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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