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Man shot in arm while cleaning guns
Aberdeen officers on Thursday were dispatched to the 2300 block of W. 2nd Street for a man who had been shot in the arm while cleaning guns.
Officers arrived to find the 55 year old Aberdeen man in the garage with a gunshot wound to his right forearm. The man’s 26 year old nephew was also in the garage when the accident happened. As the 26 year old was disassembling his pistol when he pulled the trigger, unaware that it was loaded.
The 55 year old was transported to Grays Harbor Community Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The incident is still under investigation.
UPDATED: Grays Harbor fireworks displays and regulations
Fireworks regulations differ between cities throughout Grays Harbor, check with your local fire or police department to be sure the fireworks you purchase are legal to possess and discharge and only purchase legal fireworks. Grays Harbor County follows the state regulations regarding fireworks.
Fireworks sales around the state will begin today and continue until 9pm on July 5th. State Fire Marshal Charles M. Duffy said that this year, 900 retail fireworks stand licenses were issued. He says that, it’s a good time to remind everyone that, “Personal fireworks require personal responsibility.”
While at home, children should not be able to readily access fireworks in the home. Store your fireworks in a secure location to prohibit access, or purchase the day intended to use the fireworks.
Don’t take any chances Duffy says, “Stay away from high powered illegal explosive devices such as M80’s or homemade device, while the 4th of July happens only once a year, these devices can cause a life altering injury that can last you a lifetime.”
Legal Sale and Discharge Dates
Grays Harbor County
Sales – June 28, 9am to July 5, 9pm
Discharge – June 28 to July 5, 11pm
Aberdeen
Sales – July 1st, 11am to July 4th, 11pm
Discharge – July 4th, 8am to 12am (midnight)
Cosmopolis
Discharge – July 4th, 9am -12am (midnight)
Hoquiam
Discharge – July 3rd to July 4th, 9am to 12am (midnight)
Ocean Shores
Discharge – July 2nd to 3rd, 12pm (noon) to 11pm July 4th, 12pm (noon) to
12 am (midnight)
Westport
Discharge – July 4th, 9am to 11pm
Public Fireworks Displays
Aberdeen
Event: 4th of July “Splash” Fireworks Display
Place: Morrison River Front Park
Date: July 4th
Time: Late evening
Elma
Event: Firework Spectacular
Place: Grays Harbor Raceway
Date: July 7th
Time: After the races
Ocean City/Ocean Shores
Event: Fire O’re the Water
Place: Beach Near 2nd Avenue
Date: July 4th
Time: Dusk
Westport
Event: Old Fashioned 4th
Place: Firecracker Point
Date: July 4th
Time: Approximately 10:30pm
Fireworks Restrictions by City
Fireworks Safety Dos and Donts
Ocean Shores liquor store sells for $200 thousand less than previous auction
The Ocean Shores liquor store has sold, for a third time.
The Washington State Liquor Control Board re-auctioned the rights to apply for retail liquor license at six state-run liquor stores statewide totaling $600,000.
The Ocean Shores store had previously sold twice for $205 and $275 thousand. During this third round, it was sold for only $75 thousand. The store sold to Julianne Hanner of Montesano who owns and operates five McDonald’s restaurants in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties.
The board ran the auction to re-sell locations after bidders failed, for whatever reason, to complete the purchase process.
A $25 thousand bid deposit was required to participate in the auction, up from $10,000 at a previous live auction.
Including this auction, the board has generated over $30.5 million dollars by auctioning off former state liquor stores.
Scheduled outage could cause KXRO to lose power
The Grays Harbor PUD will be conducting repairs on power lines on Coolidge Rd in South Aberdeen between 9 and 9:30 this morning. During this time, there will be a scheduled power outage lasting up to 30 minutes.
KXRO may lose transmission signal during this time.
Follow KXRO on Facebook and KXRO.com for updates during that possible outage.
United Way of Grays Harbor seeking Executive Director
Lynsi Polanco is no longer serving as the Executive Director of the United Way of Grays Harbor.
The United Way posted a job listing online on Wednesday asking for a “motivated, self-starting professional” with a college degree or equivalent who can see that “the organization’s objectives are effectively pursued.”
Polanco joined the United Way in May of 2008. In her first year, Polanco worked to raise a record $479,000 for the organization.
A Montesano High School graduate, Polanco previously worked for the Houston Astros as the General Manager of their rookie team in Greeneville, Tennessee.
United Way Executive Director Job Description
Train hits man outside of Elma
A man was killed on Thursday after falling asleep in front of a train. Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott says that around 7am on Thursday a train heading westbound outside of Elma noticed a man sleeping on the track. The train sounded its horn, but it was too late to stop from colliding with the man.
The white male is believed to be transient as bags were found nearby attached to a bicycle containing numerous belongings. Positive identification was not able to be made on scene, but items found have to a preliminary identification.
It is not known why the man chose to sleep on the train tracks in the rural location.
K-9 Gizmo dies unexpectedly
Grays Harbor Undersheriff Rick Scott says that K-9 Gizmo has died unexpectedly. Scott says that Gizmo had a severe medical event and underwent emergency surgery on Wednesday, but was unable to be saved.
10 year old Gizmo had been with the department for 8 years and worked with Deputy Rob Crawford as an apprehension K-9. In his time of service he had over 70 apprehensions, over 200 deployments, and over 100 agency assists.
Some of his most notable assists include 2 bank robbery suspects and possibly most notably the tracking that led to the identification of Martin Arthur Jones. Jones was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the attempted murder of then Washington State Trooper, now Pacific County Sheriff, Scott Johnson.
Scott says Gizmo will be missed by everyone, and the office is not certain how they will fill the void left by his death.
The loud banging noises coming from Cosmo will end soon
Robert Buchan of Cosmo Specialty Fibers wants Cosmopolis residents to rest easy following loud noises coming from the mill. Loud banging noises could be heard late last night and multiple times over the past few days, and he says that is being fixed. Buchan says that they have received multiple calls regarding the sound, and doesn’t want residents to worry.
Buchan says that the noises are coming from drum safeties being lifted on the boilers. The safeties lift when excessive steam is built, but after time they wear and release under lower levels of steam. The safeties release and close, but because of the lower pressure limit they close rapidly which creates the banging noise.
A company has been brought in today to adjust the safeties back to their correct levels. Buchan says they should be able to adjust this while the boilers are online, and this will ensure they do not have to restart the boilers and cause additional noise.
Ballots sent to military and overseas voters
The state has sent out more than 50,000 primary election ballots to military and overseas voters from Washington.
The ballots were sent out by last Saturday, in compliance with the federal law that these voters be sent their ballots at least 45 days before Election Day. Some were sent by mail and others were emailed, the secretary of state’s office said Wednesday.
In Grays Harbor, 126 ballots were sent to military & overseas voters. In Pacific County, 96 ballots were sent out.
King County had the most military and overseas voters, with over 12,000 ballots sent out last week, followed by Pierce County, home to Joint Base Lewis McChord, where over 10,000 ballots were sent.
Ballots for the rest of the state’s voters will be mailed out mid-July. The primary election is Aug. 7.
Fireworks sales begin today statewide
Fireworks sales around the state will begin today at noon and continue until 9pm on July 5th. State Fire Marshal Charles M. Duffy said that this year, 900 retail fireworks stand licenses were issued. He says that, it’s a good time to remind everyone that, “Personal fireworks require personal responsibility.”
Check with your local fire or police department to be sure the fireworks you purchase are legal to possess and discharge and only purchase legal fireworks.
While at home, children should not be able to readily access fireworks in the home. Store your fireworks in a secure location to prohibit access, or purchase the day intended to use the fireworks.
Don’t take any chances Duffy says, “Stay away from high powered illegal explosive devices such as M80’s or homemade device, while the 4th of July happens only once a year, these devices can cause a life altering injury that can last you a lifetime.”
