Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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If you drive down Main Street Waitsburg, you'll see a cute pink house with white trim. That little house is one of many that Jason Gillen, owner of JLG Painting, has finished in the area. While 'professional painter' sits at the top of Gillen's resume, 'powerlifter/strongman' follows in a close second. Gillen has been into weight lifting since a young age, saying that it is a hobby as it is a lifestyle. "I got my first pair of barbells from my dad. I was, oh, seven or eight years old," Gillen...
WALLA WALLA-The Walla Walla Association of Realtors and the Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC) are kicking off the season with a hunger for helping. The Care and Share Food Drive looks a little different this year, but the cause remains the same. For more than three decades, the Care and Share Food Drive, which takes place in October, has sent more than 100 volunteers out into the community to drop off orange donation bags on doorsteps. The Association of Realtors and BMAC decided that the bags...
WAITSBURG-Last Friday, the Washington State Penitentiary Employee Association (WSPEA) presented the Waitsburg Resource Center with a $500 donation. "Originally, the money was intended for the flood relief efforts," said President Lanny Adams. "By the time we were able to meet with the correct organizations, they had a surplus of donations. We decided it would be best to hold onto the money and get it into the community through another entity." The WSPEA is an organization within the Washington S...
WAITSBURG—Schulke Family Pumpkins have made their way back to Waitsburg for another year of fundraising for the Ronald McDonald House. The by-donation fundraiser is the Schulke family’s way of honoring their son, Cooper, who passed away in 2002 after a valiant fight against a brain tumor. Cooper was just seven and a half years old. In 2007, Cooper’s siblings, Emerson and Campbell, came up with the idea of selling pumpkins to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House, a place that became a ‘home...
WAITSBURG-At the September City Council Meeting, Waitsburg City Council members voted to memorialize Elmer Hazelbaker, a man with a rich history in Waitsburg. The Taggart Road Extension, which connects Taggart Road and Highway 12 at the end of the city limits, was named Hazelbaker Road in September. The project, which began in 2019, is getting close to being finished with crews moving in to pave last week. The road extension aims to improve traffic safety along Taggart Road. At the regular City...
Things will look different, but Waitsburg students will return to the classroom on Monday WAITSBURG—Starting October 5, the hallways at Waitsburg schools will be full of students again, actually half of them at a time. Students will return to class two days a week, in ‘A’ or ‘B’ groups. On Monday and Tuesday, group A will attend classes at their respective school. Group B is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is reserved for independent work and targeted assistance, as well as deep c...
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg Gun Club has a busy schedule for October. With hunting season just around the corner, the volunteer-run gun range has training, sight-in days, and trap shoots planned. On October 3, at 9 a.m, the Waitsburg Gun Club will be hosting a Range Safety Officer (RSO) training. Range Safety Officer training teaches volunteers the necessary knowledge, skills, and temperament essential for organizing, conducting, and supervising safe shooting events and activities, as well as range...
PRESCOTT-There are more than 20 years of combined early childhood education experience making up the Prescott ECEAP program. Lead teacher Sofia Mercado, Assistant teacher Karlie Mathews, and Family Support Specialist Marina Cortez offer quality early childhood education for their second year in a row. "The Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, or ECEAP, is a whole child, comprehensive, family-focused preschool program, providing free services and support to eligible students," Mercad...
STARBUCK-If you see a traditional dugout canoe paddling down the Snake River over the next couple days, wave and say hi! Willow Bill is completing his second trek to the ocean, but not before stopping to share his love of willow branch art with students at Starbuck School. Since 1998, Nevada resident William Gouldart, best known as Willow Bill, has taught kids how to build reindeer out of willow branches. In 2016, December 2-9 was declared Willow Reindeer Project Week in the state of Nevada....
WAITSBURG-Columbia-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 is excited to announce the new fire chief, Michael Moynihan, from San Francisco, California. Chief Moynihan began his position as the first paid fire chief in the history of CWWFD2 on Monday, September 21. Born and raised in San Francisco, Moynihan has more than 30 years of firefighting experience. He began as a firefighter/EMT with a volunteer fire department, very similar to the one that serves Waitsburg and the surrounding area. He took...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board met September 17, via Zoom meeting. High School Principal Stephanie Wooderchak said that the school year was going smoothly though there have been some issues with the students’ Chromebook laptops. Some computers were equipped with the wrong cords, and some had login issues. Wooderchak noted that the IT provider, NexGen, had installed shortcuts for Zoom and Google Classrooms, which many of the students reported they appreciated. Waitsburg FFA will be att...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg City Council met Tuesday, September 15, via conference call. All members of the Council were present. The Council reviewed an application for the first of a series of payments for work done on the new Taggart Road extension. Sharpe & Preszler Construction Company requested a payment of $345,066.74 to cover the cost of total work completed and materials on hand, to date. The Council approved the Taggart Road extension in 2019; however, construction was paused due to the f...
A massive smoke cloud covered Washington with heavy smoke over the weekend A supermassive cloud of smoke blanketed parts of the Pacific Northwest over the weekend, leaving many areas in the 'hazardous' air quality range. Fires are still raging across Washington, Oregon, and California, creating a plume that meteorologists expect to hang around for a while. The fire season has been fueled by an unusually dry, hot summer, with the last measurable rain dating back to July, which measured less than...
WAITSBURG-How do you make tired volunteer firefighters smile in the middle of one of the worst fire seasons on record? If you ask the local Girl Scouts, it is as easy as donating a few cases of cookies. Columbia-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 happily accepted a generous donation of twelve cases of Girl Scout cookies last week, as a 'gift of caring through the council.' While donating leftover cookies is a normal thing, according to troop leaders Brandi Hollingsworth and Amber Lambert, the...
WAITSBURG-Nancy's Dream Garden Center has moved closer to main Main Street. Owner/operators Janet Lawrence and Doug Biolo said the move has been great for business, with a new surprising customer base picking up. At the new address, 124 Warren Street, the brother-sister duo now have room to grow Nancy's Dream bigger than they ever imagined. The former site had just enough room for a single greenhouse and an outdoor display, but limited parking, especially for semi-trucks, was a problem. The new...
DAYTON-Things looked a little different at the Columbia County Fair last weekend. There were no spectators, still-life exhibits or fair food, but that didn't stop the livestock classes or sale. Instead of cancelling, the Columbia County Fair chose to livestream market and fitting and showing classes- and even those looked far different than usual with a limited number of masked participants vying for the purple and white Champion ribbons. The sale, which is typically held on Saturday afternoon,...
WALLA WALLA—A Pendleton man is facing felony charges after being arrested last week in Waitsburg for sex crimes. Robert Miguel Aguilera, 37, was booked into Walla Walla County Jail on felony charges of sex trafficking, rape, and assault. Court documents show Aguilera allegedly purchased a female under the age of 18, missing from Richland, Wash. The documents state that Aguilera forcibly raped the victim at various locations in Walla Walla, Dayton, College Place, and Milton Freewater, t...
A devastating wind event swept through Washington on September 7, Labor Day. Weather experts said that a strong cold front moved down from Canada, creating wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour in some areas. In Whitman County, the town of Malden was consumed by one of three wildfires. Whitman County Sheriff Brett Meyers estimated that nearly 80 percent of the town was lost to a fast-moving fire that started near Babb Road in Spokane County, leaving many of the 200 residents without homes. Homes...
WALLA WALLA—Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) has been diligently changing policies to safeguard employees and incarcerated individuals against the COVID-19 virus. In Walla Walla, The Washington State Penitentiary has had 134 incarcerated individuals test positive for the coronavirus with zero deaths. Twelve staff members have tested positive. The outbreak was contained in one housing unit, and the facility continues to test all staff coming into the penitentiary, as well as r...
There are less than four weeks to respond to the 2020 Census, and the counts for the area are less than satisfactory for many area residents. With just over three weeks left, Eastern Washington was about 35 percent away from being fully enumerated: Far below the national average and a likely representation of primarily rural communities, like Waitsburg and Walla Walla, across the nation. Of 39 Washington Counties, Walla Walla ranks 13th with a response rate of 67.9 percent. In 2010, Walla Walla...
The school year is right around the corner, and September 8th is the first day for Waitsburg students. As schools kick off a virtual learning experience, many parents are worried about childcare and ensuring their kids stay up to speed. Waitsburg Schools, partnered with the Valley’s largest non-profit, licensed childcare provider, may have a solution. Walla Walla YMCA CEO Karen Hedine said that the childcare conversation is long overdue in Waitsburg. Still, she couldn’t think of a better tim...
WALLA WALLA—The Washington State Penitentiary is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak in one of the housing units. In response to the outbreak, officials have developed a plan to keep inmates and staff safe. As of Tuesday, the prison had 121 confirmed COVID cases, with 53 of those cases currently active. The facility houses a total of 2,284 incarcerated individuals. Ten Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) employees have tested positive. The coronavirus outbreak began in late July when an inmate b...
PRESCOTT—Prescott School District is finishing plans for the upcoming online school year. The district will begin distributing Chromebook laptops to students in the first week of September. Superintendent Justin Bradford said details are still being finalized, and he anticipates K-6 grades will have appointments with teachers to receive any needed materials and information about the online courses. 7-12 grade students will also be scheduling appointments to meet with teachers and gather m...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board met Thursday, Aug. 20, via Zoom call. Representative Skyler Rude attended the meeting. Principal Stephanie Wooderchak shared documents on class schedules in grades six and up. She also shared an online staff schedule that laid out the periods, virtual office hours, and more. Wooderchak reported that the teachers have written letters for the parents that explain their virtual classrooms, attendance plans, assignment days, and more. The school has begun s...
DAYTON—The Dayton School Board met Wednesday, August 19, for a regularly scheduled meeting. As the district prepares to welcome students back to in-person classes, they are adjusting their protocols and procedures to stay aligned with the Department of Health recommendations. Principal Kristina Brown began her report by thanking the school board for being patient with staff and administration as they prepare for the school’s opening. The district is anticipating a ‘Red and Gold’ schedul...
