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kkJ PvqP*
; qO{::t ENBA (:'H EP,
', v,' O$ !NC
::,,,3 .',,'K 2. IC: AVE
:'L','T L,r',ND O ,07,2
%;
i I I ,
::ii I L ,L,
:i ¸,
Slipping away to the fair
at the Mason County Fair three-day extravaganzaS, More photos
weekend enjoyed sunshine most of can be found on pages 14 and 15, and
and found plenty of down-to- the results of many of the fair's corn-
things to do at the expanded petitions are on page 16.
burglar knocks over
.elton pawnshop for guns
streets before losing the scent, more easily than anything else
uns were stolen
Dick's Daughter's
by a man who broke a
on Second Street early
police said.
was reported to
Police Department at
by two patrons of the
which is right across
Pawnshop at 123 South
feet in Shelton. Officer
responded to the
minutes, but by then
:t had grabbed the guns
scene.
nterviewed one wit-
Ln front of the pawnshop.
Was described as a
in black.
T "came up to
of the pawnshop and
Lt What (the witness) de-
.s a club or a pipe from
bag he was carrying
the window," Police
"Johnny" Johnston
)etective Rocky Pfitzer and
"e graveyard shift re-
the call. They conduct-
search of the
area but they didn't
an in black. The Lacey
Lrtment lent Shelton
a police dog that
SUspect to the city
at Fourth and Cots
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
the inside
...................... . ...... ,,13
Calendar .......... 7
.31
g ..... 22
13
..26
...4
.23
.22
"'""......................... 32
IIIIIII
Johnston said.
Johnston thinks the burglar
may be a professional because he
spent less than a minute inside
the pawnshop and was not dis-
tracted from the crime by people
yelling at him from the Town
Pub.
"He didn't even respond to that
yelling. He didn't pay attention.
He didn't look at them. He knew
exactly what he was going to get
and he was gone," Johnston said.
THE BURGLAR made off
with two .25-caliber Raven
handguns, a .32-caliber Davis
handgun and one .25-caliber Lor-
cin handgun. Johnston said the
fact that the burglar stole
handguns instead of other things
also suggests that he is a profes-
sional.
"Guns are easily disposed of,"
he said. "They're turned into cash
because they're a fairly popular
item."
Johnston said pawnshops are a
typical destination for stolen guns
because a private person doesn't
have to prove ownership to a
pawnbroker. Pawnbrokers are re-
quired to give police a record of
items that are pawned or sold but
some don't always do that.
"Those guns are going to end
up in circulation somewhere,
whether they're going to be sold
to another pawnshop or sold to in-
dividuals on the street," Johnston
said.
Johnston said the pawnshops
in Shelton do a good job of keep-
ing records of items that are pur-
chased or pawned. He said he
didn't know what kind of records
were kept on handguns stolen
from Dumb Dick's Daughter's
Pawn Shop.
Four more Shelton
brush fires probed
State and local authorities are
investigating four small fires ig-
nited Tuesday night in the brush
south of the cemetery on West C
Street.
The first fire, near the 1500
block of Monroe Street, was re-
ported to Shelton Communica-
tions Center, the emergency dis-
patch agency, at 5:45 p.m.
That fire spread to a tree
stump. "It was burning into the
stump," said Lieutenant Bobby
Rabelo of the Shelton Fire De-
partment. That posed a special
problem since such a fire can
smolder for a while and then reig-
nite small fuel in the area.
"You're not done until you can
touch it with your bare hand and
it's cool," Rabelo said. •
TO BE ON the safe side Shel-
ton fire fighters had to cut a trail
around the area charred by the
fire and dug out the stump.
About three hours later, at
8:42 p.m., Shel-Com received
another call about a fire near the
700 block of West C Street about
320 yards from the stump. Shel-
ton fire fighters found three sepa-
rate fires between 10 by 10 and
10 by 30 feet in size.
Responding to these fires were
14 firefighters from Shelton Fire
Department and fire districts 5
and 11. Forester Jerry Kvale of
the Washington Department of
Natural Resources was also at the
scene.
"We made the initial response
and got the fires pretty well
knocked down," said Shelton Fire
Chief Dan Ward. "The DNR
(Please turn to page 3.)
Primary election will be
conducted by mail only
Mason County voters will be casting their
ballots by mail in September's primary
election.
The Mason County commissioners, at
their meeting Tuesday evening, followed
the lead of the Shelton City Commission
when they concurred with the auditor's rec-
ommendation to conduct this year's prim-
ary election by mail.
The purpose is twofold, Auditor A1
Brotche told the board Tuesday. First, he
said, he anticipates a cost savings of about
$10,000. Operating polling places entails
about $9,500 to pay the poll workers and
another $1,500 for polling place rentals.
Increased voter turnout should be another
benefit of voting by mail, Brotche noted.
Currently about 8,500 people, or one-third of
the county's voting population, use absentee
ballots so the county is "essentially conduct-
ing two elections," one by absentee and
another at the polling places, each time there
is a voting issue.
Brotche offered figures from past odd-
year elections to support his prediction. In a
1995 primary election which relied on poll-
ing places the turnout was 25.8 percent and
in 1997, it was 35.7 percent, he reported. But
when the auditor's office conducted an all-
mail vote on the Mariner stadium issue on
June 17, 1997, the turnout was 64 percent, he
continued.
When that election was held, signatures
had to be verified by hand. Brotche says his
office now has imagining equipment which
can read the signatures and verify them
with registration cards.
State statute allows county auditors to
conduct all-mail elections in odd-
numbered years for primaries involving
nonpartisan positions. The concurrence of
the local legislative groups is required,
Brotche said. He got that affirmation at the
end of June from the Shelton City Commis-
sion, and the county commission made it
official Tuesday.
Voters get their ballots 20 days before the
election date, and the ballots must be post-
marked no later than the election date,
Brotche explained. Postage costs will be
handled as election costs are, with the bill-
ings to the junior taxing districts, such as
schools and ports. How many districts will
need to conduct primary elections will not
be known until after the filing deadline this
Friday, he said.
Few races
develop
in filings
There will be at least a three-
way scramble for a seat on the
Shelton City Commission as fil-
ings for next September's primary
election ballot continue through
the end of this week.
Dick Taylor, Kelly Buechel and
Carolyn Kerr have all signed up
at the Mason County Elections
Department to run for commis-
sioner of finance to replace John
Tarrant, who is running for
mayor. So far Tarrant is the only
candidate to file to replace Scott
Hilburn, who is stepping down af-
ter one term.
Former Mason County Com-
missioner Marv Faughender is
seeking a term on the Port of
Shelton. The incumbent currently
holding the position that
Faughender covets, George Ra-
dich, has yet to file.
Incumbent hlton School
Board members Jim Smith and
Ross Gallagher have filed for re-
election, but incumbent Annette
McGee has yet to file. Roberta
Brownstein has filed for McGee's
position on the board.
As filings continue through
Friday, a number of positions on
various rural school boards, fire
districts, port commissions and
others remained vacant Wednes-
day afternoon. Candidates who
filed as of 4 p.m. Wednesday in-
cluded:
* Shelton City Commission -
John Tarrant, Mayor; Dick
Taylor, Kelly M.D. Buechel, Caro-
lyn Kerr, Commissioner of
Finance.
• Shelton School District - Jim
Smith, District 1; Ross Gallagher,
District 2; Roberta Brownstein,
(Please turn to page 3.)
Thursday, July 29, 1999
113th Year - Number 30 4 Sections - 36 Pages
50 Cents
Boy, 15, convicted
of trapper's murder
A 15-year-old Centralia youth
was convicted of first-degree mur-
der Friday after a brief bench
trial in Mason County Superior
Court.
Nathan Clay Hughes, 15, of
1030 South Tower Street, Centra-
lia, and his cousin, 19-year-old
James Wayne Anderson of 2241
East Agate Road, Shelton, face
upwards of 20 years in prison for
the January 4 beating and stran-
gulation death of Ronald Kerr, a
70-year-old Olympia trapper.
Anderson pled guilty to the
crime on May 26. Defense attor-
ney James Dixon said Hughes
opted for a bench trial to preserve
his right to appeal while avoiding
the trauma of a jury trial.
"He is not at all interested in
proceeding to a trial where not
only would he be convicted but
(which) would also result in the
process of a trial and would result
in the family members of the vic-
tim going through even more
trauma than they've already been
through. It would also put his
own family through trauma and
so he frankly has no interest in
taking this to a jury," Dixon said.
Dixon said the stage was set
for a bench trial after Judge
James Sawyer rejected a defense
motion to exclude Hughes' confes-
sion from evidence.
Hughes and Anderson con-
fessed to killing Kerr in Ander-
son's house by beating him with
the bowl from a blender and kick-
ing him in the head before stran-
gling him with an electrical cord,
according to prosecutors. Their
motive was to steal his 1988 Ford
Ranger, according to court pa-
pers. The cousins were arrested
two days after the murder when
the Ford Ranger was spotted in a
parking lot in Port Townsend.
Sawyer found that the two
drove the Ranger to Port Town-
send and left it unattended in the
hope that it might be stolen.
"They left tle keys in the
Ranger hoping somebody would
steal it and thus get 'tagged' with
the murder," he said.
Hughes made the decision to
let Judge Sawyer sit as both
judge and jury in his murder
trial. "To his credit he has from
day one understood that this is
nearly if not an impossible case
for him. There are no real defens-
es available," Dixon said.
Hughes can now base an ap-
peal on the claim that Deputy
Jim Petraitis of the Mason Coun-
ty Sheriffs Office did not ask
Hughes during a taped interview
if he understood his "Miranda
warning" about his constitutional
rights. Petraitis reportedly asked
him if he understood the warning
while the tape recorder was off.
Judge Sawyer didn't hear any
testimony, but based his verdict
on readings of the evidence pre-
par-,d by Dixon and Deputy Pros-
ecutor Reinhold Schuetz.
"The record would appear to in-
dicate that he was the principal
arty putting the ligature to Mr.
rr," Sawyer said. "He also par-
ticipated in blud{eoning and kick-
ing Kerr in the head."
An autopsy made no finding as
to whether Kerr's death was
caused by strangulation or boat-
ing. However, Sawyer said evi-
dence suggested the attack was
Hughes' idea.
The judge found that "the rob-
bery was principally determined
to go forward by this defendant,
Nathan Hughes, that Mr. Hughes
intended to go forward with the
robbery by hitting Mr. Kerr over
the head."
Sentencing for Anderson and
Hughes has been set for August
19. Sawyer ordered Hughes held
until then. "I will at the time of
sentencing be offering the victim's
family the opportunity to be
heard," the judge said. Anderson
and Hughes will also have an op-
portunity to say a few words at
that time.
Squaxin Island Indian Tribe rebuilds culture
Squaxin tribal elders help break ground for the Fletcher, June Novell, Paula Henry, Shirley Lope-
Squaxin Island Museum Library and Research Cen- man, Mary Fletcher and Buddy Cooper. Cooper was
ter last week in Kamilche. From left to right are honored at the ceremony a8 the eldest member of the
Dewey Sigo, Herb Johns, Don Brownfield, Harry Case Inlet Clan. A stow appears on page 2.
kkJ PvqP*
; qO{::t ENBA (:'H EP,
', v,' O$ !NC
::,,,3 .',,'K 2. IC: AVE
:'L','T L,r',ND O ,07,2
%;
i I I ,
::ii I L ,L,
:i ¸,
Slipping away to the fair
at the Mason County Fair three-day extravaganzaS, More photos
weekend enjoyed sunshine most of can be found on pages 14 and 15, and
and found plenty of down-to- the results of many of the fair's corn-
things to do at the expanded petitions are on page 16.
burglar knocks over
.elton pawnshop for guns
streets before losing the scent, more easily than anything else
uns were stolen
Dick's Daughter's
by a man who broke a
on Second Street early
police said.
was reported to
Police Department at
by two patrons of the
which is right across
Pawnshop at 123 South
feet in Shelton. Officer
responded to the
minutes, but by then
:t had grabbed the guns
scene.
nterviewed one wit-
Ln front of the pawnshop.
Was described as a
in black.
T "came up to
of the pawnshop and
Lt What (the witness) de-
.s a club or a pipe from
bag he was carrying
the window," Police
"Johnny" Johnston
)etective Rocky Pfitzer and
"e graveyard shift re-
the call. They conduct-
search of the
area but they didn't
an in black. The Lacey
Lrtment lent Shelton
a police dog that
SUspect to the city
at Fourth and Cots
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
the inside
...................... . ...... ,,13
Calendar .......... 7
.31
g ..... 22
13
..26
...4
.23
.22
"'""......................... 32
IIIIIII
Johnston said.
Johnston thinks the burglar
may be a professional because he
spent less than a minute inside
the pawnshop and was not dis-
tracted from the crime by people
yelling at him from the Town
Pub.
"He didn't even respond to that
yelling. He didn't pay attention.
He didn't look at them. He knew
exactly what he was going to get
and he was gone," Johnston said.
THE BURGLAR made off
with two .25-caliber Raven
handguns, a .32-caliber Davis
handgun and one .25-caliber Lor-
cin handgun. Johnston said the
fact that the burglar stole
handguns instead of other things
also suggests that he is a profes-
sional.
"Guns are easily disposed of,"
he said. "They're turned into cash
because they're a fairly popular
item."
Johnston said pawnshops are a
typical destination for stolen guns
because a private person doesn't
have to prove ownership to a
pawnbroker. Pawnbrokers are re-
quired to give police a record of
items that are pawned or sold but
some don't always do that.
"Those guns are going to end
up in circulation somewhere,
whether they're going to be sold
to another pawnshop or sold to in-
dividuals on the street," Johnston
said.
Johnston said the pawnshops
in Shelton do a good job of keep-
ing records of items that are pur-
chased or pawned. He said he
didn't know what kind of records
were kept on handguns stolen
from Dumb Dick's Daughter's
Pawn Shop.
Four more Shelton
brush fires probed
State and local authorities are
investigating four small fires ig-
nited Tuesday night in the brush
south of the cemetery on West C
Street.
The first fire, near the 1500
block of Monroe Street, was re-
ported to Shelton Communica-
tions Center, the emergency dis-
patch agency, at 5:45 p.m.
That fire spread to a tree
stump. "It was burning into the
stump," said Lieutenant Bobby
Rabelo of the Shelton Fire De-
partment. That posed a special
problem since such a fire can
smolder for a while and then reig-
nite small fuel in the area.
"You're not done until you can
touch it with your bare hand and
it's cool," Rabelo said. •
TO BE ON the safe side Shel-
ton fire fighters had to cut a trail
around the area charred by the
fire and dug out the stump.
About three hours later, at
8:42 p.m., Shel-Com received
another call about a fire near the
700 block of West C Street about
320 yards from the stump. Shel-
ton fire fighters found three sepa-
rate fires between 10 by 10 and
10 by 30 feet in size.
Responding to these fires were
14 firefighters from Shelton Fire
Department and fire districts 5
and 11. Forester Jerry Kvale of
the Washington Department of
Natural Resources was also at the
scene.
"We made the initial response
and got the fires pretty well
knocked down," said Shelton Fire
Chief Dan Ward. "The DNR
(Please turn to page 3.)
Primary election will be
conducted by mail only
Mason County voters will be casting their
ballots by mail in September's primary
election.
The Mason County commissioners, at
their meeting Tuesday evening, followed
the lead of the Shelton City Commission
when they concurred with the auditor's rec-
ommendation to conduct this year's prim-
ary election by mail.
The purpose is twofold, Auditor A1
Brotche told the board Tuesday. First, he
said, he anticipates a cost savings of about
$10,000. Operating polling places entails
about $9,500 to pay the poll workers and
another $1,500 for polling place rentals.
Increased voter turnout should be another
benefit of voting by mail, Brotche noted.
Currently about 8,500 people, or one-third of
the county's voting population, use absentee
ballots so the county is "essentially conduct-
ing two elections," one by absentee and
another at the polling places, each time there
is a voting issue.
Brotche offered figures from past odd-
year elections to support his prediction. In a
1995 primary election which relied on poll-
ing places the turnout was 25.8 percent and
in 1997, it was 35.7 percent, he reported. But
when the auditor's office conducted an all-
mail vote on the Mariner stadium issue on
June 17, 1997, the turnout was 64 percent, he
continued.
When that election was held, signatures
had to be verified by hand. Brotche says his
office now has imagining equipment which
can read the signatures and verify them
with registration cards.
State statute allows county auditors to
conduct all-mail elections in odd-
numbered years for primaries involving
nonpartisan positions. The concurrence of
the local legislative groups is required,
Brotche said. He got that affirmation at the
end of June from the Shelton City Commis-
sion, and the county commission made it
official Tuesday.
Voters get their ballots 20 days before the
election date, and the ballots must be post-
marked no later than the election date,
Brotche explained. Postage costs will be
handled as election costs are, with the bill-
ings to the junior taxing districts, such as
schools and ports. How many districts will
need to conduct primary elections will not
be known until after the filing deadline this
Friday, he said.
Few races
develop
in filings
There will be at least a three-
way scramble for a seat on the
Shelton City Commission as fil-
ings for next September's primary
election ballot continue through
the end of this week.
Dick Taylor, Kelly Buechel and
Carolyn Kerr have all signed up
at the Mason County Elections
Department to run for commis-
sioner of finance to replace John
Tarrant, who is running for
mayor. So far Tarrant is the only
candidate to file to replace Scott
Hilburn, who is stepping down af-
ter one term.
Former Mason County Com-
missioner Marv Faughender is
seeking a term on the Port of
Shelton. The incumbent currently
holding the position that
Faughender covets, George Ra-
dich, has yet to file.
Incumbent hlton School
Board members Jim Smith and
Ross Gallagher have filed for re-
election, but incumbent Annette
McGee has yet to file. Roberta
Brownstein has filed for McGee's
position on the board.
As filings continue through
Friday, a number of positions on
various rural school boards, fire
districts, port commissions and
others remained vacant Wednes-
day afternoon. Candidates who
filed as of 4 p.m. Wednesday in-
cluded:
* Shelton City Commission -
John Tarrant, Mayor; Dick
Taylor, Kelly M.D. Buechel, Caro-
lyn Kerr, Commissioner of
Finance.
• Shelton School District - Jim
Smith, District 1; Ross Gallagher,
District 2; Roberta Brownstein,
(Please turn to page 3.)
Thursday, July 29, 1999
113th Year - Number 30 4 Sections - 36 Pages
50 Cents
Boy, 15, convicted
of trapper's murder
A 15-year-old Centralia youth
was convicted of first-degree mur-
der Friday after a brief bench
trial in Mason County Superior
Court.
Nathan Clay Hughes, 15, of
1030 South Tower Street, Centra-
lia, and his cousin, 19-year-old
James Wayne Anderson of 2241
East Agate Road, Shelton, face
upwards of 20 years in prison for
the January 4 beating and stran-
gulation death of Ronald Kerr, a
70-year-old Olympia trapper.
Anderson pled guilty to the
crime on May 26. Defense attor-
ney James Dixon said Hughes
opted for a bench trial to preserve
his right to appeal while avoiding
the trauma of a jury trial.
"He is not at all interested in
proceeding to a trial where not
only would he be convicted but
(which) would also result in the
process of a trial and would result
in the family members of the vic-
tim going through even more
trauma than they've already been
through. It would also put his
own family through trauma and
so he frankly has no interest in
taking this to a jury," Dixon said.
Dixon said the stage was set
for a bench trial after Judge
James Sawyer rejected a defense
motion to exclude Hughes' confes-
sion from evidence.
Hughes and Anderson con-
fessed to killing Kerr in Ander-
son's house by beating him with
the bowl from a blender and kick-
ing him in the head before stran-
gling him with an electrical cord,
according to prosecutors. Their
motive was to steal his 1988 Ford
Ranger, according to court pa-
pers. The cousins were arrested
two days after the murder when
the Ford Ranger was spotted in a
parking lot in Port Townsend.
Sawyer found that the two
drove the Ranger to Port Town-
send and left it unattended in the
hope that it might be stolen.
"They left tle keys in the
Ranger hoping somebody would
steal it and thus get 'tagged' with
the murder," he said.
Hughes made the decision to
let Judge Sawyer sit as both
judge and jury in his murder
trial. "To his credit he has from
day one understood that this is
nearly if not an impossible case
for him. There are no real defens-
es available," Dixon said.
Hughes can now base an ap-
peal on the claim that Deputy
Jim Petraitis of the Mason Coun-
ty Sheriffs Office did not ask
Hughes during a taped interview
if he understood his "Miranda
warning" about his constitutional
rights. Petraitis reportedly asked
him if he understood the warning
while the tape recorder was off.
Judge Sawyer didn't hear any
testimony, but based his verdict
on readings of the evidence pre-
par-,d by Dixon and Deputy Pros-
ecutor Reinhold Schuetz.
"The record would appear to in-
dicate that he was the principal
arty putting the ligature to Mr.
rr," Sawyer said. "He also par-
ticipated in blud{eoning and kick-
ing Kerr in the head."
An autopsy made no finding as
to whether Kerr's death was
caused by strangulation or boat-
ing. However, Sawyer said evi-
dence suggested the attack was
Hughes' idea.
The judge found that "the rob-
bery was principally determined
to go forward by this defendant,
Nathan Hughes, that Mr. Hughes
intended to go forward with the
robbery by hitting Mr. Kerr over
the head."
Sentencing for Anderson and
Hughes has been set for August
19. Sawyer ordered Hughes held
until then. "I will at the time of
sentencing be offering the victim's
family the opportunity to be
heard," the judge said. Anderson
and Hughes will also have an op-
portunity to say a few words at
that time.
Squaxin Island Indian Tribe rebuilds culture
Squaxin tribal elders help break ground for the Fletcher, June Novell, Paula Henry, Shirley Lope-
Squaxin Island Museum Library and Research Cen- man, Mary Fletcher and Buddy Cooper. Cooper was
ter last week in Kamilche. From left to right are honored at the ceremony a8 the eldest member of the
Dewey Sigo, Herb Johns, Don Brownfield, Harry Case Inlet Clan. A stow appears on page 2.