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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
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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.
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Sunday fire destroys
helton home
3*“:13J-
,
Belfai
[ INSIDE TODAY i
Developer plans large
r housing project
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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.
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