Podcast
KMAS Radio
Hosted by Jeff Slakey · EN
Long-form interviews and conversations from Mason County, Washington. Host Jeff Slakey sits down with local leaders, legislators, small business owners, and community voices for unhurried conversations about what's shaping the Hood Canal region — government, education, healthcare, the outdoors, and the people making a difference.
New episodes drop throughout the week. For daily local headlines, subscribe to KMAS Morning News with Jeff Slakey.
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Firewise, Fireworks, and the Fight to Keep Elected Sheriffs — Ryan Spurling | KMAS
3d ago00:13:18Tap to summarizeMason County Sheriff Ryan Spurling joins Jeff Slakey for their monthly conversation, recorded at the Fjord Oyster Bank ahead of the Sheriff's Luncheon. This episode covers the full range of what's on the Sheriff's radar heading into summer 2026.Topics include: the leadership transition at the Shelton Police Department as a new chief takes over following Chief Kostad's departure; wildfire preparedness and the Forest Service's determination that the Bear Gulch Fire near Lake Cushman was likely caused by fireworks; how the Sheriff's Office handles the 4th of July surge with limited resources (up to 250 calls, six deputies, a thousand square miles); the new MACECOM AVA non-emergency AI dispatch line and how it's designed to improve coverage during high-volume events; and a full update on the legal fight over the state legislature's sheriff oversight bill, including two injunction wins that have frozen the law pending court review.Sheriff Spurling also shares encouraging news on law enforcement staffing levels across Washington State, and WASPIC research data showing public trust in law enforcement ranks among the highest of any profession.The Sheriff Sit-Down is produced by KMAS Radio and serves Mason County and the south Hood Canal area. Sponsored by Our Community Credit Union.0:00 — Introduction / Location / New Shelton Police Chief Patton1:36 — Wildfire Season & Bear Gulch Fire Investigation3:01 — Firewise, Fireworks & 4th of July Call Volumes4:00 — World Cup 2026 & Summer Visitor Influx to Mason County4:32 — MACECOM AVA: The New AI-Powered Non-Emergency 9-1-1 Line6:23 — Sheriff Oversight Bill: Two Injunctions & the Constitutional Challenge9:34 — Law Enforcement Staffing & WASPIC Conference Takeaways12:15 — Non-Emergency Line Reminder (421-4441) & Sponsor Close#MasonCounty #SheltonWA #HoodCanal #FocusOnShelton #KMASRadio #MasonCountySheriff #SheriffSpurling #WildfirePreparedness #BearGulchFire #4thOfJuly #WorldCup2026 #MACECOM #LawEnforcement #WashingtonState #PublicSafety #CommunityRadio
Transcribe →Glow Golf, Fireworks & The #1 Pros in the World — Cascade Challenge Returns to Mason County
2w ago00:11:13Tap to summarizeOne of the top 100 disc golf courses in the entire United States is tucked into the forest on Shelton Springs Road in Shelton, Washington, and unlike almost every other top-ranked course in the country, you can play it for free, any day of the year, on the same pads the pros throw.This weekend (May 29–31, 2026), the world's best disc golfers come to Mason County for the Discraft Cascade Challenge — the West Coast debut of the brand-new JomezPro Series on the Disc Golf Pro Tour. The number one men's and number one women's competitors in the world will both be in Shelton. And on Saturday night, in a Forest Festival weekend first, players and fans get to throw glow discs under stadium lights and the city fireworks, with the last tee time going off at 11:20 PM.Jeff Slakey sits down with three people who can tell you exactly why this is happening here: Ryan Smith and Justin Holzgrove from the Mason County Disc Golf Club, and Cascade Challenge Tournament Director Jeff Korns. They cover the course's UDisc Top 100 ranking, why the City of Shelton's partnership made it possible, what the pros actually say about the layout, and how a casual visitor can walk up, watch a 500-foot tee shot, and get an autograph from a world champion — all in the same afternoon.🎟️ Tickets: https://tickets.dgpt.com/event/cascade-challenge-h4yzzy🥏 Event info: https://www.dgpt.com/event/2026-cascade-challenge/#CascadeChallenge #DiscGolf #SheltonWA #MasonCounty #JomezPro #DGPT#PNW #PacificNorthwest #OlympicPeninsula #HoodCanal #Hoodsport #ExploreShelton #WashingtonState #Discraft #UDisc #UDiscTop100 #DiscGolfProTour #SheltonSprings #GlowGolf #ForestFestival #KMAS
Transcribe →Inside Mason Matters: Rural Health, the Charlie Cart, and a USDA Grant | Shelton, WA
May 1100:21:46Tap to summarizeMason County is sitting in the lowest quartile in Washington state for community health — and Mason Matters, the local 501(c)(3) that quieted down during COVID, has come back online with a plan to move that number twenty percent.In this conversation, host Jeff Slakey sits down at the Economic Development Council building in downtown Shelton with Julie Knott, the director of Mason Matters. They cover where the organization came from (the steering committee behind Blue Zones Activate Mason County), where it’s going (a refreshed health-equity agenda built around food, the built environment, and child care), and the partnerships making it work — Mason County Public Health, Mason Health, the EDC, the YMCA of Shelton, and both hospital districts.You’ll hear how Mason Matters became the matching partner that helped the EDC land a major USDA grant — the largest awarded in Washington state and one of 43 nationally. You’ll hear about the Charlie Cart, a mobile teaching kitchen that just landed Mason County the distinction of being the first rural community in Washington to use one. And you’ll hear from a six-week pilot underway at South Side Elementary, where one student tasted homemade herb butter and asked, unprompted, if it had marjoram in it.Also in this conversation: Maria Parra and the work happening at Hope Plaza, the Catalyst Garden re-imagining at the Master Gardeners’ space on Harvard, the Salmon Center master plan, the new Mountain View Café at Mason Health, the Shelton and Belfair Farmers Markets, a county-wide child-care assessment landing in June, and what the multi-billion-dollar Bremerton shipyard project means for the workforce — and the kids — of Mason County.Plus: why Julie is biking from Shelton to Ketchikan, Alaska, this summer, and what Blue Zones founders bicycling across Asia have to do with Mason County life expectancy.📍 Mentioned in this episode:• Mason Matters — masonmatters.org (verify URL before publishing)• Economic Development Council of Mason County — choosemason.com (verify)• Mason County Public Health• Mason Health & Mountain View Café• YMCA of Shelton• Shelton Farmers Market & Belfair Farmers Market• Hope Plaza at Faith Lutheran (1212 Connection Street)• Master Gardeners’ Catalyst Garden• Salmon Center🎧 Subscribe to KMAS Radio & KMAS Morning News with Jeff Slakey wherever you get your podcasts.📻 Listen live on KMAS Radio.▶️ Watch the full conversation on the KMAS YouTube channel.
Transcribe →Free Car Seat Checks + Mother's Day Pancakes at South Mason Fire | Amber Anderson
May 700:04:15Tap to summarizeAmber Anderson from South Mason Fire & Rescue joins Jeff Slakey to preview a Mother's Day weekend full of community events on Arcadia Road in Shelton, Washington.First up: a FREE car seat checkup event Friday, May 8, from 11 AM to 2 PM at the South Mason Fire station on Arcadia. Certified car seat installers — being trained across multiple counties — will check your car seat is installed correctly, walk you through which seats fit your vehicle, and answer the question every parent eventually asks: when does my kid graduate to a booster, and when can they age out? No appointment needed.Then Saturday, May 9, from 9:30 AM to noon — the third-annual Mother's Day Pancake Breakfast. Pancakes, sausage and bacon courtesy of Taylor Station, served by your South Mason firefighters. Every mom gets a rose and a walk to her seat from a firefighter. Donations welcome (cash or check).Both events at South Mason Fire & Rescue, 2970 SE Arcadia Road, Shelton, WA 98584.#FocusOnShelton #KMASRadio #SheltonWA #MasonCountyWA #SouthMasonFire #MothersDay #PancakeBreakfast #CarSeatSafety #PNW #HoodCanal #ArcadiaRoad #FireDepartment #CommunityFirst #FirstResponders #SheltonNews #MothersDayWeekend
Transcribe →KHCF's 2nd Annual Mother's Day Dash: Cancer Screenings, Community, and a 4-Mile Run
May 600:04:55Tap to summarizeIn this conversation, host Jeff Slakey sits down with Katie Arnold, treasurer of the Karen Hilburn Cancer Fund, to talk about the second annual Mother's Day Dash — a 4-mile run/walk that supports cancer screenings and treatment for uninsured and underinsured women right here in Mason County.For more than two decades, the Karen Hilburn Cancer Fund has helped over 600 Mason County residents access the screenings and care they need through partnerships with Mason Health. The Mother's Day Dash, alongside the fund's Denim and Diamonds auction, is one of the ways the all-volunteer board keeps that work going.Katie shares the race details — start time, route, parking, day-of registration — plus what brought her into the fund a decade ago, and why this work matters for women across our community. https://runsignup.com/Race/WA/Shelton/TheMothersDayDashEvent details:• Sunday morning · 8:00 AM start• Huff & Puff Park (across from Shelton High School)• 4-mile run or walk · medals at the finish• Registration open now; day-of registration available at the check-in tableConversations air on KMAS Radio and is available as a podcast and on YouTube. Follow KMAS for more conversations with the people, businesses, and organizations that make Mason County what it is.#MothersDayDash · #KarenHilburnCancerFund · #SheltonWA · #MasonCountyWA · #KMAS · #FocusOnShelton · #PNW · #CancerScreening · #CommunityRun · #4MileRun · #MasonHealth · #ShopLocalShelton · #PacificNorthwest · #WashingtonState · #MothersDay
Transcribe →Meet the Mason County Peacemakers: Republican & Democrat Women Teaming Up in Shelton
May 500:17:09Tap to summarizeIn a national climate where political divides feel impossible to bridge, something different is happening in Shelton. The Mason County Peacemakers — six women from the Mason County Republican Women's Club and six from the Mason County Democrat Women — have been meeting since last fall to do one thing: get community work done together.In this conversation, Jeff Slakey sits down with four of them at The Alibi Room at Wild Irish for a wide-ranging conversation about the group's origins, the blood drive that drew 33 pints on its first run, their partnership with the local Veterans Stand Down, a current food drive for Choice and CEDAR High Schools, and a joint picnic planned for August 16.You'll also hear the line that may stick with you longer than any of it — Jane's reminder, by way of a Native American chief, that "the right wing and the left wing are attached to the same bird, and it takes both for the eagle to soar."This is what grassroots, across-the-aisle community looks like. Quiet. Practical. And — in 2026 — quietly radical.Recorded at: The Alibi Room at Wild Irish, Shelton, WAMentioned in this episode: Mason County Republican Women • Mason County Democrat Women • Faith Lutheran Church • Veterans Stand Down • Choice High School • CEDAR High School • League of Women Voters of Mason County • T's CafeUpcoming events: Blood Drive — June 16 at Faith Lutheran Church • Joint Picnic — August 16#FocusOnShelton #KMAS #SheltonWA #MasonCounty #MasonCountyPeacemakers #BridgingTheDivide #CrossingTheAisle #BloodDrive #VeteransStandDown #CommunityOverParty #PNW #WashingtonState #LocalNews #CivicEngagement #SmallTownStories
Transcribe →Mason County Sheriff Spurling: 25 Cases Dismissed, Injunction Granted, Watch Revived
May 300:10:59Tap to summarizeMason County Sheriff Ryan Spurling joined Jeff Slakey at The Fjord Oyster Bank in Hoodsport for the monthly sit-down just before he met with the community for the monthly luncheon.Spurling walks through the Sheriff's Office's Neighborhood Watch revival under Deputy Matt Colbenson, why Mason County is again Washington's lowest-staffed sheriff's office per 1,000 residents (a point he traces back through department records to 1980), and what that means for rural communities like Hoodsport, Lake Cushman, Spencer Lake, and Allyn.He discusses the internal audit his office conducted in the wake of last month's double homicide, what they found, what they're changing, and the conversations he had with family members of the victims at the new evening community meeting at PUD 3. He addresses the 25 cases the district court had to dismiss without prejudice for lack of a public defender, and what concerned residents can actually do about it.And he gives his clearest public response yet to this week's Thurston County preliminary injunction blocking parts of SB 5974, the new state law that would have allowed an appointed panel to revoke a sheriff's certification and effectively remove them from office. "The sheriff is the only elected law enforcement official in the world," Spurling says. "It's controlled by voters, not by an appointment."Conversations with Sheriff Spurling are brought to you by OURCU.🎙 Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.📺 Watch on YouTube: KMAS Radio channel.📻 KMAS — Mason County's radio station, since 1962.#FocusOnShelton #KMAS #KMASRadio #MasonCounty #SheltonWA #HoodCanal #Hoodsport #SheriffSpurling #MasonCountySheriff #NeighborhoodWatch #PublicDefender #SB5974 #WashingtonState #LocalNews #PNW #PugetSound #OlympicPeninsula #CommunityRadio
Transcribe →Shelton Schools Superintendent: "Put a Book in Kids' Hands, Not a Phone"
May 100:27:39Tap to summarizeShelton School District Superintendent Wyeth Jesse joins Jeff Slakey for a wide-ranging conversation about what's happening in Mason County classrooms — and what's coming next.On this episode: a look back at the latest school board meeting and the marimba performance from Mountain View Elementary; the federal funding cuts threatening multilingual education programs; the departures of two longtime Shelton High School administrators, Ed Stewart and Bruce Kipper; how today's seniors — who started high school during COVID — are finishing strong; and the district's bold goal of having more than 50% of third graders meeting state reading standards.Plus, Wyeth announces a brand-new K–5 homeschool resource center launching for the 2026–27 school year, talks honestly about why district enrollment is shrinking, and explains why staff members — including the head of HR — are choosing to send their own kids to Shelton schools.And in the most candid stretch of the conversation: the superintendent's case for putting books — not devices — in students' hands, what national assessment data really shows about screens and learning, and why writing might be the single most powerful tool in education.Got a question for the superintendent? Email Jeff@kmas.com for the next visit.#FocusOnShelton #SheltonSchools #SheltonWA #MasonCounty #KMAS #KMASRadio #PNWPodcast #WashingtonEducation #PublicEducation #Superintendent #SchoolBoard #ScreensAndKids #SmartphonesInSchools #Homeschool #EarlyLiteracy #ThirdGradeReading #COVIDRecovery #MultilingualEducation #SheltonHighSchool #MountainViewElementary
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South Mason Fire's Double Push-In: A Fire Tradition That Started With The Horse & Buggy
Apr 3000:04:22Tap to summarizeIn this conversation, Jeff Slakey is on the line with Amber Anderson of South Mason Fire as the department prepares for a rare double push-in ceremony on Arcadia Road. Two new pieces of apparatus — a new fire engine and a new water tender — are heading into service tonight, and the community is invited to literally help push them into the bay.Amber walks us through the origin of the push-in tradition (it goes all the way back to the horse-and-buggy days), the moment in the ceremony when the new rigs are officially called into service, and the backstory most people don't know: South Mason Fire lost their previous engine in a 4th of July rollover, and the replacement process led to an unexpected second piece of equipment.If you live in Shelton, on Hood Canal, or anywhere in Mason County, this is a 5-minute reason to get the family in the car tonight: dinner at 6, remarks from the chiefs, then the push-in. Plus — Amber previews South Mason Fire's annual Mother's Day breakfast.📍 Double Push-In Ceremony — Tonight 4/30/26, 6:00 PM — South Mason Fire, 2970 SE Arcadia Road, Shelton, WA🎙️ Subscribe for more conversations with the people behind Mason County's stories.#SheltonWA #MasonCountyWA #SouthMasonFire #FocusOnShelton #KMASRadio #HoodCanal #FireServiceTradition #PushInCeremony #FirstResponders #PNWLife #ArcadiaRoad #MasonCounty #SheltonNews #VolunteerFire #CommunityFirst
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Shelton Farmers Market Returns May 2 — Tammy Ramsey on What's New for 2026
Apr 2800:07:13Tap to summarizeThe Shelton Farmers Market is back in downtown Shelton for the 2026 season, opening Saturday, May 2 in the Civic Center parking lot and running every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through October. Market manager Tammy Ramsey joined Jeff Slakey on Focus on Shelton to preview what's new this year, including an expanded push to bring small farms and backyard growers to market, a returning partnership with anchor vendor Skokomish Farms, and the market's SNAP and Market Match program that helps families stretch their food dollars on fresh, local produce.In this conversation, Tammy talks about why the Civic Center location on Cota Street has worked so well for the market, how the Shelton community has shown up week after week, and the barriers that keep smaller growers out of traditional markets — and what the Shelton Farmers Market is doing to change that. She also shares the single best argument for shopping local: the tomato on your plate might have been on the plant yesterday instead of shipped hundreds of miles to your grocery store.If you're a farmer, a crafter, a musician, or a volunteer looking to get involved, visit SheltonFarmersMarket.org or find the Shelton Farmers Market on Facebook.#SheltonWA #SheltonFarmersMarket #MasonCountyWA #ShopLocal #FarmersMarket #PNWFarms #SkokomishFarms #FocusOnShelton #KMAS #SNAPBenefits #MarketMatch #SmallFarms #BackyardFarmers #LocalProduce #PugetSound #WashingtonState #EatLocal #FarmToTable #CivicCenterShelton #DowntownShelton
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