Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
June 7, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 1     (1 of 18 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 1     (1 of 18 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
June 7, 2012
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




Thursday, June 7, 2012 The Voice of Mason County since 1886 Published for Mason County and Jacldyn Sanderson of Shelton -- $1 @. • Sheriff's office: recent shootings an 'epidemic' By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@m asoncou n ty,corn Two people died in an apparent murder/ suicide near Potlatch early Friday morning, bringing the death toll in Mason County's. recent string of violent deaths to seven. "It would appear to be an epidemic," said Dean Byrd, chief deputy in the Mason County Sheriffs Office. "We have two more dead." Mason County Coroner Wes Stockwell released the names of the deceased Monday as Michelle Marie Boutiette, 41, of Potlatch and Bill B. Beck, 48, of Potlatch. Autopsies on both were conducted Monday. At around 4 a.m. Friday morning, dis- patchers received the first of three calls re- lated to a domestic dispute at 633 N. Hard- castle Road near Potlatch. The first call, from Beck, stated that he was having a domestic dispute and needed law enforcement assistance, Byrd said. The next call came from another man, who claimed to be a witness to a shooting at the previous address. A third call came from Boutiette claiming to have shot her boyfriend. "When EMS responded they found two people with gunshot wounds," Byrd said. "The male was dead at the scene, the female was still alive." Boutiette'died en route to a medical facil- ity. Byrd said a preliminary investigation identified this as a murder/suicide, with Boutiette as the shooter. "The deputies are following up other leads." he said. "The female apparently had reported to either the decedent or the wit- ness that she had been stalked. It had been apparent to them that there had been some mental health issues involved. We're follow- ing those leads at this point." Mason County's latest string of violent deaths mirrors those in other areas of the Pacific Northwest, such as Seattle, which is also experiencing its highest murder rate in years. Starting in late March, Mason County has had its highest number of deaths ruled as homicide in several years. Travis Carl Baze and Stephen R.C. Churchill have both been charged with mur- der after authorities say they beat Shawn Joseph Morrow to death with a baseball bat See Deaths on page A-7 By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@masoncounty,com The 68th annual Mason County Forest Festival was undampened by driz- zly weather this weekend as visitors and locals alike turned out to celebrate the county's timber his- tory. Forest Festiva] Commit- .tee Chairman Lynne Free- man estimated that about 6,000 spectators turned out Saturday morning for the annual Forest Festival and Loop Field ven- dors. Fesl valphotos, " I t wasn't hor- rible." she said. "It only sprinkled on the pa- rade for like five minutes." The parade had 86 en- trants this year, including floats, classic cars, eques- trian groups, bands and drill teams. "It was a good parade," Freeman said. "Each year we try to make it differ- ent and appeal to our viewers and all that kind of stuff." Floats competed for the Grand Sweepstakes Award, the Grand Marshal Award, the President's .Aw.ard, the Governor's Award and the See Forest on page A-5 Journal DnOtO Dy Natahe Johnson Mike Bowman, of Shelton High School, portrayed Paul Bunyan for the 2012 Mason County Forest Festival. During the parade, he rode on the back of a log truck. No bail [e mu Next court date is June 25 By KEVIN SPRADLIN kevin@masoncoun[y.com The suspected shooter in a double murder that occurred early Memorial Day morning is being held without bond at the Mason County Jail. Charles Sydney Long- shore, 22, has been charged in Mason ~County Superior Court with two counts of aggra- vated mur- der in the first de- gree that Charles resulted in Longshore the deaths of Tyler Drake, 19, and Anitrea Taber. 37, in their Harvard Avenue home. Police allege that Long- shore and a friend, Robert Raphael, approached Drake and Taber in the home next door to Raphael's ~o collec~ on a drug debt. According to statements .provided .by Raphael to law enforcement, Longshore See Suspect on page A-6 County approves garbage contract extension By NATALIE JOHNSON and waste management ~atalie@masoncoun~y,com, for Mason County, said the solid waste depart- ment planned to only ex- The Mason County Commission voted tend the lease for a year or Tuesday to approve what turned out to be a two while the county con- c0ntrovers'ial contract extension for garbage sidered privatizing solid hauling services, waste services. Several solid waste companies with local "We started out at ,two years but as we went Tom through negotiations we Moore asked for more and they offices expressed frustration that the coun- ty renegotiated a 20 year-old contract with Regional Disposal Company/Allied Waste for long hauling and disposal of solid waste without going out to bid to get the best price. The county's contract has existed since August 1993. The term of the contract was for five years, with options to renew for three additional five-year terms. Tom Moore, interim director of utilities 81111U!!I!!II[!I!!IJIIII2 asked for more and this is where we ended up," he said. What the county ended up with is an agreement that extends the contract for seven years, until August 26, 2020, with the right to extend it for one additional three- year term. The contract also includes a $150,000 payment from Regional Disposal Company/ See Garbage on page A-7 State denies grant request for new senior center By KEVIN SPRADLIN Monday. Michael said that only 15 of kevin@rnasoncountv.eom the 36 projects submitted to the state ~ ~ Department of Commerce were funded. The city, on behalf of the senior cen- The city of Shelton's effort to secure a ter, had requested $1 million. grant to help the Mason County Senior Activity Center purchase the former PUD 3 building on West Cota Street has been denied. In a May 23 letter to Mayor Gary Cronce, Community Development Block Grants. Program Manager Kaar- en Roe cited a reduction in available grant money as par~ of the reason the purchase request, one of 36 projects re- quested for funding, could not be grant- ed. City Engineer Michael J. Michael told the commissioners of the outcome during the city's public meeting on He recounted Roe's letter, in which she stated that grant allocation fund- ing was reduced by 13.8 percent, which made $11 million available. More than $30 million in funding requests were re- ceived by the state agency. Mayor Gary Cronce called the out- come "unfortunate." TerriShaw, executive director for the Mason County Senior Activity Center, said she and the board of directors are "greatly disappointed" about the state's announcement but thanked the city for See Senior center on page A-5