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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
October 15, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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October 15, 2020
 
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SINCE 1886 - VOL. 134, NO. 42 MASON COUNTY, THURSDAY, OCT. 15, 2020 $1.50 liiuhlulilllhinllluiullnmmuin!illullmldlhuilll:l L *WthM CAR-RT LOT”C 005 SMALL TOWN PAPERS 927 W RAILROAD AVE SHELTON WA, 98584-3847 ’ On Tuesday morning, Olympic Middle School teacher Hannah Megan teaches math to sixth-graders who are learning English as part of the newcomer’s program. Small groups of special needs stu- dents are learning in Shelton School District buildings. A survey of 1,388 district parents shows 65% would put their children back in the district’s eight schools when the district goes from all online education to a hybrid of in-classroom and remote learning. Journal photo by Gordon Weeks Parents mixed on kids’ return to class By Gordon weeks gordon@masoncounty. com . Parents of Shelton School District students have mixed feelings about their children returning to the classroom during the coronavirus. A survey of 1,388 parents conducted the first week of October‘shows 905 (65%) would put their children back in the district’s eight schools when the district goes from all online to-a hybrid of in—classroom and remote learning. In the survey, 199 parents said they would not send their childrenlback to class, while 284 people (20%) said they are “unsure.” ’ In another survey question, 339 parents (24%), said they plan to commit to keeping their children exclusively remote learning no matter what the dis- trict does on reopening. Katie Diamond, the district’s communication spe- cialist, shared the survey results Tuesday evening at the Shelton School Board’s regular meeting. The district sent out the questionnaire in English and Spanish on Oct. 1, and accepted the responses through Oct. 5, Diamond said. The results will be used to plan the hybrid learn- ‘ing model, where half of the students would be in the classrooms on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half on Thursdays and Fridays. while everyone learns online on Wednesdays, Diamond said. Thirty parents with children at the Early Learn- ing Center filled out the questionnaire, 225 from Bordeaux Elementary, 80 from Evergreen Elemen- tary, 241 from Mountain View Elementary, 282 from Olympic Middle School, 294 from Oakland Bay Ju- nior High, 33 from CHOICE High Schdol, 41 from Ce- dar High School, and 722 from Shelton High School. School board member Sally Karr pointed out 77 parents responded in Spanish. She asked whether that is a high number, and if the district is consid- ering other ways to reach out to Spanish-speaking families. ' 1 Diamond said the district usually receives 15 to 20 responses to questionnaires from Spanish-speaking families; is the largest so far, she said. “I’m impressed with the level of response,” Karr said; see PARENTS, page A-1 2 Murder suspects I, arrested ' By sexism... kbox/e/tner@masoncounty.com The Mason County Sheriffs Office announced last weekend that both suspects in the kidnap- ping and slaying of Rachell Rene Roberts, the 31-year-old Lacey resident whose body was found in the Lake Cushman area Oct. 2, had been ar— rested in Humboldt County, California. . Prior to the arrest, investigators wrote in court documents that they believed they’d pieced together a partial timeline of events before and after Roberts’ death. Roberts’ body was found down an embank- ment off of US. Forest Service Road 24, near the intersection with state. Route 119, by a person who called 911 at 10:47 a.m. on Oct. 2. The body, an adult white woman whose hands and feet were bound, was identified as Roberts by her finger- prints, and her next of kin were notified. Mason County Coroner Wesley Stockwell said the cause of Roberts’ death, and the exact date and time of her death, remain under investiga- tion, although he did describe her as “recently de- ceased” when her body was found. ‘ An autopsy was completed Oct. 5, and the sher— iff’s office gave a public statement before noon Oct. 8 that stated, “It was apparent from the evi- dence at the scene that this was a homicide,” and that Roberts was assaulted and that the medical examiner had found signs of suffocation. Jason Dracobly, chief criminal deputy of inves- tigations for the Sheriff’s Office, explained that investigators are working to determine where Roberts was killed, but do not believe her death happened where she was found. Ryan Spurling, chief criminal deputy of pa- trol operations for the Sheriffs Office, noted that sheriffs personnel have logged long hours along- side the Washington State Patrol and the FBI on investigating the case. The investigation yielded enough evidence to request arrest warrants for» first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping for two suspects, both of which were signed by a Mason County see MURDER, page A-16 Wendy’s, Starbucks slated for Shelton By Gordoh Weeks gordon@masoncounty. com Ground is expected to be.broken in December to build a Wendy’s and Star- bucks on Olympic Highway North in Shelton, on a site that housed Burger- master and then Roosters Restaurant. The City of Shelton last week ap- proved an application to demolish the 4,688-square-foot Roosters and a Shell gas station at 3001 Olympic Highway North and construct a '2,159-square~ foot Wendy’s and a 2,068-square-foot Starbuck Cofi‘ee Co. franchise. I, lllllllllll 53263 00111 The, two franchises will be sand- wiched between Jack in the Box and Happy Ter'iyaki Restaurant. Denny’s sits across the street. City Manager Jeff Niten announced approval of the application Oct. 6 at the Shelton City Council’s regular meeting. He said he is looking forward to enjoying a Baconator and a Frosty at Wendy’s. The applicant filed a site review plan and State Environmental Pelicy Act determination to authorize the de- molition of Roosters and the gas sta— tion and the replacement with the-two new businesses. The proposal offers no timeline for opening the businesses, said City Planner J asonDose. ‘ “All I have at this time is the de- veloper’s information,” Dose wrote in an email to the Shelton-Mason County Journal. “My understanding is that he’ll be constructing the Starbucks and handing them the proverbial ‘keys,’ but Wendy’s has a contractor that will be building their building. The developer will be doing all the site work — demolition of existing struc- tures, removal of gas tanks, grading and installation of ' the new parking/ drainage/landscaping/lighting.” Andy Barber is the developer. “Pending permit issuance, we antic- ipate breaking ground in December,” the Edmonds developer wrote to the Journal. “I can’t, however, speak for any tenant on their projected opening date.” 1 Both businesses would feature drive-thrus. The site improvements in-' . clude new parking facilities, utilities, landscaping and lighting. On the social media page “You . see WENDYS, page A-12 lnsideToday , ’ ' . ' " ' Port of Allyn Long-sought Park BluStery fall ’and Ride underway winds hit county~ approves budget, Page s2 ‘ Page .533 Page s27