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SHELTON-
MASON COUNTY
JOURNAL
Thursday, May 17, 2007 121st Year -- Number 20 5 Sections -- 46 Pages Published in Shelton, Washington 75 cents
Bus levy teeters 27 votes shy
Shelton School District's $1.3-
on transportation vehicle
levy is teetering on the brink
(! ssing following vote-counting
'1, Iday evening.
he measure currently has 59.3
ant "yes" votes, just 27 votes
0f the needed 60 percent voter
approval. Mason County Elec-
tions Supervisor Pat Sykora said
she expects a couple of hundred
additional votes to be counted on
Friday.
As of Tuesday night, the levy
has 2,280 "yes" votes and 1,565
"no" votes. Voter turnout in the
all-mail election currently is 38.4
percent.
If the ballot measure ultimately
passes, the school district would
use money from the levy to pur-
chase seven special-needs buses
and 12 regular school buses dur-
ing a five-year span from the next
school year through the 2011-2012
school year.
The transportation vehicle fund
levy would be in addition to bond
and maintenance-and-operation
levy funds currently collected by
the district.
In 2008, district property own-
ers would pay an estimated $5.96
per $1,000 for the combined bond
and M&O levy. With the trans-
portation vehicle fund levy of 51
cents per $1,000 added to that,
they would pay $6.47 per $1,000
in 2008. The bus levy would be col-
lected only in 2008 and 2009.
A FIREFIGHTER WORKS to extinguish the fire at a home on the corner
of Johns Prairie and Batstone Cutoffroads. The people living there were
unharmed but two dogs and a cat were killed in the blaze.
one hurt but three pets
in fire on Johns Prairie
pets were killed and three
Were forced to find new ac-
after fire swept
a home on Johns Prairie
r morning.
County Fire Marshal
:Iaugen is still investigat-
fire. Charlene
52, said the fire started
box of her home at the
Johns Prairie and Bat-
Road. Staying with
time were her son, Den-
and her granddaugh-
another child, Alysha
everything: all my
|, all Alysha's clothes,"
said. "Dennis got to save
lost were the three pets
in the blaze: Big Dog,
the Fat Cat and Maxie, a
terrier. "We've been
a few photo albums,
furniture is gone," Cuz-
IMPLOYEE of Mason
alerted fire fighters to the
noticing smoke com-
roof line of a house on
Johns Prairie Road on the morn-
ing of May 10, calling fire rescue
crews to the scene. The homeown-
ers had gone to the store at the
time, unaware of the fire about to
engulf their home.
By 10 a.m., Mason County fire
districts 4, 5, 11 and 13, along
with Shelton Fire Department
and Griffin Fire District in Thur-
ston County, were responding to
the report. Since the single-fam-
ily residential structure was not
well marked with an address, fire
crews initially thought the call was
to the Island Lake area, said Jeff
Cowan, assistant chief of Fire Dis-
trict 5. The blaze occurred within
the jurisdiction of District 5, and a
unified command worked together
to extinguish the flames.
By the time crews arrived, the
structure was fully involved in fire.
Cowan estimates the home was
about 1,200 square feet in size and
had been remodeled several times.
Firefighters were able to contain
the fire almost immediately, but
suppressing it entirely was a long
and difficult process, taking a few
hours, because the home was in-
sulated with sawdust. This caused
the blaze to smolder and then re-
kindle, flaring up again.
"The sawdust gave us a hard
time putting the fire out," Cowan
said. "So until we were able to ex-
tinguish every spark, it took us a
lot longer to put it out."
HOWEVER, THE team was
able to stop the fire from spread-
ing further and then help the resi-
dents recover their personal be-
longings and mementos. "It was a
good team effort," Cowan said.
The American Red Cross was
able to help provide the family with
emergency housing, and the resi-
dents are now staying with friends
and relatives. An account has been
set up at Key Bank in Cuzick's
name for persons who would like
to help her defray the cost of set-
ting up a new household.
"I'm at the neighbor's and Den-
nis is staying with a friend and
Alysha went back home," she
said.
The friend is Lisa Mendoza, who
will take calls from people want-
ing to help on her cellular phone:
451-1314.
charged with assault
shooting of his brother
Shelton man ar-
allegedly shooting his
the leg was arraigned
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
the inside
. • ................................ U
eds ........................... 33
Ivaity Calendar ....... 19
mWord ........................... 38
etainment, Dining .....
32
tal of Record .. 20
it ...........
h., es ........................... 10
LU
It ls, Letters ................. 4
• "Qooee..ee*ee.ee*eeeoe.e.e.e. 3
,,
"',,,,,,,,,,,,,,,E;E,,=,,;,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
, |J! !!lJIIIJIJ!l!l!lll II
last week in Mason County Supe-
rior Court.
Eddie Dino Sanchez of 900
Olympic Avenue entered not-
guilty pleas on May 10 to charges
of assault in the first degree and
unlawful possession of a firearm
in the first degree. He is accused of
domestic violence in the shooting
his brother, Jesus "Jesse" Clovis
Sanchez.
Officers of the Shelton Police
Department responded to Mason
General Hospital at 4:14 a.m. on
May 2 and contacted Jesus San-
chez, who told officers he had been
shot by his brother, Eddie Sanchez,
while in their apartment. Eddie
Sanchez reportedly was attempt-
ing to wake up his brother when
shots were fired from a black semi-
automatic handgun which Eddie
Sanchez reportedly identified as
belonging to him.
Eddie Sanchez allegedly leR the
apartment in a 2002 black Volk-
swagen Jetta, and two neighbors,
Travis Lee Shank and Frances
Joanne Shank, took Jesus Sanchez
to Mason General Hospital.
Jesus Sanchez, 29, was later
transported to Saint Peter Hos-
pital in Olympia. Eddie Sanchez
was found by Shelton police offi-
cers inside the Jetta parked in the
1000 block of Wyandotte Avenue.
He reportedly had a handgun with
him but is prohibited from owning,
using or possessing firearms as a
result of a previous felony convic-
tion.
Eddie Sanchez is being held on
$250,000 bail. First-degree assault
is considered a "strike" offense un-
der the state's persistent offender
sentencing act, which mandates a
sentence of life in prison without
the possibility of parole for per-
sons convicted of three "strikes."
His future court dates include an
omnibus hearing on May 21, a pre-
trial hearing on June 11 and trial
during the jury term beginning
June 26.
Drags boosters
want to pave way
to bigger things
By JEFF GREEN
With an eye on bigger events,
the Shelton Drag Strip Associa-
tion has initiated talks with the
Port of Shelton about resurfacing
the closed runway at Sanderson
Field where drag races were held
last summer.
Rahn Redman, executive di-
rector of the association, told The
Journal after Tuesday morning's
port commission meeting that the
asphalt on the runway is 60 years
old, hard and brittle and that when
it's heated, as by the smoking tires
of a drag racer, tiny pieces of the
runway come out.
Redman would like to see 1,400
feet of the runway resurface& 700
feet resurfaced with 8-inch-thick
concrete, the remaining 700 feet
with three layers of asphalt total-
ing 41/2 inches in thickness. The
runway currently has an asphalt
surface that's 31h inches thick, he
said.
The cost of resurfacing the
runway would be paid for by a
company owned by Tacoma busi-
nessman and drag racing buff
Walt Austin. Redman told port
commissioners Tuesday the as-
sociation needed to have concrete
poured by June 5 to give it time
to cure by drag racing this sum-
mer, which is planned for the
weekends of July 6-8 and 13-15.
MORE THAN likely, that
won't happen before this year's
back-to-back weekend event, said
Bob Robinson, the port's manag-
ing director. Half a loaf is better
than none and Redman wants to
see a 60-foot strip at the starting
line resurfaced before this sum-
mer's racing.
Redman said if the entire drag
strip is resurfaced, the National
Hot Rod Association would like to
hold a divisional racing event here
in June 2008. That could lead to
a national drag racing event at
the Shelton airport in three to five
years, he noted.
The divisional would be held
over a four-day weekend and
would draw racers from Wash-
ington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana,
Alaska and two Canadian provinc-
es, he told The Journal, adding it
could draw 60,000 to 100,000 visi-
tors to Mason County and pump
an estimated $3 to $5 million into
the local economy.
After the port commission
meeting, Redman said his asso-
ciation is seeking a five-year con-
tract between the port and Walt
Austin Racing that would provide
for 12 weekends of racing per
year, with the Tacoma firm pay-
(Please turn to page 7.)
Nighttime seatbelt
emphasis planned
Local law enforcement will be
in the national spotlight as offi-
cers make some big changes in the
Click it or Ticket campaign. Seat-
belt enforcement patrols are mov-
ing to nighttime hours, starting on
Monday.
Statewide, there will be 75
law-enforcement agencies partici-
pating in the nighttime seatbelt
enforcement project including the
Shelton Police Department and
Mason County Sheriffs Office, as
well as the state patrol.
Patrolling for seatbel violators
is more difficult at night because it
is hard to see the seatbelt. Howev-
er, the Washington State Patrol is
pioneering an enforcement meth-
od that will be used statewide. It
involves both an observational of-
ricer and several pursuit vehicles.
Once an unbuckled motorist is
spotted, the observing officer will
radio ahead to the pursuit vehicle
to make the stop.
"Many people think that law en-
forcement can't see unbuckled too-
torists at night, so seatbelt use is
lower and consequently the night-
time death rate is four times what
4t is during the day. This project
will change that," said Lowell Por-
ter, director of the Washington
Traffic Safety Commission.
LOOKING AT ALL vehicle oc-
cupant deaths in Washington for
the years 2001-2005, there were
2,366 vehicle occupant deaths,
with 1,153, or 49 percent, occur-
ring from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and
1,198, 51 percent, occurring from
6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Though the num-
ber of people killed during the day
is about the same as those killed
at night, the death rate at night
is approximately four to five times
higher because traffic volumes are
much lower at night.
"We know that people are most
at risk of dying in a severe colli-
sion at night because more risky
driving behavior takes place at
night: more impaired driving,
(Please turn to page 7.)
Sewage system eyed
on canal West Shore
The U.S. Congress will be asked
to turn the tide on a tribal funding
measure that would solidify a
$19.8-million plan to improve
wastewater management on the
West Shore of Hood Canal from
the Skokomish Reservation to
Hoodsport.
Word that a change in the
language of a 2003 State and Tribal
Assistance Grant to the Skokomish
Nation is supported by the Bush
Administration was delivered May
4 in a letter to local authorities
from Thomas Eaton, director
of the Washington Operations
Office of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
This project has become a
priority in the wake of reports
that high levels of bacteria have
translated into low levels of
oxygen, resulting in a couple of
sizable "fish kills" in Hood Canal.
"Nutrients, especially nitrogen
in he form of nitrate and
ammonium, are introduced into
Hood Canal via such mechanisms
as failing septic systems in the
nearshore watershed," Eaton
wrote. "This increased nutrient
load from septic systems impacts
the marine environment of Hood
Canal by contributing to algal
blooms that deplete valuable
dissolved oxygen needed to sustain
healthy marine life."
(Please turn to page 7.)
SHELTON-
MASON COUNTY
JOURNAL
Thursday, May 17, 2007 121st Year -- Number 20 5 Sections -- 46 Pages Published in Shelton, Washington 75 cents
Bus levy teeters 27 votes shy
Shelton School District's $1.3-
on transportation vehicle
levy is teetering on the brink
(! ssing following vote-counting
'1, Iday evening.
he measure currently has 59.3
ant "yes" votes, just 27 votes
0f the needed 60 percent voter
approval. Mason County Elec-
tions Supervisor Pat Sykora said
she expects a couple of hundred
additional votes to be counted on
Friday.
As of Tuesday night, the levy
has 2,280 "yes" votes and 1,565
"no" votes. Voter turnout in the
all-mail election currently is 38.4
percent.
If the ballot measure ultimately
passes, the school district would
use money from the levy to pur-
chase seven special-needs buses
and 12 regular school buses dur-
ing a five-year span from the next
school year through the 2011-2012
school year.
The transportation vehicle fund
levy would be in addition to bond
and maintenance-and-operation
levy funds currently collected by
the district.
In 2008, district property own-
ers would pay an estimated $5.96
per $1,000 for the combined bond
and M&O levy. With the trans-
portation vehicle fund levy of 51
cents per $1,000 added to that,
they would pay $6.47 per $1,000
in 2008. The bus levy would be col-
lected only in 2008 and 2009.
A FIREFIGHTER WORKS to extinguish the fire at a home on the corner
of Johns Prairie and Batstone Cutoffroads. The people living there were
unharmed but two dogs and a cat were killed in the blaze.
one hurt but three pets
in fire on Johns Prairie
pets were killed and three
Were forced to find new ac-
after fire swept
a home on Johns Prairie
r morning.
County Fire Marshal
:Iaugen is still investigat-
fire. Charlene
52, said the fire started
box of her home at the
Johns Prairie and Bat-
Road. Staying with
time were her son, Den-
and her granddaugh-
another child, Alysha
everything: all my
|, all Alysha's clothes,"
said. "Dennis got to save
lost were the three pets
in the blaze: Big Dog,
the Fat Cat and Maxie, a
terrier. "We've been
a few photo albums,
furniture is gone," Cuz-
IMPLOYEE of Mason
alerted fire fighters to the
noticing smoke com-
roof line of a house on
Johns Prairie Road on the morn-
ing of May 10, calling fire rescue
crews to the scene. The homeown-
ers had gone to the store at the
time, unaware of the fire about to
engulf their home.
By 10 a.m., Mason County fire
districts 4, 5, 11 and 13, along
with Shelton Fire Department
and Griffin Fire District in Thur-
ston County, were responding to
the report. Since the single-fam-
ily residential structure was not
well marked with an address, fire
crews initially thought the call was
to the Island Lake area, said Jeff
Cowan, assistant chief of Fire Dis-
trict 5. The blaze occurred within
the jurisdiction of District 5, and a
unified command worked together
to extinguish the flames.
By the time crews arrived, the
structure was fully involved in fire.
Cowan estimates the home was
about 1,200 square feet in size and
had been remodeled several times.
Firefighters were able to contain
the fire almost immediately, but
suppressing it entirely was a long
and difficult process, taking a few
hours, because the home was in-
sulated with sawdust. This caused
the blaze to smolder and then re-
kindle, flaring up again.
"The sawdust gave us a hard
time putting the fire out," Cowan
said. "So until we were able to ex-
tinguish every spark, it took us a
lot longer to put it out."
HOWEVER, THE team was
able to stop the fire from spread-
ing further and then help the resi-
dents recover their personal be-
longings and mementos. "It was a
good team effort," Cowan said.
The American Red Cross was
able to help provide the family with
emergency housing, and the resi-
dents are now staying with friends
and relatives. An account has been
set up at Key Bank in Cuzick's
name for persons who would like
to help her defray the cost of set-
ting up a new household.
"I'm at the neighbor's and Den-
nis is staying with a friend and
Alysha went back home," she
said.
The friend is Lisa Mendoza, who
will take calls from people want-
ing to help on her cellular phone:
451-1314.
charged with assault
shooting of his brother
Shelton man ar-
allegedly shooting his
the leg was arraigned
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
the inside
. • ................................ U
eds ........................... 33
Ivaity Calendar ....... 19
mWord ........................... 38
etainment, Dining .....
32
tal of Record .. 20
it ...........
h., es ........................... 10
LU
It ls, Letters ................. 4
• "Qooee..ee*ee.ee*eeeoe.e.e.e. 3
,,
"',,,,,,,,,,,,,,,E;E,,=,,;,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
, |J! !!lJIIIJIJ!l!l!lll II
last week in Mason County Supe-
rior Court.
Eddie Dino Sanchez of 900
Olympic Avenue entered not-
guilty pleas on May 10 to charges
of assault in the first degree and
unlawful possession of a firearm
in the first degree. He is accused of
domestic violence in the shooting
his brother, Jesus "Jesse" Clovis
Sanchez.
Officers of the Shelton Police
Department responded to Mason
General Hospital at 4:14 a.m. on
May 2 and contacted Jesus San-
chez, who told officers he had been
shot by his brother, Eddie Sanchez,
while in their apartment. Eddie
Sanchez reportedly was attempt-
ing to wake up his brother when
shots were fired from a black semi-
automatic handgun which Eddie
Sanchez reportedly identified as
belonging to him.
Eddie Sanchez allegedly leR the
apartment in a 2002 black Volk-
swagen Jetta, and two neighbors,
Travis Lee Shank and Frances
Joanne Shank, took Jesus Sanchez
to Mason General Hospital.
Jesus Sanchez, 29, was later
transported to Saint Peter Hos-
pital in Olympia. Eddie Sanchez
was found by Shelton police offi-
cers inside the Jetta parked in the
1000 block of Wyandotte Avenue.
He reportedly had a handgun with
him but is prohibited from owning,
using or possessing firearms as a
result of a previous felony convic-
tion.
Eddie Sanchez is being held on
$250,000 bail. First-degree assault
is considered a "strike" offense un-
der the state's persistent offender
sentencing act, which mandates a
sentence of life in prison without
the possibility of parole for per-
sons convicted of three "strikes."
His future court dates include an
omnibus hearing on May 21, a pre-
trial hearing on June 11 and trial
during the jury term beginning
June 26.
Drags boosters
want to pave way
to bigger things
By JEFF GREEN
With an eye on bigger events,
the Shelton Drag Strip Associa-
tion has initiated talks with the
Port of Shelton about resurfacing
the closed runway at Sanderson
Field where drag races were held
last summer.
Rahn Redman, executive di-
rector of the association, told The
Journal after Tuesday morning's
port commission meeting that the
asphalt on the runway is 60 years
old, hard and brittle and that when
it's heated, as by the smoking tires
of a drag racer, tiny pieces of the
runway come out.
Redman would like to see 1,400
feet of the runway resurface& 700
feet resurfaced with 8-inch-thick
concrete, the remaining 700 feet
with three layers of asphalt total-
ing 41/2 inches in thickness. The
runway currently has an asphalt
surface that's 31h inches thick, he
said.
The cost of resurfacing the
runway would be paid for by a
company owned by Tacoma busi-
nessman and drag racing buff
Walt Austin. Redman told port
commissioners Tuesday the as-
sociation needed to have concrete
poured by June 5 to give it time
to cure by drag racing this sum-
mer, which is planned for the
weekends of July 6-8 and 13-15.
MORE THAN likely, that
won't happen before this year's
back-to-back weekend event, said
Bob Robinson, the port's manag-
ing director. Half a loaf is better
than none and Redman wants to
see a 60-foot strip at the starting
line resurfaced before this sum-
mer's racing.
Redman said if the entire drag
strip is resurfaced, the National
Hot Rod Association would like to
hold a divisional racing event here
in June 2008. That could lead to
a national drag racing event at
the Shelton airport in three to five
years, he noted.
The divisional would be held
over a four-day weekend and
would draw racers from Wash-
ington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana,
Alaska and two Canadian provinc-
es, he told The Journal, adding it
could draw 60,000 to 100,000 visi-
tors to Mason County and pump
an estimated $3 to $5 million into
the local economy.
After the port commission
meeting, Redman said his asso-
ciation is seeking a five-year con-
tract between the port and Walt
Austin Racing that would provide
for 12 weekends of racing per
year, with the Tacoma firm pay-
(Please turn to page 7.)
Nighttime seatbelt
emphasis planned
Local law enforcement will be
in the national spotlight as offi-
cers make some big changes in the
Click it or Ticket campaign. Seat-
belt enforcement patrols are mov-
ing to nighttime hours, starting on
Monday.
Statewide, there will be 75
law-enforcement agencies partici-
pating in the nighttime seatbelt
enforcement project including the
Shelton Police Department and
Mason County Sheriffs Office, as
well as the state patrol.
Patrolling for seatbel violators
is more difficult at night because it
is hard to see the seatbelt. Howev-
er, the Washington State Patrol is
pioneering an enforcement meth-
od that will be used statewide. It
involves both an observational of-
ricer and several pursuit vehicles.
Once an unbuckled motorist is
spotted, the observing officer will
radio ahead to the pursuit vehicle
to make the stop.
"Many people think that law en-
forcement can't see unbuckled too-
torists at night, so seatbelt use is
lower and consequently the night-
time death rate is four times what
4t is during the day. This project
will change that," said Lowell Por-
ter, director of the Washington
Traffic Safety Commission.
LOOKING AT ALL vehicle oc-
cupant deaths in Washington for
the years 2001-2005, there were
2,366 vehicle occupant deaths,
with 1,153, or 49 percent, occur-
ring from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and
1,198, 51 percent, occurring from
6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Though the num-
ber of people killed during the day
is about the same as those killed
at night, the death rate at night
is approximately four to five times
higher because traffic volumes are
much lower at night.
"We know that people are most
at risk of dying in a severe colli-
sion at night because more risky
driving behavior takes place at
night: more impaired driving,
(Please turn to page 7.)
Sewage system eyed
on canal West Shore
The U.S. Congress will be asked
to turn the tide on a tribal funding
measure that would solidify a
$19.8-million plan to improve
wastewater management on the
West Shore of Hood Canal from
the Skokomish Reservation to
Hoodsport.
Word that a change in the
language of a 2003 State and Tribal
Assistance Grant to the Skokomish
Nation is supported by the Bush
Administration was delivered May
4 in a letter to local authorities
from Thomas Eaton, director
of the Washington Operations
Office of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
This project has become a
priority in the wake of reports
that high levels of bacteria have
translated into low levels of
oxygen, resulting in a couple of
sizable "fish kills" in Hood Canal.
"Nutrients, especially nitrogen
in he form of nitrate and
ammonium, are introduced into
Hood Canal via such mechanisms
as failing septic systems in the
nearshore watershed," Eaton
wrote. "This increased nutrient
load from septic systems impacts
the marine environment of Hood
Canal by contributing to algal
blooms that deplete valuable
dissolved oxygen needed to sustain
healthy marine life."
(Please turn to page 7.)