March 17, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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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-
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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.
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Shelton-Mason County Journal-Thursday, March 17, 2011 - Page A-7