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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
October 29, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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October 29, 2020
 
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flattWMasmmmtflimmcfi SINCE 1886 ' VOL. 134, NO. 44 MASON COUNTY, THURSDAY, OCT. 29, 2020 Training day Grapeview Fire Department’s David Wren practices on proper hose techniques during a training exercise Sunday at Theler Wetlands in Belfair. North Mason Regional Fire Authority’s Lucas Roessel holds the hose in the background. See more photos on Page A-29. Journal photo Justin Johnson $1.50 17 Mason County Sheriff’s officer Brewer has partnered with Jack, a great Dane, since 2012. Jack retired from service Oct. 15. Journal photo Kirk Box/eitner E Enrollment in the Pioneer School District has dropped ; by almost 100 students, meaning a loss of about $600,000 in basic education money from the state. With average daily bus ridership down from 880 in the 2019-20 school year to 20 today — mostly special educa- 5 tional students - the district is bracing to lose another 3 $700,000 in transportation money. Members of the Pioneer School Board shared their ‘ i 6y caaa'n‘ovzgkg“"' gordon@masoncounty. com Cindy By Kirk Boxleitner kbox/eitner@masoncounty com This month marked the end of an.era for the Mason County Sheriffs Office when the dog who taught kids not to bully each other retired from service Oct. 15. Jack, a great Dane, became the. first Education Team K—9 in the Sheriffs Office in 2012, when he was just 4 months old, and he’s worked with officer Cindy‘ Brewer ever since. Jack went into action the same year that a North Mason youth took his own life after be— ing bullied. Jack’s badge was inscribed with the young man’s name. Since then, Jack and Brewer, his “driver,” have attended hun- dreds of events, visiting hospi- tals and schools to provide ani- K-‘_9 Jack retires ma] safety awareness training, support counseling and lessons about acceptance, along with no shortage of parade appearances. Jack was named after former Detective Jack Gardener of the Mason County Sheriffs Office. Jack’s educational program was so distinctive that in 2014 the National Animal Care and Control Association devoted; an article to the program. At the time, the Mason Coun- ty Sheriff’s Office was the only agency running a public educa- tional program with a K—9 like Jack, and the exposure from the NACA article prompted other agencies to contact Ma- son County for advice and as- sistance in creating similar pro- > grams. Brewer estimates Jack must see JACK, page A-10 Big enrollment drop in Pioneer district financial concerns Thursday with state Rep. Dan Griffey at a work session conducted in the district’s administra- tive offices. Grifl'ey attended via Zoom. The next day, Griffey toured the district’s elementary and middle schools and saw teachers in action, alone in their class- rooms, instructing their students online. i 53263 00111 Sunday fire destroys helton home 3*“:13J- , Belfai [ INSIDE TODAY i Developer plans large r housing project s ’i In a PowerPoint, presentation during the meeting Thursday, Superintendent Jill Diehl pointed out the dis— trict averaged 732 students in March, when the schools Wuhan-WC SMALL TOWN 927 W RAILROAD AVE SHELTON WA, 9858443847 see page A—1 4 AR-RT LOT**C o PAPERS 05 Murder ' suspects extradited By Kirk BoXleitner kbox/eitner@masoncountycom Murder suspects Mathew Collett, 37, and Kylie Kadeen Craig, 28, ap— peared in Mason County Superior Court for their preliminary appearance on Oct. 26, a development that came as something of a surprise to Michael Dorcy, Mason County prosecuting at- torney. Dorcy had‘ been informed earlier that same day that the two suspects had been extradited from California on Oct. 23. “The first step was simply to get them sent back to Washington,” Dor- cy said. “From there, the preliminary appearance is often known as the ID hearing. Defendants have the right to be seen by the court as soon as is prac- ticable, and this Monday was the next court day after the Friday they were brought in.” Collett and Craig are suspects in the kidnapping and slaying of Rach— ell Rene Roberts, a 31-year-old Lacey resident whose body was found in the Lake Cushman area Oct. 2. They were arrested in Humboldt County, Califor- nia, on Oct. 11. The suspects’ next court date is Tuesday, when they’ll be arraigned, enter their pleas and have their bail amounts set: Craig at 9 am. and Col- lett at 1:30 p.m. Dorcy said he expects to request a denial of bail for both suspects and that all the rest of the two suspects’ court dates from their pretrial hearings to their trial dates wouldbe tentatively scheduled Tuesday. Mason County Superior Court Judge Daniel Goodell signed the arrest warrants for Collett and Craig, but Su- perior Court Judge Amber Finlay has been presiding over the case since their extradition. Because Collett allegedly tried to steal a vehicle in the final hours be- fore his arrest in an attempt to evade law enforcement, Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies submitted additional charges of attempted carjacking to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution. The Humboldt County District At- torney’s Office could not confirm for the Shelton-Mason County Journal wheth— er it intended to prosecute Collett on those additional changes. Dorcy estimates he’s prosecuted “close to 20” homicide cases, with near- ly a dozen of them in Mason County, and while he emphasized that every case is distinct, he agreed that he would qualify as “experienced” in prosecuting such cases. . “I was elected as the county prosecu- ‘ tor in 2010, and took office in 2011, and then, We had a real string of murder cases fr'om 2012 through 2013,” Dorcy said. g T1me er1 vemb