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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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PAPERBOY KOMENCOMMENT 'Patriarch' still a theatrical force he headline in The New York Times called him a "Theatri- cal Patriarch." And who can disagree? James Earl Jones is one of America's great actors. To moviegoers, he's best known as the doom-filled voice of Darth Vader. Forthose of us who first saw him on Broadway nearly a half-century ago, he is Jack Johnson. It was 1969 and Jones was starring in "The Great White Hope." It was a play about a heavyweight boxing cham- By JOHN KOMEN pion whose color and demeanor had enraged much of white Amer- ica. He wasn't named "Jack Johnson" in the New York Broad- way play, but it was Johnson all right. And Jones took to the role of this charismatic and hard-living black heavyweight champion LETTERSTOTHEEDIT()R as if he were born into it. Johnson had become heavyweight champion of the world in 1908, the first black heavyweight champion. White men had always held the title, and so the search was on for The Great White Hope. Taking the title back became the white ring world's obsession, and an all- out effort was on to find a white heavy- weight who would dethrone Johnson. What made Johnson a fascinating figure was his unabashed lifestyle. Openly ignoring Jim Crow laws and America's unwritten laws for "negroes," Johnson lived the way he wanted, and he enraged much of America in doing it. "He was the first black heavyweight champion in history -- the most cel- ebrated -- and most reviled African American of his age," says the dust jacket intro to "Unforgiveable Black- ness," a 2004 biography by Geoffrey C. Ward. The book was made into a televi- sion documentary. What particularly enraged racist America was the black champion's habit of openly consorting with white women. In 1910, Johnson's arrogant disregard of "accepted" custom led Con- gress to pass the White Slave Traffic Act. Better known as the Mann Act, it purportedly was aimed at forbidding the transportation of womLen in inter- state commerce for prostitution. But its intent was clearly aimed at getting Johnson. And it did. Johnson was arrested and convicted when he traveled with a white woman from Pittsburgh to Chi- cago. He was convicted and sentenced to a year in prison. There's much more to the Johnson story, and Jones told it superbly in that 1969 Broadway play. An arrestingly im- posing physical figure at age 38, Jones thoroughly filled the role of a man who "took orders from no one and resolved to live as if color did not exist." At the time, we were working for ABC-TV News in New York City. We made our home in Mount Vernon, just an easy ride on the New Haven Railroad into Manhattan. And we fre- quently took advantage of our proxim- ity to take in plays on Broadway. As longtime boxing fans, we especially made an effort to see Jones. And we weren't disappointed. Jones won Broadway's Tony Award for "The Great White Hope." He won a second Tony in 1987, and he's been nominated for another Tony for "The Best Man" now closing its run on Broadway. In it, he stars as the presi- dent of the United States. Jones, now 81 and white haired, re- mains an imposing presence on stage. He's no longer the lithe and muscular athlete he portrayed 46 years ago. But the image remains. On that day 43 years ago, we wit- nessed one of America's great acting talents when we saw Jones in "The Great White Hope". • John Komen, who lives on Mason Lake, was ,for 40 years a reporter and editor, TV anchorman, national TV net- work correspondent, producer, colum- nist, editorial writer and commentator. His column, Komen Comment, appears each week in the Shelton-Mason County Journal. Postal service plan will hurt newspapers // By TOM MULLEN he U.S. Postal Service, a part of the U.S. government is picking favorites. This newspaper, and others in the nation, have not been chosen. In an effort to generate more mail volume, the postal service has proposed offering an advertising company (Valassis, Inc.) discounts of more tha 30 percent for direct mailing of what is bound to be junk mail. IfValassis and the postal ser- vice get their way, the result will What do you want for the county? Editor, the Journal Mason County has reached a level of such poor leadership, that it cannot be denied that a radical change is needed. There have been and still are so many lawsuits against the county and we the citizens pay for them. Why are so many people and entities suing us? Here are a few that are documented: the age discrimination suit, which cost us $114,000; the land con- demnation for the Belfair Sewer Project the commissioners re- fused to negotiate with the own- er and he sued. We lost a total of nearly $500,000. Another one is in progress by Mark Core for unfair firing from a job in the Department of Community De- velopment. Another is possible with five union members unless there are negotiations. There is also the solid waste long-haul- ing no-bid contract that was taken to court in Grays Harbor. The judge has ruled that there has to be an open bidding pro- cess. We are awainting the re- sults on that one. These are the known ones so far. There may be more. When I brought this up at a commissioner's meeting, I was told by Commissioner Lynda Ring Erickson that "lawsuits go with running the government. All the agencies have suits brought against them. It is part of doing business and most of them are frivolous." But, appar- ently the courts have not con- sidered them all frivolous. Commissioner Tim Sheldon wears so many different hats that it is a wonder he even makes it to the county meet- ings. When he is attending, he appears bored and indifferent to the people speaking in the open forum. He is a part-time commissioner, part-time sena- tor, on the board of ORCCA, NW Energy, an environmental com- mittee, etc. He has interests in timber, transportation, medical insurance, construction, hotels, car insurance, waste operations, guns, phones, cigarettes, cars, property insurance, car racing and the pharmaceutical indus- try, just to name some. Whose interest do you think is given his first consideration - the citi- zens or special interests? We need to get rid of the "good ol' boy" mentality of do- ing business. We need open and transparent government. No more backroom deals, the wink, nod, clap on the back or a handshake, that leaves the public in the dark. The public has the right to consider pro- posals and give comments on proposals that have such an effect on the lives, health and welfare of the community. We all know about the Ad- age incinerator horror. The public knew nothing about this scheme before most of the agreements and deals had been put in place. Something like this being set up without our knowledge was very, very FI:: SheltoniMon, unty ........... ...... i Shelton-Mason County Journal is a member of usPs 492-800 Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason SUBSCRIPTION RATES: County Journal, P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. $37 per year for Mason County addresses, $51 per year in state of Washington but outside Mason County, $61 per year out of state. haw a greater effect than more ad- vertising fliers in your mailbox. By offering those mailing dis- counts the postal service will be pulling away dollars from local newspapers like this one, which must pay a higher rate to circulate such fliers. Advertising is a highly competi- tive industry. Locally, regionally and nationally, newspapers com- pete with a growing field of ad media, from internet to television, from door hangers to direct mail- ers. People like advertising when it helps them find what they are looking for in products and services or when they learn about a deal through it. When it's not of such use, they don't like it as much. But whether it is liked or dis- liked, it drives our economy and brings other benefits to communi- ties. See Postal on page A-5 Owned and published by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County doumal, Inc. at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mailing address: P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.com Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington wrong. There should have been an open, explanatory an- nouncement followed by open public hearings before any action was taken. There were none. The public only heard about it by word-of-mouth. We don't want commissioners to support and participate in this kind of policy. Sheldon's opponent is Ro- slynne Reed. She is extremely competent, dedicated to the community and knowledgeable about many problems. We have it in her own words: "I believe in open government and will avoid litigation and other un- necessary costs suffered by county taxpayers due to cur- rent mismanagement practic- es. Actions by the commission are hurting our local economy and reputation. I intend to work toward restoring respon- sible government and taking actions that encourage envi- ronmentally friendly growth m our county. [ understand the importance of health for our citizens and our environment. I have been endorsed by the Mason County Democrats and recently by our retiring U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks. I have been' supported by others who are not Democrats, which is great. People understand that politics should not really be a factor at. the local level." Another candidate that will: work for the benefit of the citi- zens is Denny Hamilton. He has a plan for the future. Three ma- jor components of his plan are: "Most important is partner- ship for progress. It starts with county agencies working more closely together instead of (in) competition with each other. "Working with civic and social organizations that are already doing a great deal of work individually. "The third part of these partnerships is the private sec- tor. The absolute necessity of open government is essential to bring the public into decision- making." Denny has a long history of evaluating a problem, creat- ing a plan to deal with it and implementing the plan step-by- step. He had an international career working in more than 80 countries for a variety of inter- national organizations including the World Bank, Peace Corps, CARE and the United Nations. Locally, the list goes on. A bachelor's degree from Central Washington University, mas- ter's degree in counseling psy- chology, county Medical Reserve Corps Member, Department of Emergency Management Plan- ning team and more. One of the things I think that stand outs about Denny is that he really listens when you talk to him and responds to public concerns. He is a person who actually does what he says he will do. No grandstanding. He is the kind of commissioner we need to help the county get back on track and take care of the residents. We cannot be stuck in the past and rely on what has driven the local economy in the past. We need new advanced businesses. We need to revi- talize our efforts to attract technological companies and small businesses. That is our future prosperity and jobs. We also need to protect and clean up the environment for both our health and well-being. We want to make Mason County an attractive place to live. We need to become the model county of the state, known for our concern and care of our air, water and soil. How wonder- ful it would be if counties and cities from all over the country come to us for advice about healing our wounded environ- ment and placing the health and welfare of its citizens above that of special interests. Why do we tolerate the term MCL [maximum contamina- tion levels)? This concept is sanctioned by the Department of Ecology and the EPA. There should be no contamination allowed. We the people are the true governing power in this coun- try. not the county commission- ers, the state or even the feder- al governement. All governing bodies get their power from us. We do not renounce that power. No matter what the supreme court says, a company is not an individual. Let us take our rights back and elect Roslynne Reed and Denny Hamilton for county commissioners. Patricia Vandehey Shelton It's raining lawsuits Editor, the Journal It's raining lawsuits in Mason County again, and the most recent downpour could wind up soaking taxpayers for as much as $2 million. Legal clouds started gath- ering back in 2009, when the county suddenly ducked out of a labor contract with Team- sters Local 252, after it had been ratified by union member- ship. Ironically, the conditions from which commissioners were trying to escape were largely of their own making. So the union filed a com- plaint, and Hearings Examiner Joel Green ruled that the county had failed to bargain in good faith. The matter then went be- fore PERC (Public Employment Relations Commission), which affirmed the examiner's findings. Meanwhile, money that should have gone toward salaries and benefits of county employees were accruing in- terest at an alarming rate (12 percent). Regardless, the com- missioners chose to enter into a lengthy appeal process. And on July 11, three years and two months after walking away from the agreement, Thurston County Court of Appeals up- held PERC's decision, and put an end to the county's round- robin attempt to thwart the original ruling.., maybe. With a boatload of money and an election on the line, the county has but two options: negotiate a settlement with the Teamsters, or file an appeal with a higher court and hope for the best. But if the commissioners choose to gamble against the odds, they will be doing it with public money. And if the county loses again, costs to tax- payers will be in the how high is up' category. Now, I know what you're thinking, commissioners: Do we roll the dice or cut our losses? Well, that depends on if you're feeling lucky. So how about it, commis- sioners, are you feeling lucky? Well, are you? Because we're not. Tom Davis Shelton Haigh supports wrong cause Editor, the Journal Kathy Haigh, 35th District State Representative, is also a veterinarian and saved the life of our prolapsed mare a num- ber of years ago. She also is the sponsor/co- sponsor of a number of"gay" bills that have passed our legislature beginning in 2006. le I:a.mg,teful for the life of our mare, I am not grateful that I have had to volunteer my time to circumvent these bills by gathering signatures to place them on the statewide ballot for the general elections. R-71 was approved by the voters making same-sex couples equal in all respects to the legal benefits granted to married couples. Now SB 6239 extending the meaning of the word, "marriage," to same sex- couples will be on the ballot in November, as R-74, so voters statewide have an opportunity to vote "approve" or "disap- prove" on redefining the mean- ing of the word "marriage" to include same-sex couples. Marriage to me is a sa- cred lifetime commitment on the part of one man plus one woman to be joined together as "one" to produce families that are the bulwark of our society. You may avoid this respon- sibility, but it still is truth, like gravity is truth. It doesn't go away becauseyou pass laws say- ing it no longer exists, or that you can add or subtract to it, at will. I strongly recommend vot- ing for Kathy's opposition, Dan Griffey, who is both pro-life from conception, and pro- traditional marriage between one man plus one woman, in the coming election, to help put an end to the advance of the "Gay Agenda," which seems to be foremost in the minds of the Democrat majority. A not-yetrealized goal stated on the "gay agenda" is changing the "age of consent" and in 2007 a bill was introduced to "study the age of consent" but it died in committee. Diane Eaton Grapeview See Letters on page A-5 Kari Sleight, publisher Newsroom: Adam Rudnick, editor Natalie Johnson, reporter Gordon Weeks, reporter Emily Hanson, sports reporter Advertising: Composing room: Dave Pierik, Sr. Acct. Executive William Adams, graphics Sharee Miller, ad representative Maggie Burdick, ad representative Pressroom: Kelli Alexander, ad representative Kelly Riordan, production manager Travis Miller, press operator Front office: Mary Northover, press assistant Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper Margot Brand, circulation Cricket Carter, mailroom supervisor Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012