Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG - Elizabeth Gonzalez says they can't recall the specific spark, but something caught her daughter, Andrea's, attention last fall, and Andrea has been obsessed with running a food drive ever since. The just-turned-eleven year old took advantage of her February 21 birthday to do just that. The Gonzalez family hosted a Star Wars party at the Plaza Theater, then went next door to Gleason's Galley for hot dogs, ice cream, cupcakes, and arcade games. Fred Gonzalez owns Silver Star...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg's Laht Neppur Brewing Company walked away with the People's Choice "Best Cure for Cabin Fever" award for the third year in a row at the Palouse Cabin Fever Brew Fest at the Palouse Community Center on Sat., Feb. 13. Laht Neppur won top honors with their Hot Chocolate Strawberry Porter and earned second place with their Bluewood Barley Wine. Third place went to Paradise Creek Brewery's Berliner Bar. Paradise's Invective Stout tied with Black Label Brewing Company's Piper's P...
WAITSBURG – A structural engineering report on the Waitsburg Fairgrounds grandstands indicates that the structure is in serious need of either repair or demolition, City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe told the Waitsburg City Council at their Feb. 17 meeting. Muran Engineering and Design completed the assessment and listed three recommendations: bring the structure up to standards, tear it down and remove it, or barricade it from public access, Hinchliffe said. Hinchliffe said the grandstands wer...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Garden Club, organized by Karen Gregutt, will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. The club will kick of 2016 with its first meeting of the season on Saturday, March 5 at 9 a.m., the home of Susan Donegan, at 209 W. 4th St. Gregutt has passed the reins of club president to Donegan this year. Gregutt started the club in 2007, shortly after moving to Waitsburg. She said she organized the club to support and appreciate the beauty of the town, especially its trees a...
WAITSBURG – Fans lined both sides of Main Street as a police escort led four Waitsburg grapplers out of town on their way to the Tacoma Dome to compete in the 2014 State Mat Classic 28 wrestling tournament last weekend. Waitsburg senior Tristan Newman made his fourth consecutive trip to the State meet and earned third place on the podium, a step up from the fourth-place spot he won in 2014. Newman had a bye his first round, then wrestled Alex Horn of North Beach in his first match, pinning h...
Dayton passes improvements bond, Waitsburg bond is failing WAITSBURG – Dayton, Waitsburg, Dixie, and Prescott school districts all received strong voter approval on their replacement maintenance and operations levies, easily meeting the 50% plus one yes-vote needed to pass in the county’s Feb. 9 special election. Dayton also passed a four-year capital projects levy, but the outlook for Waitsburg’s 20-year capital projects bond is grim. Dixie’s voters showed the strongest support with a 72% yes...
DAYTON – What started out as a response to a call for a possible burglary in progress on Feb. 9, led Columbia County Sheriff's deputies to much more. Dayton resident Joseph (Joey) Richter, 31, was arrested and faces multiple charges, including first degree arson, for the fire that destroyed a house on 615 E. Washington on the morning of Feb. 8. Sheriff's Office reports say deputies responded to a burglary call in the 200 block of E. Spring Street to find Richter hiding in a carport and a...
DAYTON – Last year, a group of individuals led by Ski Bluewood owners Kelly and Michael Stephenson, formalized the ski resort’s outreach program into a nonprofit called Skyline Adventures. The group has met its first and second year goals and has big dreams for the future, including a “magic carpet” and possibly even a Wounded Warriors program. Through its outreach program Ski Bluewood has worked for years to provide at-risk youth with a day of skiing and snowboarding fun at Bluewood. By becomin...
WAITSBURG – Last Friday was a school day, but the slopes at Ski Bluewood were filled with students, and they weren't play hooky. Waitsburg fifth graders joined students from Dayton, Starbuck, and Jubilee Leadership Academy at Bluewood to focus on something other than the three R's – learning to ski. Ski Bluewood General Manager Kim Clark said Bluewood offers special school rates for multi-week lessons, as well as single-day field trips, to Touchet Valley schools. They also offer special group pr...
WAITSBURG – A discussion of the Feb. 9 special election results and a vote on the Dayton-Waitsburg 2016 football combine were top agenda items at the Feb. 10 Waitsburg School Board meeting. Special Election “We clearly need to celebrate the success of the maintenance and operations levy,” Superintendent Carol Clarke said. “We had really strong community support. That says we’re doing something right.” As of Tuesday, the levy, which will collect $559,000 in 2017 and $570,000 in 2018 was passing a...
REARDAN – The WHS wrestling team took four wrestlers to the Regional meet in Reardan on Sat., Feb. 23, and all four advanced to the State tournament in Tacoma to take place Feb. 19 and 20. "That is the most wrestlers we have taken to state in the five years we have had the wrestling program. Both Chad (assistant Coach Chad Adams) and I are extremely pleased with how our wrestlers performed today," said Head Coach Lanny Adams following the meet. David Lewis (113 lbs.) took a bye in round one a...
Hansen describes the international seminar as life-altering WAITSBURG – Having been home for only a couple of weeks, Melissa Hansen is still mentally and emotionally processing her recent trip to Thailand and Laos, but she knows for certain that it was life-altering. The trip, called an international seminar, was just one part of the 18-month AgForestry Leadership program that she will graduate from in May. The Washington Agriculture and Forestry Leadership Program (AgForestry) awards f...
WALLA WALLA – Legislation regarding education funding and reform has always been a hot topic in Olympia, and this year is no exception. Last week, a group of local education professional spoke at Whitman College to share their priorities and concerns in a discussion titled Changes and Challenges in Education. Sergio Hernandez Sergio Hernandez gave what could arguably be considered the most surprising statistic of the presentation when he shared that the three states with the most languages s...
WAITSBURG – What do you do when you have an idea that just won’t go away? That’s what Pam Conover has been asking herself about the idea of starting a “Lord’s Laundry” in Waitsburg. She finally decided to go public with the idea that “just won’t go away” to see what kind of community interest there might be in the project. Conover said the idea of opening a laundromat in Waitsburg first came up during a women’s Sunday School class discussion at the Christian Church. A group of ladies were brai...
WAITSBURG – January’s winners for the Shop Waitsburg First drawing were Wendy Richards (Waitsburg Grocery), Mike Cook (Waitsburg Grocery), and Dena Wood (Midway Food Mart). Each winner received a check in the amount of their purchase (up to $50) from the Waitsburg Commercial Club. The Commercial Club sponsored the drawing as a way to encourage residents to spend money locally – one of the goals set by the club. Other club goals include drawing visitors to town, encouraging overnight stays in lo...
SPANGLE - Waitsburg earned fourth place at the 2B sub-regional championships at Liberty High School on Sat. Feb. 6. Tristan Newman and Carlos Norris took titles as district champs and David Lewis earned second place standing. Former state contender Tristan Newman (285) pinned Trevin Kennedy (Col) in 41 seconds. He then won against Karl Hawks (LRS) by medical default. Tristan advances to the Regional tournament as the number one seed. Eight graders Carlos Norris and David Lewis faced off in the...
WAITSBURG – Members of the Combine Exploratory Committee from both Dayton and Waitsburg expressed strong support for a Waitsburg-Dayton football combine at a well-attended joint work session of both school boards at the Waitsburg Elementary School library on January 27. After listening to a detailed list of suggestions about how the combine should work from the exploratory committee, Dayton school board chair Dan Butler got to the heart of the matter. "I would really like a review of what are t...
DAYTON – Thanks to a grant from the Washington State Library and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Dayton Memorial Library is now home to a middle school robotics program. Each Thursday afternoon, about 15 junior high students work with high school mentors to design and program different types of robots. The students use the LEGO Mindstorm Robotics Kits, expansion kits, and five laptops that the library received through the grant. Dayton was one of only four Washington schools to receive t...
STARBUCK – The Jan. 26 special meeting of the Starbuck City Council revolved around a subject that has consumed the city’s focus since last June: a public records request and subsequent lawsuit that has already cost the city thousands of dollars. In early June, Spokane attorney Stephen Kirby, through his business, Tikor Consulting, brought suit against the Town of Starbuck for failure to make public records available for inspection in a timely manner, pursuant to RCW 42.56.520. The Com...
WAITSBURG – Fellow actors, musicians, co-workers, and friends are banding together to offer support to Melissa and Mike Ferrians in their time of need. Several fundraisers are being organized to raise funds for the Ferrians, as Melissa walks through a recently diagnosed battle with colon cancer. The Ferrians stepped down from pastoral life last May, when Mike retired after serving 25 years as pastor of the Waitsburg First Christian Church. During that time, Melissa was right beside him, s...
WAITSBURG – Members of the Combine Exploratory Committee from both Dayton and Waitsburg expressed strong support for a Waitsburg-Dayton football combine at a well-attended joint work session of both school boards at the Waitsburg Elementary School library on January 27. After listening to a detailed list of suggestions about how the combine should work from the exploratory committee, Dayton school board chair Dan Butler got to the heart of the matter. "I would really like a review of what are t...
WAITSBURG – With more than 50 people in attendance, the Waitsburg City Council voted unanimously – though not necessarily enthusiastically – to dismiss Brandon Kelly’s proposal to develop a race track at the seldom-used city fairgrounds. At their Dec. 16 meeting, the council – minus K.C. Kuykendall, who was absent – spoke in favor of Kelly leasing the fairgrounds to operate monthly car races from May through September, but decided to hold a public forum on the proposal before taking a vote. How...
PRESCOTT – For the first time in over 40 years, Prescott High School is offering agricultural-focused career and technical education (CTE) courses. Dual credit agreements with Walla Walla Community College and a new FFA charter have created even more opportunities for students. Superintendent Brett Cox said his certification as a District Vocational Director played a big role in the district's decision to hire him two years ago. The board wanted to expand elective offerings and start a v...
SPOKANE – "Voice of the Eagles" sportscaster and Waitsburg High School alum Larry Weir was named Washington Sportscaster of the Year . . . again. Weir won the award for the first time last year, and follows in the footsteps of his longtime role model, Bob Robertson, as a repeat recipient. The 1979 WHS graduate is the son of Carol Weir and the late Bob Weir. He has been calling play-by-play football for the Eastern Washington University Eagles since 1991 and began calling basketball in 1993. I...
WAITSBURG – A committee of local active and retired military men has every intention of seeing that a promise made to WWII General Jonathan Wainwright in 1946 – to honor local lives lost in WWII with a memorial – finally becomes a reality. Waitsburg's city council didn't hesitate to join the cause and committed $5,000 to the endeavor. Retired USAF Command Sergeant Don Schack went before Waitsburg's city council last week to share plans for a WWII memorial that would honor the 87 Walla Walla...
