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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
March 3, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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March 3, 2011
 
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• 7_O Sheldon says county should take a 'deep breath' on medical marijuana issue By ARLA SHEPHARD Mason County Com- missioner Tim Sheldon Thursday, March 3, 2011 Year 125 -- Week 9 -- 7 Sections -- 54 Pages -- Published in Shelton, Washington -- $1 Commissioner popped for DUI By KEVAN MOORE Port of Shelton Commis- sioner Jack Miles was ar- rested in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 27, for driving under the influ- ence. Police said that Miles initially tested at over twice the legal limit for blood alcohol concentration and admitted driving his vehicle off of the roadway and down an embankment. Miles spoke publicly about his arrest two days later during 'the Port of Shelton's regular busi- ness meeting on Tuesday, March 1. "Of course, at this time, I cannot get into any details about my arrest for an al- leged DUI charge," Miles said Tuesday. "I will offer this: At the time of the inci- dent I was having a diabet- ic issue, so I would ask that you not jump to any con- clusions until the facts are presented. We do have a Miles legal process that will be followed." Miles then said that he was aware of var- ious media reports re- garding his arrest and that he will not be leaving office as a result. "For those who think I should resign, that's not go- ing to happen at this time," he said. "I am an open book and transparent and I en- courage you to follow what will be going on during the legal process. At the conclusion of this matter I am confident that I will be cleared. So, I please ask that you be patient during this process." Miles was arrested al- most exactly one year ago on February 25, 2010 for two counts of no-con- tact order violations and third-degree theft. Miles said he entered into a de- ferred prosecution on the no-contact charges in Ma- son County District Court and the theft charge was dropped in Shelton Munici- pal Court. A DUI convic- tion would jeopardize the deferred prosecution. A Mason County Sher- iffs Office incident report indicates that police were first dispatched a half mile out the Shelton Matlock Road at around 3 a.m. on See Miles on page A-7 introduced a motion at Tuesday's regular meet- ing of the Mason County Board of Commissioners that would place a 90-day moratorium on future medical marijuana dis- pensaries in the county. The motion died for lack of a second, but Sheldon called for more public discussion around the issue. "I think it's prudent to take a deep breath, not a pot breath, to look at this issue," Sheldon said, dur- ing a later interview. "I also proposed we have a public hearing within 60 days and that the staff help me put some infor- mation together. I want the public to weigh in." In the last month, two new medical marijuana dispensaries have opened in Mason County, in ad- dition to Mari Meds in Belfair - the House of Della Donna, which opened February 7 in Belfair, and the Hood Canal Patient 2 Patient Co-op in Potlatch, which debuted February 19 next door to the Port of Hoodsport office. While marijuana use is illegal on the federal level, Washington state voters legalized medical marijuana in 1998. The law is not clear, however, as to how pa- tients are to legally ob- tain the drug. The 38-page Senate Bill 5073, amended twice Queen of the Forest Courtesy photo Cooper Studios Shelton High School senior Allyssa Cervantes was crowned the "Queen of the Forest" on Saturday at the 2011 Forest Festival coronation celebration. See story on page B-1. and on its second read- ing in the Senate Rules Committee this week, clarifies the use of medi- cal marijuana, includ- ing new protections for qualifying patients and designated providers and new rules for health care professionals. "We've been looking forward to [the bill pass- ing] because it would dial down any ambiguity," said Lori Kent, co-owner of Mari Meds, which See Sheldon on page A-7 Community Calendar B-6 Entertainment/Dining B-3 Journal of Record A-6 Obituaries B-7 Opinions, Letters A-4 Sports C-1 Weather A-6 8 IIIIU! UI!!II!!!!!I1112 Photo courtesy of Penny Hardy Duchess, a female Jack Russell terrier was hit by a two-door white sedan last week near Gladwin Road in Belfair, according to her own- ers Steve Didio and Penny Hardy. The couple suspects the driver may be purposefully hitting dogs in the neighborhood. Belfair car chasin00 dogs By ARLA SHEPHARD At about 1:30 p.m. last Thursday, Penny Hardy was picking up her mail with her dog Duchess near Gladwin Road in Belfair, when a driver turned the corner her way and swerved his car into her dog. The Jack Russell terrier suffered in- ternal bleeding and broken paws, while the driver, described as a young man in a two-door white Ford Probe, drove away laughing, Hardy said. "He was going 50 [miles per hour] or more, saw us and purposefully swerved to the right," she said. When Hardy warned another woman walking her three dogs in the neighbor- hood last week, the woman said she had had a similar experience with the same driver. "We see him off doing this a lot," said Steve Didio, Hardy's husband. 'It's evil and it's sick. We need to put an end to it ... he's purposefully running over dogs. This guy is crazy." Chief Dean Byrd with the Mason County Sheriffs office said the office does not have any leads as to whom the suspect might be. "Running over somebody's dog would be a criminal manner, and given enough information we would investigate it," he said. Public safety sales tax.proposed By NATALIE JOHNSON The city of Shelton had a scare during their 2011 budget process - for weeks it seemed that the only way to balance the budget would be to cut two police officer positions. Earlier this year, Mayor John Tarrant brought up the possibility of creating a public safety sales tax, a dedicated stream of revenue to more reliably fund law enforcement in the city. During their retreat meeting on Friday, city com- missioners and staff discussed their options, and the viability of such a plan. City administrator Dave O'Leary said the city had several options. For example, the city could collect the tax alone, and would be limited at a rate of.10 percent increase to the city's current sales tax rate, which is 8.3 per- cent, according to the Economic Development Council of Mason County. O'Leary said that if the city collected that total amount, it would collect a total of $208,470, $177,200 of which it would keep, and $31,271 of which would go to the county. "It could vary depending on how nmch sales tax you collect," he said. The second option, O'Leary said, would be for the county to collect the tax, at a maximum rate of .30 percent. In that case, the maximum collected would be over $1.4 million dollars. Under that scenario, the city would keep $572,782 for their public safety fund, and the county would get over $860,000. See Tax on page A-7