Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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BEND, Ore. - Instead of wintering somewhere warm, 16-year-old Waitsburg resident Amy Farley spends her winters based in Wenatchee where she competes competitively with the Mission Ridge Ski Team. Farley has been racing competitively since age 8, when she joined the Bluewood Alpine Race Team. These days, she spends November through April, living with friends in Wenatchee while taking Walla Walla Community Courses online and hitting the slopes in between. "I like that it's an individual sport and...
WAITSBURG – With over 20 years’ experience in the veterinary field, Sandra Farley feels she has finally found her niche in helping to strengthen the human-animal bond. Through her new business, Balanced Animal Massage, Farley strives to promote wellness while reinforcing the special connection between animal and owner. Farley graduated from Waitsburg High School, earned her veterinary technology degree at Eastern Wyoming College and became licensed in Washington state before going on to ear...
WAITSBURG – A Feb. 15 post on the Whoopemup Waitsburg and Whoopemup Walla Walla Facebook pages confirmed recent rumors that the popular Cajun-inspired Whoopemup Hollow Café, with stores on Waitsburg's and Walla Walla’s Main Streets has closed its doors for good. “We would like to extend our heartfelt love and appreciation to our Whoopemup family, friends, and customers. As they say on Broadway, it was a good run of the play! Whoopemup Hollow Café 2005-2019,” reads the succinct Facebook...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg School Board voted unanimously to appoint Randy Hinchliffe as a new school board member at their Feb. 13 regular meeting. Hinchliffe will replace Russ Knopp who moved from the district and is no longer eligible to serve. The position was an at-large position and open to any candidate residing in the Waitsburg School District. Hinchcliffe will fulfill Knopp's term which expires Dec. 2019. "I decided to apply because I want to help out the school and the community w...
DAYTON – Columbia County Fire District #3 quickly extinguished a house fire in the 700 block of East Main Street on Tuesday night. The fire is one of several blazes over recent weeks. At approximately 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, Fire District #3 responded to a report of a structure fire and requested mutual aid from Fire District #2. Sheriff’s deputies were first to arrive on the scene and were able to use a fire extinguisher to slow down the fire, which was inside the wall, according to District #3 o...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg's resident bluegrass band, Switchgrass Delta, will head to Ireland this June to study traditional Irish music and to perform at an Irish bluegrass festival. The group is busy raising funds for the long-awaited international trip. Nearly eight years ago, Chris Philbrook got Kate Hockersmith back in the bluegrass business when he knocked on her door saying he wanted to be a Troublemaker (a member the youth bluegrass band her son had participated in) and travel to Japan l...
WAITSBURG – The Feb. 13 Waitsburg School Board meeting was preceded by a superintendent search community input session facilitated by education consultant Dr. Bill Jordan. Jordan said applications and job postings are going out now, with an application close date of March 29. Jordan will vet applicants and perform background checks before bringing the applications to the board on April 8. On that day, the board will choose five to seven applicants for preliminary interviews. Those interviews w...
TACOMA, Wash. – Dayton Bulldog wrestler Carlos Norris found himself bypassing regionals and heading directly to state competition when snowstorms across the state made roads unsafe and resulted in the WIAA canceling the regional elimination round of wrestling competitions. Instead, the WIAA added an additional round to the finals at the Mat Classic XXXI wrestling tournament at the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16. Norris, a junior, competed at state last year where he took fourth place in the...
COLFAX, Wash. – After being forced into the Southeast 1B playoffs loser bracket with a 57-45 loss against Oakesdale on Feb. 9, the Prescott Tigers boys basketball team extended district play with a 66-44 win over Pomeroy on Thurs. Feb. 14. The Pirates looked hot at the bell, dunking two treys in the first minutes of the game. Prescott quickly retaliated, ending the first half with a 27-23 lead. The Tigers continued to play hot and ended the game with a 68-44 win. Jose Gonzalez scored a game h...
WASHINGTON STATE - The story of Colorado jogger Travis Kauffman, who managed to win out in a bare-hands battle against a mountain lion earlier this month, has taken the media by storm. Cougars don't typically attack humans and some accounts surmise that this may have been a starving, young mountain lion that had become separated from its mother. Regardless, Kauffman's self-defense response was impressive. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) website states that there have been...
WAITSBURG – Rebecca Holderman says she is enjoying her first time serving on a royalty court and representing Waitsburg as the 2019 Celebration Days Queen. Holderman has been promoting Waitsburg and Celebration Days since December but will officially take the crown from reigning Queen Makenna Barron at the 2019 Queen's Coronation Fundraising Dinner on Feb. 22 at Waitsburg Town Hall. Holderman lives in the country outside Milton-Freewater with her parents, Brent and Kim Holderman, and her t...
DAYTON – Columbia County Sheriff Joe Helm has officially joined the ranks of law enforcement officials across the state who will not enforce Initiative I-1639. I-1639 was placed on the ballot as an Initiative to the People and approved by voters on Nov. 6, 2018. The Initiative increased restrictions on the purchase of firearms, raising the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic firearm to 21, adding a more extensive layer to background checks, increasing waiting periods, and enacting storage requirements. On Feb. 11 Columbia County Sheriff J...
When I received notice of the AAUW Great Explorations program, coming in March (see Page 2), I wanted to take the opportunity to share with our readers what a fantastic opportunity this is for 5th-8th grade girls. The program is $5 and includes a lunch. (Scholarships are available.) My daughter, who is now 22, participated years ago and loved it. When I texted to ask if she remembered going to a science program at Whitman College she said, “Yes! I was just thinking about that the other day a...
A column by Dena Martin It's always fun browsing through past issues of The Times, especially when it comes to perusing advertisements from bygone years. Times have certainly changed. In some ways for the better, and in others, not so much. Ads of the past were far from politically correct. I did a bit of Googling on ads from the 20s through 50s and found some gems. A series of ads from the 30s urged women to use Iodized yeast to prevent being "skinny." According to some of these ads, men were...
PRESCOTT – According to a Feb. 9 story in the Tri-City Herald, Ralph and Cheryl Broetje sold Broetje orchards to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in late December. The fund will operate the company under the First Fruits brand. The article states that the sale did not include the Tierra Vida housing development in Pasco or the Center for Sharing in Franklin County. It did include Broetje's Orchard properties, FirstFruits Marketing of Washington, LLC and Snake River Housing, LLC. In August o...
In this multi-part series, The Times connects with Waitsburg businesses, churches and organizations to hear their plans for 2019. Waitsburg Presbyterian Church The Waitsburg Presbyterian Church, located at 504 Main Street, is saying good-bye to Pastor Bret Moser, who will retire at the end of the month after 15 years of service. The church is in the process of setting up a search committee to find a new pastor. The congregation will hold a going-away celebration for the Moser family on the last...
Washington State – A study by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WSTC) indicates that drivers in Washington state are less distracted by cell phones, but that distracted driving is still a costly and dangerous problem, according to a press release by the NW Insurance Council. Cell phones are the source of over half of driver distractions in Washington, according to WTSC, even though the number of drivers holding a cell phone dropped to 3.4 percent in 2018 from 5.7 percent in 2017. The stu...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Elementary School multipurpose room was hopping on Saturday night as dads and daughters entered the magical world of Alice in Wonderland for the Waitsburg Home and School Association's (HASA) Third Annual Daddy-Daughter Dance. Fifty-two dads or father figures attended with their daughters. Girls ranged in age from 2-years-old to 13-years-old and came from Waitsburg and surrounding areas to bring in $1010 for the HASA. "Even with the snow scare there were more dads t...
WAITSBURG – City Hall staff will have one less duty on their plates when Basin Disposal Inc. (BDI) takes over billing soon. Council members voted 3-2 to outsource billing to BDI at their Jan. 16 council meeting. The change in billing is expected to result in a three-cent overall increase to customers. City Manager Randy Hinchliffe originally proposed eliminating the City as the middleman and outsourcing billing to BDI at the December council meeting. He was requested to determine the financial impact outsourcing would have on the City and r...
WASHINGTON STATE – The pros and cons of vaccinations are always a controversial topic but the issue has been brought to the forefront with the recent measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest, prompting Governor Jay Inslee declared a public health emergency late last month. A press release issued by Walla Walla County Health Officer Dr. Larry Jecha last week said there were no cases in Walla Walla County, as of Jan. 29, but precautions should be taken. "The measles outbreak is a growing p...
WAITSBURG – With three meets under its belt, and two left in the season, the Waitsburg High School knowledge bowl team has its sights set on representing Waitsburg at the State competition in March. "At this point, we're on board to go to state," said Lynn Martin who is coaching for the first time this year after the retirement of long-time Knowledge Bowl Coach Brad Green. Waitsburg made regular appearances at the state competition under Green, who led Waitsburg's teams for 21 years. W...
LEWISTON, Ida. – The BirdDogs boys AAU middle school basketball team participated in the state qualifier Battle Classic Tournament in Lewiston Idaho, last weekend, but failed to place. The BirdDogs took a hard hit on game one against Othello, falling 67-9. Monte Pettichord scored three points with Benny Bryan, Braden Mings and Jesse Ray Mings scoring two each. The BirdDogs played Lapwai in game two, falling 51-21. Pettichord, Braden Mings and Jesse Ray Mings each pulled in six point. Ryland K...
WAITSBURG – After nearly 19 years in ordained ministry, Waitsburg Presbyterian Church Pastor Bret Moser is retiring from the pulpit. Bret, along with wife Bethany, will move their family to Idaho where they will share a ministry "shepherding shepherds." "We're working together to come alongside pastors, their spouses and families to offer help, encouragement and wisdom. If they need encouragement, are in crisis, or are suffering from isolation, which is a big issue, we want to offer support," P...
WAITSBURG – Effective Feb. 1, Waitsburg will no longer provide ambulance service. The Waitsburg Ambulance Service (WAS) was established in 1970 but financial difficulties forced the service to disband in January of 2013 when they handed transport services over to Columbia-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 (CWWFD2). Three years later, a shortage of funds and volunteers has forced CWWFD2 to contract out services. Columbia County Fire District #3 will provide Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance t...
The building historically known as the Columbia Cutstock Building, located at 606 Wagon Road, in Dayton, was destroyed by fire on the morning of Tues., Jan. 29. Fire departments from Columbia County, Waitsburg, Dixie, the City of College Place and Walla Walla responded to fight the blaze which is believed to have started around 2 a.m. according to Columbia County Fire Marshal Clint Atteberry. The fire, which gutted the wood frame building, was fully contained by 8 a.m. and there were no...
