Local briefing for Jan. 6

Mason County

Skokomish get $500,000 block grant

The Skokomish tribe has received $500,000 for housing rehabilitation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The grand was one of seven HUD Indian Community Development Block Grants worth a total of $3.26 million given to tribes and tribal organizations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Other Washington awards went to the Shoalwater Bay tribe ($500,000) to build a fuel station and store; the Quileute Housing Authority ($500,000) for new housing construction; and the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe ($257,000) to construct a Head Start facility.

Lacey

New school named Chambers Prairie

Chambers Prairie Elementary School will be the name of the new elementary school being built near Ruddell Road and Yelm Highway, the North Thurston Public Schools board decided Monday.

Members of the Lacey Historical Commission and Lacey Historical Society had lobbied for the name, which is the historical name for that area of Lacey and a school that once existed there. The name comes from John, Thomas and Andrew Jackson Chambers, who settled in the Lacey area in the late 1840s.

Rainier View and Eagle Point were the other names considered.

Chambers Prairie is under construction and will serve students now in the Lakes and Horizons elementary school service areas when it opens in the fall. Horizons, at 4601 67th Ave. S.E., again will serve kindergarten through sixth grade when Chambers Prairie opens. The building that is now serving Horizons' fifth- and sixth-graders is slated to convert into a performing arts magnet middle school for sixth- through eighth-graders.

Lacey liquor store to be remodeled

The State Liquor Store at 720 Sleater-Kinney Road in Lacey will close Sunday to be remodeled. It will reopen Feb. 14.

During the remodel, customers can visit the store at 8205-C Martin Way E. in Lacey, which will have extended hours from Monday to Feb. 13. The extended hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Customers also can use the contract liquor store at 7235 Martin Way S.E. in Olympia. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday. It will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays during the remodel.

For more information, go to www.liq.wa.gov.

Olympian news services