June 30, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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EDITORIAL
The line at the Saints Pantry
Food Bank wrapped around
the block again this week in
downtown Shelton.
Just like it did last week. And
the week before that and the
week before that.
With the exception of July 2009
and October of last year, Mason
County has been in double-digit
unemployment for almost two-
and-a-half years.
Our current unemployment
rate of 10.8 percent makes Mason
County the tenth worst county in
the state. The state and national
unemployment rate, meanwhile,
are both at 9.1 percent.
Despite those dreadful
numbers, Lynda Ring Erickson,
the chair of the Mason County
commission, only just a couple of
months ago said, =It feels really
hard when you're here and
things are struggling and you're
seeing businesses struggle, but
the reality is Mason County has
done fairly well during these
difficult times."
Huh. Could have fooled us.
One supposed bright spot in
Mason County's economic future
wqs supposed to be the Belfair
sewer project. Now, though,
the project is millions of dollars
overbudget and has many north-
end residents worried that
what was supposed to be a job
creator could be a small-business
killer. The sewer, which relied
upbn millions of local, state and
federal tax dollars, will serve
a tiny number of homes and
businesses at a cost that many
will simply not be able afford
dub to huge hook-up charges and
mammoth monthly fees.
~dd to all of that the fact
that two out of the three
commissioners seem hellbent on
instituting a sales tax increase
to pay for enhanced mental
health services -- a tax increase
that will likely disproportionally
punish the people it purports to
help. Of course, like any good
government project, this one
has to be studied to death by
high-priced consultants before
our elected leaders can actually
make a decision to go through
with it.
Our local legislators also never
seem to miss a chance to pat
themselves on the back for a job
well done. But the budget passed
this year by state lawn~akers '
is, quite frankly, a trahawreck
waiting to happen. !
Clearly there is no silver bullet
to Mason County's unelnployment
woes, let alone the state's or the
nation's. But pretending like
everything is hunky-do~ry while
writing blank checks on runaway
projects and paying cor sultants
$82.50 per hour just to Idrive here
and recommend raising taxes
doesn't seem like mucl~ of an
answer at all.
TO EDITOR
Not g
verdict -
really?
Editor, the Journal
I certainly hope if I'm
ever charged with murder
that I h~ve Jeanette
Boothe as my attorney. She
obliviously doesn't know
much about hunting but a
lot about juries, dr had no
choice but to represent a
¢nan that has no business
with a gun in the woods.
How could you mistake
a man tor a bear or was it
what's called a brush shot?
A brush shot is what it's
called when you hear the
brush cracking in the woods
and shoot at the sound.
Any hunter would know
by the sound weather your
bullet had hit a tree, brush
or flesh. He must not have
paid a lot of attention or
he would have gone over
and investigated and found
what he had shot. Perhaps
he could have saved a
man's life, at least held
him while he died as they
think he must have lived
from twenty minutes to
an hour after he was shot.
We cringe at the thought
of him lying there dying by
himself.
How a jury finds him
innocent is not believable
to me and apparently not
to other readers. I hope he
leaves his gun at home,
sells it or gives it to a more
responsible person and
walks in the open so he
never meets another "bear"
while in the woods.
I've carried a gun since
I was given my first one
when I was twelve (I'm 85)
and have hunted and killed
bear, deer and elk for food.
I love our woods and the
animals that live there. It's
for all of us to enjoy without
fear of someone shooting us.
Reta Baney
Shelton
We need
emergency
care
Editor, the Journal
I am writing to express
my strong support and
would like to be counted
among those who support
Fire District 6 Emergency
Medical Service Levy for
24-hour emergency medical
services:
As a recently retired
resident of Union for
the last 35 years facing
, significant medical and
. health issues, I have
become more aware than
ever the importance of
Fire District Six ten year
replacement levy.
When I first moved to
Union, local residents
frequently commented that
if you unfortunately were in
a traffic accident in Mason
County, hope that it occurs
in the Union area. Why,
because we had the best
volunteer firefighters in
Mason County to respond to
your emergency.
Over the last 49 years,
starting in 1962, that has
not changed as our local
volunteer firefighters
and commissioners have
advanced from transporting
local residents of the
Mason County Hospital's
emergency room in the back
of their cars and pick-up
trucks.
The volunteers of our
Fire Department continue
to work hard and train even
harder, as the leadership of
our district's commissioners
and volunteer firefighters
and even their family
members of Fire District
6 have been committed to
expanding the progress that
has been made.
Just as our Union area
continues to grow, our Fire
District must continue
to grown and strengthen
its capabilities to provide
professional and proactive
firefighting and EMS
services. These men and
women give their time
voluntarily to help save
lives and property and are
very important to our fellow
Union healthy, injured
and sick residents. When
fires, heart attacks and
car crashes threaten lives,
speedy and professional
responses are very
essential.
With district estimates
averaging nearly 80 percent
of its emergency calls
for medical services, it is
import that we renew the
levy and enable the district
to continue providing the
current professional EMS
level of services they do
every day of the year.
Our tax dollars support
Shelton-Mason County
a multitude of public
services, but m
more impertan
emergency inte
our local fire d(
On August 17,
• Fire District 6
to reaffirm thei
the~EMS levy.
,ne is
; than the
rventions of
partment.
voters in
~II be asked
r support of
:believe that
it deserves Voter approval.
Ed Binder
Union
to the
Editor, the JOurnal
I want to make a
correction to th~ article, "A
haven away from home"
that ranin the ~une 23
edition of the Belfair
Herald.
The article was an
interview with Debra
Jamerson, who!with her
husband Ron c0-owns the
Heaven in Allyn assisted
living facility. It states,
"The realtor that sold (the
Jamerson) their house sent
Debra the listing for the
vacant building that would
become the Haven - the
building had been built in
1998 as a boarding house
and was a former assisted
living facility b~fore the
previous owners closed it
down." I
The buildin~ had been
specifically designed and
built by Charles and
Kathie Fogle of Allyn as
an assisted livi~ag facility.
According to an e-mail I
just received from Kathie,
K&S Partnership owned
it, and the partners were
Lyle and Sandy Nelson
and Charles and Kathleen
Fogle. Kathie npted that
it was licensed with
Washington Department of
Health as a boarding home,
the technical d~scription
of the license and that the
generic term for any such
facility was assisted living.
It was named The Allyn
Retreat Assisted Living
Center and it opened in
1998; the Fogle~ managed
it themselves. The Retreat
was well known through
out the area for its good
care, personal attention to
residents and a very active
program schedule. It was
sold in 2004 and the Fogles
retired; I was the reporter
for the Herald at the time
and interviewed the man
who introduced himself in the county were opposed
to me as the new buyer, to it also. I believe there
The facility had continued was only one commissioner
operation for a short while who was against it. The
but he later decided to turn rest were really pushing for
the building into office it. Why? Why is it people
space and had already sent who are whistle blowers get
30-day relocation notices fired?
to the residents. I later The people of this county
saw one of those letters, deserve to know what is
shown to me by an outraged going on. They are the one's
daughter. Apparently the paying your salary. Don't
business conversion itself ever forget what your job is,
did not succeed and I later to work for the good of all
heard that the building had the people of the county.
become vacant. Maybe some of the big
The Fogies did some fish in Mason County
fine w5rR in their personal should find another pond to
design, construction and swim in.
long-term operation of a Molly Clark
very popular and financially
successful assisted living
facility and that record EMS
of Allyn's recent history
should be given due credit.Elizabeth Case
funding for
Belfair 2012
Editor, the Journal
Indifference
Fire District 6 wiU be
running an EMS levy
in
politics August 16. We are getting
by this year on reserve
Editor, the Journal funds, but if the levy fails
My heartfelt thanks for there will be no EMS
the editorial in the June 23 funding for 2012. Our levy
rd Journal. Thanks editor, last November got 57.3
keep up the good work. You percent approval, but EMS
are so right about freedom levies require 60 percent
of speech and the press. I approval to pass. For a
am a firm supporter of the home assessed at $250,000,
constitution of the United the levy rate of $.35 per~
States of America. thousand will result in
I am really appalled at a tax of $87.50 per year
the total indifference some or $7.29 per month. This
of the leaders of our county modest amount of money
and city appear to have will allow us to staff the fire
for the people of Mason station 24/7 by using part
County. You were elected time labor during nights
to support the people of and weekends. Staffing the
Mason County - all the station 24/7 will reduce the
people, district response times by
I saw this indifference several minutes.
when I attended meetings For me personally, this
on the Adage issue. I went is more than just a game
into my first meeting with of numbers. Recently, I
an open mind because had a stroke in which the
I knew very little on fire department responded
this subject. ARer much to my home. This incident
listening and researching, happened on a Sunday,
I found myself very much and the response time was
opposed to this project. I much faster because we had
saw that mo§t of the people just implemented weekend
24-hour coverage
pass this levy, w~
able to extend th~
coverage to seve~
week. If we do nc
levy, we will haw
hour coverage on
, If we
will be
., 24 hour
days a
t pass the
no 24-
any day
of the week. It's j~st that
simple. For a rehltively few
dollars a househc
have full EMS co
hours a day, seve
week.
I commend Ffi
6 personnel for g
to the drawing l~
coming up with t
of using the exisl
room in the fireh
bedroom thus av,
cost of another b,
house our 24/7 pq
I know these are
times economical
a modest per hov
cost on the order
per year for the i
of our communit,
will get 24/7 cov~
medical calls. I b
this is a bargain,
will significantly
response times.
Mez
ld, we can
~erage 24
n days a
e District
)ing back
mrd and
he idea
i~g spare
)use for a
)iding the
dlding to
;rsonnel.
tough
ly, but for
sehold
of $100
lajority
,, we
rage for
~lieve
which
reduce
lyn Flakus
Union
Bulb
when v
Editor, tEe Jou~
At 8 a.m. the n
of June 28, I was
south on Seventh
and stopped at t~
Seventh and Rail
I waited for the li
change green an~
right of way with
/ill it
~al
torning
walking
Street
e light on
mad Ave.
ght to
I had the
the white
walk sign lit up. glanced
to my leR and sa@ a white
pickup truck tray cling
south on Seventh and was
in the right turn lane to
turn onto Railroa
See Letters o page A-5
It She~ton-Mason County Joumal is a member of Rick Kennedy, publisher Advertising: Composing room:
L
usPs 492-800 Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association. Jesse Mullen, general Dave Pi.erik, advertising manager William Adams, graph cs
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County Journal, RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. $37 per year for Mason County addresses, Newsroom: ~__...=, .... j
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Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington She~ton-Mason County Journal, Inc Natalie Johnson, reporter
Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, June 30, 201 1