Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 276 - 300 of 418
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council last Wednesday did not approve a new utility hike that would have charged customers more for water and sewer. A recent study showed the city's water and sewer rates are not covering the cost to provide the services. A previous proposal was for a $14 increase spread out over two years with each $3.50 increase occurring in April and October of 2012 and 2013. The city council asked for a new, one-year proposal that would charge residents less. Currently, for water the city is currently charging $27.10 a...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School Board last Thursday approved a project for the district's football field that would install three-phase power, new lights and provide enough power for a press box and future projects. Colter Mohney, the facilities, transportation and maintenance supervisor for the district, had come to the board Feb. 8 with the knowledge that the current electrical system on the field and the poles, all of which are almost 40 years old, are not only insuffi cient, but a fire hazard as well. Last Thursday, the board decided... Full story
DAYTON - Dayton High School students don't have to wait for the new skills center to be built at Walla Walla Community College to gain employable skills before they graduate. They can, and many do, enroll in the high school's welding class to satisfy credit requirements and learn a trade they can use as a career or as part-time work to pay for other education. Steve McLean has been teaching welding at Dayton High School for 33 years. His uniform is dirty blue coveralls with "Boss" stitched to... Full story
WAITSBURG - School districts in Walla Walla and Columbia counties celebrated Valentine's Day with wonderful news - their communities approved levies that will keep schools operating and performing at top levels for the next two to four years. Superintendents, school board members and district staff members were happy to see the results roll in Tuesday night around the Touchet Valley. Prescott School District's two- year maintenance and operations levy was approved in Walla Walla County with 128 yes votes, 68.45 percent, and 59 no votes, 31.55... Full story
DAYTON - Loren Mullins, of Dayton, the alleged stabbing victim in a recent fight that led to one arrest, was himself arrested last week after a trespassing incident. Mullins was booked into Columbia County Jail on Feb. 6, joining Eric Vanzandt, who had also been involved in a fight that led to Mullins being stabbed. Vanzandt had been arrested on a warrant Jan. 29 following that fight. Vanzandt is being charged with burglary in the second degree, possession of a firearm in the first degree (3... Full story
DAYTON - A Dayton man was arrested Monday under the charges that he committed two commercial burglaries and two attempted break ins last Saturday night around the city. Glenn E. Dennison, 43, was arrested and booked into Columbia County Jail about noon on Monday. Dennison is a resident of the Patit Creek Congregate Care Facility, an assisted living residence in Dayton, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. He is being held on charges of two counts of burglary of the second degree, two counts of attempted burglary of the second...
WAITSBURG - Reporter Morgan Smith, with roots in the Olympia area and ties to Waitsburg, is joining the Times staff as its dedicated Dayton reporter. Smith was hired Feb. 3 and will be joining the Times team as a freelance reporter until she begins full-time at the end of May. Smith, 22, is finishing up her degree at Washington State University. There, she studies English and has participated on her college campus newspaper in many capacities, including reporter, photographer, columnist,... Full story
About Needs & Good Deeds I t's always great to see high school students use their senior projects to make connections in the community. Especially, when they help younger children in the community learn new skills and gain confidence. This week, our hats are off to Danica Proctor-DePaulo, an 18-year-old senior at Dayton High School. During January, this veteran member of the Dayton cheer squad held three practices after school for about 25 girls and boys who learned cheers, motions, jumps and a... Full story
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School Board has a big question to answer and it needs to be answered soon - what to do about the lights and power? Colter Mohney, the district's facilities/transportation/ maintenance supervisor, and Board Chairman Ross Hamann, told the school board and the district personnel last week that the power for the lights on the district's football field is lacking to the point that it is a fire hazard. Mohney said last fall, employees from Pacific Power and Light reported... Full story
DAYTON -- A transient man who is suspected of breaking into a Dayton church preschool and may also have broken into several homes in town during the past two months is in custody. Daniel Baxter, a 34-year-old drifter with ties to Montana, California and Pennsylvania, was arrested by Columbia County Sheriff's deputies late last Thursday afternoon after the officers discovered his hiding place in the basement of an empty home owned by Dayton's Community Bible Church on South Second Street....
WAITSBURG - Both Waitsburg High School and Prescott Jr.-Sr. High School have won Washington State Achievement Awards for 2011. For Prescott, this is the first time the school has won this award. "We are excited," said Prescott Superintendent Bill Jordan. "Good things are happening here!" Dr. Carol Clarke, the superintendent in Waitsburg, said of the three years that this award has been given out, Waitsburg has won it each year. For the year 2011, Waitsburg High School was awarded for overall excellence and Prescott Jr.-Sr. High School for its e...
Honoring Our Booker Staff DAYTON - A generous gift from the family of the late Dale Hutchens means the staff members of the Booker Rest Home will have new equipment to make their work easier and more efficient. Hutchens, a former member of the board of directors for the Columbia County Health System from 1974 to 1987, passed away after spending more than 4 years at the Booker Rest Home. On his behalf, his family provided Booker with nearly $8,000. "It was to express gratitude to help purchase... Full story
DAYTON - Former Columbia County fair manager Shane Laib disputes claims he was let go after his contract with the county expired last November, insisting instead that he chose not to continue with the organization because of personal differences with board members. But county commissioners are sticking by their version of events, saying Laib never expressed his desire to resign or to let his contract run out. Meanwhile, a revived fair board is trying to pick up the pieces and is working hard to...
WAITSBURG - Get ready to vote! Ballots went out last Friday for the Feb. 14 Special Election and local school district officials are hoping residents approve tax dollars to benefit everything from full-day kindergarten to new, safer high school bleachers. Karen Martin, the Walla Walla County Auditor, said her office is sending out about 20,000 ballots to citizens. In the Touchet Valley, Walla Walla County residents, depending on which school district they reside in, will be voting on levies in... Full story
DAYTON - Dayton resident Tyler Glasby changed his plea on charges of theft and forgery in Walla Walla County to guilty Jan. 24 and is out of jail. Glasby was accused of passing counterfeit $20s at Walla Walla businesses in November and was arrested by police after a 21-hour standoff in a Walla Walla trailer home park. Police have identified Glasby as a known gang member. Glasby entered not guilty pleas to three counts of forgery and one count of thirddegree theft in Walla Walla in early December. The forgery charges were felonies and the theft... Full story
DAYTON - In December, Dayton High School student Carlos Oribio, on behalf of his school's Students Helping Each Other club, told the Dayton City Council he was concerned about his peers' attitudes toward alcohol. Oribio and the club are not the only ones concerned. In fact, Columbia County has an entire group of volunteers who are on the same page with Oribio and are working to alter the community and focus on raising healthy kids who will say no to drugs and alcohol. The Columbia County... Full story
WAITSBURG - Entertainment like Waitsburg has never seen is coming Feb. 4 to the fairgrounds. Mixed Martial Arts fighting is making its debut and organizer Rob Dodgin hopes to make this a monthly event if the turnout is as good as his two previous fights, which averaged 650 to 700 people. "The city of Waitsburg was really inviting and open to it," Dodgin said. The event will take place at the blue community building at the fairgrounds. Tickets are $25 if purchased in advance, and $30 at the...
WAITSBURG - If approved by the state Legislature, the Walla Walla Valley will get $10 million to build a center for high school students to get hands-on vocational training in construction, welding and manufacturing, natural resources and health care services. "It's another opportunity for kids," said Mick Miller, the superintendent of the Walla Walla School District. "It's a place for kids to go into greater depth in certain areas (they're interested in). " The Skills Center would be a new building at Walla Walla Community College. It would...
DAYTON - A recent shakeup in volunteers and personnel at the Columbia County Fair has generated a fair board with new members, a big fundraising challenge and without a fair manager. Former fair manager Shane Laib's contract expired in November for lack of a decision to renew it by a board reeling from resignations last fall, according to a county commissioner. Laib had served as the manager for two years and reportedly failed to turn over key documents necessary to run the organization,...
WAITSBURG - A utility rate study that evaluated the cost of operating Waitsburg's sewer and water systems showed the city needs to increase its rates, but the city council said no to a proposal that would have raised rates by $14 a month over two years. Last Wednesday night, The Waitsburg City Council heard public comment on the utility rate increases. Not many of the large group of citizens remarked on the rate increases, but the sentiment was that the increases were high elsewhere in sales tax or car tab fees. City council members said they...
DAYTON - The Dayton Historic Depot's upstairs art gallery is now displaying photos depicting the strong, industrial rail yard trains taken by Charlene Collins Freeman. The photo exhibit made its solo debut last Saturday at the depot and will run through Oct. 1. Freeman, age 47, studied art at Mills College and the University of Utah. Freeman was born in San Francisco to an American father and Italian mother and was raised between Italy and the United States. She began painting and photographing...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council heard public comment on a transportation benefit district last Wednesday night and members said they would rather increase sales tax than add $10 to annual car tab fees . No action was taken on the taxing district Wednesday after more than one hour of public comment. The city is weighing two taxing options to boost the amount of funding to go to street improvement and repairs. The first option is to add $10 to annual car tab fees for city residents. The...
WAITSBURG - Snow hit the Touchet Valley Monday morning and was expected to last through Wednesday evening worrying commuters and giving hope to kids that school will be delayed or canceled. Meteorologist Robert Cramp with the National Weather Service said a winter storm warning is issued from 7 p.m. Tuesday to 7 p.m. Wednesday, meaning residents should expect snow and freezing rain through Thursday. Cramp said the area may see 3 to 6 inches of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. High...
WAITSBURG - Last week, the Waitsburg School Board voted unanimously to approve a new alternative learning program that will allow students to complete their education from the comfort of their home computers. Waitsburg Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke said offering online learning is beneficial in two ways. One is to provide students who have dropped out of school an opportunity to continue their education, she said. The other is to provide families who home school their children another curriculum option. "It's one way to draw back students...
PRESCOTT - The Prescott School District is asking for $585,000 each year in 2013 and 2014 in a maintenance and operations levy to keep the district's buildings and programs up and running. The school board approved the levy amount for the Feb. 14 ballot that is expected to cost taxpayers $2.39 per $1,000 of assessed property value the first and second years of the levy. The current levy, passed in 2010, expires in December 2012. The current levy costs residents $2.60 per $1,000 assessed value. B...
