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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
January 28, 1999     Shelton Mason County Journal
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January 28, 1999
 
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(-i 1-4(¸ !%,- Nh   ' r-" !' K." .?L tr4(. :/ iiii!i.: 'Here it comes, Charlie Brown!' UBIQUITOUS LUCY (aka Sunny Gold) rooting Charlie Brown. From left behind Lucy are Schroeder on, Peanuts' beloved comic strip hero (Keith (Chad Weeth), Snoopy (Ashley MacWilliam), Patty screws up his batter's-box concentration as (Maria Densley) and Linus (Ian Ileson). The produc- continue this week for the Shelton High tion boasts a second, entirely separate, cast as well. production of the musical You're a'Good Man, For the details, see story on Page 9. " er high school among sues on Tuesday's ballot GREEN in four school districts County face ballot during next Tuesday's election. They include: School District, ),000 bond issue. M. Idght School Dis- 000 bond issue. Canal School District, a levy. Mason School District, levy. School District is seek- of a $16.1 million spread over 20 years a new high school, add at the primary and modernize and add at the intermediate school. OFFICIALS es- that the bond would add $1,000 of assessed val- In new taxes, but the $1.31 toes not reflect the whole the high school over the 20-year bond. Superin- Sirokman explained for The Journal in re- sponse to our question about bond opponent John Diehl's con- tention that the true costs weren't being reflected in proponents' in- formation. Seattle Northwest Securities, Pioneer's consultant in the mat- ter, estimated that the bond's costs could be covered with an ini- tial tax of $1.31 per $1,000 until the expiration of Pioneer's cur- rent bond (used to build a new primary school). To raise the rest of the costs, the collection of ap- proximately 90 cents per $1,000 going to the present bond would continue instead of being dropped, making the effective rate for the high-school bond about $2.21 at that time. So the rate would rise in mid- stream but Pioneer property own- ers would not sense an increase in tax bills at that time. These figures also depend on an expect- ed modest increase in the as- sessed valuation of the district. SIROKMAN ESTIMATED that the payments on the two bonds, plus the maintenance-and- operations levy just approved, would bring total taxes to be- tween $3,90 and $4 per $1,000 next year. There has to be some leeway in the figures because they are based on estimates of as- sessed valuation and interest rates, which fluctuate, Sirokman said. The results will be watched closely by Shelton School District officials as well as those from Pioneer. Currently, Pioneer sends three busloads of students to an already crowded Shelton High School. Nearly 400 high-school students live in the Pioneer dis- trict and attend either SHS or North Mason High School. Some Pioneer students are catching buses bound for SHS as early as 6:11 a.m., said Sirokman. And if Shelton School District de- cides to build a second high school before Pioneer has its own, Pioneer residents would be ob- liged to pay a portion of Shelton's 20-year bond issue. IN ANOTHER bond measure on the special-election ballot, Mary M. Knight School District is asking its voters to pass a 20- traged Parsons skewers nty over Skok problems resident read a statement ex- county for this purpose for some- Valley resident demanded the res- of the Mason County Sioners when he ap- the board at Tues- meeting. by his wife and Bambi Farms Road IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlUIIIIIIIIIIIII the inside ..... 30 ..... 26 Calendar ......... 7 , Dining. .... 24 14 30 ..... 11 Letters ................. 4 ................. 18 ......... 23 UIIIIIIIIIIUl pressing his family's outrage at the way in which the board has dealt with flooding in the Skoko. mish Valley, especially since a January 14 emergency declara- tion. He also demanded the dismis- sals of Jerry Hauth, director of public works, Rich Geiger, a county hydraulics engineer, and Gary Yando, director of commu- nity development. READING FROM a list of claims included in his state- ment, Parsons charged, "You have refused to truly protect peo- ple in the Skokomish Valley by refusing to work honestly and openly with all the agencies involved." He continued, "You have al- lowed illegal and substandard diking and maintenance there- of. "You steadfastly refused to do a dike reconnaissance and, in fact, used the money given to the thing else." Parsons contended the board allowed the illegal use of his name and circumstance to enlist assistance from a federal agen- cy and also misused county emergency services. In addi- tion, he maintained, "You con- tinually appoint people who voice your own interest into positions on advisory boards, therefore rendering them biased." HE ALSO STATED that Com- missioner Mary Jo Cady used her position as commissioner, "a public servant, to unethically threaten us and I quote, "vVe can condemn your property and throw you out.' " Cady was not present Tuesday evening. She was present when Parsons had appeared in commission chambers during afternoon briefings January 19 to confront the board about the potential flooding and question actions (Pleue turn to page 2.) year, $8.4 million bond issue to to build a new elementary school and community resource center, add to and modernize the high school and build a new auxiliary gym. The tax rate for the bond issue is expected to be $2.75 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or $220 a year for an $80,000 property. Taxpayers are paying $1.68 per $1,000 for the district's mainte- nance-and-operations levy, and the bond would be in addition to that. The present elementary school was built in the early 60s. The high school was built in the early 80s and has not had any major upgrades. The district's program needs have outgrown the facility, MMK Superintendent Fred Yan- cey says. The bond proposal is the result of a two-year effort of a communi- ty committee, and the school board has authorized the election. "The community clearly sees the need and uses our facilities a lot," said Yancey. "On Saturday, our gym opened at 9 a.m. and closed shortly after midnight." The election will be conducted by mail. HOOD CANAL School Dis- trict, which suffered a double-levy failure last year, returns with a two-year maintenance-and-opera- tions levy proposal that would provide $380,000 in the year 2000 and a like amount in 2001. The levy rate is estimated at 79 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That means for a home with an assessed value of $150,000, the owner would pay $118.50 per year for two years. The levy replaces an earlier levy and is not added onto that previous levy, Hood Canal School Superintendent John Simpson said. NORTH MASON School Dis- trict is proposing a $9.2 million maintenance-and-operations levy that would provide $2,300,000 each year from 2000 to 2003. The levy rate is estimated at $2.40 per $1,000 of assessed val- uation. Under provisions of a new state law, the district is seeking the funding on the basis of a four- year levy. The district says the levy will enable it to maintain current educati0na programs and ensure adequate stidt"levels. Youth charged in trapper's murder By SEAN HANLON One of two defendants in the murder of a 70-year-eld trapper from Olympia was arraigned in Mason County Superior Court last week. James Wayne Anderson, 18, of 2241 East Agate Road, Shelton, entered a not-guilty plea Thurs- day to a first-degree murder charge. Judge James Sawyer or- dered him held on $500,000 bail. Anderson is due back in court for an omnibus hearing February 4 and a pretrial hearing February 24. He is to go to trial during the jury term that begins March 8, three days after Anderson's 19th birthday. ALSO CHARGED in the case is his cousin, 14-year-old Nathan Clay Hughes of 1030 South Tower in Centralia. Hughes' arraign- ment awaits disposition of a re- quest by the state that he be re- manded to the adult court. A hearing on this has been sched- uled for March 4. Hughes and Anderson were ar- rested in Port Townsend on Janu- ary 6 after they were spotted ap- proaching a 1988 Ford Ranger registered to the victim, Ronald Kerr. Kerr's body was found in the woods behind Anderson's home January 4. Prosecutors say Kerr was trap- ping beavers in a swamp behind Anderson's-home when the two youths invited him inside the house, then beat him to death. At Anderson's identification, Mason County Prosecutor Gary Burleson said they killed the trapper because they wanted to steal his truck. ACCORDING TO court pa- pers, they then drove the Ford Ranger to Port Townsend where they visited a relative, 20-year. old Michael Cox. Cox and three teenage girls were arrested on in- vestigation of rendering criminal assistance. The girls allegedly helped the suspects get rid of clothing bloodied during the beat- ing of Mr. Kerr. Prosecutor Gary Burleson said that sheriff's deputies have taken statements in which the two sus- pects admit their roles in the crime. Thursday, January 28, 1999 113th Year - Number 4 4 Sections - 36 Pages 5O Cents Developing SMS fields will cost pretty penny By JEFF GREEN When it comes to completing development of the athletic field at Shelton Middle School, the message boils down to this: If you want kids to play, you've got to pay. Shelton School Board members Tuesday night were rocked by the preliminary cost estimates for fin- ishing a five-acre field at the mid- dle school. Those estimates ranged from $105,000 for hydro- seeding the field to $197,000 for adding sod. The numbers include an estimated subtotal of $95,000 for field preparation, which in- volves adding a layer of sand 12 to 18 inches deep, and reflect the additional costs of irrigation, drainage and engineering. Don Szolomayer, the district's director of maintenance, said those figures do not include the cost of labor. Much of the labor could be done "in-house" by dis- trict grounds and maintenance staff members, he noted, adding that it would be beneficial to hire some temporary staff to help with the work. Szolomayer also wrote, in a memo to Shelton Schools Superintendent Bill Hundley, that staff would need support in engineering and grading the field, "but may be able to obtain some from the city." ON TUESDAY, Szolomayer told the board that adding the sand as a growing medium for the grass will be the biggest expense. The preliminary estimate for sand of the right type and size is $70,000. Without the proper growing medium, the grass field won't last very long, he said. Board chairman Jim Smith ex- pressed frustration, saying the district seems to be unable to move ahead on any project be- cause it doesn't have the money. There is no way the board will go for a field costing some $200,000, he said. "We need to find a way to do this," Smith said. It's time to find out how the district can save money and get on with finishing the middle school field, he added. "I was quite disappointed when I saw this," board member An- nette McGee said of the cost esti- mates. Mike Moore, the district's busi- ness manager, said South Kitsap High Sghool added a football field and used local pit-run soil to save money. Now the field is a "mud pit," and water drains to a certain depth, then stops. Moore said the answer to that problem is to take out the local soil and put in the type of soil that should have been installed in the first place. "THIS IS NOT like putting in your front lawn," Szolomayer told The Journal. The sand has to be of the right kind for proper drain- age. The district has to insure what gets done is done for the long-term, he said. Local resident Don Gardner suggested the district form an ad hoc committee of community members to work with Szolomay- er to try and reduce costs. Hund- ley promised he would do some follow-up work on that idea. Szolomayer, meanwhile, will try to learn from the contractor who built the middle school where the sand came from that was used in the adjacent six-acre ath- letic field developed when the school was built. He said there were no records at the district of what the devel- oped middle school field cost. The field and landscaping at the school were bid as one total proj- ect without cost breakouts. Once the undeveloped five-acre field is graded and seeded, it will take a whole year for it to "grow" before it's suitable to be played on, he wrote. When it's finished, the five-acre field will mirror the already developed field next to it. Szolomayer said it will be a "bare bones" field, but will be large enough for a couple of soccer fields, a football field or baseball field. Proposal to move CHOICE to SHS campus draws fire A proposal to move CHOICE High School to the Shelton High School campus has raised con- cerns among some parents and others familiar with the alterna- tive school. Now housed inside the aging Angle Education Center, CHOICE would be forced to find a new home under one of several recommendations for modernizing Shelton School District facilities that were proposed earlier this month by Shelton Schools Super- intendent Bill Hundley. But those recommendations hinge on two things: ultimate ap- proval by the Shelton School Board and the successful passage of a future bond issue, targeted for February 8, 2000. Hundley has recommended re- placing Evergreen Elementary School and moving the school across the street into a new build- ing at the site of the Angle Educa- tion Center. Operations now housed inside the education cen- ter - namely CHOICE, school dis- trict offices and community offices such as the Mason County Net- work and Mason County Literacy - would be moved elsewhere. Hundley proposes moving CHOICE to the SHS campus to (Please turn to page 12.) Bomb threat closes MMK A telephoned bomb threat last Thursday afternoon caused the evacuation of students and early closure at Mary M. Knight School District in Matlock. A male caller of undetermined age using a gruff voice phoned in the bomb threat at about 1:10 p.m., said Mary M. Knight Schools Superintendent Fred Yancey. The caller said there was a bomb in the school and that it would go off in 20 minutes, then hung up, Yancey said. School officials immediately evacuated the campus, sending students to playground shelters. By 1:45 p.m., school buses arrived to transport the students home early. As the buses were leaving, four Mason County sheriff's deputies came to the schools and searched the buildings and grounds, but found no bomb, Yancey reported. "Hats off to the bus drivers, staff, students and deputies. They all conducted themselves well," the superintendent said. Last week's bomb threat was the sec- ond at the Matlock school district in the past six years. School was back in session Fri- day morning. "Everything was back to normal," Yancey said. Finding conclusive proof of who made the bogus threat is difficult, Yancey admitted, but the school district will seek to prosecute any suspects identified by deputies. The school district has ar- ranged to have its phone system refuse to accept calls that block the identification and number of where the call is coming from, he said. (-i 1-4(¸ !%,- Nh   ' r-" !' K." .?L tr4(. :/ iiii!i.: 'Here it comes, Charlie Brown!' UBIQUITOUS LUCY (aka Sunny Gold) rooting Charlie Brown. From left behind Lucy are Schroeder on, Peanuts' beloved comic strip hero (Keith (Chad Weeth), Snoopy (Ashley MacWilliam), Patty screws up his batter's-box concentration as (Maria Densley) and Linus (Ian Ileson). The produc- continue this week for the Shelton High tion boasts a second, entirely separate, cast as well. production of the musical You're a'Good Man, For the details, see story on Page 9. " er high school among sues on Tuesday's ballot GREEN in four school districts County face ballot during next Tuesday's election. They include: School District, ),000 bond issue. M. Idght School Dis- 000 bond issue. Canal School District, a levy. Mason School District, levy. School District is seek- of a $16.1 million spread over 20 years a new high school, add at the primary and modernize and add at the intermediate school. OFFICIALS es- that the bond would add $1,000 of assessed val- In new taxes, but the $1.31 toes not reflect the whole the high school over the 20-year bond. Superin- Sirokman explained for The Journal in re- sponse to our question about bond opponent John Diehl's con- tention that the true costs weren't being reflected in proponents' in- formation. Seattle Northwest Securities, Pioneer's consultant in the mat- ter, estimated that the bond's costs could be covered with an ini- tial tax of $1.31 per $1,000 until the expiration of Pioneer's cur- rent bond (used to build a new primary school). To raise the rest of the costs, the collection of ap- proximately 90 cents per $1,000 going to the present bond would continue instead of being dropped, making the effective rate for the high-school bond about $2.21 at that time. So the rate would rise in mid- stream but Pioneer property own- ers would not sense an increase in tax bills at that time. These figures also depend on an expect- ed modest increase in the as- sessed valuation of the district. SIROKMAN ESTIMATED that the payments on the two bonds, plus the maintenance-and- operations levy just approved, would bring total taxes to be- tween $3,90 and $4 per $1,000 next year. There has to be some leeway in the figures because they are based on estimates of as- sessed valuation and interest rates, which fluctuate, Sirokman said. The results will be watched closely by Shelton School District officials as well as those from Pioneer. Currently, Pioneer sends three busloads of students to an already crowded Shelton High School. Nearly 400 high-school students live in the Pioneer dis- trict and attend either SHS or North Mason High School. Some Pioneer students are catching buses bound for SHS as early as 6:11 a.m., said Sirokman. And if Shelton School District de- cides to build a second high school before Pioneer has its own, Pioneer residents would be ob- liged to pay a portion of Shelton's 20-year bond issue. IN ANOTHER bond measure on the special-election ballot, Mary M. Knight School District is asking its voters to pass a 20- traged Parsons skewers nty over Skok problems resident read a statement ex- county for this purpose for some- Valley resident demanded the res- of the Mason County Sioners when he ap- the board at Tues- meeting. by his wife and Bambi Farms Road IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlUIIIIIIIIIIIII the inside ..... 30 ..... 26 Calendar ......... 7 , Dining. .... 24 14 30 ..... 11 Letters ................. 4 ................. 18 ......... 23 UIIIIIIIIIIUl pressing his family's outrage at the way in which the board has dealt with flooding in the Skoko. mish Valley, especially since a January 14 emergency declara- tion. He also demanded the dismis- sals of Jerry Hauth, director of public works, Rich Geiger, a county hydraulics engineer, and Gary Yando, director of commu- nity development. READING FROM a list of claims included in his state- ment, Parsons charged, "You have refused to truly protect peo- ple in the Skokomish Valley by refusing to work honestly and openly with all the agencies involved." He continued, "You have al- lowed illegal and substandard diking and maintenance there- of. "You steadfastly refused to do a dike reconnaissance and, in fact, used the money given to the thing else." Parsons contended the board allowed the illegal use of his name and circumstance to enlist assistance from a federal agen- cy and also misused county emergency services. In addi- tion, he maintained, "You con- tinually appoint people who voice your own interest into positions on advisory boards, therefore rendering them biased." HE ALSO STATED that Com- missioner Mary Jo Cady used her position as commissioner, "a public servant, to unethically threaten us and I quote, "vVe can condemn your property and throw you out.' " Cady was not present Tuesday evening. She was present when Parsons had appeared in commission chambers during afternoon briefings January 19 to confront the board about the potential flooding and question actions (Pleue turn to page 2.) year, $8.4 million bond issue to to build a new elementary school and community resource center, add to and modernize the high school and build a new auxiliary gym. The tax rate for the bond issue is expected to be $2.75 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or $220 a year for an $80,000 property. Taxpayers are paying $1.68 per $1,000 for the district's mainte- nance-and-operations levy, and the bond would be in addition to that. The present elementary school was built in the early 60s. The high school was built in the early 80s and has not had any major upgrades. The district's program needs have outgrown the facility, MMK Superintendent Fred Yan- cey says. The bond proposal is the result of a two-year effort of a communi- ty committee, and the school board has authorized the election. "The community clearly sees the need and uses our facilities a lot," said Yancey. "On Saturday, our gym opened at 9 a.m. and closed shortly after midnight." The election will be conducted by mail. HOOD CANAL School Dis- trict, which suffered a double-levy failure last year, returns with a two-year maintenance-and-opera- tions levy proposal that would provide $380,000 in the year 2000 and a like amount in 2001. The levy rate is estimated at 79 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That means for a home with an assessed value of $150,000, the owner would pay $118.50 per year for two years. The levy replaces an earlier levy and is not added onto that previous levy, Hood Canal School Superintendent John Simpson said. NORTH MASON School Dis- trict is proposing a $9.2 million maintenance-and-operations levy that would provide $2,300,000 each year from 2000 to 2003. The levy rate is estimated at $2.40 per $1,000 of assessed val- uation. Under provisions of a new state law, the district is seeking the funding on the basis of a four- year levy. The district says the levy will enable it to maintain current educati0na programs and ensure adequate stidt"levels. Youth charged in trapper's murder By SEAN HANLON One of two defendants in the murder of a 70-year-eld trapper from Olympia was arraigned in Mason County Superior Court last week. James Wayne Anderson, 18, of 2241 East Agate Road, Shelton, entered a not-guilty plea Thurs- day to a first-degree murder charge. Judge James Sawyer or- dered him held on $500,000 bail. Anderson is due back in court for an omnibus hearing February 4 and a pretrial hearing February 24. He is to go to trial during the jury term that begins March 8, three days after Anderson's 19th birthday. ALSO CHARGED in the case is his cousin, 14-year-old Nathan Clay Hughes of 1030 South Tower in Centralia. Hughes' arraign- ment awaits disposition of a re- quest by the state that he be re- manded to the adult court. A hearing on this has been sched- uled for March 4. Hughes and Anderson were ar- rested in Port Townsend on Janu- ary 6 after they were spotted ap- proaching a 1988 Ford Ranger registered to the victim, Ronald Kerr. Kerr's body was found in the woods behind Anderson's home January 4. Prosecutors say Kerr was trap- ping beavers in a swamp behind Anderson's-home when the two youths invited him inside the house, then beat him to death. At Anderson's identification, Mason County Prosecutor Gary Burleson said they killed the trapper because they wanted to steal his truck. ACCORDING TO court pa- pers, they then drove the Ford Ranger to Port Townsend where they visited a relative, 20-year. old Michael Cox. Cox and three teenage girls were arrested on in- vestigation of rendering criminal assistance. The girls allegedly helped the suspects get rid of clothing bloodied during the beat- ing of Mr. Kerr. Prosecutor Gary Burleson said that sheriff's deputies have taken statements in which the two sus- pects admit their roles in the crime. Thursday, January 28, 1999 113th Year - Number 4 4 Sections - 36 Pages 5O Cents Developing SMS fields will cost pretty penny By JEFF GREEN When it comes to completing development of the athletic field at Shelton Middle School, the message boils down to this: If you want kids to play, you've got to pay. Shelton School Board members Tuesday night were rocked by the preliminary cost estimates for fin- ishing a five-acre field at the mid- dle school. Those estimates ranged from $105,000 for hydro- seeding the field to $197,000 for adding sod. The numbers include an estimated subtotal of $95,000 for field preparation, which in- volves adding a layer of sand 12 to 18 inches deep, and reflect the additional costs of irrigation, drainage and engineering. Don Szolomayer, the district's director of maintenance, said those figures do not include the cost of labor. Much of the labor could be done "in-house" by dis- trict grounds and maintenance staff members, he noted, adding that it would be beneficial to hire some temporary staff to help with the work. Szolomayer also wrote, in a memo to Shelton Schools Superintendent Bill Hundley, that staff would need support in engineering and grading the field, "but may be able to obtain some from the city." ON TUESDAY, Szolomayer told the board that adding the sand as a growing medium for the grass will be the biggest expense. The preliminary estimate for sand of the right type and size is $70,000. Without the proper growing medium, the grass field won't last very long, he said. Board chairman Jim Smith ex- pressed frustration, saying the district seems to be unable to move ahead on any project be- cause it doesn't have the money. There is no way the board will go for a field costing some $200,000, he said. "We need to find a way to do this," Smith said. It's time to find out how the district can save money and get on with finishing the middle school field, he added. "I was quite disappointed when I saw this," board member An- nette McGee said of the cost esti- mates. Mike Moore, the district's busi- ness manager, said South Kitsap High Sghool added a football field and used local pit-run soil to save money. Now the field is a "mud pit," and water drains to a certain depth, then stops. Moore said the answer to that problem is to take out the local soil and put in the type of soil that should have been installed in the first place. "THIS IS NOT like putting in your front lawn," Szolomayer told The Journal. The sand has to be of the right kind for proper drain- age. The district has to insure what gets done is done for the long-term, he said. Local resident Don Gardner suggested the district form an ad hoc committee of community members to work with Szolomay- er to try and reduce costs. Hund- ley promised he would do some follow-up work on that idea. Szolomayer, meanwhile, will try to learn from the contractor who built the middle school where the sand came from that was used in the adjacent six-acre ath- letic field developed when the school was built. He said there were no records at the district of what the devel- oped middle school field cost. The field and landscaping at the school were bid as one total proj- ect without cost breakouts. Once the undeveloped five-acre field is graded and seeded, it will take a whole year for it to "grow" before it's suitable to be played on, he wrote. When it's finished, the five-acre field will mirror the already developed field next to it. Szolomayer said it will be a "bare bones" field, but will be large enough for a couple of soccer fields, a football field or baseball field. Proposal to move CHOICE to SHS campus draws fire A proposal to move CHOICE High School to the Shelton High School campus has raised con- cerns among some parents and others familiar with the alterna- tive school. Now housed inside the aging Angle Education Center, CHOICE would be forced to find a new home under one of several recommendations for modernizing Shelton School District facilities that were proposed earlier this month by Shelton Schools Super- intendent Bill Hundley. But those recommendations hinge on two things: ultimate ap- proval by the Shelton School Board and the successful passage of a future bond issue, targeted for February 8, 2000. Hundley has recommended re- placing Evergreen Elementary School and moving the school across the street into a new build- ing at the site of the Angle Educa- tion Center. Operations now housed inside the education cen- ter - namely CHOICE, school dis- trict offices and community offices such as the Mason County Net- work and Mason County Literacy - would be moved elsewhere. Hundley proposes moving CHOICE to the SHS campus to (Please turn to page 12.) Bomb threat closes MMK A telephoned bomb threat last Thursday afternoon caused the evacuation of students and early closure at Mary M. Knight School District in Matlock. A male caller of undetermined age using a gruff voice phoned in the bomb threat at about 1:10 p.m., said Mary M. Knight Schools Superintendent Fred Yancey. The caller said there was a bomb in the school and that it would go off in 20 minutes, then hung up, Yancey said. School officials immediately evacuated the campus, sending students to playground shelters. By 1:45 p.m., school buses arrived to transport the students home early. As the buses were leaving, four Mason County sheriff's deputies came to the schools and searched the buildings and grounds, but found no bomb, Yancey reported. "Hats off to the bus drivers, staff, students and deputies. They all conducted themselves well," the superintendent said. Last week's bomb threat was the sec- ond at the Matlock school district in the past six years. School was back in session Fri- day morning. "Everything was back to normal," Yancey said. Finding conclusive proof of who made the bogus threat is difficult, Yancey admitted, but the school district will seek to prosecute any suspects identified by deputies. The school district has ar- ranged to have its phone system refuse to accept calls that block the identification and number of where the call is coming from, he said.