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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
January 21, 1999     Shelton Mason County Journal
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January 21, 1999
 
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J WATER STILL STANDS on Skokomish Valley Road after last Thursday's flooding when the river threatened to cut a new channel, prompting the county to declare an emergency. Most at forum nix introducin00 animal to park: Wolf plan howled down By CAROLYN MADDUX There were no middle opinions to speak of when upwards of 90 people, most of them Ma- son County residents, gathered at the Shelton High School SUB on Tuesday evening to con- verse electronically with researchers about the notion of reintroducing wolves to Olympic National Park. In what they called a Town Hall Meeting, folks from Olympic Natural Resources Center drew on the expertise of Battelle and Elway Research personnel and equipment to provide for instant electronic responses to issues al- ready identified as pertinent to the proposal. It wasn't supposed to be a vocal session, said Todd Peterson, the Battelle researcher who moderated the process. Nonetheless, Battelle was at times embat- tled as members of the audience took excep- tion to some of the questions. And the elec- tronic equipment that was to have provided quick feedback seemed periodically fed up, re- SHS will Emergency declared move up In Skokomish Valley to AAAA By JEFF GREEN By MARY DUNCAN sandbagging exercise with the property. "Climber Pride" took a major The Mason County Board of Commissioners met in a special Session last Thursday afternoon to issue a declaration of emer- gency in the Skokomish Valley near Bambi Farms Road due to imminent danger. The river, they said in their session, was threatening to breach there. By Friday afternoon the river had receded, the danger had passed and the declaration had expired. ON THURSDAY, Mason County Public Works Director Jerry Hauth told commissioners John Bolender and Mary Jo Cady that the U.S. Army Corps of En- gineers had conducted a field in- vetigatio on Wednesday after- noon and informed him of the potential for serious damage due to avulsion - a breaking out - of the river near Bambi Farms Road. Emergency services depart- ment volunteers, gathered at the site in the morning conducting a What the county can do is no- tify those affected families through the department of emer- gency services, which would ini- tiate procedures to evacuate them if necessary. Director of Emer- gency Services Joe Murray said no families were evacuated dur- ing last week's flood event. According to Rich Geiger, a county hydraulics engineer, the sequence of events began Wed- nesday afternoon when he got a call from Guy Parsons, a Bambi Farms Road resident, who re- ported that erosion of the river- bank was "quite bad and some open spots were exposed to the river." ON THURSDAY, the Corps surveyed the scen and recom- mended that the county request its aid, Geiger noted. This re- quest can only be made under flood conditions, and the Corps can only do repair work when the river is at or above flood stage, he explained. (Please turn to page 10.) Corps, confirmed the report from the Corps of Engineers. There is a serious scour, about 300 feet of riverbank washing out, Hauth reported, and the Corps wants to get in there to try to deflect the river to the other side. The Corps would mobilize Friday morning after identify- ing points of entry and obtaining emergency permits. CADY NOTED that a meeting was scheduled for later Thurs- day afternoon with the Skokom- ish Indian Tribe, the county and the Corps. She said the emergen- cy declaration by the county is necessary in order to use the re- sources of the Corps and to re- ceive reimbursement through bderal funds. On Tuesday, reviewing the situation, Cady explained that the county is not involved in a diking project at this point on the river because no county property or roads are threatened. The po- tential avulsion there would create an oxbow through private At the start of Monday's city commission meeting, Hilburn told his audience that 14 of 30 employees at his car dealership volunteered to take the training recently and last weekend, that training paid off when one of his employees used what he'd learned to save the life of a little girl. Brentt Hensley, 27, who works in the individ- ual maintenance and detail shop, was at a social gathering in a private home when a young girl began choking on a grape that she'd swallowed, Hilburn said. The girl's father was pounding on her back in an effort to dislodge the grape, but was having .--........ Man who'd just learned CPR saves choking girl Shelton Fire Department's two-day first- no success. The girl's face was turning blue when aid/cardiopulmonary resuscitation course drew Hensley applied the Heimlich maneuver as he'd high praise this week from Mayor Scott Hilburn. been taught in the class. The grape popped out, the girl began breathing again and the color re- turned to her face. "He was pleased he could do it," Hilburn said of Hensley. "We just got through the training," Hensley said, explaining that he had finished the course only a few days earlier. "It helped me stay as calm as I did." Hensley thinks the girl is five or six years old. She was gasping and choking, he said, when he used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the grape. "I only had to do it one time, one thrust," he said. "It was an experience, that's for sure." jolt this week when Shelton High School learned it was being re- classified from a 3-A to a 4-A high school. The change takes effect next fall and will have ramifications on SHS athletic teams, but just how much it will affect High- climber teams in terms of who their future opponents will be and what league the school will ul- timately join is unknown for now. Shelton School District and SHS officials were scrambling for answers and options this week as the impact of the announcement sunk in. SHS Principal ellody Matthes and AthltiDirector Bill Hick,s at,e'.Jed a;neeting of athletic directors of the new Pa- cific 9 League, to which Shetton belongs, on Wednesday. Other schools in the league (all of them 3-A high schools) include Tumwa- ter, Black Hills, North Thurston, Timberline, River Ridge, Aber- deen, Chehalis and Centralia. WHY IS SHELTON'S status changing? The Washington Interscholas- tic Activities Association (WIAA), which oversees high school athlet- ics throughout most of the state, informed Shelton School District officials the high school was being bumped up from 3-A to 4-A status because of enrollment figures. The school's new status takes ef- fect next fall and will last for at least the next two school years. The change caught school dis- trict officials off guard. "We're scurrying right now, trying to rind out what our options are," said Shelton Schools Superin- tendent Bill Hundley. "It actually came as a surprise to us," Hundley said. Each month, the Shelton district sends an en- rollment count to the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Shelton district does not include home- school students in its enrollment counts, but the WIAA does, and that difference was enough to push SHS into the higher enroll- ment bracket. Home-school students are eligi- ble to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities at their local high school, Hundley said. And adding 60 high-school- age home-school students within the Shelton district to the SHS enrollment count sent the school's enrollment above the 1,201-stud- ent mark that separates 3-A schools from 4-A schools. "IT'S NOT WHAT I wanted," Hundley said of the change. We were so, so happy with the new league. Travel times were close; there were natural rivalries." Hundley said SHS has some smaller classes coming up through the system and there is a good chance enrollment will drop to enable the school to revert back to 3-A status. But that won't hap- pen until at least the 2001-2002 school year. "It has set us back," he said of the change. "It is disappointing." Shelton may be able to stay in the Pacific 9 League, but if it does it would be a nQn-league particip- (Please turn to page 12.) quiring several returns to issues when the hand-held keypads couldn't seem to register with the scoring system. FOR THE MOST part, results of the questions appeared quickly as bar graphs on the screen. And for the most part, they re- flected the makeup of the audience: 25 to 30 percent folks who favored, or didn't oppose, the presence of gray wolves in the wilds of the Olympics; upwards of 60 percent folks who objected, period. Most of the questions or statements offered a six-point range from strongly agreeing to strongly disagreeing. Most of the responses were divided, and hardly anyone took a mid- point stance. Demographic information gathered early on indicated that the majority of the partici- pants were aged 50 and up, had lived in the area 20 years or more, used the Olympic Na- tional Park 10 or more times a year, and fished, hunted, hiked or camped regularly - most of them doing all four. And over half of them appeared to be members of organiza- tions that had to do with the outdoors. Char- lie Florek, who stood outside the SUB hand- ing out flyers for a wildlife organization, said the group had a strong showing inside. They were hunters, he said, who worried that the deer and elk populations were already wan- ing. "Some bikers who take park rangers in," he said, "say they just don't see any wildlife any more." WHEN IT CAME time to register opinions on matters more to the point of the meeting than ages and length of residence, the bar graphs looked nothing like the usual bell- shaped curve. They looked like hedges with paving stones between them. Asked if they thought wolves would help moderate the swings in deer and elk popula- (Please turn to page 9.) Thursday, January 21, 1999 113th Year - Number 3 5 Sections - 50 Pages 50 Cents Youth gets 18 years for Shaffer's murder person can devastate everyone ar- ound him." Bud Nugent of Shelton said a, few words on his son's behalf. "Beau has not been a troubled child. He has been a pretty good kid," he said. "It was a bad snap decision on his part." NUGENT APOLOGIZED to the family of his victim. "I can honestly say I didn't try to kill Vern," he said. ............ Marjorie Hagerup, a counselor who has worked with Nugent, wrote a letter asking Sawyer to show compassion towards the teen. She asked the judge to limit his sentence to 10 years in prison. "I have seen good qualities in Beau. He has a tender heart and is easily touched," she wrote. She wrote that he is "haunted by the memory" of what happened last June 13 and that he cries and has trouble getting to sleep. "This is what you get when kids, alcohol and weapons mix," she wrote. He also sentenced Nugent to 24 months of community super- vision and ordered him to pay $656.05 in court costs, $500 to the crime victims' compensation fund and $750 in attorney's fees. He scheduled a restitution hearing for February 25. Beau Edward Nugent, who is 18 years and 3 months old, was sentenced last Thursday to 18 years and 4 months in prison for the murder of Vernon Shaffer Jr. Nugent was arrested last June after Shaffer died in the small hours of June 13 on the porch of a home he had left a short time ear- lier. Nugent pleaded guilty in No- vember to murder in the second degree in an episode that started with taunts and a pair of sneak- ers and ended in the stabbing death on Mountain View of a 19- year-old Shelton resident. Judge James Sawyer gave Nu- gent the maximum penalty al- lowed under the state's standard sentencing guidelines. Robert Quillian, Nugent's at- torney, had asked Sawyer to im- pose a lesser sentence. "He does not consider himself a murderer as that term is normally under- stood," Quillian said. NUGENT'S codefendant, 18- year-old Mickey L. Hodgson, pleaded guilty to second degree manslaughter in the middle of a bench trial before Judge Sawyer. He was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison shortly after he entered that plea. "I don't understand how the young people of our society have lost touch with the value of a hu- man life," Sawyer said last week in sentencing Nugent. Shaffer was found bleeding on the front porch of a house on the 2400 block of Washington Street shortly before 2 a.m. on June 13. Neighbors told police that Shaffer had attended a party there and had left with two companions. Authorities say the dispute started earlier in the week when someone defaced Shaffer's sneak- ers. This kicked off what Prosecu- tor Gary Burleson described as "a free-floating discussion" involving a teenage girl and the knife Nu- gent carried on his belt. "IT WAS MORE along the lines of bravado," Burleeon said. "That knife had been put into play by discussions and braggado- cio during the week." Sawyer said that Nugent's de- cision to carry a knife was a criti- cal part of the tragedy. "This knife was a regular feature on your belt," Sawyer said. "it was your decision in this circumstance to pull a knife on this young man and tab him in the throat." VaNeda Womack, Shaffer's mother, attended the sentencing. "This man took my son away from us over a pair of shoes, a 13-year- old girl and some language," she said. "I don't understand how one Office employees cite stress in leaving port Ahlf, a retired engineer. "They are moving ahead," Trusler said. "It's a great bunch. They've gone through the resumes that we have and thefre narrowing it down for us. We're just trying to get the best person for the job." Trusler declined comment on the resignations of Stewart and Munch. "Basically we're going to do some exit interviews and see what we can come up with in terms of what their concerns are and how we can address those concerns," he said. IIIIIIIIIIIIIlUlIUUlIlUIIIIIUlUlIIlUUlIIIIIIIIlUlIIIIlUIIIlll On the inside Births ................................... .14 Classifieds ........................... 25 Community Calendar ......... 7 Crossword ........................... 29 Entertainment, Dining ..... 24 Health Journal ................... 14 Journal of Record ............. .30 Obituaries ....................... 10, 11 Opinions, Letters ................. 4 Sports ................................... 18 Tides ................................... ,. 30 Weather .............. , ................. 10 IlU|tlIIIIlilUlIIlIIlUlIIXIlUIUlIIIIIIIIIHII ' l|lHllllililli Sheltonlan allegedly threatens governor A man described as a Shelton continued, that he was upset confirmed resident was arrested last week and charged with a felony after 1:geavleYrnmaking threats against . b rnor and the state capitol building. Brian Ochoa, 31, was taken into custody without incident af- ter he entered the lobby of Gover- nor Gary Locke's office at the Capitol Rotunda and talked about blowing it up, said Washington State Patrol spokesperson Julie Myer. Ochoa remained in the cus- tody of Western State Hospital, where he was sent for a mental- health evaluation, this week. "He entered the lobby ...and be- gan making threats toward the governor . Trooper Myer said. "He talked about destroying the capitol building and the employees.- It appeared, Myer "with the legislative process and government in general." STATE CAPITOL security of- ricers contacted Ochoa and asked him questions, she said, and he continued to make threats. "He was arrested on that ground," she said. She described him as quiet and cooperative in the course of the arrest, and said no weapons were found on his person. Myer said an initial mental- health evaluation was done at the Thurston County Jail, where Ochoa was booked, and he was subsequently sent to Saint Peter Hospital for evaluation. An order of the Thurston County Superior Court provided for the 15-day mental-health evaluation at Western State, Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Steve Straume Two office workers cited stress, conflict and too many bosses at the Port of Shelton in submitting their resignations to the Board of Commissioners. San-Dee Stewart is quitting her job as administrative assis- tant on Friday. She's held that position for the last 13 months. She'll start a new job on Monday. Her resignation comes as the port is once again looking for a new director. "Due to the exveve changes in the port director position and temporary fill-in staff for this po- sition, the staff has never re- ceived adequate direction or as- sistance to fulfill their job respon- sibilities and requirements for their positions,"' she wrote to the commission in a January 15 letter of resignation. Stewart wrote that the rapid turnover of directors had the ef- fect of turning the three-member commission into her supervisor. 'his creates conflicting direction and an inability for the staff to adequately complete their tasks in a manner that would satisfy all concerned," she wrote. Julie Munch will be stepping down as bookkeeper on January 29 after I0 years on the job. Dur- ing that time she has seen nu- merous office workers come and go. "This has created many stressful situations for me while also causing job-related and per- sonal distress over the years," she wrote. Munch wrote that the situation has "affected my health" and that she cannot go through another changing of the guard. Shelton Port Commission Pres- ident Henry Trusler reported at last week's meeting that the com- mission talked in executive ses- sion about its efforts to find a new executive director of the port. The resumes of about 30 ap- plicants for the position have been reviewed by a citizens advi- sory committee, whose names were announced at the January 13 meeting. Advisory committee members appointed .by the port directors are Patti Case of Simp- son Timber Company', Andrea Fontenot, who is employed in the property management division of the Port of Olympia; Jill Faughender of Centennial Bank; Pare Ward of PUD 3; and Ron Straume said Ochoa has been charged with making threats against the governor, a felony. No arraignment date has been set, however, Straume said. THE WASHINGTON State Patrol maintains security at the state capitol, Myer said. This is a good example of how well it works," the Weeper added. The situation, abe said, was resolved without incident or danger to on- lookers. "' The court, Straume and Myer said, has issued a no-contact or- der barring Ochoa from the capi- tol grounds, Myer and Straume declined to release Ochoa's address but Myer confirmed that he is a resident of Shelton. J J WATER STILL STANDS on Skokomish Valley Road after last Thursday's flooding when the river threatened to cut a new channel, prompting the county to declare an emergency. Most at forum nix introducin00 animal to park: Wolf plan howled down By CAROLYN MADDUX There were no middle opinions to speak of when upwards of 90 people, most of them Ma- son County residents, gathered at the Shelton High School SUB on Tuesday evening to con- verse electronically with researchers about the notion of reintroducing wolves to Olympic National Park. In what they called a Town Hall Meeting, folks from Olympic Natural Resources Center drew on the expertise of Battelle and Elway Research personnel and equipment to provide for instant electronic responses to issues al- ready identified as pertinent to the proposal. It wasn't supposed to be a vocal session, said Todd Peterson, the Battelle researcher who moderated the process. Nonetheless, Battelle was at times embat- tled as members of the audience took excep- tion to some of the questions. And the elec- tronic equipment that was to have provided quick feedback seemed periodically fed up, re- SHS will Emergency declared move up In Skokomish Valley to AAAA By JEFF GREEN By MARY DUNCAN sandbagging exercise with the property. "Climber Pride" took a major The Mason County Board of Commissioners met in a special Session last Thursday afternoon to issue a declaration of emer- gency in the Skokomish Valley near Bambi Farms Road due to imminent danger. The river, they said in their session, was threatening to breach there. By Friday afternoon the river had receded, the danger had passed and the declaration had expired. ON THURSDAY, Mason County Public Works Director Jerry Hauth told commissioners John Bolender and Mary Jo Cady that the U.S. Army Corps of En- gineers had conducted a field in- vetigatio on Wednesday after- noon and informed him of the potential for serious damage due to avulsion - a breaking out - of the river near Bambi Farms Road. Emergency services depart- ment volunteers, gathered at the site in the morning conducting a What the county can do is no- tify those affected families through the department of emer- gency services, which would ini- tiate procedures to evacuate them if necessary. Director of Emer- gency Services Joe Murray said no families were evacuated dur- ing last week's flood event. According to Rich Geiger, a county hydraulics engineer, the sequence of events began Wed- nesday afternoon when he got a call from Guy Parsons, a Bambi Farms Road resident, who re- ported that erosion of the river- bank was "quite bad and some open spots were exposed to the river." ON THURSDAY, the Corps surveyed the scen and recom- mended that the county request its aid, Geiger noted. This re- quest can only be made under flood conditions, and the Corps can only do repair work when the river is at or above flood stage, he explained. (Please turn to page 10.) Corps, confirmed the report from the Corps of Engineers. There is a serious scour, about 300 feet of riverbank washing out, Hauth reported, and the Corps wants to get in there to try to deflect the river to the other side. The Corps would mobilize Friday morning after identify- ing points of entry and obtaining emergency permits. CADY NOTED that a meeting was scheduled for later Thurs- day afternoon with the Skokom- ish Indian Tribe, the county and the Corps. She said the emergen- cy declaration by the county is necessary in order to use the re- sources of the Corps and to re- ceive reimbursement through bderal funds. On Tuesday, reviewing the situation, Cady explained that the county is not involved in a diking project at this point on the river because no county property or roads are threatened. The po- tential avulsion there would create an oxbow through private At the start of Monday's city commission meeting, Hilburn told his audience that 14 of 30 employees at his car dealership volunteered to take the training recently and last weekend, that training paid off when one of his employees used what he'd learned to save the life of a little girl. Brentt Hensley, 27, who works in the individ- ual maintenance and detail shop, was at a social gathering in a private home when a young girl began choking on a grape that she'd swallowed, Hilburn said. The girl's father was pounding on her back in an effort to dislodge the grape, but was having .--........ Man who'd just learned CPR saves choking girl Shelton Fire Department's two-day first- no success. The girl's face was turning blue when aid/cardiopulmonary resuscitation course drew Hensley applied the Heimlich maneuver as he'd high praise this week from Mayor Scott Hilburn. been taught in the class. The grape popped out, the girl began breathing again and the color re- turned to her face. "He was pleased he could do it," Hilburn said of Hensley. "We just got through the training," Hensley said, explaining that he had finished the course only a few days earlier. "It helped me stay as calm as I did." Hensley thinks the girl is five or six years old. She was gasping and choking, he said, when he used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the grape. "I only had to do it one time, one thrust," he said. "It was an experience, that's for sure." jolt this week when Shelton High School learned it was being re- classified from a 3-A to a 4-A high school. The change takes effect next fall and will have ramifications on SHS athletic teams, but just how much it will affect High- climber teams in terms of who their future opponents will be and what league the school will ul- timately join is unknown for now. Shelton School District and SHS officials were scrambling for answers and options this week as the impact of the announcement sunk in. SHS Principal ellody Matthes and AthltiDirector Bill Hick,s at,e'.Jed a;neeting of athletic directors of the new Pa- cific 9 League, to which Shetton belongs, on Wednesday. Other schools in the league (all of them 3-A high schools) include Tumwa- ter, Black Hills, North Thurston, Timberline, River Ridge, Aber- deen, Chehalis and Centralia. WHY IS SHELTON'S status changing? The Washington Interscholas- tic Activities Association (WIAA), which oversees high school athlet- ics throughout most of the state, informed Shelton School District officials the high school was being bumped up from 3-A to 4-A status because of enrollment figures. The school's new status takes ef- fect next fall and will last for at least the next two school years. The change caught school dis- trict officials off guard. "We're scurrying right now, trying to rind out what our options are," said Shelton Schools Superin- tendent Bill Hundley. "It actually came as a surprise to us," Hundley said. Each month, the Shelton district sends an en- rollment count to the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Shelton district does not include home- school students in its enrollment counts, but the WIAA does, and that difference was enough to push SHS into the higher enroll- ment bracket. Home-school students are eligi- ble to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities at their local high school, Hundley said. And adding 60 high-school- age home-school students within the Shelton district to the SHS enrollment count sent the school's enrollment above the 1,201-stud- ent mark that separates 3-A schools from 4-A schools. "IT'S NOT WHAT I wanted," Hundley said of the change. We were so, so happy with the new league. Travel times were close; there were natural rivalries." Hundley said SHS has some smaller classes coming up through the system and there is a good chance enrollment will drop to enable the school to revert back to 3-A status. But that won't hap- pen until at least the 2001-2002 school year. "It has set us back," he said of the change. "It is disappointing." Shelton may be able to stay in the Pacific 9 League, but if it does it would be a nQn-league particip- (Please turn to page 12.) quiring several returns to issues when the hand-held keypads couldn't seem to register with the scoring system. FOR THE MOST part, results of the questions appeared quickly as bar graphs on the screen. And for the most part, they re- flected the makeup of the audience: 25 to 30 percent folks who favored, or didn't oppose, the presence of gray wolves in the wilds of the Olympics; upwards of 60 percent folks who objected, period. Most of the questions or statements offered a six-point range from strongly agreeing to strongly disagreeing. Most of the responses were divided, and hardly anyone took a mid- point stance. Demographic information gathered early on indicated that the majority of the partici- pants were aged 50 and up, had lived in the area 20 years or more, used the Olympic Na- tional Park 10 or more times a year, and fished, hunted, hiked or camped regularly - most of them doing all four. And over half of them appeared to be members of organiza- tions that had to do with the outdoors. Char- lie Florek, who stood outside the SUB hand- ing out flyers for a wildlife organization, said the group had a strong showing inside. They were hunters, he said, who worried that the deer and elk populations were already wan- ing. "Some bikers who take park rangers in," he said, "say they just don't see any wildlife any more." WHEN IT CAME time to register opinions on matters more to the point of the meeting than ages and length of residence, the bar graphs looked nothing like the usual bell- shaped curve. They looked like hedges with paving stones between them. Asked if they thought wolves would help moderate the swings in deer and elk popula- (Please turn to page 9.) Thursday, January 21, 1999 113th Year - Number 3 5 Sections - 50 Pages 50 Cents Youth gets 18 years for Shaffer's murder person can devastate everyone ar- ound him." Bud Nugent of Shelton said a, few words on his son's behalf. "Beau has not been a troubled child. He has been a pretty good kid," he said. "It was a bad snap decision on his part." NUGENT APOLOGIZED to the family of his victim. "I can honestly say I didn't try to kill Vern," he said. ............ Marjorie Hagerup, a counselor who has worked with Nugent, wrote a letter asking Sawyer to show compassion towards the teen. She asked the judge to limit his sentence to 10 years in prison. "I have seen good qualities in Beau. He has a tender heart and is easily touched," she wrote. She wrote that he is "haunted by the memory" of what happened last June 13 and that he cries and has trouble getting to sleep. "This is what you get when kids, alcohol and weapons mix," she wrote. He also sentenced Nugent to 24 months of community super- vision and ordered him to pay $656.05 in court costs, $500 to the crime victims' compensation fund and $750 in attorney's fees. He scheduled a restitution hearing for February 25. Beau Edward Nugent, who is 18 years and 3 months old, was sentenced last Thursday to 18 years and 4 months in prison for the murder of Vernon Shaffer Jr. Nugent was arrested last June after Shaffer died in the small hours of June 13 on the porch of a home he had left a short time ear- lier. Nugent pleaded guilty in No- vember to murder in the second degree in an episode that started with taunts and a pair of sneak- ers and ended in the stabbing death on Mountain View of a 19- year-old Shelton resident. Judge James Sawyer gave Nu- gent the maximum penalty al- lowed under the state's standard sentencing guidelines. Robert Quillian, Nugent's at- torney, had asked Sawyer to im- pose a lesser sentence. "He does not consider himself a murderer as that term is normally under- stood," Quillian said. NUGENT'S codefendant, 18- year-old Mickey L. Hodgson, pleaded guilty to second degree manslaughter in the middle of a bench trial before Judge Sawyer. He was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison shortly after he entered that plea. "I don't understand how the young people of our society have lost touch with the value of a hu- man life," Sawyer said last week in sentencing Nugent. Shaffer was found bleeding on the front porch of a house on the 2400 block of Washington Street shortly before 2 a.m. on June 13. Neighbors told police that Shaffer had attended a party there and had left with two companions. Authorities say the dispute started earlier in the week when someone defaced Shaffer's sneak- ers. This kicked off what Prosecu- tor Gary Burleson described as "a free-floating discussion" involving a teenage girl and the knife Nu- gent carried on his belt. "IT WAS MORE along the lines of bravado," Burleeon said. "That knife had been put into play by discussions and braggado- cio during the week." Sawyer said that Nugent's de- cision to carry a knife was a criti- cal part of the tragedy. "This knife was a regular feature on your belt," Sawyer said. "it was your decision in this circumstance to pull a knife on this young man and tab him in the throat." VaNeda Womack, Shaffer's mother, attended the sentencing. "This man took my son away from us over a pair of shoes, a 13-year- old girl and some language," she said. "I don't understand how one Office employees cite stress in leaving port Ahlf, a retired engineer. "They are moving ahead," Trusler said. "It's a great bunch. They've gone through the resumes that we have and thefre narrowing it down for us. We're just trying to get the best person for the job." Trusler declined comment on the resignations of Stewart and Munch. "Basically we're going to do some exit interviews and see what we can come up with in terms of what their concerns are and how we can address those concerns," he said. IIIIIIIIIIIIIlUlIUUlIlUIIIIIUlUlIIlUUlIIIIIIIIlUlIIIIlUIIIlll On the inside Births ................................... .14 Classifieds ........................... 25 Community Calendar ......... 7 Crossword ........................... 29 Entertainment, Dining ..... 24 Health Journal ................... 14 Journal of Record ............. .30 Obituaries ....................... 10, 11 Opinions, Letters ................. 4 Sports ................................... 18 Tides ................................... ,. 30 Weather .............. , ................. 10 IlU|tlIIIIlilUlIIlIIlUlIIXIlUIUlIIIIIIIIIHII ' l|lHllllililli Sheltonlan allegedly threatens governor A man described as a Shelton continued, that he was upset confirmed resident was arrested last week and charged with a felony after 1:geavleYrnmaking threats against . b rnor and the state capitol building. Brian Ochoa, 31, was taken into custody without incident af- ter he entered the lobby of Gover- nor Gary Locke's office at the Capitol Rotunda and talked about blowing it up, said Washington State Patrol spokesperson Julie Myer. Ochoa remained in the cus- tody of Western State Hospital, where he was sent for a mental- health evaluation, this week. "He entered the lobby ...and be- gan making threats toward the governor . Trooper Myer said. "He talked about destroying the capitol building and the employees.- It appeared, Myer "with the legislative process and government in general." STATE CAPITOL security of- ricers contacted Ochoa and asked him questions, she said, and he continued to make threats. "He was arrested on that ground," she said. She described him as quiet and cooperative in the course of the arrest, and said no weapons were found on his person. Myer said an initial mental- health evaluation was done at the Thurston County Jail, where Ochoa was booked, and he was subsequently sent to Saint Peter Hospital for evaluation. An order of the Thurston County Superior Court provided for the 15-day mental-health evaluation at Western State, Thurston County Deputy Prosecutor Steve Straume Two office workers cited stress, conflict and too many bosses at the Port of Shelton in submitting their resignations to the Board of Commissioners. San-Dee Stewart is quitting her job as administrative assis- tant on Friday. She's held that position for the last 13 months. She'll start a new job on Monday. Her resignation comes as the port is once again looking for a new director. "Due to the exveve changes in the port director position and temporary fill-in staff for this po- sition, the staff has never re- ceived adequate direction or as- sistance to fulfill their job respon- sibilities and requirements for their positions,"' she wrote to the commission in a January 15 letter of resignation. Stewart wrote that the rapid turnover of directors had the ef- fect of turning the three-member commission into her supervisor. 'his creates conflicting direction and an inability for the staff to adequately complete their tasks in a manner that would satisfy all concerned," she wrote. Julie Munch will be stepping down as bookkeeper on January 29 after I0 years on the job. Dur- ing that time she has seen nu- merous office workers come and go. "This has created many stressful situations for me while also causing job-related and per- sonal distress over the years," she wrote. Munch wrote that the situation has "affected my health" and that she cannot go through another changing of the guard. Shelton Port Commission Pres- ident Henry Trusler reported at last week's meeting that the com- mission talked in executive ses- sion about its efforts to find a new executive director of the port. The resumes of about 30 ap- plicants for the position have been reviewed by a citizens advi- sory committee, whose names were announced at the January 13 meeting. Advisory committee members appointed .by the port directors are Patti Case of Simp- son Timber Company', Andrea Fontenot, who is employed in the property management division of the Port of Olympia; Jill Faughender of Centennial Bank; Pare Ward of PUD 3; and Ron Straume said Ochoa has been charged with making threats against the governor, a felony. No arraignment date has been set, however, Straume said. THE WASHINGTON State Patrol maintains security at the state capitol, Myer said. This is a good example of how well it works," the Weeper added. The situation, abe said, was resolved without incident or danger to on- lookers. "' The court, Straume and Myer said, has issued a no-contact or- der barring Ochoa from the capi- tol grounds, Myer and Straume declined to release Ochoa's address but Myer confirmed that he is a resident of Shelton. J