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Page A-8 — Shelton-Mason Journal — Thursday, April 23, 2020
NEWS BRIEFS
PUD 3 offers
drive-by Wi-Fi
Mason PUD 3 will
soon offer “drive-by
Wi-Fi” hot spots across
Mason County.
According to a news
release, the utility has
teamed up with fire
districts, port districts,
community halls and
more to identify loca-
tions for hot spots
throughout the county.
Wireless equipment
is on order and crews
will install the hot spots
in the coming weeks,
according to PUD 3.
“Mason PUD 3’s
vision includes a com-
mitment to collaborate
with community part-
ners to create opportu-
nities that enhance the
economy and quality
of life,” said Annette
Creekpaum, Mason
PUD 3 manager, in
the release. “By es-
tablishing these Wi-Fi
hotspots, we 'hope to
make it easier for stu-
dents and community
members to keep con- ,
nected during the CO-
VID-19 pandemic.”
The PUD’s drive-by
Wi-Fi initiative gives
residents without high-
speed internet in their
homes “an opportunity
to connect to critical
services and online
learning in their com~
munities while practic-
ing appropriate social
distancing.”
The Washington
State Broadband Of-
fice encouraged PUD
to set up the network
to go along with a
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With You From
statewide program to
establish similar ser-
vices at school districts
throughout Washing-
ton, according to PUD
3.
A list of propo‘sed
hot spots is available at
www.pud3.org/wifi. The
list will be updated as
hot spots are activated.
PUD 1 earns
safety award
Mason County PUD
1 has earned the Ameri-
can Public Power Asso-
ciation’s Safety Award
of Excellence for the
second consecutive year.
The utility earned
first place in the
category of utilities
with 30,000 to 59,000
worker-hours of an-
nual w0rker exposure,
according to a news
release. ‘
Brandon Wylie, chair
of the association’s
safety committee, pre-
sented the award dur-
ing the association’s
. annual Engineering &
‘ Operations Technical
Conference in Kansas
City, Missouri. ~
“Strong safety pro-
grams are essential to
ensuring that electric
utility employees are
informed and trained
on safe work proce-
dures,” Wylie said. “The
utilities receiving this
award have proven that
protecting the safety of
their employees is a top
priority.”
More than 335 utili-
ties entered the annual
safety awards contest,
lniury to Recavery
800.273.5005
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2153 Bethel Rd SE
Port Orchard, WA 98366
at
We Are Open 7 Days a Week!
10:00 a.m.
Elease practice social distancing.
-6:00 pm.
. 707 Cascade Ave
Shelton
360-426-3359
Discount
Groceries
Temporary Hours:
Monday — Saturday
10am 3pm 5,
S. 1“ Street
Shelton
360-4274277
which is the highest
number of entrants in
the history of the pro-
gram. Entrants were
placed in categories ac-
cording to their number
of worker-hours and
ranked based on the
most incident-free re-
cords during 2019. The
incidence rate, used to
judge entries, is based
on the number of work-
related reportable inju-
ries or illnesses and the
number of worker-hours
during 2019, as defined
by the Occupational
Safety and Health Ad-
ministration, according
to PUD 1.
“We are very proud
of our safety record,-
which is a direct carry-
‘ over of 0111‘ continuous-
improvement safety
culture,” said Kristin
Masteller, general man-
ager of Mason PUD 1.
“This award reflects
the leadership from
our operations director
and foremen, our safety
training program, and
the hard work that goes
. into ensuring that our
team members go home
safe to their families
every day.”
The Safety Awards
have been held each
year for the past 60
years. The Arnerican
Public Power Associa-
tion is the voice of not-
for-profit, community-
owned utilities that
power 2,000 towns and
cities nationwide.
Hood Canal
Food Bank
changes
distribution
Due to the state man-
date on social distancing
due to the coronavirus
threat, the Hood Canal
Food Bank in Hoodsport
on Monday changed the
way it distributes food
to people in need.
Instead of coming
inside to select items,
volunteers will hand
clients packaged boxes
Your Full Service Roofer
Since 1959!
the One Doctor That Still,
Values House calls!
from about 10:30 to 3
pm. the first and third
Mondays of each month .
at 331 N. Finch Creek
Road. I
Patrons are asked to
pull up in their vehicles
and volunteers will take
their names and find
out how many people
are in the family. Food'
and other commodities,
.such as hygiene prod-
ucts, will be bagged and
brought to the vehicle.
To be eligible, clients
must live within the
food bank’s service area.
Potential patrons need
to show a piece of mail
with the current ad—
dress for the family and
a birth certificate, insur—
ance card or school iden-
tification card for each
child receiving food. The
food bank keeps records
on all clients.
The service area
includes Hoodsport,
Union, Lilliwaup, the
Skokomish Valley and
north to the Jefferson
County line.
New jobless
claims in
county
down from
preVious week
Initial claims for
unemployment benefits
in Mason County went
down last week for
the first time in three
weeks, according to data
released from the state’s
Unemployment Security
Department. 1
During the week of
April 5 through April
11,, 793 new local claims
were made, down from
1,187 the‘week before.
From March 22 through
March 28, 1,190 new 10-
cal claims were made.
The numbers fol-
lowed state trends. Dur-
ing the week of April
5 through April 11,
143,241 initial claims
were made in Washing-
ton, down from 170,063
the week before.
During the week of
'iqar: DOCTO
f ..
April 5 through April
11, the state paid
out $125.9 million to
265,796 unemployed
workers, a $45.6 million
increase from the previ-
ous week.
Washington resi-
dents, according'to the
department, have made
more than 585,000
claims for unemploy-
ment benefits.
Chamber
offers
Moke 2020 the ’ear for'YOur New Roof!
liVestream
help for
business
owners
The Shelton-Mason
County Chamber of
Commerce will host a
free livestream event
titled “Managing Your
Business Remotely in
Times of Uncertainty”
from 9 to 10 a.m. May 6.
The event will pro-
vide tips and resources
to help owners remotely
manage their small
businesses and non-
profits. It will also show
business owners how to
keep critical information
online to keep custom-
ers informed, host virtu-
al meetings and events,
and access documents
from anywhere, accord—
ing to the chamber.
Residents must regis-
ter to attend the event.
For more information,
call 360-426-2021. To
sign up, go to httpsz/lbit. .
ly/2RQVOo7.
OCCU among
healthiest
credit unions
Shelton-based Our
Community Credit
Union was recently
named the ninth-health-
iest credit union out of
5,321 U.S. credit unions,
according to a list by
Depositaccounts.com.
m
Also Serving: Olympia ' lacey - Tumwaler Tenino - Yelm ' Tacoma
' Moniesano
Aberdeen ' McKenna ' Gig Harbor Centraliu ' Chehulis - Longview
' Vancouver - Roy
The website, a sub-
sidiary of Lendingfl‘ree,
released its 2020 Top
200 Healthiest Credit
Unions in America.
Depositaccounts.com
evaluates the financial
health of more than
10,000 banksand credit
unions in the United
States once each quar-
ter, according to a news
release from OCCU. The
company grades each
institution on capital-
ization, deposit growth,
loan-to-reserve ratios
and more.
“It is such an honor
to have OCCU recog-
nized as the ninth-
healthiest credit union
out of 5,321 U.S.
credit union analyzed
in America,” said Bert
Fisher, president/CEO
of OCCU, in the release.
“Being part of this list
shows our dedication to
excellence.”
For more informa-
tion about OCCU, go to
wwwiourcwcom.
Treasury, IRS
unveil online
application‘
Working with the
U.S. Treasury Depart-
ment, the Internal Rev-
enue Service last week
unveiled the website
“Get My Payment” with
features to' let taxpayers
check on their Economic
Impact Payment date
and update direct de-
posit information. '
With an initial round
of more than "80 mil- .
lion payments hitting
bank accounts, the site
will help address com--
mon questions. Get My
Payment will show‘ the
projected date when a
deposit has been sched-
uled, similar to the
“Where’s My Refund”
tool many taxpayers are
already familiar with.
Get My Payment also .
allows people a chance
to provide their bank
information. People
who did not use direct . ,
deposit on their last 9
tax return will be able ?
to input information to
receive the payment by E
direct deposit into their 5
bank account.
“Get My Payment
will offer people a quick
and easy way to find the
status of their payment
and, where possible,
provide'their bank ac-
count information if
we don’t already have
it,” said IRS Commis-
sioner Chuck Rettig in a
news release. “Our IRS
employees have been
working nonstop on the
Economic Impact Pay-
ments to help taxpayers
in need.
For more informa~
tion, go to irs.gov.
m. ownflowrmku— ma
I Compiled by editor in
chief Adam Rudnick