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The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

Name: The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Address: 226 Adams Street, Port Townsend, WA, 98368, US
Telephone: (360)3852900

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The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

Serving Port Townsend and Jefferson County since 1889

06/20/2026

Grand finale: County approves fireworks ban

By Alex Frick

Jefferson County commissioners unanimously approved a ban on consumer fireworks June 15, concluding a month-long discussion about public safety, wildfire risk and the future standing of traditional Fourth of July celebrations.

The ordinance, approved 3-0, will ban consumer fireworks in unincorporated Jefferson County beginning in June 2027, while preserving exceptions for permitted public displays and specialized uses.

The new ban will not affect this year’s Fourth of July. Under RCW 70.77.250(4), local fireworks regulations that are more restrictive than state law cannot take effect until one year after adoption.

Existing fireworks regulations tied to fire danger levels remain in effect until then.

For the full story go to ptleader.com

06/19/2026

Body ID’d in 26-year cold case

By Mallory Kruml

Human remains discovered in Olympic National Park nearly 30 years ago have been identified after a decades-long, multi-agency investigation, with authorities crediting advances in forensic genealogy.

According to NPS, a researcher found the skeletal remains — now identified as Joseph Louis Serrao Jr. — inside a sleeping bag in a remote area of the Sol Duc River drainage in July 2000.

The National Parks Service did not respond to a request for comment on the circumstances of Serrao’s death by deadline.

“The skeletonized remains were found alongside several items including binoculars, a green-black bivy-style tent, a Jansport day hiker pack, a blue shoulder bag, a folding saw, a space blanket, a sleeping bag, and small/medium-sized winter wear,” according to Texas-based Ortham Laboratory, which specializes in forensic genealogy and assisted in the investigation.

For the full story go to ptleader.com

06/18/2026

Co***ne’s back; fentanyl threat puts lives on the line

By Alex Frick

Co***ne use was largely overshadowed by methamphetamine, he**in and fentanyl in Jefferson County, but law enforcement officers and public health officials say co***ne has become increasingly prevalent over the past several years.

Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team Sergeant Joshua Powless said the same trend has become increasingly visible from a law enforcement perspective.

“When I started, co***ne wasn’t something I really saw,” Powless said. “That really shifted in the last four or five years.”

The Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, known as OPNET, is a multi-agency drug task force that investigates drug trafficking networks across the Olympic Peninsula. Detectives conduct controlled purchases and long-term investigations aimed at identifying suppliers operating above the street level.

The concern, officials say, is that co***ne is no longer just co***ne.

For the full story go to ptleader.com

06/17/2026

City manager eyes exit for island job

By Mallory Kruml

John Mauro, Port Townsend’s city manager, is one of two finalists for the same job in Bainbridge Island.

Bainbridge Island shared the news in a June 15 press release, writing that a public, moderated question-and-answer session and a meet-and-greet with the finalists will be held on June 17.

“Following a robust recruitment process led by the City Council and supported by Raftelis, we look forward to hearing from the finalists at the June 17 community open house,” said Ellen Schroer, the interim city manager for Bainbridge Island. “We are excited and eager to work with the candidate selected by the City Council to serve as Bainbridge Island’s next City Manager.”

For the full story go to ptleader.com

06/16/2026

Emergency shelter gets funding lifeline as county questions rising costs

By Alex Frick

The Jefferson County Housing Fund Board voted May 27 to keep the American Legion emergency shelter in Port Townsend operating through the end of 2026, while delaying a decision on a separate request for additional local funding.

The board unanimously approved using $186,229 in state homelessness funding to support shelter operations through the end of the year.

However, county staff estimates the shelter is still likely to face a $67,515 shortfall in 2026 despite the state funding and existing donations. Staff requested authorization for up to $100,000 in additional housing funds to cover the projected gap and provide flexibility for potential cost increases later in the year.

The funding discussion comes as Jefferson County continues relying on the American Legion shelter while Olympic Community Action Programs’ planned Caswell Brown Village congregate shelter is not expected to open until early 2027.

For the full story go to ptleader.com

06/15/2026

Sewer system greenlights Port Hadlock population boom

By Alex Frick

Port Hadlock could nearly double in size over the next two decades, according to state population projections and county officials, as the agency moves forward with its comprehensive planning process.

A draft of Jefferson County’s Comprehensive Plan projects the Irondale- Port Hadlock Urban Growth Area will add 2,360 residents by 2045, growing from about 3,024 residents to 5,384 residents, a 78% increase.

The Port Hadlock/Irondale Urban Growth Area is located approximately six miles south of Port Townsend along Port Townsend Bay. Its boundary encompasses the Tri-Area commercial core, including Rhody Drive between Ness’ Corner Road and the “Dogbone,” and stretches north to the Chimacum Creek and Irondale areas.

For the full story go to ptleader.com

06/11/2026

Wildlife refuge transfer ignites county

By Mallory Kruml

Jefferson County commissioners are weighing public feedback and revising a draft letter on a proposal that would transfer ownership of the Dungeness Spit and Protection Island wildlife refuges into a tribal trust managed by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

“I think it’s incumbent upon all of us in the room who are concerned about this to figure out the best actions we can take to effect this decision,” Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour said at the June 8 commissioners meeting. “We need to decide if we want to send a letter, and what that letter wants to say.”

The transfer proposal, supported by U.S. Rep. Emily Randall as the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Land Transfer Act of 2026, follows a 2024 co-management agreement between the Tribe and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. If approved at the federal level, the Tribe would gain sole control of the refuges.

The proposal has seen both support and opposition, with petitions for both sides growing.

For the full story go to ptleader.com

06/10/2026

$5.7M stormwater system anchors Boat Haven expansion

By Mallory Kruml

After years of planning, permitting and securing grant funding, the Port of Port Townsend’s new stormwater project came online June 9.

“Maybe it doesn’t seem very glamorous, but … that stormwater system is a foundational component of our marine trades,” said Matt Klontz, Port engineer and capital project director. “It has to be there, it has to be working in order to support them and what they are doing.”

For the full story go to ptleader.com

The goal of the project, which constructed a centralized, automated, chemically enhanced sand filtration system, was to meet the state’s more stringent requirements for water discharge quality while installing the infrastructure needed for future boatyard expansion.

06/08/2026

As seniors surge, county’s workforce pool is going gray

By Alex Frick

Jefferson County now has nearly as many residents aged 65 and older as there are people aged 16 to 59, according to a recent workforce assessment report.

The Jefferson County Workforce Needs Assessment, prepared by Economic Development Council Team Jefferson, the county’s economic development organization, found that there were 13,181 residents aged 65 and older as of September 2025, compared with 13,621 residents between ages 16 and 59.

The report also found the county’s median age has reached 59.6, with 54% of residents over age 60.

The report found that fewer Jefferson County residents participate in the workforce than the statewide average.

According to the report, Jefferson County’s labor participation rate stands at 43.3%, compared with a statewide rate of 64.7%. Among residents ages 25 to 54, participation is 74%, compared with 83.3% statewide.

The report findings come as employers in Jefferson County adapt to a labor market shaped by an older population and a smaller number of working-age residents.

For the full story go to ptleader.com

06/05/2026

Molester gets 11 years, lifetime supervision

By Kirk Boxleitner and Alex Frick

A Port Ludlow man who’d been convicted of not only two counts of child molestation in the first degree, but also bail-jumping, was sentenced to 133 months in prison, or 11 years and one month, in Jefferson County Superior Court Friday, May 29.

Jefferson County Prosecutor James Kennedy noted that Judge Brandon Mack had sentenced George Joseph Golay to “an exceptional term” of incarceration.

Golay was found guilty after a weeklong jury trial, which itself followed a 2024 investigation involving the then-11-year-old victim.

For the full story go to ptleader.com

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Port Townsend, WA
98368

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