Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg High School Auditorium stage will be filled with bugs, pirates and elves Dec. 13. The Waitsburg Elementary School students will put on two Christmas concerts that night beginning at 6:30. The first show, which will last about 30 minutes, is "A Bugz Christmas" and will be performed by the kindergarten, first and second grade classes. The second show, expected to last about 45 minutes, is "A Pirate Christmas," and will be performed by the third, fourth and fifth g...
PRESCOTT - The Walla Walla County Rural Library District has purchased an $85,000 property from the Prescott School District to build a new home for the Prescott Library as part of an effort to revamp its county wide branch system. Aletha Bonebrake, the district's interim director, said her organization district had been looking for a location in Prescott to build a new 2,600-square foot library, which would be nearly three times the size of the current 900-square-foot facility. The district, wh...
WAITSBURG - The re- cent Thanksgiving holiday appeared to have been the perfect timing for burglars to target locations on Main Street. Between Nov. 21 and Nov. 25, three burglaries and one attempted burglary were reported to the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office. All of the burglaries called in were from locations on Main Street, according to information from the sheriff's office. In the recent events, burglars made off with a laptop computer, digital projector and a guitar. No one has yet been arrested in connection to the recent Waitsburg...
PRESCOTT - Prescott schools are on top! Not only was the school honored as a School of Distinction by the Wash- ington State School Directors' Association last month, but the Prescott School Board was named the top school board of the year for Washington State schools with fewer than 1,000 students. School Board Chair- woman Karen Tonne said this is the first time the Prescott School Board received this high honor. The current members of the board are Tonne, chairwoman, Sara Fletch- er, Ada Gonzalez-Hernan- dez, Eva Madrigal and Erik Young.... Full story
WAITSBURG - A true piece of Waitsburg history, the recently retired 1962 Ford Westland fire engine, will stay in the Waitsburg area. Waitsburg farmer Jerry Baker, age 58, purchased the old engine from the city recently for $500. The en- gine was made surplus and put up for sale by the City of Waitsburg after it purchased a newer 1986 Pierce fire engine for the department. For Baker, who farms wheat, peas and has cattle on his Wilson Hollow property, this is not his first fire engine - it's his...
WAITSBURG - Because of a lack of information and clarity in parent access laws at the state level, the Waitsburg School Board will wait until its next board meeting Dec. 12 to address the issue again. This school year, the stu- dents and staff members at the high school had come up with six new dance rules aimed to prevent inappropriate dancing at school-sponsored events. The final rule limited parent access at school dances to 10 minutes before and after any coronation that may occur at the dance. This rule was added by the students, ASB... Full story
WAITSBURG - Waits- burg's Main Street came alive this weekend with Christmas carols in the air, children running about with bags of candy and happy parade goers enjoying light- ed floats. The fun started on Saturday at Turkey Bingo, hosted by the American Le- gion Auxiliary. On Sunday, Town Hall opened at noon with a variety of vendors. Merchants sold holiday décor, jewelry, scarves, make- up and skin care products, dolls, products to make the home smell delicious, pocket knives, caramel corn,...
PRESCOTT - As many individuals and families think about giving back to the needy during the holiday season, one local company does it year round. Broetje Orchards in Prescott helps provide fresh apples to local needy families through its Take A Bite Out Of Hunger campaign. Lisa Frederich, a spokeswoman for the First Fruits company, said Broetje Orchards has participated in the Take A Bite Out Of Hunger program for about two years and is signed on to continue in 2013. "They're a very philanthropi...
PRESCOTT - It was good to be a Tiger last week as the team celebrated its accomplishments at its annual soccer awards banquet. Prescott's Athletic Director Sue DeRuwe said she had the privilege this year of riding the bus with the team to games and shared dinners with the players on long trips. "They practiced hard, played hard and they never gave up," DeRuwe said. Despite falling short and not returning to finals to fight for the state title this year, head coach Mark Grimm followed through wit...
WAITSBURG - Kathy Carpenter and her team at the Cardinal's Nest in Waitsburg make sure kids have a place to go after school where they can get homework help and do fun projects. Carpenter, the director, said the Cardinal's Nest afterschool program was funded by a No Child Left Behind 21st Century Community Centers grant through the federal government. Educational Service District 123 helped facilitate the grant money and the funding allowed the Cardinal's Nest, located at Waitsburg Elementary, t...
WAITSBURG - Some par- ents believe their legal rights were violated when they were asked to leave the Homecoming dance last month because of new rules created by the Associated Student Body and staff members. The new rules were a collabo- ration to help end complaints of inappropriate dancing at school functions. However, after the Oct. 20 Homecoming dance for Waits- burg High School students, school board Chairman Ross Hamann said last week parents complained about having limited access to attend the dance. The new rules, dated Sept. 10,... Full story
PRESCOTT - Prescott students experienced a musi- cal treat last Friday at a special performance of "Peter and the Wolf" by the Walla Walla Symphony at Cordiner Hall. The fourth and fifth graders hopped in a bus to the Whit- man College campus to join other students from districts in Washington and Oregon for the performance. Prescott fifth grade student Alicia Stansell said she had been on a field trip like Fri- day's before. Her class had been to an author reading at Cordiner Hall previously... Full story
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg FFA has come up with a new way to spread Christmas cheer through the town. Students and FFA members Heidi Miller and Kim Hamann asked the Waitsburg City Council last Thursday whether it would a Festival of Trees event to run from Dec. 2, to coincide with Hometown Christmas, and to end Dec. 31. "It's something bright and special," Miller said. FFA Adviser Nicole Abel said the topic of the Festival of Trees came up at a meeting and all of the students liked the idea and voted to try to make it happen this year to gi... Full story
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council last Thursday took a look at a proposed budget for 2013 that doesn't include property tax or utility hikes and provides dedicated raises for city employees for the first time in four years. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said last Thursday night the draft budget includes work to Seventh Street in 2013, the proposed amount for the new contract with the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office and small additions like new turnouts for the fire department. The city will also continue to fund work on th...
PRESCOTT - Anticipating a drop in city revenues, City Clerk Jill Borup presented the Prescott City Council a proposed budget with cuts to several departments. Borup told the council recently that the city of Prescott is expected to receive about $5,000 less in revenue in 2013 than in 2012. The amount of revenue is expected to come in at $97,000 for 2013. To balance the budget, Borup said she cut clerk office supplies, election costs, build- ing and maintenance costs and attorney's fees. In addition to lost revenue, Borup is also anticipating th...
PRESCOTT - A new bus bag program in the Prescott School District is providing homework help to younger students as well as giving older students the chance to be role models. Sue DeRuwe, the counselor and athletic director for the Prescott School District, said earlier in the school year bus driver Leslie Beckman came up with the idea of making bags for students on the bus. Beckman, a Prescott alumna, has been driving buses for the school district for 15 years. She said she has 70 kids on her...
PRESCOTT - After the Prescott School Board approved allowing eighth graders to wres- tle on the WP varsity wrestling team, the WP Combine commit- tee denied the request so the high school team can grow and be- cause of budget concerns, school officials said. At the Prescott School Board meeting in late October, school board member Sara Fletcher said the combine was looking at al- lowing eighth graders to wrestle for WP this year with coach Lanny Adams. The high school wrestling team is going into its second year and it had four men participate...
WAITSBURG - For 66 years, Waits- burg's Ivan Keve, now 91, has been trekking into the local hills with family mem- bers and friends on elk hunting trips filled with brotherhood and fun. Keve's family has deep roots in the Touchet Valley. His great uncle Jacob Keve left Germany in 1864 and came to the United States. In 1889, he brought his brother, sister- in-law and two children out to what would become the Keve homestead on Jasper Mountain, southeast of Waitsburg, in 1889. When Ivan Keve was... Full story
WAITSBURG - When Allison Bond and Bruce Donohue lit up Waitsburg's Main Street with paper bag luminaries last November, they didn't know their act of thanks for their new community would turn into an annual event. But, the lighting of the luminaries on Main Street will take place again this year on Nov. 19. The display reaches back to the ancient Hispanic tradition of luminaria as a gesture of reciprocal kindness to the entire community. "We're just pleased that everybody enjoyed," Bond said of last year's display. This year, Bond and Do...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg High School and Preston Hall students honored local veterans, past and present, in an intimate celebration in the school auditorium last Friday. As guests entered the auditorium, the students were quiet and respectful. Teacher Roseann Groom had collected photos of local veterans and those photos were on display in a slideshow on a large television on the stage. Band Director Brad Green motioned to the photos and told the students "These people flashing on the screen...
WAITSBURG - Six residential burglaries have been reported in the Waits- burg area since the end of September and Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office officials say they're con- cerned because in some of the burglaries firearms have been stolen. The first burglary was reported on Sept. 23 on Bolles Road. Since that time, five others have been reported, about one each week, until the most recent burglary on Oct. 27 on Whetstone Road. Undersheriff Edward Freyer with the sheriff's of- fice said a rise in residential burglaries has been occur- ring...
PRESCOTT - The Prescott City Council last Monday hopped on board to help create a new sol- id waste plan for Walla Walla County by nominat- ing Councilmen Chuck Kimzey and Gene Alandi to the Solid Waste Advi- sory Committee. Melissa Warner, the Walla Walla County Solid Waste sustainability coor- dinator, visited the Prescott council meeting last Mon- day to tell the group about her project with the hope of selecting new representa- tives for the city of Prescott and to get the group to sign an interlocal agreement. The plan Warner is work- ing...
PASCO - The WP men's varsity cross country team walked away from the state competition last Saturday in ninth place overall and boasting a new personal record for E.J. Meserve. WP coach Joanna Lanning said she is sad the season is over and that her team's performance on Saturday at Pasco's Sun Willows Golf Course "wasn't up to expectations." Tri Cities Prep won overall for the men's varsity teams last Saturday and Northwest Christian - Lacey won overall for the women's teams. In the men's va... Full story
PRESCOTT - One of Prescott's school buses is about to be set up with Inter- net access as part of a pilot project to make it a study hall on wheels. Last Thursday at the Prescott School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Bill Jordan said one of the district's buses will be out- fitted with a wireless router to provide Internet access for students who sometimes have lengthy bus rides to and from school. The wireless Internet access would be a tool students could use to complete schoolwork while they are riding the bus, he said. Sara Fletcher,... Full story
PRESCOTT - Susan Matley, also known as Cimarron Sue in the community, says her "voting rights were compromised" when an error made at the Walla Walla County Au- ditor's Office meant she didn't receive a ballot for the upcoming election. "It was a serious poten- tial infringement on my right to vote," Matley said. Matley, known for the cowboy poetry she per- forms with her husband Bruce, also known as Ne- vada Slim, has been vot- ing consistently in Walla Walla County since 2007, she said. When last week a ballot came for her husband to the...
