    Kirk Ericson|Jan 25, 2024

    This is a story about how to improve your body’s existence. All you need is a floor and a rug. And a wall. I received an email last week from Nils Marcks von Wurtemberg, a friend a few years older than me. He lives in Sweden. His email reported his latest adventure … and its aftermath: “We have minus 13.5 degrees Celsius today in Stockholm. Tomorrow it will be colder. … Last Sunday I skated 40 km on the Baltic Sea with my long ice skates on quite soft ice, which was awful. I have never been so...

  • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

    Jan 25, 2024

    The power of ‘yes’ Editor, the Journal, ■ 60+1: an age for contemplating retirement. ■ 60+1: exceeding the speed limit on U.S. Highway 101 (a bit.) ■ 60+1: a supermajority — the percentage of “yes” votes needed to pass a bond measure for school construction. We are retired, live in Union, and have no children or grandkids who attend Hood Canal School, where passage of the current bond measure will do much to bolster “Orca Pride.” In fact, the improvements the bond addresses, if passed, will do much to enrich our entire community. Recently...

  • GUEST COLUMN

    Steve Duenkel, Mason County Auditor|Jan 25, 2024

    The last quarter of 2023 was busy and productive. Your Financial Services Department finalized and published the Mason County 2022 Annual Report. The Auditor’s Office is responsible for reporting the complete activity for prior-year finances, per RCW 36.22.10(4). You can find this report at www.tinyurl.com/ye22b2ne. To better support veterans, your Recording Department team provided the ability for veterans to record, process or obtain certified copies of their Form DD214 Certificate of R...

  • THESE TIMES

    Kirk Ericson|Jan 18, 2024

    We in Western Washington are in our hardest stretch of weather. It’s mostly freezing rain, showers, rain, more rain, drizzles, mizzles and downpours, and we’ve got another few months of it staring at us. Our cold and rain loom like an extended sentence in the hole. In 1989, I lived just outside of Washington, D.C., where I worked for Gannett News Service and was around people from around the nation. I’d often ask those people what they thought when they thought of our state, and a common answe...

  • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

    Jan 18, 2024

    Vote 'yes' for Hood Canal schools Editor, the Journal, Things are changing at Hood Canal School District. The student population is increasing. As a result, there is need for more classrooms, teachers, and paraeducators. Administrative leadership is stabilizing with the hires of our new superintendent, Lance Gibbon, and principal, Steven Torres. Current staff deserve the kind of space and equipment that allows them to teach to the demands of the 21st century and our students deserve the...

  • THESE TIMES

    Kirk Ericson|Jan 11, 2024

    The light bulb in our kitchen started flickering last week and I realized I hadn’t replaced a light bulb in maybe a year. It used to be light bulbs going out was a constant irritant of modern life, but with incandescent bulbs being replaced by longer-lived fluorescent bulbs and LED lights, we can go months now without thinking about light bulbs. I brought this matter up with Mrs. Ericson. Remember when, I asked her, we used to put light bulbs on the list of things to get? Do you remember when w...

  • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

    Jan 11, 2024

    Have we learned? Editor, the Journal, After nearly 75 years, Capitol Lake will be turned back into an estuary, a decision demonstrating we have learned that estuaries are a biologically rich environment playing an important role in the lives of many species. Or have we?  Near Capitol Lake, at the end of Hammersley Inlet, is the beautiful natural estuary of Oakland Bay.  Our state government - the Department of Natural Resources - is considering whether to lease publicly owned aquatic lands a...

  • 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...

  • THESE TIMES

    Kirk Ericson|Dec 28, 2023

    The flagpole outside the PUD 3 building on Cota Street in Shelton is catty-corner (or is it kitty-corner?) to the Journal’s office, and our view from the newsroom gives us a wide view of that skinny pole. Several months ago, the flag went away. But that’s not what this is about. When the flag was at half-staff, we’d often wonder why that was so, and sometimes I’d go to the Governor’s Office website to dispel our wonder. If you type in “Washington Governor’s Office flag display,” then scroll to ...

  • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

    Dec 28, 2023

    Democratic answer Editor, the Journal, Mr. Anvik recently posed questions to Democrats regarding abortion. One caused me to seriously ponder. He asked that since half of aborted fetuses are female, if not aborted by law and grown to womanhood, how would they feel about abortion? Interesting question. If they knew they were unwanted, it would likely have an undesirable impact on the relationship with the birth mother and increased likelihood of other emotional issues throughout life. Child psychologists suspect children born to a women forced...

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