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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
June 30, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
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June 30, 2011
 
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Thursday, June 30, 2011 Year 125 -- Week 26 -- 9 Sections --- 72 Pages --- Published in Shelton, Wasbln on -- $1 By KEVAN MOORE A Belfair woman accused of stealing nearly $200,000 from the Alderbrook Resort and Spa made a brief appearance in Mason County Superior Court this week. Belfair resident Candace Lynn Ralston, 40, of the 800 block of Trails End Drive was arrested earlier this month and ordered held in the Mason County Jail on $250,000 bail after prosecu- tors successfully argued that she posed a flight risk. Ralston subsequently surren- dered her passport and her attor- ney, Clifford Cordes, successfully argued Tuesday to have her bail reduced to $125,000. Ralston faces charges of three counts of first-degree theft and one count of forgery. Prosecutors have also filed pa- porwork seeking an exceptional sentence on all counts, arguing that the crimes constitute major economic offenses. Ralston, who worked at the re- sort as an accounting assistant and accounting manager, alleged- ly stole $190,000 between Novem- ber 2009 and April 2011. "Most of these thefts were from. the cash deposit system at Alder- brook Resort and Spa and were covered by Ralston with her cre- ation of a 'gift cards payable' ac- counting line that digitally bal- anced the books,~ wrote Mason County Sheriffs Office Detective Luther Pittman in a probable cause statement. "Ralston's electronic footprint is on each of these thefts through her login," Detective Pittman added. "Each manipulation of the gift cards payable accounting line has her electronic signature on it. No one else has access to Ralston's account or login pass- word." Ralston is also accused of trans- ferring four Chocks into her per- sonal account and forging the signature of the resort's human da " resources manager on a $9,996 check to pay for a time share in Mexico. Ralston was originally arrested at the resort on April 21, hut no charges were filed at the time. This ~ month's theft and forgery charges stem from an Alderbrook audit conducted by Collin Wallace and Conor Law of Moss Adams LLP that provided spreadsheets and other financial information to in- vestigators documenting Ralston's alleged crimes. By NATALIE JOHNSON Last month city of Shel- ton staff announced that faulty equipment installed at the city's Satellite Wa- ter Reclamation plant had caused an estimated $1 mil- lion in damages. Initially the city expected to be able to pay for at least the first $250,000 of repairs through money retained from the contractor for such a purpose, and then charge the contractor, Pease and Sons Constructibn for the rest. This week, city staff announced that this retain- OtrdFilctof Or1 ~mt, age money was actually not ~ available to them. On Monday, the city com- mission approved drawing $269,000 out of existing sewer utilityreserves to pay for the screens. put the contractor on notice - we believe they are liable,~ city Community and Economic Development Director Steve Goins said. "While that process drags on, we have other repairs that need attention to keep our plant operable and per- forming within our permits." The Satellite Water Rec- lamation Plant processes wastewater into Class A re- claimed water. Its only cus- tomer so far is the Depart- ment of Corrections. In April 2010, the city started noticing prob- lems with the rotary drum screens at the plant's head- works, which filter out large particulate matter. The screens failed, and that particulate matter, includ- ing hard plastic particles, was released into the rest of plant, damaging fine mem- brane plates throughout the plant. The city commission had already approved using the $250,000 retainage funds to purchase replacement mem- brane plates from manufac- turer Ovivo. "Those funds aren't avail- able to us, they're still in that fund, but we can't uti- lize them for this purpose,~ Goins said. Goins explained that in order to withdraw the re- tainage funds from the ac- count, both parties, mean- ing the city and the contrac- tor, must agree to the with- drawal. At this point, Pease and Sons has not agreed to withdraw the funds. While the city enters into media- tion with its contractor, the membrane plates still need to be replaced to keep the plant up and running, he said. To pay for the shipment of plates, which need to be ordered as soon as possible to ensure that Ovivo has enough stock on hand to fill the. order, Goins asked the commission to approve a budget modification to take $269;000 out of the city's sewer utility reserves. That money should cover 1,500 membrane plates and work done by Ovivo. Goins said that he sewer reserves contain approxi- mately $I million dollars designated for sewer main- tenanco. While the reclamation plant will need another $750,000 of work and new membrane plates accord- ing to the original estimate, Goins said that this expen- diture should keep the plant up and running until the city can complete the me- diation process with its con- tractor. =We certainly need to make these repairs if we can do so, and it is our belief that we will continue to op- erate within our permit for an extended period of time, he said. "This would allow us some time to not jeopar- dize plant operations.~ Goins said he expects the city to recover the $269,000 exponditure. Journal photo by Natalie Johnson Sharon Johnston walked at Shelton's Relay for Life for her sister, Marlene, who died from breast cancer 10 years ago. Survivors show their sup rt By NATALIE JOHNSON Ten years ago Sharon Johnston lost her sister Marlene to breast cancer. One year later, she said her own diagnosis was quite a blow. Now, Johnston is a nine- year cancer survivor, and walks in every Shelton Re- lay for Life for her sister. "I think I started be- cause of her. It inspired me to get people to get their colonoscopies and mammo- grams," she said. Johnston and her fei- Relay for Life is a yearlong low cancer survivors and preventative care activists came out in droves for this years' Relay for Life. As of Sunday afternoon, relay- ers had raised more than $75,000 for the American Cancer Society (ACS). Forty-eight teams regis- tered for this year's relay, said Shelton relay member Vickie Gonzales. "An average team is 10-15 people. Some teams have 30 people," she said. Gonzales said that since event, they would continue to fundraise until August. "At this point we're at $75,000 - our goal is $114,000," Relay co-chair Dave Hauge said. • Relay for Life is primar- ily a fundraiser for the ACS and a way to create aware- ness about cancer, but sur- vivors like Johnston and Relay chair Toni Hauge, say that to them the event is also about camaraderie - about celebrating success with other survivors, and remembering loved ones long lost to cancer. "To me relay is about showing everybody that we can work together for something," Toni Hauge said. It's about camara- derie and suPporting each other through everything we experience. Our com- munity is so good and so supportive.~ Toni Hauge, her hus- band said, may just have been the longest cancer See Survive on page A-7 County delays vote on mental health tax "Journal photo by Natalie Johnson Vieki Kirkpatriek, director of the Mason " County Public Health Department, asks the county commission to continue a • public hearing on Tuesday By NATALIE JOHNSON The Mason County Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday to continue a pub- lic hearing on a proposed one-tenth of one percent sales tax increase .until Sep- tember. The sales tax increase would fund mental health and substance abuse servic- es in the county. "I'm asking the county commissioners to once again continue the public hearing to September 20, 2011 to allow for that community process to take place and to allow adequate time for our citizens and county to have input," Mason County Di- rector of Public Health Vicki Kirkpatrick said. Since March, when the commission voted to create the Mason County Men- +tal Health and Substance See Tax on page A-7