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
October 27, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 1     (1 of 24 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 1     (1 of 24 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
October 27, 2011
 
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, October 27, 2011 -- Week 43 -- The Voice of Mason County since 1886 -- Published ,in Shelton, Washington -- $1 By NATALIE JOHNSON The Shelton Police responded to a pos- sible gun threat at Oakland Bay Junior High School on Friday after parents found a Facebook post with photos showing mul- tiple teens, guns and gang mgns. Last Thursday evening, Oct. 20, Shel- ton police received a report from several concerned parents about the suspicious Facebook post, said acting Lt. Virgil Pentz. Pentz said on Friday that the Facebook post contained "a report of some kind of altercation with firearms today." Ten officers and eight cars six marked and two unmarked - stood guard at the school Friday, which was an early release day for the junior high. Students were not evacuated and left on schedule. All of the officers on scene left soon after the school emptied. Shelton School District Superintendent Wayne Massie said that students were at no time in danger, but the school and po- lice needed to take the issue seriously. Officers restricted entry into the build- ing at all entrances throughout the day, Massie said. "More than anything they wanted to make a presence in case there was an out- side person coming in from anywhere," he said. "We want kids safe and staff at ease. It's being aware more than anything. It's perceived threats, but a lot of bravado over Facebook." BJJH staff sent out an email to parents explaining the situation. Massie said. "I think the staff did a great job," he added. As of press time, the Shelton police were still exploring possible leads into the identity of the teens in the Facebook post. "We're still digging into it," Pentz said. At least one teen was determined to be from Kitsap County, but several others had not been identified. Officers found a cell phone number as- sociated with the post, but it came from a prepaid cell phone. "It's almost a dead end," Pentz said. A detective is assigned and will contin- ue to investigate the case. "We're definitely going to take every- thing like this seriously," Pentz said. Local schools, police crack down on bullying By NATALIE JOHNSON In the last decade school fights and bullies have taken a frightening turn, from hair pulling and school- yard scuffles to kids bringing guns and knives to schools. In only the past few months, students around the country have taken their own lives over intense bullying, and only this week, a gun threat initiated a significant policepresence at Shelton's own Oakland Bay Junior High School, and a knife attack has left one student in critical condition at a Sno- homish high school. "Bullying and harassment is a big issue for teenagers." said SHS prin- cipal Wanda Berndtson. "This hap- pens at our school, online and in the community. We are teaching students how to address these serious See Bullies on page A-7 Tahuya man gets 25 years in prison Judge gives Daniel R. Halverson, 52, 305-month sentence By KEVAN MOORE Tahuya resident Daniel R. Halverson, 52, was sen- tenced Monday to 25 years in prison for attempted murder. Mason County Superior Court Judge Amber Fin- lay's 305-month sentence follows guilty verdicts of attempted murder and first-degree assault earlier this month in Halverson's second trial. The first trial in July ended in a hung jury. Halverson was arrested in September of last year after his Cheyenne Hill Drive neighbor was shot three times. Halverson admitted ~o being at the man's home in the early morn- ing hours of Sept. 16 to discuss the purchase of a motorcycle, but denied shooting him. The victim, though, tes- tified at trial that it was, indeed, Halverson that shot him. Though Halverson's July trial ended with a hung jury on the assault and at- tempted murder charges, he was found guilty at the time of being a felon in pos- sessmn of a firearm due to an earlier drug possession conviction. ! Candidates campaign on city time; city breaks Wash. campaign law By NATALIE JOHNSON The City of Shelton Com- mission, and particularly Commissioner Dawn Pan- nell broke campaign laws last Monday, according to the Washington State Pub- lic Disclosure Commission (PDC). "It's not only unethical, it's illegal," said Lori An- derson, PDC spokesman. Pannell spoke during the commissioner comment portion of Monday's regu- lar meeting with the intent to dispel "rumors" in the community. The statements -- which Pannell made an effort to refute -- came direct- ly from a campaign flyer printed by Pannell's oppo- .llllU!!l!!II!Ul!l!l!lIII2 Journal photo by Natalie Johnson City commissioner and mayoral candidate Dawn Pannell broke campaign laws by speaking about information opponent, Gary Cronce, publicized in campaign materials. nent in the November may- oral race, Gary Cronce. Mayor John Tarrant vo- cally agreed with Pannell, calling the "rumors," or Cronce's statements in his flyer, "unconscionable." Shelton Police Chief Dave Eklund gave a brief presentation on crime rates to address one par- ticular issue, at Pannell's request, and said that only the robbery rate had gone up by 171 percent. The city's overall crime rate went down 2 percent in that time. Also, Pannell said the 1 percent figure for streets was entirely wrong. The street fund is separate from the general fund, she said, and comprises more than 1 percent of the total budget. Cronce then stood up during the public comment portion of the meeting In the flyer, Cronce and acknowledged that he wrote that the Shelton publicized the disputed in- crime rate went up 171 formation, which Pannell percent from last year and sought to discredit, as part that the city only spends of his campaign. 1 percent of its budget on "It has never been my streets, intent to lie or be 'uncon- scionable,'" Cronce said at the meeting. According to the PDC, neither candidate should have been allowed to speak on a disagreement over campaign material dur- ing the meeting per RCW 42.17.130. According to the RCW, "No elective official ... may use or authorize the use of any of the facilities of a public office or agency, di- rectly or indirectly, for the purpose of assisting a cam- paign for election of any person to any office." Anderson said that Pan- nell violated the RCW by speaking out against state- ments made by her oppo- nent in the mayoral elec- tion during a public meet- ing. "We consider that com- mission meeting a facility," she said. Pannell said she was acting only in her capac- ity as a commissmner and gave no thought to her campaign. "I would take exception to that - all I was doing was responding to rumors," she said. "I thought long and hard about it before I did it." Whatever Pannell's in- tention, Monday's meeting turned into an impromptu debate. "This was not a cam- paign issue," she said. "If it was going to be a campaign issue, I would have made sure a whole bunch of peo- ple were there to hear it." Anderson said candi- dates ~unning against sit- ting commissioners should also not be allowed to testi- fy during public meetings, since it could be construed as a campaign statement. See Candidates on page A-7 ¢