Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 418
WAITSBURG - The city of Waitsburg would like to annex into Fire District 2, but the fire commissioners aren't ready to let that happen any- time soon. "The city is just looking for ways to cut the budget," said Commissioner Jim Leid. "We are already paying the fire chief." The fire district was created by the county tax payers in April 1945, according to the Walla Walla County Assessor's Office. Since that time, the taxpayers' money has funded the district with help from the city of Waitsburg through a mutual aid agreement, said Waitsburg City...
WAITSBURG - The Waits- burg chapter of the Rainbow Girls took a "Trip to the Cos- mos" recently to solidify friendships and celebrate a new year of the group. Ten members of the Waits- burg Rainbow group attended an annual campout at Granite Falls, about six hours away. Member Kendra Roberts said the girls left Aug. 10 and re- turned on Aug. 12. The gath- ering was large and included members from all over Wash- ington and Idaho. "The campout is just to get together as an entire jurisdic- tion,"...
WAITSBURG - As school children are counting down their last days of freedom before the new school year, they're also counting down the days until they're at fair showing off their animals, craft projects and artistic skills. WALLA WALLA COUNTY FAIR It's just five days until the Walla Walla County Fair, taking place Aug. 28 through Sept. 2 at the Walla Walla County Fairgrounds. On average, more than 100,000 people will attend the fair each year, said Kelli Shane, the operations specialist for the Walla Walla County Fair and Frontier Days. The...
Davison: Waitsburg's 'Silent Volunteer' Retired School Teacher Jim Davison Steps Up To Lend A Hand Without Needing To Be Asked WAITSBURG - When community members in Waitsburg need help with a project, they typically know who to call. However, some volunteers in town simply show up offering to help. Jim Davison is one of those helpers. "He's a really great, si- lent volunteer," said Denise Winnett, who worked with Davison at Waitsburg High School. Winnett, who lives within viewing distance of...
WAITSBURG - Two very important jobs will be in the hands of elementary-aged children this school year that provide for safety of other stu- dents and honor our country. Last Monday, about 15 children attended safety patrol training for the coming school year where they donned or- ange vests and safely ushered their peers across the street and learned how to fold flags with local veterans at Waitsburg Elementary School. "You have a very important job this year," said Margie Douglas, who will teac...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg football field gets all new lighting and press box and a new sound system is on the way as well. School Board Chairman Ross Hamann said at the school board meeting last Wednesday that last foot- ball season the 50-year-old sound system was no longer usable because of the poor quality. Colter Mohney, the district's facilities/transporta- tion/maintenance supervisor, said the drivers on the old speakers are bad and the only thing the horn-shaped speakers are good for is yellow jacket nests. The district borrowed an...
WAITSBURG - Rosie Ware- hime, the manager of the Weller Public Library, said local kids had a ball during the summer reading program thanks to local volunteers who lead activities, hula hooped to the point of exhaustion and provided a place for Waitsburg kids to have fun during the sum- mer months. Warehime's helpers this summer at the library were Selena Bundy, Jaidyn and Zac Brown, Morgan Breland, Devon Watts, Tucker Alleman and Walt and Tim Ware- hime. She said Jaidyn Brown, Zach Brown,...
WAITSBURG - For a Waitsburg City Council- man Scott Nettles to take on a 12-year senator, Nettles knew he was fac- ing uphill battle. Nettles is challenging incumbent Sen. Mike Hewitt for the District 16 seat and after the Primary Election results rolled in last week, Nettles was pretty happy with him- self. Nettles reaped in 4,495 votes in District 16 in the primaries, or 30.31 percent. Hewitt earned 10,333 votes, or 69.69 percent. "I don't think that's too bad," Nettles said two days after...
PRESCOTT - The Prescott City Council is hoping to renegotiate its contract with the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office to add in specifics about maintaining a level of service and a better pres- ence in the small city. Prescott's City Attorney Kris Hedine said the previous contract for service between the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office and the city of Prescott was signed in 2006 and an addendum was signed in 2009. That addendum was only good for one year, and so the contract has lapsed...
PRESCOTT - With more students enrolled in the Prescott School District, the school board agreed last week it needed to hire a new business manager's assistant to help keep all of the paper- work in order. At the school board meeting on Tuesday, July 31, Superintendent Dr. Bill Jor- dan said with the addition of students from Jubilee Youth Ranch and Vista Hermosa in the school district, the office staff has been handling an influx of about 145 students. For the staff members, this means more student transcripts to track, more grading to record,...
WAITSBURG - When a high school sports team wins a state championship, the trophy to mark that accomplishment only gets to stay at the team's school as long as the team holds the title. This is where Waitsburg's Brian Segraves comes in. Segraves, who owns Coy- ote Custom Cabinets in Waitsburg, makes replicas of these state trophies so the schools can hold onto a memento of the victory forever. WP won two state cham- pionships in 2011 - state football and state soccer. Head WP football coach Jeff...
WAITSBURG - A nar- row race in the Primary Election on Tuesday kept three Columbia County commissioner District 2 candidates on their toes with a margin of just 64 votes between the leading and eliminated candidates. With 171 votes Tuesday night, Mike Talbott led the commissioner candidates for that seat, advancing to the General Election on Nov. 6 with 40.62 percent. A total of 1,132 votes were cast in Columbia County with 421 votes for the commissioner candidates. "It looks like it's going to...
WAITSBURG - The 1889 "Vollmer House" has finally come to be known as the "Davis House" after about 50 years of the family inhabiting it. Joyce Davis, who moved into the home on Highway 12 right outside of Waitsburg in the early 1970s, said every- one around town had always called it the Vollmer House because the Vollmer Fam- ily had built it in 1889 and owned it until it was sold to Bill and Joyce Davis. Joyce said she recently was about town and asked someone - "Do you call the house the Vollme...
Dean Wass Is A Great FFA Volunteer Coach Wass Donates His Time And Money To Help Waitsburg FFA Trap Team Members Learn To Shoot WAITSBURG - For the Waitsburg FFA trap shoot- ing team, volunteer coach Dean Wass is a blessing. FFA adviser Nicole Abel said she has many wonder- ful FFA volunteers who donate their time and some- times money to help out the chapter. Wass stands out. He has been a volunteer with the chapter for five years, Abel said, and coaches trap shooting one day a week after...
PRESCOTT - The Wal- la Walla County Rural Library District over the next couple of months will be looking into expanding the Prescott Public Library into the empty lot next door or buying land or a building from the Prescott School District, officials say. Aletha Bonebrake, the interim executive direc- tor, said the library district owns the empty lot next to the current library, but she doesn't know if the library should expand into the space. Bonebrake said South D Street, where the current li...
WAITSBURG - Some farmers in the northern Touchet Valley area are pushing back harvest even further this sum- mer because wheat crops are still too green. Waitsburg wheat farmer Neil Carpenter said his harvest work had been held up four days last week because of unripened wheat. "It doesn't thresh real well," Carpenter said. "It's tough." Carpenter said it's not a happy sight to see green wheat kernels in his tank. He be- lieves he's still got some green wheat because of the wet, cold spring....
PRESCOTT - The Prescott School District is planning to offer two class- es at the middle and high school levels to help prepare students for college. Principal Jodi Thew said 12 Prescott School District staff members just trav- eled to Sacramento, Calif., for AVID training in early July. AVID, which stands for Advancement Via In- dividual Determination, is research-based teaching that encourages sixth through twelfth graders to not think about whether to seek higher education, but to think about what school they want to attend for higher...
WAITSBURG - Sue DeRuwe and Stephanie Wooderchak will share athletic director duties in 2012-13. To cut costs, the Waitsburg Prescott athletic combine has switched from the single athletic director method to having two staff members share the duties part-time. The change was made at the end of the 2011-12 school year and was the result of the tight budgets both districts face, school officials say. "It's another way we can cut some costs," said Waitsburg Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke. "It...
WAITSBURG - The first WP cross country practice will be held Aug. 20 and head coach Joanna Lanning couldn't be more excited. This year, Lanning is expecting 10 to 12 athletes to turn out for the cross country season, including two Jubilee Youth Ranch athletes from Africa. "I'm pretty excited about our possibilities," Lanning said. "Last year, we couldn't even field a boys team." Although Lanning isn't expecting any high-school level female runners this season, she is expecting to have more than...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg residents will see their sewer bill jump 90 cents, effective on their July bill. The city council approved the increase at the last meeting on July 18. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said the extra 90 cents added to the bills each month will pay for a loan for a sewer lining project. The project, to begin in about one month, will improve the city's terra cotta piping laid mostly in the 1930s. Hinchliffe said the current piping is cracking because of root damage and age. The damage is causing sewer backups and ot...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School Board passed a conservative budget for the 2012-13 school year last Monday night reflecting staff cuts made in the spring and officials warned that more cuts will be on the table this year. The school board unanimously approved a $4.1 mil- lion budget for 2012-13. The general fund that pays for everything but debt service, capital projects, transportation and the Associated Stu- dent Body, was approved at $3,574,175 - down $153,261 from school year 2011-12. Board members Dr. Randy Pearson and Marilyn Johnson wer...
WAITSBURG - One of the two fire engines owned by Waitsburg's volunteer firefighters in Fire District 2 is 50 years old and not up to code. The city staff members and firefighters have been keeping their eyes out for surplus engines from other fire departments and were recently outbid on a used engine from Walla Walla. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said he learned in early July Waitsburg had been outbid on a 1981 fire engine from Walla Walla County Fire District 4. Hinchliffe said Waitsburg bid $8,000. The city has $14,000 in the ba...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg's be- loved Postmaster Caroline Wendt is moving on to a position in Pomeroy after more than eight years working in Touchet Valley post offices. Wendt and her husband, Doug, are moving to Lewis- ton because of his promotion within the McGregor com- pany, she said. Her last day in Waitsburg was July 26. "It's really bittersweet," Wendt said. "You have to start all over and it's new people. And I won't have nearly as good of help as I have here." Wendt, age 49, is known to Wai...
WAITSBURG - Farming practices in the Touchet Valley aren't always healthy for fish in local streams and rivers, but local farmers are taking a stand against farming that hurts streams to clean up the water and enhance fish habitat. Conservation agencies that help restore water quality and are focused on bringing native fish back to the rivers offer a variety of programs to help farmers help the environment. Brian Burns, a project manager at Tri-State Steelheaders, based in Walla Walla, said...
DAYTON - Since 1988, Kevin Winger has been flying and refu- eling crop dusters at a small airport between Dayton and Waits- burg called Wing-Air. On clear summer mornings with little wind, the crop dusters fly high into the sky for about 30 to 45 minutes, spraying 100 acres of crops for fungus, aphids and weeds and come swooping back into the airport for refueling. The whole scene is like a NASCAR pit crew, the crew mem- bers scurrying in to pump gas into the plane, clean the windshield and...
