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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
March 17, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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March 17, 2011
 
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Work Continued from page A-1 is relatively higher here, and you hav. probably one-third of the staff," saic Todd Dixon, area director for the statq Employment Security Departmen (ESD). That boost in walk-in number,, directly correlates to the county'., increase in joblessness -- unemploy. ment rose to 11.8 percent in January: up from 10.2 percent last December, according to data that is not season- ally adjusted from ESD. The Employment Security Depart- ment co-manages, along with the Pa- cific Mountain Workforce Develop- ment Council, WorkSource offices in eight surrounding counties, including the Shelton center and a smaller con- nection site in Belfair, which opened eight months ago and averages 25 visitors the one day a week that it is open. Because of increased budget con- ceres, there are no plans to expand the Belfair site. "That community probably needs more, but we're always looking at the budget," Dixon said. "Here's the challenge we face: We're 95 percent federally funded ... through the De- partment of Labor unemployment in- surance tax. These and other discre- tionary funds are always being scruti- nized for reductions ... it's just one of the quandaries we're in." There are nine state-funded staff members at the Shelton branch, three of whom are specialists that work one- on-one with the dozens of job seekers that file through the office -- and on Mondays, when specialist Raul Soto is in Belfair, that's one less person available in Shelton. "If we had a full-time presence [in North Mason], we'd have more cus- tomers coming in," Weber said. "But to really get the full menu of services, you really have to go to [Shelton] or Sremerton." Out of the 4,267 registered job seekers with WorkSource Shelton, as of last week, almost 55 percent live in the Shelton area, while 10 percent come from the Belfair-Allyn area, five percent come from Elma and the re- 98563 16 / Montesano Seabeck BremYton i 98312i iiiiiiiiiii Bremerton il;;i;iil iiiiGig Harbor iiil. ............. • ,008s2400 i 228 i Elma McCleary Courtesy art Employment Security Department Number of job seekers, by area, who have reported to Work Source Shelton this year. maining 30 percent come in small numbers from other Mason County areas, like Grapeview, Hoodsport, Union, Tahuya, Lilliwaup and Mat- lock, and outlying counties. In addition to one-on-one job search help, WorkSource Shelton offers workshops and classes to aid individ- uals in better marketing themselves for employment. Hence, the reason why job search isn't what it used to be -- job seekers have to become much more technol- ogy savvy to land employment, Weber said. "Many people don't have the techni- cal skills," he said, noting that Work- Source Shelton offers three levels of computer training classes. "There's such a huge need. Every resource now, you have to use some form of technology." WorkSource is also trying to do more post-employment job retention services. "People that feel good about what they're doing are going to stay in their jobs longer," Weber said. Each time a job seeker joins the ranks of the employed, they ring a bell at the Shelton office, and every- one on the WorkSource staff congrat- ulates them. This boosts the morale of everyone else in the room looking for a job, We- ber said. Dixon recalled congratulating one man who had recently found a job at McDonald's. "He had a huge smile on, and said 'This is like Christmas," Dixon said. Weber said the small staff is com- mitted to helping every person who walks in find a job or the training they need to help themselves. "We're like a community here," he said. "Yesterday, the bell rang three times. Today, it rang at least twice." Assault Continued from page A-1 home to pick up their son and that once she arrived, Davies began yelling at her and accusing her of being in a vehicle with another man Millis told police that Davies became "increasing- ly upset and took her cell phone away from her when she said she was calling 911." Millis said that Da- vies then began reading all of her text messages "and then came up to her and started to choke her." Millis said Davies let up briefly, pushed her into a comer and resumed chok- ing her. Millis said that she lost consciousess and then awoke to find Davies stand- ing over her with a shot- gun pointed at her, threat- ening to kill her. Millis said that the cou- ple's son was also present and Davies kept telling him to go in the other room. Millis said she was able to talk Davies out of shoot- ing her and that he threw the gun back into a clos- et. She said Davies then grabbed a baby seat and threw it at her vehicle, cracking the driver side taillight before she was able to flee the residence. Millis also told police that Davies repeatedly used sexual slurs while at- tacking her. "Andrea said she was in fear for her life and be- lieves Kevin will carry through with his threats to kill her," notes a probable cause statement written by the responding deputy. "Andrea said Kevin told her when she was leaving that she better watch her- self because when he kills her he will be doing it the right way." Millis also acknowledged that she bit and scratched Davies while he was chok- ing her and admitted to hitting Davies "because he had cornered her and she was scared." Davies was detained by another deputy at the resi- dence and advised of his rights and agreed to talk about what happened. Davies said Millis came to the residence and start- ed fighting with him. He said Millis told him that she was cheating on him and no longer wanted to be together. Davies said that, during the argument, Mil- lis hit, bit and scratched him. Davies also admitted to holding Millis down and taking her phone away from her. "I asked Kevin why he took her phone," a deputy wrote in the probable cause statement. "Kevin told me that he wanted to see who Andrea was calling. Kevin denied having the shotgun during the argument. Kev- in showed me the scratches and bite mark on his arm ... The scratched and bite marks were where Andrea • Price is subject to change without notice Chief Continued from page A-1 in hundreds of hours on his days off from his regular job since coming to Shelton as a reserve officer last year. The department's civilian employee of the year is Sara Childers. She began working at the department about 15 years ago after working at Mason County and the State of Washington. Childers was also civilian employee of the year in 2001, the first year that the department began handing out the annual awards. described they would be. Andrea said she did this when Kevin was trying to choke her." Davies was placed into custody and transported to the jail for booking. ......... r iii!ii!iiiil !!ii:!i ! !:ii:iiiiiiiii?iiiiii Take Virtual Tours at LexarHomes.com 360.807.1722 SAVE with an energy-efficient LEXAR home "52 weeks for $377 mh at's a wheel ie great deal!" . Shelton-Mason County 1 Call 426-4412 to subscribe today! Out of County $51/yr. Out of State $61/yr. Shelton-Mason County Journal-Thursday, March 17, 2011 - Page A-7