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HOOD CANAL SCHOOL Superintendent John Simpson relays elec-
tion results as votes are tallied via a cell phone from inside the Ma-
son County Courthouse Tuesday night, while other election watch-
ers look on behind him.
an who shot ailing
admits murder
Shelton man who admitted
his ailing wife at the
Hillcrest home last No-
entered a change of plea
Was sentenced immediately
County Superior Court
P. "Pat" Foltz, 77, of 1005
Avenue, Shelton, was in
Friday to plead guilty to a
of murder in the second
and was sentenced for kill-
Wife, Norma Foltz. He was
on November 18 after he
and told them he had
Foltz because she was
pain.
Gary Burlson dis-
the notion that this was a
killing. Mrs. Foltz was af-
by heart trouble, diabetes
and problems following hip sur-
gery, but she wasn't in a lot pain
when her husband of more than
40 years killed her, Burleson said.
"SHE WAS ASLEEP. He
shot her twice in the head," Bur-
leson told the court.
Judge James Sawyer sen-
tenced Foltz to 160 months in
prison. If he serves out his time,
Foltz will be 89 when he gets out
of a special facility in the prison
set aside for elderly offenders. He
was ordered to pay $500 to the
crime victims' fund and $260 in
court costs.
Burleson said that financial
difficulties related to Mrs. Foltz'
maladies may have been a motive
in the crime. Foltz himself suffers
from senile dementia, according
to the prosecutor.
"What that did was twist his
thinking into an unreal situa-
tion," Burleson said. "It just basi-
cally caused him to snap."
DEFENSE ATTORNEY
James Dixon said his client be-
lieved he was doing what was
best for his wife. "Mr. Foltz was
indeed of the opinion that his wife
was suffering from her various
ailments," he said.
"All I wanted is for her to get
some peace. She had suffered too
much," Foltz said.
Mr. and Mrs. Foltz had four
children. One of their daughters,
Rene Dengle, was in attendance
at the hearing.
CK youth center
take over armory
4 P.m. on Friday, February
will see a Changing of
will mark the
over of the Washington
Guard Armory in Shel-
lessee, SOCK.
Save Our County's Kids,
that has been
a drop-in center and a
of activities for kids in
at Sixth and Franklin
In downtown Shelton for
tat year and a half. SOCK
president, Sue Sheldon,
a five-year lease for
:E CHANGEOVER and
!se will give SOCK a lot
in its use of the
said board member Vi
who recalls gen-
earing arrangements on
of the National Guard.
ld use it so long as we
clean and repaired
she said.
$10,000 a year, it's a
will weigh heavily
edgling youth organiza-
said the building
to Washington Na-
and the Guard will
office in the building for
in case of disaster, mili-
or other emergency.
longer will SOCK kids
to take all the gear
gYmnasium in advance
or be unable to
of the facility as special-
rooms. Though they'll
back for such outside
s the veterans' annual
basket distribution,
all theirs.
pry building enables
kids a range of ac-
l-court basketball, vol-
pool tables, arts
and more. "What this
allowed us to do is open
rooms," Cruickshank
said. Separate areas allow perma-
nent setups for arts and crafts,
woodworking, weights and exer-
cise equipment.
"We even have boxing," she
added. Barney Stewart, SOCK's
activities director, is teaching
boxing. (A feature story on
SOCK's boxing program can be
found in this week's Journal
sports section.)
A DANCE is planned for Fri-
day evening to celebrate SOCK's
new status. Taped music and re-
freshments will be the order of
the evening, Cruickshank said.
"The kitchen," she smiled, "is al-
ways open whenever an activity
is going on."
And activities there will be, es-
pecially with that lease obligation
looming in the wings - and utili-
ties on top of it. "So we've got to
really hustle with our fund-
raisers," she conceded.
One of the major fund-raisers
for SOCK will be Saturday indoor
swap-meets: "SOCK-swaps,"
Cruickshank said. They'll be like
big garage sales, she explained.
"People can rent a table for $15
and bring their crafts, collecti-
bles, yard-sale stuff, whatever."
They'll start on February 27.
More information is available
from Darlene Wilson at 427-3469
or Gail Yates at 427-0659.
Also in the offing is a repeat of
last October's seafood dinner
fund-raiser. "That went very
well," Cruickshank said,
"especially for a first-time thing.
Maybe we'll have more than one a
year." And SOCK, along with
Communities in Schools, will
sponsor this spring's Fiddle Fest
Cruickshank added.
LIKE MANY other volun-
teers, Cruickshank got involved
with SOCK "when we had that
first meeting at the PUD discuss-
ing gangs in town." The extent of
risk for young people was real,
she felt.
She recognized a call for action.
"I think young people in town
need something to do, a place to
go," she said thoughtfully.
'rhey're not all into sports; there
needs to be something else, a
place to come hang out with
friends, but a place that's super-
vised."
A Sheltonian since 1949, she
remembers when there was a
skating rink in town as well as a
theater. "And when my daughters
were teens, there was a small
teen center on Hillcrest called Inn
Quest," she recalled.
Save Our County's Kids opened
its doors at the Armory in re-
sponse to such a need on June 11,
1997. Since then, 1,200 kids have
registered as participants at the
SOCK Center. "Most nights,"
Cruickshank said, "we have 65 to
85 in and out."
SUE SHELDON serves as
president of a board of directors
that includes Cruickshank, Barn-
ey Stewart and Gaff Yates.
Volunteers from a pool of some
25 to 30 people provide super-
vision at the center regularly or
on an on-call basis.
"Everyone's a volunteer,"
Cruickshank says. There are no
paid personnel. 'Tet," she adds.
SOCK activities aren't confined
to town. Last summer saw two
outings to the Long Beach Penin-
sula, for instance, once for the
sand castle competition and once,
with handmade kites in hand, for
the International Kite Festival.
WHAT'S AHEAD for SOCK?
"We hope by mid-February to
be open after school," Cruick-
.... shank said. "We already have
some computers set up for games,
but we hope to have some dedi-
cated for kids to do their
homework."
She added that since SOCK is
a fully tax-exempt nonprofit agen-
(Please turn to page 3.)
School levies approved;
two bonds short of votes
By JEFF GREEN
There was joy at Hood Canal
and North Mason school districts,
anxiety at Pioneer and dejection
at Mary M. Knight following
Tuesday's special election.
Hood Canal voters shrugged off
last year's disastrous double-levy
failure and gave overwhelming
approval to the district's two-
year, $760,000 maintenance-and-
operations levy. The levy received
69.7 percent voter approval.
A four-year, $9.2 million main-
tenance-and-operations levy at
North Mason School District ap-
pears to have squeaked past the
needed 60 percent approval mark.
The "yes" votes totaled 1,543, or
61.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Pioneer School
District's $16.1 million bond issue
is hovering just below the 60 per-
cent mark. Yet-to-be-counted ab-
sentee ballots will decide the fate
of the bond issue, which so far
has garnered 59.6 percent voter
approval.
MARY M. KNIGHT School
District voters gave a resounding
"no" vote to the district's $8.4 mil-
lion bond issue. The measure re-
ceived only 34.3 percent voter ap-
proval.
Hood Canal's 26-member levy
committee was the key to the dis-
trict's levy victory, according to
Superintendent John Simpson.
"In truth," he said, "the levy was
set by the community. We did
have a good range of people in
that committee. I mean, we had
parents in the committee, we had
people that didn't have any chil-
dren in the school, we had people
that didn't have grandchildren in
the school.
"It was a broad-based commu-
nity committee, and I can't say
enough about that committee and
the people that worked as chairs
in that committee - they all just
need a super thank-you from
everybody for the fine, fine job
they did putting this thing to-
gether. I'm eled. I really am.
"We're not going to let 'em
down. We will not let the people
down. There's no question about
that. We have a lot of plans in ef-
fect that will be good academic
uses for this money. And I really
just have to say, again, to the
community: Thank you very
much for that, for this wonderful
surprise. It's a vote for kids. It is.
They know how many kids go to
that school. People know that it's
a K-8 school, and they're voting
that those kids have a quality ed-
ucation."
From the first vote count inside
the Mason County Courthouse,
which tallied absentee votes,
Hood Canal's levy appeared head-
ed for passage. The percentage of
"yes" votes increased during the
periodic vote tallies, and when it
was evident to all that the trend
was irreversible a cheer went up
from the levy supporters.
BY CONTRAST, North Ma-
son's huge $9.2 million levy hung
in the balance throughout the
night. The percentage crept up-
wards toward the magic 60 per-
cent mark and supporters hung
around inside the courtroom for
the arrival and counting of ballots
from Dewatto and other far-flung
rural areas.
The North Mason supporters
literally were on the edge of their
seats as Mason County Commis-
sioner Cindy Olsen posted the fi-
nal vote tally. The anxious ex-
pressions on their faces turned to
smiles as the percentage of "yes"
votes rose to 61.5.
They're not out of the woods
yet in Belfair, because 846 absen-
tee ballots remain uncounted. It's
unknown for now how many of
those will be returned and count-
ed, but of the absentee ballots
iIIlIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
On the inside
Births .................................... A1
Classifieds ........................... 26
Community Calendar ......... 7
Crossword ........................... 30
Entertainment, Dining ..... 24
Health Journal ................... 14
Journal of Record .............. 16
Obituaries .............................. 9
Opinions, Letters ................. 4
Sports .................................... lS
Tides ..................................... 23
Weather .............. ;t. ................. 9
IHIHHIIIHIIHMHIIIHIIHHmlIIIHHHHIHHli
that were counted Tuesday 54.4
percent were in favor of the levy.
Outstanding absentee ballots
will determine Pioneer School
District's 20-year, $16.1 million
bond issue for a new high school,
six classrooms at the primary
school and modernizing and add-
ing classrooms at the interme-
diate and middle school. Tuesday
night the measure fell nine "yes"
votes shy of the 60 percent need-
ed for passage.
"I THINK IT'S a long shot
right now," said Pioneer Schools
Superintendent Dick Sirokman
Wednesday morning. "We'll have
to wait and see."
There are 491 absentee ballots
yet to be returned and counted. If
all of them are returned, which is
doubtful, then 303 (or 61.7 per-
cent) of those need to be "yes"
votes for the bond to pass. Of the
absentee votes counted Tuesday,
52 percent were in favor of the
bond.
The current favorable bond
market may have been the
strongest selling point of all for
the bond measure, Sirokman
said. "It is the lowest we've had in
history," he observed, "and this is
a real opportunity for people to
take advantage of. Not only are
construction costs going to rise
here in the future, but also the in-
terest rates. They're not going to
remain this low forever, so this is
a real opportunity for the commu-
nity."
Sirokman said he felt Pioneer
voters were more knowledgeable
about the bond issue. One of the
bigger issues was the increased
number of Pioneer students at-
tending high school outside the
district.
"We started talking to them
about 400 kids on a bus every day
for three and a half, four hours,"
he said. "That was pretty signifi-
cant because we, as adults, would
not get in a car and go to our jobs
for three and half, four hours
every day without feeling sorry
for ourselves in a big way.
"And so I really believe that
probably had some imvact"
(Please turn to page 2.)
Hood Canal
$lmol District
Tax levy
Yes 1,028 69.7%
No 447 30.3%
Outstanding absentee bal-
lots: 418
Pioneer
School District
Bond issue
Yes 1,223 59.6%
No 830 40.4%
Outstanding absentees: 491
Mary M, Knight
School District
(Matlock)
Bond issue
Yes 114 34.3%
No 218 65.7%
Outstanding absentees: 299
North Mason
School District
Tax levy
Yes 1,543 61.5%
No 967 38.5%
Outstanding absentees: 846
Thursday, February 4, 1999
113th Year - Number 5
4 Sections - 36 Pages
50 Cents
Woman hit by pickup
near her mailbox dies
Vivian Buechel, 88, of Shelton
died of head injuries Monday
when a pickup truck hit her by
her mailbox at Mile 7.4 of the
Shelton-Matlock Road.
The incident occurred around
3:15 p.m., according to the Wash-
ington State Patrol. It was rain-
ing and the road was wet when Shelton Fire Department re-
Buechel reportedly stepped into sponded to the scene. Buechel
the road's westbound lane just as was taken to Mason General Hos-
61-year-old Donald Fred Likes of pital, where she was declared to
Shelton was headed west in his be deceased.
1995 Ford pickup.
Emergency units from Medic Troopers said the pickup had
One, Fire District 16 and the $500in damage.
MMK worker charged
in school bomb threat
The computer specialist at
Mary M. Knight School in Mat-
lock faces charges that he called
in a bomb threat so he could take
that afternoon off.
That's the motive outlined in
information filed last week in Ma-
son County Superior Court. Brad
A. Gallien, 21, of 430 West Satsop
Bridge Road, Elma, was identi-
fied in connection with the threat
last Thursday.
Students were evacuated from
classrooms and sent home from
the rural school in West Mason
County shortly after 1:10 p.m.
Thursday, January 21, when an
unidentified caller with "a low,
tough voice" called the school.
The call was taken by school
employee Cornelia Brehmeyer,
according to court papers. She
said the caller said, "There's a
bomb in the school and it's going
off in 20 minutes."
Superintendent Fred Yancey
told deputies about a rumor that
one of the students had made the
call. That student denied making
the call but said that Gallien may
have done it, according to court
papers. Gallien talked about mak-
ing the bomb threat at a birthday
party after the incident, according
to court papers.
Deputies who investigated the
case said there were 239 students
at the school when the bomb
threat was made. They wrote that
Gallien's time card indicated he
checked out for lunch at 1:12
p.m., or about three minutes be-
fore the bomb threat was reported
to Shelton Communication Cen-
ter, the emergency dispatch agen-
cy for the Mason County Sheriffs
Office.
Judge James Sawyer appoint-
ed Ron Sergi to be his public
defender and set bail at $5,000.
He was ordered to stay away from
the school or from any witnesses
in the case.
Arraignment was set for Feb-
ruary 4.
New 76-bed Shelton
nursing home opens
A new, $5-million nursing care
facility opened its doors to pa-
tients last week at the intersec-
tion of North 13th Street and
Johns Prairie Road in Shelton.
SunRise Care and Rehabilita-
tion for Shelton has scheduled an
open house for the public on Sun-
day, February 14, from i to 4 p.m.
at 153 Johns Court. Music, bal-
loons, a clown and refreshments
will be the order of the day.
At full capacity, SunRise is
equipped for 76 patients, with an
expected employee force of 80 full-
time workers. "We're a skilled
nursing facility," said administra-
tor David Miller, who noted that
SunRise is "soon to be dually li-
censed with Medicaid and Medi-
care. We're waiting for that in-
spection; we expect that to hap-
pen within the next several
weeks."
FOR THE TIME being, it's a
gradual startup. The facility had
eight residents as of Monday, ac-
cording to Miller.
Once the Medicaid and Medi-
care licensing is completed, Miller
indicated, the population will rise
quickly. Initial hiring is complete,
but as the patient numbers rise,
there will be additional interview-
ing and hiring of staff.
A specialty of the facility, he
said, will be transitional care for
patients just out of the hospital
setting whose condition is stable
but who need monitoring. "We
have 20 beds dedicated to that
kind of intensive nursing care,"
Miller said. "We believe we will
be able to handle that transition-
al or subacute population in addi-
tion to long-term residents."
SunRise acquired the certifi-
cate of need for 76 beds, a state
process that's required for such
facilities, from Exceptional For-
esters, Incorporated. That certifi-
cate of need was a contested issue
for more than a decade between
EFI and Fir Lane Terrace Con-
valescent Center,
ON SUNDAY, February 14,
community members can explore
the new facility. Staffers will lead
tours and can answer all kinds of
questions, Miller said.
SunRise, Incorporated is the
largest provider of long-term care
in Washington, Miller said, citing
Montesano Medical and Rehabili-
tation as the firm's closest exist-
ing facility. SunRise is a member
of the Sun Healthcare Group of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, which
operates 400 nursing homes na-
tionwide.
HOOD CANAL SCHOOL Superintendent John Simpson relays elec-
tion results as votes are tallied via a cell phone from inside the Ma-
son County Courthouse Tuesday night, while other election watch-
ers look on behind him.
an who shot ailing
admits murder
Shelton man who admitted
his ailing wife at the
Hillcrest home last No-
entered a change of plea
Was sentenced immediately
County Superior Court
P. "Pat" Foltz, 77, of 1005
Avenue, Shelton, was in
Friday to plead guilty to a
of murder in the second
and was sentenced for kill-
Wife, Norma Foltz. He was
on November 18 after he
and told them he had
Foltz because she was
pain.
Gary Burlson dis-
the notion that this was a
killing. Mrs. Foltz was af-
by heart trouble, diabetes
and problems following hip sur-
gery, but she wasn't in a lot pain
when her husband of more than
40 years killed her, Burleson said.
"SHE WAS ASLEEP. He
shot her twice in the head," Bur-
leson told the court.
Judge James Sawyer sen-
tenced Foltz to 160 months in
prison. If he serves out his time,
Foltz will be 89 when he gets out
of a special facility in the prison
set aside for elderly offenders. He
was ordered to pay $500 to the
crime victims' fund and $260 in
court costs.
Burleson said that financial
difficulties related to Mrs. Foltz'
maladies may have been a motive
in the crime. Foltz himself suffers
from senile dementia, according
to the prosecutor.
"What that did was twist his
thinking into an unreal situa-
tion," Burleson said. "It just basi-
cally caused him to snap."
DEFENSE ATTORNEY
James Dixon said his client be-
lieved he was doing what was
best for his wife. "Mr. Foltz was
indeed of the opinion that his wife
was suffering from her various
ailments," he said.
"All I wanted is for her to get
some peace. She had suffered too
much," Foltz said.
Mr. and Mrs. Foltz had four
children. One of their daughters,
Rene Dengle, was in attendance
at the hearing.
CK youth center
take over armory
4 P.m. on Friday, February
will see a Changing of
will mark the
over of the Washington
Guard Armory in Shel-
lessee, SOCK.
Save Our County's Kids,
that has been
a drop-in center and a
of activities for kids in
at Sixth and Franklin
In downtown Shelton for
tat year and a half. SOCK
president, Sue Sheldon,
a five-year lease for
:E CHANGEOVER and
!se will give SOCK a lot
in its use of the
said board member Vi
who recalls gen-
earing arrangements on
of the National Guard.
ld use it so long as we
clean and repaired
she said.
$10,000 a year, it's a
will weigh heavily
edgling youth organiza-
said the building
to Washington Na-
and the Guard will
office in the building for
in case of disaster, mili-
or other emergency.
longer will SOCK kids
to take all the gear
gYmnasium in advance
or be unable to
of the facility as special-
rooms. Though they'll
back for such outside
s the veterans' annual
basket distribution,
all theirs.
pry building enables
kids a range of ac-
l-court basketball, vol-
pool tables, arts
and more. "What this
allowed us to do is open
rooms," Cruickshank
said. Separate areas allow perma-
nent setups for arts and crafts,
woodworking, weights and exer-
cise equipment.
"We even have boxing," she
added. Barney Stewart, SOCK's
activities director, is teaching
boxing. (A feature story on
SOCK's boxing program can be
found in this week's Journal
sports section.)
A DANCE is planned for Fri-
day evening to celebrate SOCK's
new status. Taped music and re-
freshments will be the order of
the evening, Cruickshank said.
"The kitchen," she smiled, "is al-
ways open whenever an activity
is going on."
And activities there will be, es-
pecially with that lease obligation
looming in the wings - and utili-
ties on top of it. "So we've got to
really hustle with our fund-
raisers," she conceded.
One of the major fund-raisers
for SOCK will be Saturday indoor
swap-meets: "SOCK-swaps,"
Cruickshank said. They'll be like
big garage sales, she explained.
"People can rent a table for $15
and bring their crafts, collecti-
bles, yard-sale stuff, whatever."
They'll start on February 27.
More information is available
from Darlene Wilson at 427-3469
or Gail Yates at 427-0659.
Also in the offing is a repeat of
last October's seafood dinner
fund-raiser. "That went very
well," Cruickshank said,
"especially for a first-time thing.
Maybe we'll have more than one a
year." And SOCK, along with
Communities in Schools, will
sponsor this spring's Fiddle Fest
Cruickshank added.
LIKE MANY other volun-
teers, Cruickshank got involved
with SOCK "when we had that
first meeting at the PUD discuss-
ing gangs in town." The extent of
risk for young people was real,
she felt.
She recognized a call for action.
"I think young people in town
need something to do, a place to
go," she said thoughtfully.
'rhey're not all into sports; there
needs to be something else, a
place to come hang out with
friends, but a place that's super-
vised."
A Sheltonian since 1949, she
remembers when there was a
skating rink in town as well as a
theater. "And when my daughters
were teens, there was a small
teen center on Hillcrest called Inn
Quest," she recalled.
Save Our County's Kids opened
its doors at the Armory in re-
sponse to such a need on June 11,
1997. Since then, 1,200 kids have
registered as participants at the
SOCK Center. "Most nights,"
Cruickshank said, "we have 65 to
85 in and out."
SUE SHELDON serves as
president of a board of directors
that includes Cruickshank, Barn-
ey Stewart and Gaff Yates.
Volunteers from a pool of some
25 to 30 people provide super-
vision at the center regularly or
on an on-call basis.
"Everyone's a volunteer,"
Cruickshank says. There are no
paid personnel. 'Tet," she adds.
SOCK activities aren't confined
to town. Last summer saw two
outings to the Long Beach Penin-
sula, for instance, once for the
sand castle competition and once,
with handmade kites in hand, for
the International Kite Festival.
WHAT'S AHEAD for SOCK?
"We hope by mid-February to
be open after school," Cruick-
.... shank said. "We already have
some computers set up for games,
but we hope to have some dedi-
cated for kids to do their
homework."
She added that since SOCK is
a fully tax-exempt nonprofit agen-
(Please turn to page 3.)
School levies approved;
two bonds short of votes
By JEFF GREEN
There was joy at Hood Canal
and North Mason school districts,
anxiety at Pioneer and dejection
at Mary M. Knight following
Tuesday's special election.
Hood Canal voters shrugged off
last year's disastrous double-levy
failure and gave overwhelming
approval to the district's two-
year, $760,000 maintenance-and-
operations levy. The levy received
69.7 percent voter approval.
A four-year, $9.2 million main-
tenance-and-operations levy at
North Mason School District ap-
pears to have squeaked past the
needed 60 percent approval mark.
The "yes" votes totaled 1,543, or
61.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Pioneer School
District's $16.1 million bond issue
is hovering just below the 60 per-
cent mark. Yet-to-be-counted ab-
sentee ballots will decide the fate
of the bond issue, which so far
has garnered 59.6 percent voter
approval.
MARY M. KNIGHT School
District voters gave a resounding
"no" vote to the district's $8.4 mil-
lion bond issue. The measure re-
ceived only 34.3 percent voter ap-
proval.
Hood Canal's 26-member levy
committee was the key to the dis-
trict's levy victory, according to
Superintendent John Simpson.
"In truth," he said, "the levy was
set by the community. We did
have a good range of people in
that committee. I mean, we had
parents in the committee, we had
people that didn't have any chil-
dren in the school, we had people
that didn't have grandchildren in
the school.
"It was a broad-based commu-
nity committee, and I can't say
enough about that committee and
the people that worked as chairs
in that committee - they all just
need a super thank-you from
everybody for the fine, fine job
they did putting this thing to-
gether. I'm eled. I really am.
"We're not going to let 'em
down. We will not let the people
down. There's no question about
that. We have a lot of plans in ef-
fect that will be good academic
uses for this money. And I really
just have to say, again, to the
community: Thank you very
much for that, for this wonderful
surprise. It's a vote for kids. It is.
They know how many kids go to
that school. People know that it's
a K-8 school, and they're voting
that those kids have a quality ed-
ucation."
From the first vote count inside
the Mason County Courthouse,
which tallied absentee votes,
Hood Canal's levy appeared head-
ed for passage. The percentage of
"yes" votes increased during the
periodic vote tallies, and when it
was evident to all that the trend
was irreversible a cheer went up
from the levy supporters.
BY CONTRAST, North Ma-
son's huge $9.2 million levy hung
in the balance throughout the
night. The percentage crept up-
wards toward the magic 60 per-
cent mark and supporters hung
around inside the courtroom for
the arrival and counting of ballots
from Dewatto and other far-flung
rural areas.
The North Mason supporters
literally were on the edge of their
seats as Mason County Commis-
sioner Cindy Olsen posted the fi-
nal vote tally. The anxious ex-
pressions on their faces turned to
smiles as the percentage of "yes"
votes rose to 61.5.
They're not out of the woods
yet in Belfair, because 846 absen-
tee ballots remain uncounted. It's
unknown for now how many of
those will be returned and count-
ed, but of the absentee ballots
iIIlIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
On the inside
Births .................................... A1
Classifieds ........................... 26
Community Calendar ......... 7
Crossword ........................... 30
Entertainment, Dining ..... 24
Health Journal ................... 14
Journal of Record .............. 16
Obituaries .............................. 9
Opinions, Letters ................. 4
Sports .................................... lS
Tides ..................................... 23
Weather .............. ;t. ................. 9
IHIHHIIIHIIHMHIIIHIIHHmlIIIHHHHIHHli
that were counted Tuesday 54.4
percent were in favor of the levy.
Outstanding absentee ballots
will determine Pioneer School
District's 20-year, $16.1 million
bond issue for a new high school,
six classrooms at the primary
school and modernizing and add-
ing classrooms at the interme-
diate and middle school. Tuesday
night the measure fell nine "yes"
votes shy of the 60 percent need-
ed for passage.
"I THINK IT'S a long shot
right now," said Pioneer Schools
Superintendent Dick Sirokman
Wednesday morning. "We'll have
to wait and see."
There are 491 absentee ballots
yet to be returned and counted. If
all of them are returned, which is
doubtful, then 303 (or 61.7 per-
cent) of those need to be "yes"
votes for the bond to pass. Of the
absentee votes counted Tuesday,
52 percent were in favor of the
bond.
The current favorable bond
market may have been the
strongest selling point of all for
the bond measure, Sirokman
said. "It is the lowest we've had in
history," he observed, "and this is
a real opportunity for people to
take advantage of. Not only are
construction costs going to rise
here in the future, but also the in-
terest rates. They're not going to
remain this low forever, so this is
a real opportunity for the commu-
nity."
Sirokman said he felt Pioneer
voters were more knowledgeable
about the bond issue. One of the
bigger issues was the increased
number of Pioneer students at-
tending high school outside the
district.
"We started talking to them
about 400 kids on a bus every day
for three and a half, four hours,"
he said. "That was pretty signifi-
cant because we, as adults, would
not get in a car and go to our jobs
for three and half, four hours
every day without feeling sorry
for ourselves in a big way.
"And so I really believe that
probably had some imvact"
(Please turn to page 2.)
Hood Canal
$lmol District
Tax levy
Yes 1,028 69.7%
No 447 30.3%
Outstanding absentee bal-
lots: 418
Pioneer
School District
Bond issue
Yes 1,223 59.6%
No 830 40.4%
Outstanding absentees: 491
Mary M, Knight
School District
(Matlock)
Bond issue
Yes 114 34.3%
No 218 65.7%
Outstanding absentees: 299
North Mason
School District
Tax levy
Yes 1,543 61.5%
No 967 38.5%
Outstanding absentees: 846
Thursday, February 4, 1999
113th Year - Number 5
4 Sections - 36 Pages
50 Cents
Woman hit by pickup
near her mailbox dies
Vivian Buechel, 88, of Shelton
died of head injuries Monday
when a pickup truck hit her by
her mailbox at Mile 7.4 of the
Shelton-Matlock Road.
The incident occurred around
3:15 p.m., according to the Wash-
ington State Patrol. It was rain-
ing and the road was wet when Shelton Fire Department re-
Buechel reportedly stepped into sponded to the scene. Buechel
the road's westbound lane just as was taken to Mason General Hos-
61-year-old Donald Fred Likes of pital, where she was declared to
Shelton was headed west in his be deceased.
1995 Ford pickup.
Emergency units from Medic Troopers said the pickup had
One, Fire District 16 and the $500in damage.
MMK worker charged
in school bomb threat
The computer specialist at
Mary M. Knight School in Mat-
lock faces charges that he called
in a bomb threat so he could take
that afternoon off.
That's the motive outlined in
information filed last week in Ma-
son County Superior Court. Brad
A. Gallien, 21, of 430 West Satsop
Bridge Road, Elma, was identi-
fied in connection with the threat
last Thursday.
Students were evacuated from
classrooms and sent home from
the rural school in West Mason
County shortly after 1:10 p.m.
Thursday, January 21, when an
unidentified caller with "a low,
tough voice" called the school.
The call was taken by school
employee Cornelia Brehmeyer,
according to court papers. She
said the caller said, "There's a
bomb in the school and it's going
off in 20 minutes."
Superintendent Fred Yancey
told deputies about a rumor that
one of the students had made the
call. That student denied making
the call but said that Gallien may
have done it, according to court
papers. Gallien talked about mak-
ing the bomb threat at a birthday
party after the incident, according
to court papers.
Deputies who investigated the
case said there were 239 students
at the school when the bomb
threat was made. They wrote that
Gallien's time card indicated he
checked out for lunch at 1:12
p.m., or about three minutes be-
fore the bomb threat was reported
to Shelton Communication Cen-
ter, the emergency dispatch agen-
cy for the Mason County Sheriffs
Office.
Judge James Sawyer appoint-
ed Ron Sergi to be his public
defender and set bail at $5,000.
He was ordered to stay away from
the school or from any witnesses
in the case.
Arraignment was set for Feb-
ruary 4.
New 76-bed Shelton
nursing home opens
A new, $5-million nursing care
facility opened its doors to pa-
tients last week at the intersec-
tion of North 13th Street and
Johns Prairie Road in Shelton.
SunRise Care and Rehabilita-
tion for Shelton has scheduled an
open house for the public on Sun-
day, February 14, from i to 4 p.m.
at 153 Johns Court. Music, bal-
loons, a clown and refreshments
will be the order of the day.
At full capacity, SunRise is
equipped for 76 patients, with an
expected employee force of 80 full-
time workers. "We're a skilled
nursing facility," said administra-
tor David Miller, who noted that
SunRise is "soon to be dually li-
censed with Medicaid and Medi-
care. We're waiting for that in-
spection; we expect that to hap-
pen within the next several
weeks."
FOR THE TIME being, it's a
gradual startup. The facility had
eight residents as of Monday, ac-
cording to Miller.
Once the Medicaid and Medi-
care licensing is completed, Miller
indicated, the population will rise
quickly. Initial hiring is complete,
but as the patient numbers rise,
there will be additional interview-
ing and hiring of staff.
A specialty of the facility, he
said, will be transitional care for
patients just out of the hospital
setting whose condition is stable
but who need monitoring. "We
have 20 beds dedicated to that
kind of intensive nursing care,"
Miller said. "We believe we will
be able to handle that transition-
al or subacute population in addi-
tion to long-term residents."
SunRise acquired the certifi-
cate of need for 76 beds, a state
process that's required for such
facilities, from Exceptional For-
esters, Incorporated. That certifi-
cate of need was a contested issue
for more than a decade between
EFI and Fir Lane Terrace Con-
valescent Center,
ON SUNDAY, February 14,
community members can explore
the new facility. Staffers will lead
tours and can answer all kinds of
questions, Miller said.
SunRise, Incorporated is the
largest provider of long-term care
in Washington, Miller said, citing
Montesano Medical and Rehabili-
tation as the firm's closest exist-
ing facility. SunRise is a member
of the Sun Healthcare Group of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, which
operates 400 nursing homes na-
tionwide.