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  • McVey Runs For Council

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 17, 2011

    WAITSBURG - Waitsburg voters have another choice for city council. Grocery clerk and volunteer fire fighter Greg McVey put his name on the ballot for a seat on the five-member body, saying he wants to throw his weight behind Bart Baxter's bid for mayor. "I would like to see this town grow," said McVey, who has not held an elected position before and was asked by Baxter to run for council. "I think Bart has a lot of great ideas." At a caucus at Deanne and Larry Johnson's home in Waitsburg last...

  • Meditation On A Wave

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 17, 2011

    The water crests and curls before it pounds the beach. Its foam spreads across the sand before the effervescent edge of the Pacifi c, rolls back by a few feet and another wave roughly takes its place. This is Shi Shi. This is La Push. This is Long Beach. One day in the early part of the 19th century this was Cape Flattery, and not far from this extreme Northwest point of the continental United States, three shipwrecked Japanese sailors found their way ashore after 14 months adrift at sea. One...

  • Main Street’s New “Anchor”

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 17, 2011

    WAITSBURG - Charles Smith's idea for the former American Legion hall on Waitsburg's Main Street is simple: turn it back into the kind of bar the town needs. Expected to be called the "Anchor," the planned new drinking establishment in the building just south of the Whoop Em Up Hollow Cafe will serve light beer, "comfort" snacks, standard cocktails, have a big-screen TV, a country music jukebox, and feature games like pinball and fuss ball. In other words, it will be everything the jimgermanbar...

  • 2011 Cardinals Come Close

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 10, 2011

    SPOKANE - The 2011 Cardinals already went further in the state playoffs than last year by placing in the Final 8 at University High School. And during the fourth quarter of their first game against the Bear Creek Grizzlies at the arena Friday, it seemed possible they might go even further. The game went into overtime after the teams tied at 47-47. But in the end, the hardfighting WP team hit a wall on Friday in the form of their opponents' speed, which pushed the outcome in the Grizzlies'...

  • Waitsburg Wrestling Event Draws 2,000

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 10, 2011

    WAITSBURG - It may not have brought quite as many people to town as Cycle Oregon did last year. But in the world of youth wrestling, Waitsburg hit the big time this weekend as host of a 17-team tournament that attracted close to 2,000 visitors on Saturday. "It was exciting," said Kari Newman, co-founder of Waitsburg's Matbirds club, which is affiliated with the larger Washington State Little Guy Wrestling Association, an organization that has 70 clubs statewide. For five weeks starting in early...

  • Lady Cardinals End Perfect Season

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 3, 2011

    SPOKANE - The Lady Cardinals' perfect season came to an end this weekend after WP struggled with its competitors' rough, anything goes court style that, at times, seemed to bounce up against the very edge of good sportsmanship. Still, the Cardinals had their heads held high after their two losses, leaving the University High School teary-eyed but proud of their historic winning streak and exceptional teamwork. "The season was awesome," Cardinal Kayla Huxoll said. "We played our hardest. I'm...

  • March Madness In The Touchet Valley

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 3, 2011

    WAITSBURG - The last time Jeff Hofer played in an alumni basketball tournament, he had a great time being out on the court again. At the Waitsburg Alumni Tournament four years ago, he had a chance to relive some of the glory from 1985, when the Cardinals placed fourth in the state. Back then, Hofer was a senior varsity player on the squad. Recently, he has been enjoying basketball success vicariously through his kids - senior T.J., who is on the winning 2010 Cardinals team, and Katie, who is a...

  • Cardinals Make It To Final 8

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 3, 2011

    SPOKANE - Cool and confident, the Cardinals rolled up their sleeves and went to work like it was just another day at the office, dismantling the Brewster Bears 63-50 in the first round of the state playoffs Friday. They are now in the final eight, returning to Spokane next to play Redmond's Bear Creek Grizzlies at 2 p.m. on Thursday. The Brewster Bears' offense kept up with WP's hoop barrage for a while, but the Cardinals' methodical productivity gave them a leading edge during much of the game...

  • Wiz Kids Too Go To State

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 3, 2011

    WAITSBURG - They may not perform their "sport" in front of a hometown crowd. They may not generate "edge-of-your-seat" excitement just before the clock runs out. They may not get a rousing sendoff when they leave town as would-be champions later this month. They may not even leave in a yellow bus. But all that aside, this team from Waitsburg High School is also going to the state "playoffs" in Spokane to test their academic knowhow against other competitors from around the state. The 2011 Knowle...

  • Cougar Country No,Really

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Mar 3, 2011

    DAYTON - In the predawn hours on a Thursday morning two weeks ago, Derek Katsel woke to the sound of his dog barking. "I got up and went outside to see what was going on," he said. "When I came around the corner, there was a cougar five feet from my porch, looking at my Jack Russell at the door." Katsel went back into the house to dress and get his pistol. When he came back out, the puma took off running toward his shop with three of his dogs in hot pursuit. They quickly had the lion treed a sto...

  • WP: District Champs x 2

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 24, 2011

    WALLA WALLA - How did they do it? One word: Belief. Belief in themselves, belief in their teammates, belief in their coaches, belief in their community, belief in victory. Belief was a recurring theme in comments from everyone interviewed about the 2011 Cardinals basketball teams' success in the past two weeks. That belief, combined with a hunger to win and a depth of physical talent, lined up for something that has never happened before in history. Both Cardinals teams - the women still...

  • WP And Irish Trade Lead Nine Times; But Cardinals Get The One That Counts

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 24, 2011

    WALLA WALLA - The Cardinals and the Irish traded the lead in their district tournament game nine times, indicating how close the game was until the final minute or so. That's when DeSales' fouls finally caught up with the WP opponent and senior Cardinals Genesis Pearson, Megan Withers plus junior Krystal Harris put the game away 40-36. "That was exciting," head coach Jerry Baker said with more than a hint of the understated. "I knew it was going to be a tough game. But we played good defense...

  • Hooping To TheTop Of The Heap

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 24, 2011

    WALLA WALLA - A field shot from Bulldog Garett Turner circled the hoop and spun out instead of going in. Minutes later, on the other side of the court, Cardinal Matt Hamilton battled for the ball time and again until he finally had the rebound. His efforts, among others, won him applause when he was subbed at the end of the game. In the end, it was a mixture of luck and a margin of superiority that gave WP its district tournament win over Dayton Friday. But the Bulldogs, who were on fire from...

  • One Corridor, One Brand

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 24, 2011

    WALLA WALLA - Business entities from the Touchet Valley attended a presentation of a "way finding" initiative Thursday that would use road signs to brand the 30-mile travel corridor from Dayton to Milton Freewater. Representatives from the Port of Columbia and the newly formed Touchet Valley Tourism Alliance joined others from Walla Walla-area businesses and organizations to offer feedback to the first phase of a long-term signage overhaul program for the region proposed by Tourism Walla Walla....

  • “Now Is The Time”

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 24, 2011

    Lindseys Embark On Adventure From The Heart WAITSBURG- Not quite a quarter century on the planet, Cole and Brittany Lindsey found themselves at a crossroads late last year. Cole, now 25, had worked as a Department of Ecology contract biologist doing environmental impact assessments at Hanford for three years, while Brittany, 24, was working as an emergency room nurse at Kadlec in the Tri Cities. The lease on their rental came up, and they needed a change. Plus, they were ready to give in to a...

  • Wrestling New High School Sport For The Whole Valley?

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 24, 2011

    WAI T SBURG - Trenton Kitselman started wrestling when he was 12. He was still living in Forks at the time. Then his family moved to Waitsburg about three years ago and he joined the Matbirds. For several years, he immersed himself in the sport, attending practices three days a week and going to winter tournaments. It quickly turned into his favorite pass time. But after the 2010 season, his competition in the sport came to an abrupt end. The problem? He is too old . Matbirds, which gratefully...

  • Supersonic Kemp To Visit Bluewood

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 17, 2011

    DAYTON - With the Cardinals and Bulldogs heading for the district tournament and NCAA playoffs just around the corner, why not add a little February Madness? It will be coming to town in the form of a visit from a basketball giant. The Reign Man of the Seattle Supersonics, sixtime NBA All Star Shawn Kemp, is expected to come to Ski Bluewood next week to promote a new kind of fast-action basketball game among youths. The sport is called 3BA, a 3-on-3 full-court game co-founded by Walla...

  • Cardinals Face WWVA Wednesday

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 17, 2011

    WAITSBURG - Al - though the WP men's team technically didn't have a perfect season, it was only two points short of it thanks to a loss at the hands of Weston McEwen in the first game of the season when the players just came off their very long and emotional football season. The Cardinals ended their regular season with a 79-68 victory over Liberty Christian Saturday and face Walla Walla Valley Academy on Kison Court at 6 p.m. Wednesday night. If they win, they will face the winner of the game...

  • Perfect Season, Now DeSales

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 17, 2011

    WAITSBURG - Having already logged a perfect season, the Lady Cardinals Tuesday extended their historic winning streak with a 57-29 win over Liberty Christian. The women now go into the district championship game against DeSales at Whitman College on Friday. "DeSales is the toughest opponent of the season," head coach Jerry Baker said after the game against the Patriots. "It's a lot harder to beat them three times than it is to beat them twice." But running over league teams repeatedly like a...

  • Bulldogs Rise To The Challenge

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 17, 2011

    WALLA WALLA - If there were ever a team that deserved to place third in the league and play tough, second-ranked Asotin in the Panthers' own den Wednesday, it's the Dayton Bulldogs men's team. They pulled out all the stops in a convincing 65-40 tie-breaker win over the Liberty Christian Patriots at the DeSales gym in Walla Walla Monday, leaving little doubt they have it in them to prevail over the talented and experienced Asotin players. "That was a good one," senior Bulldog Dain Henderson...

  • The “Grande” Plan

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 17, 2011

    Two weeks ago, I wrote about our pleasant surprise when we learned that the Times was a business with two buildings. We bought the company because we wanted to run the newspaper, but we also wanted to open a coffee shop on Main Street. At first, I thought the Times building at 139 Main would be the best place for an espresso bar, but the more I considered it, the more I realized we'd be much better off consolidating our news offices in a renovated front office and making the Mock building next...

  • No Races For Waitsburg, Dayton and Walla Walla

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 10, 2011

    WAITSBURG - There will be no pari mutual horseracing this year in Waitsburg, Dayton and Walla Walla. The Washington State Horseracing Commission decided Thursday to give only six days of racing to the Class C "Bush" circuit and they all went to Sun Downs in Kennewick. The decision, which came as a disappointment to many in the region's horseracing community, does not necessarily spell the end of nearly a century of racing in the Touchet Valley. But changes will have to be made in state law and in the way racing is funded to pave the way for...

  • Bartlow Is WP’s Head Track Coach

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 10, 2011

    WAITSBURG - Head football coach Jeff Bartlow is now also WP's head track and field coach. Bartlow, who has been on the track and field staff as an assistant coach for a decade, was hired at the last meeting of the Waitsburg Prescott sports combine last week. He replaces longtime track and field coach Ron Huntington, who retired after the last season. "He's our best fit for the job," Prescott High School Athletics Director Jack Smiley said. "He'll do great because he is dedicated and organized."...

  • Cardinals Are League Champions

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 10, 2011

    WAITSBURG - Until Cardinals announcer Fred Hamann spoke the words, it hadn't quite sunk in for the players and hometown crowd on Kison Court after the final buzzer sounded. With their wins over the Irish Saturday night, both varsity teams are now guaranteed the top spot in the league, with their first playoff game at home Feb. Xx. "And with that win, the Waitsburg-Prescott Cardinals are now league champions," Hamann said as the crowd broke into a prolonged cheer. The Cardinals men's team beat De...

  • Businesses Form Tourism Group

    Imbert Matthee, The Times|Feb 3, 2011

    A group of about a dozen businesses based in Waitsburg and Dayton are creating a new organization to help promote tourism in the Touchet Valley. Named the Touchet Valley Tourism Alliance, the diverse group that includes the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, Ski Bluewood and a number of hospitality and retail businesses in both communities, plans to launch a number of initiatives to strengthen the area as a travel destination in the coming years. Waitsburg's Commercial Club has been invited to participate as well. "This is the first time a...

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