Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Incumbent Kevin house has worked at The McGregor Company in Waitsburg for 21 years and has lived here for 14 years. He has been on the city council since elected in 2010. House is active in the Lions Club, the Waitsburg Livestock Show and St. Mark's Church. He has helped with many youth activities such as scouts, FFA, and 4-H as his boys have come up through school. "I'm running for re-election to council because I think my perspective representing citizens of Waitsburg is still pertinent in...
Terry Jacoy has been repeatedly recognized for his service over his 40 years living in Waitsburg. Jacoy farmed, worked for Brea Ag., and then was office manager for The McGregor Company until his 2010 retirement. He joined the Lions shortly after moving to Waitsburg in 1977 and received the prestigious Melvin Jones service award in 2014. He helped with the Days of Real sport for 30 years, was treasurer from 1985-2010, and was honored as the final DRS parade marshal. Jacoy served on the...
Incumbent KC Kuykendall moved to Waitsburg in 2010. He was asked to fill a vacant council seat in 2013 and has remained on the council since. He is on the county planning commission, and he and his family are active in school sports, 4-H, FFA, church, and annual events. Kuykendall believes that city government exists for the will of the people. He says he is committed to listening and studying each issue that comes before the council, as evidenced in the way he has handled recent topics like...
Lisa Morrow was born and raised in the Touchet Valley and has lived in Waitsburg for 13 years. She has coached Little League, leads the 4-H PenPals Swine Club, and is treasurer of the Home and School Association, spearheading many events and fundraisers. Morrow thinks her fresh "eyes and ears" may bring a different perspective to the council, and sees her career experience at the Washington State Penitentiary as a benefit. "Working for the State, I have been exposed to diverse situations and wor...
Council candidate Dave Paxton was born and raised in Benton City and has resided in Waitsburg for nearly three years. He moved here to be closer to the mountains and to spend more time hunting and fishing with his young boys. Dave and his wife, Rachel, have been married 21 years and have five children. He is 48 years old and holds an AA degree in auto body repair from Columbia Basin College. He has owned and operated Mr. Chips, LLC, doing paint chip repair on automobiles at local car...
Council candidate Matt Spring, his wife, and one-year-old daughter have lived in Waitsburg for three years, He grew up in the Walla Walla area and has worked at the Waitsburg McGregor Company plant since 2009. Since moving to Waitsburg, Spring has become a member of the Waitsburg Lions Club and is a volunteer firefighter for Columbia-Walla Walla Fire District No. 2. "I wanted to run for city council because it is my desire to see Waitsburg succeed," Spring said. "I think I am a good candidate...
Jim Romine has lived in northern Walla Walla County all his life, except for the six years he served in the U.S. Navy. He was raised in Prescott and is a PHS graduate. He and his wife moved to Waitsburg in 2013, where he serves on the Town Hall Board of Directors and is the Waitsburg Republican precinct committee officer. Romine said he chose to run for city council because several residents encouraged him to do so. "I love the people here and would welcome an opportunity to give back to this...
WAITSBURG – The City of Waitsburg may be able to breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to keeping the timeline for replacement of the city’s Main Street Bridge on track for the summer of 2017, according to City Manager Randy Hinchliffe. He is hopeful that an anticipated nine-tenths of one percent sales tax grant of $100,000 from the Port of Walla Walla will bring the project back under budget. City officials received an ugly surprise when bids for the demolition and replacement of the bridge were opened on Feb. 23. The lowest of 12 bids came i...
WAITSBURG – After holding preliminary interviews with five candidates, the Waitsburg School Board invited a lone candidate, Dr. Jon Mishra, back for a final interview for the position of Waitsburg Schools District Superintendent. As The Times went to press on the evening of Tues., March 28, Mishra was scheduled to meet the public at the elementary school library, followed up with a second school board interview. Dr.Mishra is currently employed at the Hermiston School District as the Executive D...
WAITSBURG – More than 100 friends and family members gathered at Waitsburg Town Hall on Saturday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dr. Roger and Laura Jean Hevel. Attendees came from as far as Santa Cruz, San Jose, Oakland, and Los Altos, Calif., Portland and The Dalles, Ore, to honor the couple, who have been an integral part of the Waitsburg community for more than 60 years. The couple met in Pendleton, Ore., where they attended second grade together. By their junior year of high school, t...
WAITSBURG – Members of Waitsburg's favorite bluegrass band, Switchgrass Delta, are playing host to several Japanese students as part of the Sasayama-Walla Walla Sister City Exchange Program this month. In October, the band members themselves will be the ones making the long flight to Japan as part of the program's 45th anniversary cultural exchange. The family of Switchgrass Delta fiddler Kaleb Kuykendall is hosting 16-year-old Kenji Nakamura, and the family of standup bass player Robert W...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg's annual elections were delayed two weeks when city council candidate filings fell one short of a full slate of five members. The filing period for council seats was reopened from March 27 - 29, with the voting deadline extended to April 17. Ballots are expected to be mailed at the end of the month. As The Times went to press on Tuesday, David Paxton, Matt Spring, and Jim Romine had added thier names to the slate of candidates that includes incumbents KC Kuykendall, Karen...
WAITSBURG – Anyone who considered running for Waitsburg City Council, but missed the original filing deadline, will have another chance to file. At their March 15 regular meeting, the council voted to reopen the filing period for three days, from March 27 through March 29. The filing extension was approved in hopes that at least one more person will run for city council. After the original March 10 filing deadline, four incumbents, including KC Kuykendall, Kevin House, Karen Gregutt, and Kate Hockersmith, had filed Declarations of Candidacy. I...
WAITSBURG – Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office calls for service in 2016 were up over the previous four years in Waitsburg. But Sheriff John Turner told Waitsburg's city council that is a good thing, during his quarterly update at the March 15 city council meeting. The WWCSO received 532 calls for service in Waitsburg in 2016, more than double the 247 calls received in 2015, and more than any of the three years prior to that. The number of Suspicious Circumstances calls jumped from 22 in 2015 t...
ARLINGTON, Wash. – The Waitsburg Knowledge Bowl team brought home a third-place trophy at the state 1B level and Dayton placed seventh out of 18 2B schools at the State Knowledge Bowl competition at Arlington High School on Saturday. "The first and second-place schools were high-priced private schools from the west side, so WHS was actually the first place public school. It was the best finish in WHS Knowledge Bowl history," said Waitsburg KB coach Brad Green. "You would have been proud to s...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg school board members enjoyed playing with Chromebooks and checking out online accelerated readers at the district's March board meeting. First-grade teacher Dinah Lindsey handed out the laptops as part of a demonstration on how the district is using Chromebooks in the classroom. The elementary school applied for and received a grant for $30,000 in Title 1 Priority School funds last year, the bulk of which was used for professional development. Lindsey said the elementary st...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg City Council approved members for the newly-formed Tree Committee at their regular March 15 meeting. Three citizens applied for the two citizen representative positions, including Allison Bond, Ethan Carpenter and Paul Gregutt. Carpenter, and Gregutt were approved for the position following a short discussion by the council. Mayor Marty Dunn asked City Attorney Jared Hawkins if there is any conflict of interest with Gregutt being on the committee, since his wife, K...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Planning Commission is now just one seat shy of being complete. At their regular March meeting, the Waitsburg City Council unanimously approved an application from Bill Rodgers to sit on the commission. Rodgers moved to Waitsburg just over a year ago, when he purchased the home of city council member KC Kuykendall in January 2016. Rodgers is a retired geologist and environmental consultant who spent the bulk of his career working in Mercer Island. Rodgers spent his l...
WAITSBURG – Having a slate of candidates running unopposed is not unusual for Waitsburg’s annual elections. But having a shortage of candidates filing to fill the council seats is something new – at least in the recent history, according to city staff. The deadline for filing declarations of candidacy for Waitsburg mayor and five council seats was Friday afternoon. Incumbent Marty Dunn and former councilwoman Debra Callahan will run for mayor, but only four candidates filed to fill the five vaca...
Search consultant Dr. Bill Jordan stresses the importance of community feedback WAITSBURG – Following an executive session with members of the Waitsburg School Board, Dr. Bill Jordan, of Northwest Leadership Associates, addressed the public with an update on the timeline and process for Waitsburg School District's superintendent search. Jordan stressed the importance of community involvement in the later stages of the selection process. Jordan said he will meet with the board to review files a...
WAITSBURG – Six teams tested their wits at the annual Regional Knowledge Bowl meet held in Waitsburg on Feb. 2. Dayton, Riverside Christian of Sunnyside, and Waitsburg advanced to the State Meet in Arlington, Wash., which will be held this Saturday. DeSales and Dayton competed for the lone 2B state slot. Dayton took a strong victory, with 106 points to DeSales's 83 points. Pomeroy, Prescott, Riverside Christian, and Waitsburg vied for the two 1B slots. Riverside was the strong leader with 105 p...
WAITSBURG – Thirty-seven kids from the Touchet Valley participated in the Top Chef Contest on Feb. 23-25 and Feb 27-28 held at the Walla Walla County Extension Office and St. Patrick's Church in Walla Walla. Four members of the Waitsburg Homegrown Go Wild 4-H club participated, and all walked away with awards. Timothy Daves received three first-place awards. The first was in "Table Setting" for his "Fourth of July"-themed spread. Next, he won "Food for All Occasions" by serving a marinated Londo...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg High School seniors unanimously agreed they would rather spend two Saturdays in school to make up snow days, than make up the missed days after graduation, District Suprintedent Carol Clarke told the school board at their March meeting. Waitsburg students have missed four days of school and had two late starts due to weather so far this year. Clarke said the district is required to make up at least three school days. Those three days will be made up on June 12-14. Clarke sa...
WAITSBURG – United States Air Force Airman Caitlyn Jones, 2016 Waitsburg High School graduate and daughter of Collette Jones, of Waitsburg, has reached another educational milestone. Jones completed her Basic Military training in November and graduated from the Class 015 Dental Assistant Apprentice Course in March The intensive eight-week basic training included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills. Jones a...
WAITSBURG – The City of Waitsburg received an unpleasant surprise when bids for the Main Street Bridge project were opened on Feb. 23. The lowest bid came in nearly $100,000 over the engineer’s estimate, leaving the city to re-evaluate their options. The cost discrepancy wasn’t due to a shortage of bidders. Twelve companies submitted bids for the job, with totals ranging from a low of $1,379,825 from Harry Johnson Plumbing and Excavation, Inc., to a high of $2,591,216 from Wesslen Const...
