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
August 9, 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
August 9, 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, Aug. 9, 2012 32 -- The Voice of Mason County since 1886 -- Published for Mason County and Norman Hammer of Union -- $1 Journa onoto ov ~atal e Johnson Mark Core, right, reacts Tuesday night at the Mason County Board of Commissioners Chambers after learning he took third place in the primary for Mason County Commissioner District 2 while his wife, Tracie, looks on. Tim Sheldon and Roslynne Reed, who received 30 percent and 28 percent of the vote, respecively, advanced to the general election in that race. Top 2 candidates move on in primaG election By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@masoncounty.com Mason County voters had the chance to cast their votes in the Washington primary on Tuesday, but Auditor Karen Herr said voter turnout was "dismal," at 31.45 per- cent. ,., "We anticipated 60 percent ... I'm hoping to get 40 (percent) now," she said. "It's discouraging. The turnout is extremely low." Thirteen candidates vied for the six available spots in the primary election for the Mason County Board of Commissioners. In commission district 1, voters preferred Denny Hamilton (D), who received 35 percent of the vote. Ran- dy Neatherlin, who states no party preference, came in second with about 31 percent. Travis Couture (R) took third place with 27 percent of the vote. and Doug Ellingson (I) came in last with 6 percent. In commission district 2, incum- bent Tim Sheldon (D) led the pack with about 30 percent. Roslynne Reed (D), came in second with 28 percen~ of the vote. Mark Core (R) placed third with 18 percent of the vote, Randy Churchill (R) got 17 percent and Frank Benavente (I) got about 6 percent. In commission district 3. former county comnaissioner Ross Gallagh- er (D) came in first with 38 percent. Terri Jeffreys (I) came in second with 24 percent. Darrel Andrews got about 19 per- cent of the vote and Curtis Bennett took about 18 percent. Both stated no party preference. In the two-way race for State Rep- resentative position 1 in the 35th Legislative District, Kathy Haigh (D) surpassed Dan Griffey (R) with almost 54 percent of the vote in the district. Because this is a top-two prxmary, both candidates will ad- vance to the general election. For position 2 in the 35th Legis- lative District. Drew MacEwen (R) came out on top with 41 percent of the vote in the district. Lynda Ring Erickson (D) came in second with about 29 percent. Jeff Davis was third with about 24 percent and Glenn Gaither took fourth with 6 percent. Derek Kilmer (D) won the pri- mary election for the 6th Congres- sional District with 54.21 percent of the vote. He will r~un against Bill Driscoll (R), who took second place with 18 percent, in the general elec- tion. In the new 10th Congressional District, Denny Heck (D) came out on top with 41 percent of the vote. He will run against Dick Muri (R), who got about 26 percent of the dis- trict-wide vote. in November. Last Friday, 29 percent of Mason County voters had turned in their ballots. By the time the Mason County Auditor's Office released prelimi- nary results Tuesday, that number increased to 31.45 percent, meaning of the 33,925 ballots mailed out by the auditor's office. 10,671 were re- turned. Herr estimated that by Friday, when she will release updated elec- tion numbers, the turnout could reach 40 percent. The general election will take place on Nov. 6. erl STAFF REPORT p~'(~'tTga,c;(~?~co?z'l~y.coI'g The Mason County Sheriffs Office is look- ing for Robert E. Michal, 47, in connection with a January home mvasion and robbery in Lilliwaup. Michal is wanted on charg- es of first-degree robbery, first- degree burglary and unlawful im- prisonment. According to the sheriffs of- rice. on Jan. 12, Michal broke into a home and robbed an elderly couple in Lilliwaup. Michal was among a group of three masked robbers, a woman and two men, who forced Robert E. Michal their way into the home in the night, spending more than an hour in the house "assaulting and terrorizing the couple," authorities stated in a re- lease. The three rob- bers took guns, safes, drugs and a Kia Sedona Van belonging to the couple. Two of the suspects have been arrested and the vehicle has been recov- ered. Michal is still at large. Mason County Superior Court set Michal's bail at $25O,OOO. He has used the names Robert E. McDonald, Mi- chael Roberts, and Lane See Suspect on page A-6 Port surpluses timber Bids place value at more than $670K By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@masoncounty.com The Port of Shelton Commission voted Tues- day to surplus 100 acres of timber at its property on Johns Prairie. The resolution only covers the trees, not the land. Earlier this month, the port approved a pro- cess to solicit bids from timber companies, to de- termine its true market value. "The value of timber ... is only as much as someone wants to pay for it," Port Executive Direc- tor John Dobson said. Last Tuesday, Dobson revealed the amounts See Tim per on page A-6 Na By NATALIE JOHNSON nata~ie@masoncounty.com Bob Dick and his family. have lived on Lake Nahwat- zel, near Matlock, for more than 70 years and for gen- erations have enjoyed the pristine lake. Today, Dick and about 100 other residents are con- cerned about its future. On June 1. the Green Diamond Resource Compa- ny sent the Mason County Community and Economic Development Department a request to redesignate 248.7 acres of lakefront property zoned Long Term Commer- cial Forest (LTCF) to Rural Residential 5 (RR5) in order to make way for up to 49 new residential lots on the lake. "I've really got mixed feel- ings about the whole thing," ...... 81111U!!I!!I!!I!I!I!IIII Journa DnO~O D3 Natahe Johnsor Long-time Lake Nahwatzel resident Bob Dick helped form the Friends of Lake Nahwatzel group to fight a propsed redesignation of 248 acres of Green Diamond property on the lake from long-term commercial forest to rural residential. Many lake residents fear the change would cause extensive residential development that could harm the lake. Dick said. While the request to re- designate the land mentions its potential value as a resi- dential area, Eric Schallon. manager of land manage- ment and business devel- opment at Green Diamond, said the company has no immediate plans to sell the land to a developer. "What we're proposing is no~ a subdivision," he said. "The real estate market is really depressed. Nobody is denying at Green Diamond that this is the first step ... it's more to keep our options open." When Green Diamond re- quested the land redesigna- tion, Mason County notified residents within 300 feet of the property line. Dick has seen much of the lake's residential develop- ment firsthand. In the mid- 1940s, his father bought prope~y on Lake Nahwat- zel and built a summer cab- in. Growing up, Dick spent many summers there. In 1970, his parents built a house on the property. His parents left his sister the house and him the cabin and several acres of land. From his home, built on the original site of his parents' first cabin on the lake. Dick is only feet away from the property line dividing resi- dential lots from the 248.7 dents of the lake that he knows of. "I always, always, always wanted to live here when I retired," Dick said. "I will be here until they cart me away." Green Diamond has pro- posed that in exchange for the rezone, 248.7 acres it owns on Kennedy Creek could be redesignated to long-term forest. The application "asserts that the land on Kennedy Creek is more suited for use as forestland for sev- eral reasons, including a higher Douglas Fir site in- dex. a measure of the area's productivity in growing the tree. and less submerged land. At the Lake Nahwat- ze] property, 7.7 acres of Green Diamond's land is submerged, as opposed to 1/5 of an acre at Kennedy Creek. Schallon said the land,at acres Green Diamond has'Lake Nahwatzel, which is applied to rezone, located along the north and Dick said there are only northwest shores of the lake about 15 year-round resi- and continues southeast be- hind developed portions of the northeast shore, is more suited to a residential devel- opment than the Kennedy Creek land. The land near Kennedy Creek has steep hillsides that would hinder develop- ment, but its terrain and soil conditions are ~vell suit- ed to a long-term forest sta- tus, Schallon said. In Green Diamond's opin- ion, the current land use designations don't reflect ac- tual characteristics of either property, he said. All of the lots on the shore that are not owned by Green Diamond are already zoned for rural residential devel- opment. Until now, Dick and his neighbors have had no com- plaints about living nex~ "door to Green Diamond property. "Green Diamond histori- cally have always been real- ly good neighbors," he said. A couple months ago, one See Nahwatzel on page A-5