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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 13, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 13, 2012
 
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Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012 Week 37  The Voice of Mason County since 1886 Published for Mason County and John Eliasen of Tahuya  $1 i D redg:'nlg l00eg ns downtown Shelton City Engineer Mike Michael squats alongside Shelton Creek downtown near the railroad culvert where the creek enters Simpson Lumber Co. land and then Oakland Bay. Journal photo oy Gordon Weeks By GORDON WEEKS gordon@masoncounty.com When Shelton City Engineer Mike Michael was a child in the mid-1970s, he culminated his summer visits to the downtown Shelton Dairy Queen by wading into the Shelton Creek alongside the business and sloshing through the culvert that travels underneatla First Street. The clearance between the streambed and the culvert ceiling was about three or four See Dredging on page A-6 ................. copper prices among reasons for upswing By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@masoncountv.com crap metal can fetch a high price, and some thieves are taking ad- vantage of light secu- rity to strip area buildings of copper wiring, aluminum and other scrap metals. Chief Deputy Dean Byrd of the Mason County Sher- iffs Department said metal thefts make up a dispropor- tionate amount of the thefts in Mason County. "There's several things in the area creating what you might call a perfect storm," Byrd said. A downturn in the economy, favor- able copper prices and motivated of- fenders have contributed to an upswing in thefts, he said. Copper was valued at 81111U!!I!!II!!IJ!I!II I Courtesy photo Scrap metal thieves stole the aluminum doors from this wood drying kiln at Port of Shelton property on Johns Prairie. Scrap metal thieves have stolen tens of thousands of dollars of aluminum, copper and other metal this year in Mason County. $3.52 a pound last week. Since January, the Mason County Sheriffs Office has responded to 16 inci- dences of scrap metal theft, amounting to a minimum estimated loss of $23,857. Copper is generally unmarked and very difficult to trace when stolen. Byrd said there are few regulations regard- ing scrap metal processing. Targets for metal thieves include cop- per wire as well as beer kegs, manhole covers bronze plaques and statues, car parts -- specifically catalytic convert- ers -- and plumbing parts, Byrdsaid. Mostrecently, on the weekend of Aug. 18-19, metal thieves stole thousands of dollars of copper and other metal from a building at the Port of Shelton's Johns Prairie Industrial Park, said port Ex- ecutive Director John Dobson. Willapa Bay Hardwoods leases the building but is not currently using the See Copper on page A-6 Brush fire still burns in Belfa.ir B . laze s cause still unknown By GORDON WEEKS go rdonnazoncou nty,com A brush fire that began behind North Mason High School in Belfair "Tuesday afternoon temporarily closed State Route 302, and was contained and still burning on Wednesday. The fire was reported about 2 p.m. Tuesday behind the school's fastpitch field, said Central Mason Fire and EMS Fire Chief Tim McK- ern. The blaze burned about five acres, and was about 70 percent contained by yester- day morning, he said. The cause of the blaze was unknown as the Shelton-Ma- son County Journal went to press, but it wasn't started by nature, McKern said. The fire temporarily shut down both lanes of State Route 302. The fire singed a section of the fastpitch field and came within about 50 feet of one house, but was contained before any struc- tures were damaged, McK- ern said. The responding agencies included Central Mason Fire and EMS, Mason County Fire District 2 and 3, and the state Department of Natural Resources. Photo courtesy of Tiffany Trammell Zurn Crews responded to a brush fire on Tuesday near North Mason Higll School's fastpitch field. Churchill pleads guilty By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@masoncounty.com Stephan R.C. Churchill, 29, pleaded guilty in Ma- son County Superior Court Tuesday to first-degree mur- der and first-degree robbery See Guilty on page A-7