Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

Port Townsend resident Jacobb Markel has sued the City of Port Townsend and police officer Patrick Fudally in federal court, alleging Fudally unlawfully entered his home without a warrant and arrested him after an attempted traffic stop in 2023.

Elisabeth Rotchford Haight reads the Declaration of Independence aloud July 4 with a small gathering at North Beach County Park in Port Townsend. Haight and her co-readers underscored the importance of the text and suggested making a public reading of the document an annual tradition.

Three separate parties have filed a formal complaint with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission over an insert included in a June newsletter sent out to all Jefferson County Public Utility District customers. The complainants allege the PUD, by including an insert regarding the Aug.

Bobby Pierce stands near the site of the June 24 brush fire that prompted Jefferson County to order the Mill Road encampment cleared by July 15. A melted tarp in the foreground marks the edge of the burn area. Leader photo by Alex Frick The flames were already taller than Bobby Pierce by the time he reached the fire. He grabbed a jug from his campsite about 100 feet from the blaze and ran through the woods toward the rising smoke along Mill Road, hoping to stop the fire before it spread.

Port Townsend High School students Abigail O’Keefe, left, and Frances Lynch address Jefferson County commissioners during an April 10 meeting, urging officials to consider how decisions about Memorial Field and the Jefferson County Recreation Center affect young people.

A scene from the first of many demolition days at the Lincoln Building. Leader photo by Mallory Kruml With equipment staged and crews on site, demolition of the historic Lincoln Building on the Port Townsend High School campus began July 6. The building, which had hosted students and teachers for decades, closed to students in 1980 after the fire chief at the time deemed it “a fire trap,” according to the district. Years later, parts of the lower floors were modified to serve as district offices.

The conditions Jefferson County teenagers described in the “A Place in the Future” series are part of a growing national public health concern. In a 2023 advisory, the U.S. Surgeon General warned that loneliness and social isolation have become significant threats to physical and mental health. The advisory says that loneliness is more than an emotional challenge.

The Port Townsend Paper Company sits just southwest of downtown Port Townsend. A deadly blast at the Nippon Dynawave in Longview prompted the state to open an inspection into the mill and other active kraft pulp and paper mills in the state.

The Mount Tom Creek Fire is estimated at 68 acres and is 0% contained. Despite the blaze persisting, the Olympic Peninsula smoke outlook remains good.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a total of 299 calls for service from June 24-30. Deputies conducted 72 traffic stops, of which four resulted in criminal (misdemeanor/ felony) charges. June 24: A driver was stopped in Port Townsend for driving 47 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone.