November 22, 2007 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 6 (6 of 42 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
November 22, 2007 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
H ard homecoming for Vietnam vet
• ra ? claims his brain 'went south'
(Continued from page 3.)
punishment and the possibility
that Buddhist monks in Cambodia
have put a curse on all American
veterans of the conflict in Viet-
nam. Of this he wrote: "No won-
der my brain 'went south;' every-
one has their own reality, and I'm
being 'held responsible' for every
damn one of them!"
He makes the point that there
was no mention of "guilt" in their
divorce decree and laments the
suggestion that he made an inde-
pendent choice to become home-
less. tie expresses that he owes
Two injured in crash
An Olympia woman and her
passenger were injured in a one-
vehicle crash in the early hours
of" Saturday morning, according
to the Washington State Patrol.
Robin Paulina Bouvier, 21, was
driving a 2003 Honda Civic east-
bound on State Route 102 about
three miles north of Shelton when
the vehicle left the roadway to the
right and struck an embankment
near the intersection with Eeils
Hill Road, Trooper C.F. Magallon
reported. The vehicle rolled over
and struck a utility pole. Bouvier
was ejected from the vehicle.
Her passenger, 21-year-old
Ashley Kristina Rose Carr of
Shelton, was trapped inside the
vehicle which came to rest on its
top off the eastbound lane.
Bouvier, who was not wearing
a seatbelt, sustained head inju-
ries and Carr, who was wearing
a seatbelt, had lacerations and
contusions.
The cause of the crash, report-
ed at 2:52 a.m. November 17, was
identified by the trooper as alco-
hol-related.
his gratuity to no one with the
"profound exception" of the men
who served in the Fifth Regiment
of the First Marine Division be-
tween November 1968 and August
1969. Next he describes his pur-
chase of a run-down mobile home
and describes at some length ad-
ditional legal entanglements, his
frustration with a leaking roof
and efforts to communicate with
his daughter. He wrote:
"Has anyone considered the
fact that I love my daughter, and
she loves me?l!! When are we to be
granted amnesty?!!!" On the last
page of his letter he wrote: "I chal-
lenge anyone to look me in the eye
and judge me ..."
His use of the words "nervous
breakdown" and his reference to
post-traumatic stress disorder in-
vite an inquiry into the relation-
ship of mental illness to homeless-
ness. The National Coalition for
the Homeless cites a 2005 study
by the National Institute of Men-
tal Health to tile effect that in
that year one in live single adults
who are bomeless suilred from
some form of mental illness. This
is not to say that any more than a
small percentage of the 44 million
Amerfcans who suflbr from men-
tal illness are homeless at any one
time. A census taken in January
of this year tbund that 32 of" 266
homeless households in Mason
County attributed their situation
to mental illness. Census takers
were told that 64 local people had
a disability related to their men-
tal health.
IN REMARKS made to a re-
porter when delivering his letter
to this newspaper, Peterson stat-
ed that he has "a perfectly clean
police record, plus I have served
my country with honor and merit
and conscientiously." The legal
struggles referred to in his letter
have to do with the civil matter of
the divorce, the leaky roof and dis-
ability benefits. He also expressed
(;hurch welcomes homeless
(Continued from page 3.)
campment have very high skills
as far as keeping themselves
alive in the woods," Hayes said.
"The people we get in our shel-
ters have no skills."
If" her suggestion that there
may be more than 2,000 homeless
people in Mason County seems a
little extreme, it is also the case
that it is very hard to get a han-
dle on the homeless population.
A 1996 federal study estimated
that the national count could be
as low as 444,000 and could be as
high as 842,000.
The U.S. Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development de-
livered its first annual Homeless
Assessment Report to the Con-
gress in February of this year.
Officials estimate that there
were 754,147 homeless people
in the U:S. in January 2005 and
that in the nmnths of Febrtmrv
to April of that year there were
704,000 people in the U.S. who
were homeless but staying in
shelters. The report finds that
nearly a quarter of the sheltered
homeless were age 17 or younger,
nearly a quarter were disabled
and nearly a half were single
men. Aiican-Americans consti-
tuted 12 percent of the general
population but 45 percent of the
}tameless people.
COUPLES WHO come into
the emergency shelter at Saint
David's are allowed to sleep next
to one another on thin mats laid
out on the floor. Supervisors of
the shelter keep an eye on things,
but they don't turn away persons
who have been accused of domes-
tic violence and they don't take
names. "A lot of" homeless peo-
ple don't use their real names,"
Hayes said.
A case in point is a woman
who went by Mary but is known
by another name to the people in
Mason County Superior Court.
A jury found her husband not
guilty in 2000 of slugging her
during a family fracas that al-
legedly involved threats with
a kitchen knife and testimony
that he was hit on the head with
a fiTing pan. Two months later
she was the principal member of
an organization called "Justice
for All" that wanted to change
the way the courts deal with in-
cidents involving alcohol.
"We decided that we had to
stop the cycle of violence and
alcohol abuse," she said at the
time. "The courts can aid us or
the courts can trash us, and they
have chosen to trash us, as far as
I am concerned."
Last summer her husband
was sent to prison for stealing
a Palm Pilot and last winter he
was serving time for assaulting
Sergeant Jeff Rhoades of the
Shelton Police Department after
he responded to a report that the
man had struck Mary in the face
. and taken her money away. This
followed a 2005 conviction for
possessing marijuana and resist-
ing arrest 0nd a 2002 conviction
ibr intmidating a public official
at which time Mary said: "This
man has fallen down. There's no
doubt. He has to pick himself up
and dust himself off."
MARY MET HER husband
in Walla Walla and talked about
her situation one cold night last
winter during an interview at
the shelter. "Dealing with hard-
ship has taught me a lot," she
said. "I look at my situation as a
blessing, rll make it, though. It
is going to strengthen me. I have
no blame fbr anybody. I'm just
thankful God's with me."
Mary and her grandson ibund
themselves looking for shelter
after a series of reversals on the
home front. She said she and her
husband tried to buy some prop-
erty from people who were leaving
the area, but the deal fell through
when they ran short of money.
After that they lived in a mobile
home fbr a short time, but that
didn't work out either. "I have
always looked at things from an
innocent perspective," she said.
"I thought everybody thought
the way I did, saw the good in
everybody, the light at the end
of the tunnel, that sort of thing.
Unfortunately, some people I
have found in these last months
actually judge you by things
that aren't under your control."
Mary is supported by a month-
ly grant of several hundred dol-
lars in what she refers to as "dis-
ability" funds, and the same goes
for John Goodchild, who went to
high school here in the late '60s.
He says he has diabetes and lost
his job at "the mill" in Shelton
due to his disability. He lives in
an old fifth-wheeler that doesn't
have any electricity, stays at the
shelter on cold nights and talked
there about his situation on the
night Mary did the same.
"I live frugally," he said. "You
have to."
GOODCHILD HAS been
seen driving around Shelton
in a vintage Subaru flying two
U.S. flags on the roof. He says
he bought the car for $100 from
a man he met at the Community
Kitchen, a Christian ministry in
downtown Shelton for people in
need of food. "I like to work on
cars," he said. "I like to read. I
like to build models."
WHOLE HOUSE
Carpet
Cleaning
199
Page 6 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, November 22, 2007
He also likes to watch mov-
ies and has fitted his vehicle
with a portable device that can
show rented movies on a screen
about the size of a hardcover
book. Among his favorites is Up
In Smoke, a 1978 film in which
the stoner comics, Cheech Marin
and Tommy Chong, drive around
in a marijuana van.
"I'm buying some land in Tex-
as," Goodchild said. "I'm going to
stay here until my morn passes
away; then I'll go down there."
Texas had an estimated
49,600 homeless people in 2005
and Washington had 23,970, ac-
cording to a report by the Na-
tional Alliance to End Home-
lessness. "They sleep in alleys
behind homes and toolsheds and
near garbage cans so they can
get food," Hayes told the Kiwan-
ians. "People like to stay as close
as they can where they can be
safe because there's other people
around and they like to be neat"
services."
VETERANS AFFAIRS re-
ports that nearly 23 percent of
homeless, adults are military
veterans and states that: "The
Puget Sound region has a grow-
ing homeless population, esti-
mated to be close to 6,000 on any
given night; some 40 percent of
all homeless adults in the region
are veterans."
The VA in Spokane provides
services to nearly 3,500 camp-
ers living in rural areas, and the
VA in this part of the state has
a "work therapy program" that
helps veterans stay sober and
employed. Hayes told the Kiwan-
ians that "we need money" and
Mayor John Tarrant, a member
of the club, urged members to
help out by making a donation
to their church or to the United
Way of Mason County. He also
reminded the gathering that the
City of Shelton and PUD 3 have
programs that help people stay
in their homes through tough fi.
nancial times.
Hayes made the point that
it's hard to get a job when you're
homeless, and it gets harder
with every night spent on the
street or in the woods. "I don't
think that any people choose to
live that way, but I do believe
that people stop trying. They
give up," she said. "Your capacity
to function diminishes every day
you are cold and wet, and these
people spend entire winters that
are cold and wet."
Editor's note: This report
was gathered and written by
Elizabeth Wells, Sean Hanlon
and B. Allison Hanlon.
We
have
fishi.
supphes!
Skokomish Indian Tribal
Enterprises (S.1.TE.)
Premis Carton
+ tax
the view that the U.S. will
from another surge of
rustic stress when veterans
war in Iraq return to
"This country hasn't even
gun to prepare tbr that
aM
by Blaine & Linda
AN OLD FAVORITE
If you are looking for a
flooring material that is
comfortable, and easy to
consider linoleum. First patented
1863, linoleum was a
choice until the advent of vinyl
than a century later. Today,
is back in favor as a nostalgic
retro and vintage styles and
of its environmentally friendly
ties. Sheet linoleum is primarily
of natural, renewable raw
including oxidized linseed oil,
dust, wood flour, resins,
and mineral pigments that are
on a jute backing. Because
no synthetic chemicals, it
able. The linseed oil continues to
dize over time, increasing
to bacterial growth. Care consists
vacuuming and damp mopping.
Area rugs or an expanse of
peting, natural stone or a
production, our purpose Is to
your own personality
and meaning through the
and dLcor of your home or
We listen to our clientele so
we can help them select the
decor to suit their lifestyle
budget. It really can be clone
SHELTON FLOOR COVERING
it. Stop by soon at 1306
Hvvy So.,
neighbors in She/ton choose us
the fun place to ShOl:
ions for any room in their
offices. PH: 360-427-2822.
HINT. Linoleum is a good
for people with respiratory
ders because of its resistance
bacteria and its anti-static
ties, which repel dirt and dust.
€( ns ....
l urance-friendly repazrfacdzty....
assuring your peace of mind".
sh,,l,,,.. WA 9.5.4
£,,j Fax 360-4,32-361¢
19390 North U.S. Hwy. I01
Skokomish Nation, WA 98584
At the intersection of Hwy. 101 & Hwy. 106
minutes north of Shelton on the Skokomish Indian Reservation
Located next to the Lucky Dog Casino • 427-9099
Joker or Ace
Energy
16 oz.
2/*2
Bud &
Bud Li 2-pack
S949 ......... . varieti,
Q S4z9 ....
12 12 oz. cans ..... s..
Basic00
3 Chicken Strips 00 OFF Carton
& 8 Jo Jo Rn, $34.75, $31.75
wi coupon.
: Good through 11-28-07.
Not valid with other offers.
m m m
$1.59/BAG
Comnl0000e
A ,, .]/.j.,l i
Grizzly Chew
S999
Wintergreen
5 can rolls
Reg. $10.85
Marlboro
SURGEON
Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon
Monoxide.
H ard homecoming for Vietnam vet
• ra ? claims his brain 'went south'
(Continued from page 3.)
punishment and the possibility
that Buddhist monks in Cambodia
have put a curse on all American
veterans of the conflict in Viet-
nam. Of this he wrote: "No won-
der my brain 'went south;' every-
one has their own reality, and I'm
being 'held responsible' for every
damn one of them!"
He makes the point that there
was no mention of "guilt" in their
divorce decree and laments the
suggestion that he made an inde-
pendent choice to become home-
less. tie expresses that he owes
Two injured in crash
An Olympia woman and her
passenger were injured in a one-
vehicle crash in the early hours
of" Saturday morning, according
to the Washington State Patrol.
Robin Paulina Bouvier, 21, was
driving a 2003 Honda Civic east-
bound on State Route 102 about
three miles north of Shelton when
the vehicle left the roadway to the
right and struck an embankment
near the intersection with Eeils
Hill Road, Trooper C.F. Magallon
reported. The vehicle rolled over
and struck a utility pole. Bouvier
was ejected from the vehicle.
Her passenger, 21-year-old
Ashley Kristina Rose Carr of
Shelton, was trapped inside the
vehicle which came to rest on its
top off the eastbound lane.
Bouvier, who was not wearing
a seatbelt, sustained head inju-
ries and Carr, who was wearing
a seatbelt, had lacerations and
contusions.
The cause of the crash, report-
ed at 2:52 a.m. November 17, was
identified by the trooper as alco-
hol-related.
his gratuity to no one with the
"profound exception" of the men
who served in the Fifth Regiment
of the First Marine Division be-
tween November 1968 and August
1969. Next he describes his pur-
chase of a run-down mobile home
and describes at some length ad-
ditional legal entanglements, his
frustration with a leaking roof
and efforts to communicate with
his daughter. He wrote:
"Has anyone considered the
fact that I love my daughter, and
she loves me?l!! When are we to be
granted amnesty?!!!" On the last
page of his letter he wrote: "I chal-
lenge anyone to look me in the eye
and judge me ..."
His use of the words "nervous
breakdown" and his reference to
post-traumatic stress disorder in-
vite an inquiry into the relation-
ship of mental illness to homeless-
ness. The National Coalition for
the Homeless cites a 2005 study
by the National Institute of Men-
tal Health to tile effect that in
that year one in live single adults
who are bomeless suilred from
some form of mental illness. This
is not to say that any more than a
small percentage of the 44 million
Amerfcans who suflbr from men-
tal illness are homeless at any one
time. A census taken in January
of this year tbund that 32 of" 266
homeless households in Mason
County attributed their situation
to mental illness. Census takers
were told that 64 local people had
a disability related to their men-
tal health.
IN REMARKS made to a re-
porter when delivering his letter
to this newspaper, Peterson stat-
ed that he has "a perfectly clean
police record, plus I have served
my country with honor and merit
and conscientiously." The legal
struggles referred to in his letter
have to do with the civil matter of
the divorce, the leaky roof and dis-
ability benefits. He also expressed
(;hurch welcomes homeless
(Continued from page 3.)
campment have very high skills
as far as keeping themselves
alive in the woods," Hayes said.
"The people we get in our shel-
ters have no skills."
If" her suggestion that there
may be more than 2,000 homeless
people in Mason County seems a
little extreme, it is also the case
that it is very hard to get a han-
dle on the homeless population.
A 1996 federal study estimated
that the national count could be
as low as 444,000 and could be as
high as 842,000.
The U.S. Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development de-
livered its first annual Homeless
Assessment Report to the Con-
gress in February of this year.
Officials estimate that there
were 754,147 homeless people
in the U:S. in January 2005 and
that in the nmnths of Febrtmrv
to April of that year there were
704,000 people in the U.S. who
were homeless but staying in
shelters. The report finds that
nearly a quarter of the sheltered
homeless were age 17 or younger,
nearly a quarter were disabled
and nearly a half were single
men. Aiican-Americans consti-
tuted 12 percent of the general
population but 45 percent of the
}tameless people.
COUPLES WHO come into
the emergency shelter at Saint
David's are allowed to sleep next
to one another on thin mats laid
out on the floor. Supervisors of
the shelter keep an eye on things,
but they don't turn away persons
who have been accused of domes-
tic violence and they don't take
names. "A lot of" homeless peo-
ple don't use their real names,"
Hayes said.
A case in point is a woman
who went by Mary but is known
by another name to the people in
Mason County Superior Court.
A jury found her husband not
guilty in 2000 of slugging her
during a family fracas that al-
legedly involved threats with
a kitchen knife and testimony
that he was hit on the head with
a fiTing pan. Two months later
she was the principal member of
an organization called "Justice
for All" that wanted to change
the way the courts deal with in-
cidents involving alcohol.
"We decided that we had to
stop the cycle of violence and
alcohol abuse," she said at the
time. "The courts can aid us or
the courts can trash us, and they
have chosen to trash us, as far as
I am concerned."
Last summer her husband
was sent to prison for stealing
a Palm Pilot and last winter he
was serving time for assaulting
Sergeant Jeff Rhoades of the
Shelton Police Department after
he responded to a report that the
man had struck Mary in the face
. and taken her money away. This
followed a 2005 conviction for
possessing marijuana and resist-
ing arrest 0nd a 2002 conviction
ibr intmidating a public official
at which time Mary said: "This
man has fallen down. There's no
doubt. He has to pick himself up
and dust himself off."
MARY MET HER husband
in Walla Walla and talked about
her situation one cold night last
winter during an interview at
the shelter. "Dealing with hard-
ship has taught me a lot," she
said. "I look at my situation as a
blessing, rll make it, though. It
is going to strengthen me. I have
no blame fbr anybody. I'm just
thankful God's with me."
Mary and her grandson ibund
themselves looking for shelter
after a series of reversals on the
home front. She said she and her
husband tried to buy some prop-
erty from people who were leaving
the area, but the deal fell through
when they ran short of money.
After that they lived in a mobile
home fbr a short time, but that
didn't work out either. "I have
always looked at things from an
innocent perspective," she said.
"I thought everybody thought
the way I did, saw the good in
everybody, the light at the end
of the tunnel, that sort of thing.
Unfortunately, some people I
have found in these last months
actually judge you by things
that aren't under your control."
Mary is supported by a month-
ly grant of several hundred dol-
lars in what she refers to as "dis-
ability" funds, and the same goes
for John Goodchild, who went to
high school here in the late '60s.
He says he has diabetes and lost
his job at "the mill" in Shelton
due to his disability. He lives in
an old fifth-wheeler that doesn't
have any electricity, stays at the
shelter on cold nights and talked
there about his situation on the
night Mary did the same.
"I live frugally," he said. "You
have to."
GOODCHILD HAS been
seen driving around Shelton
in a vintage Subaru flying two
U.S. flags on the roof. He says
he bought the car for $100 from
a man he met at the Community
Kitchen, a Christian ministry in
downtown Shelton for people in
need of food. "I like to work on
cars," he said. "I like to read. I
like to build models."
WHOLE HOUSE
Carpet
Cleaning
199
Page 6 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, November 22, 2007
He also likes to watch mov-
ies and has fitted his vehicle
with a portable device that can
show rented movies on a screen
about the size of a hardcover
book. Among his favorites is Up
In Smoke, a 1978 film in which
the stoner comics, Cheech Marin
and Tommy Chong, drive around
in a marijuana van.
"I'm buying some land in Tex-
as," Goodchild said. "I'm going to
stay here until my morn passes
away; then I'll go down there."
Texas had an estimated
49,600 homeless people in 2005
and Washington had 23,970, ac-
cording to a report by the Na-
tional Alliance to End Home-
lessness. "They sleep in alleys
behind homes and toolsheds and
near garbage cans so they can
get food," Hayes told the Kiwan-
ians. "People like to stay as close
as they can where they can be
safe because there's other people
around and they like to be neat"
services."
VETERANS AFFAIRS re-
ports that nearly 23 percent of
homeless, adults are military
veterans and states that: "The
Puget Sound region has a grow-
ing homeless population, esti-
mated to be close to 6,000 on any
given night; some 40 percent of
all homeless adults in the region
are veterans."
The VA in Spokane provides
services to nearly 3,500 camp-
ers living in rural areas, and the
VA in this part of the state has
a "work therapy program" that
helps veterans stay sober and
employed. Hayes told the Kiwan-
ians that "we need money" and
Mayor John Tarrant, a member
of the club, urged members to
help out by making a donation
to their church or to the United
Way of Mason County. He also
reminded the gathering that the
City of Shelton and PUD 3 have
programs that help people stay
in their homes through tough fi.
nancial times.
Hayes made the point that
it's hard to get a job when you're
homeless, and it gets harder
with every night spent on the
street or in the woods. "I don't
think that any people choose to
live that way, but I do believe
that people stop trying. They
give up," she said. "Your capacity
to function diminishes every day
you are cold and wet, and these
people spend entire winters that
are cold and wet."
Editor's note: This report
was gathered and written by
Elizabeth Wells, Sean Hanlon
and B. Allison Hanlon.
We
have
fishi.
supphes!
Skokomish Indian Tribal
Enterprises (S.1.TE.)
Premis Carton
+ tax
the view that the U.S. will
from another surge of
rustic stress when veterans
war in Iraq return to
"This country hasn't even
gun to prepare tbr that
aM
by Blaine & Linda
AN OLD FAVORITE
If you are looking for a
flooring material that is
comfortable, and easy to
consider linoleum. First patented
1863, linoleum was a
choice until the advent of vinyl
than a century later. Today,
is back in favor as a nostalgic
retro and vintage styles and
of its environmentally friendly
ties. Sheet linoleum is primarily
of natural, renewable raw
including oxidized linseed oil,
dust, wood flour, resins,
and mineral pigments that are
on a jute backing. Because
no synthetic chemicals, it
able. The linseed oil continues to
dize over time, increasing
to bacterial growth. Care consists
vacuuming and damp mopping.
Area rugs or an expanse of
peting, natural stone or a
production, our purpose Is to
your own personality
and meaning through the
and dLcor of your home or
We listen to our clientele so
we can help them select the
decor to suit their lifestyle
budget. It really can be clone
SHELTON FLOOR COVERING
it. Stop by soon at 1306
Hvvy So.,
neighbors in She/ton choose us
the fun place to ShOl:
ions for any room in their
offices. PH: 360-427-2822.
HINT. Linoleum is a good
for people with respiratory
ders because of its resistance
bacteria and its anti-static
ties, which repel dirt and dust.
€( ns ....
l urance-friendly repazrfacdzty....
assuring your peace of mind".
sh,,l,,,.. WA 9.5.4
£,,j Fax 360-4,32-361¢
19390 North U.S. Hwy. I01
Skokomish Nation, WA 98584
At the intersection of Hwy. 101 & Hwy. 106
minutes north of Shelton on the Skokomish Indian Reservation
Located next to the Lucky Dog Casino • 427-9099
Joker or Ace
Energy
16 oz.
2/*2
Bud &
Bud Li 2-pack
S949 ......... . varieti,
Q S4z9 ....
12 12 oz. cans ..... s..
Basic00
3 Chicken Strips 00 OFF Carton
& 8 Jo Jo Rn, $34.75, $31.75
wi coupon.
: Good through 11-28-07.
Not valid with other offers.
m m m
$1.59/BAG
Comnl0000e
A ,, .]/.j.,l i
Grizzly Chew
S999
Wintergreen
5 can rolls
Reg. $10.85
Marlboro
SURGEON
Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon
Monoxide.