Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 326 - 350 of 418
DAYTON - Dayton High School Student Carlos Oribio asked the Dayton City Council Monday night to take a tough stand and prevent youth access to alcohol amid the changes to state liquor laws since the passage of Measure 1183. Orobio spoke on behalf of the school's Students Helping Each Other club, which has about seven core members to encourage their peers to stay away from alcohol. Oribio said he and his club members are concerned that Measure 1183 will make it easier for teens to obtain alcohol because liquor will no longer be sold and...
Lions Are Always There WAITSBURG - When anyone in the community needs a new pair of glasses, funding for after-school programs or new lights for athletic fields in Waitsburg, the Lions Club is always there to help. "Our community would be lacking very dramatically if it hadn't been for the (Lions Club's) fundraising efforts," said Bret Moser, the club's president. The club, chartered in Waitsburg in 1964, now has 80 members and about 25 to 30 members who attend the club's bi-monthly meetings,...
DAYTON - After 25 years as a commissioner for the Port of Columbia, Lawrence Turner has decided it's finally time to hang up his hat. "I thought it was time to go home and farm for a while," Turner said with a laugh. Turner, now 83, was asked by the manager of the port in the mid-1980s if he would be interested in filling a vacancy on the board of commissioners. Turner had public service experience. He had served Columbia County as a commissioner from 1972 to 1980. He has lived in Dayton all of...
WAITSBURG - Thi s Wednesday night, the Waitsburg School Board will be deciding whether to place a levy on the Feb. 14, 2012, ballot asking voters to pay $882,000 over two years to maintain school programs and facility operations. Last Wednesday, the board directed Dr. Carol Clarke, district superintendent, to prepare a levy resolution for the board to vote on this week. The levy is a maintenance and operations levy that would run for two years if approved, and would replace a current maintenance and operations levy. If approved, the district...
DAYTON - The City of Dayton has received a grant to chip seal a few city streets to maintain road conditions for years to come. Trina Cole, the city's clerk/ treasurer, said the city will receive $69,621 to chip seal five different streets. The city will also contribute $3,644 for the project slated to take place in 2012. The grant is from the Transportation Improvement Board through a Small City Pavement Preservation program. Cole said she learned the city received the grant money on Monday. She said the city has received this grant before...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg school board will consider at its next meeting how much to ask the local taxpayers for to keep the district up and running in 2013 and 2014. The district has a current maintenance and operations levy that fund basic operations, programming and even personnel at the district. The district brought in $410,000 in 2011 by taxing residents $3.41 per $1,000 of assessed property value. In 2012, the district will receive $422,000 and cost taxpayers $3.51. Dr. Carol Clarke, the district's superintendent, said she is...
DAYTON - The Dayton Development Task Force will get $10,000 from the City of Dayton to begin work on a plan to revitalize the Commercial Avenue Historic Corridor in 2012. Monday night at the Dayton City Council meeting, Bill Clemens, a member of the task force, said the design firm that has been working on a plan for Commercial Avenue is getting ready to present its work to the community. In October, staff members of the design group Dougherty Landscape Architects of Eugene, Ore., visited Dayton and talked with community members and business...
DAYTON - After allegedly using counterfeit $20 bills and a 21-hour standoff with Walla Walla police last week, Skyler Glasby, 23, of Dayton, is in Walla Walla County Jail under charges of three counts of forgery and one count of third degree theft. Glasby is in jail with bail set at $10,000. He will be arraigned at the Walla Walla County Courthouse on Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. Glasby was arrested Wednesday, Nov. 30 at a mobile home on Plaza Way in Walla Walla. The standoff began at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29 when Glasby and Joseph Dejesus, 20,...
WAITSBURG - With the City of Waitsburg's proposed 2012 budget cutting half of Fire Chief Jim Callahan's stipend, Columbia County Fire District 2 will step up to bridge the gap. Ci ty Manage r Randy Hinchliffe presented the council with the proposed 2012 budget on Nov. 16 that eliminated the chief's $250 monthly stipend from the city. For the past two years, the city had paid Callahan $250 a month and the fire district matched that amount, giving him $500 a month for his work. The fire district's boundaries do not include the City of Waitsburg,...
WAITSBURG - This Saturday and Sunday Christmas comes to Waitsburg with Santa, a lighted parade and plenty of shopping and prizes during the town's annual Hometown Christmas event. "Come to the Town Hall for vendors and gifts," said Ruth Peterson, an organizer of the event. Held every first weekend in December, this annual tradition centered in Town Hall is sure to be a delight. This is the festival's 26th year in Waitsburg, Peterson said. The fun starts on Saturday with Turkey Bingo. Turkeys...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council is mulling over a 2012 budget that would not raise any rates, but would make some small reductions to maintain a status quo budget. "It's on track with a typical budget," said Randy Hinchliffe, the city manager. The budget is proposed at $2,353,609 for 2012. The council did not vote on the budget last Wednesday, but it may approve it at the next meeting on Dec. 14. Last Wednesday, a public hearing was held on property taxes, although no tax increase was proposed. Hinchliffe said raising the tax 1 percent,...
DAYTON - The New Year will mark 10 years in business for Jeff Monyak, the owner of Trailsend Taxidermy in Dayton and in 2012, Monyak will be showing his local customers some appreciation for keeping him in business during a tough economic time. In 2012, Monyak will be rolling back his prices to the rates set back in 2002 when he was new to Dayton and just starting out. "It's just to show the folks I appreciate their business and keeping me going," Monyak said. Taxidermy was never the plan for...
Center Sees Big Numbers WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Resource Center, which opened in the AmericanWest Bank in December 2010, is being used by our neighbors more than ever. The city's food bank had been run out of the basement of the Presbyterian Church for 25 years until the bank offered up its space. The churches in town formed a board and its new visible spot and word of mouth is bringing more neighbors through the doors, said Bethany Moser, the chairwoman of the board. The Leos Club at...
WAITSBURG - A recent water and sewer rate study shows the City if Waitsburg needs to increase its rates to break even. The Waitsburg City Council last Wednesday heard a presentation from Alan Schroeder, the vice president of the Walla Walla company Anderson Perry & Associates. Schroeder said he was hired by the city to see if the cost of utilities is keeping up with the cost of service. He found both rates needed to be increased so the city stops losing money. For water, Schroeder said the city is currently charging $27.10 a month, with an...
DAYTON - Don't let the turkey coma take over after Thanksgiving or you'll miss all of the wintry, holiday fun in Dayton during its annual Christmas Kick-Off Friday and Saturday. "It boosts businesses and gets people in the holiday spirit," said Claudia Nysoe, the executive director of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. Business owners and community members are putting on the final holiday touches this week to prepare for the big post-Turkey Day festival. Vicky Beckmeyer, owner of Crofts, said her...
DAYTON - The Columbia County Hospital District and members of the community are rallying all resources and writing letters to legislators to stop a proposed $404,000 budget cut to Dayton General Hospital that will be on the table in the upcoming special session. "It's the big news of our community," hospital CEO Charlie Button said. "If we don't act, the potential could be that we could close." Button said the proposed cut would mean the current cost-based reimbursement model for critical access hospitals that helps Dayton's hospital care for...
DAYTON - Columbia County Health System staff members and commissioners voiced concern Monday night that recently proposed budget cuts at the state level may cause the closure of Dayton General Hospital. Jim Kimes, a member of the district's board of commissioners, told the Dayton City Council on Monday that a round of cuts to be proposed in the upcoming special session would cut about $400,000 from Dayton General Hospital's budget. The cuts target critical care access hospitals in rural areas across the state. "If their proposal goes through,...
WAITSBURG - A phone call from Waitsburg resident Laura Jean Hevel's distant relative put responsibility in her hands that she never thought she would have. That phone call was from Hevel's grandmother's first cousin twice removed, Gail Parsons of Elma. Parsons had been the keeper of the family history, including letters from a very significant ancestor. And Parsons wanted Hevel to have some of her artifacts. Now, she is the keeper of letters and artifacts from her ancestors and has collected...
WAITSBURG - Last Wednesday night, a room in Preston Hall packed with school district employees and community members honored the closure of Terry Jacoy's 23 years on the Waitsburg School Board. Jacoy has served on the board since 1988. School board Chairman Ross Hamann said that in the time that Jacoy has been on the board, 590 kids have received their diplomas. "When you do something like this, you don't do it with the idea of being remunerated," Jacoy said. Jacoy said he enjoys looking back...
WAITSBURG - With the passing of Initiative 1183 that takes government out of liquor sales, the future of Touchet Valley liquor stores is uncertain. "At the state level, I don't think they thought it would pass," said Karen Hoyle, the manager of the liquor store in Dayton. "Everybody's got to scramble." The Washington State Liquor Control Board is trying to answer questions as best as it can, but there are not many concrete answers out there at this time, said Brian Smith, the communications director for the board. The board has put up fact...
WAITSBURG - It was an exciting evening for Dayton's Colleen Sproul, a retired nurse who took a shot at running for a position as commissioner for the Columbia County Hospital District and found herself ahead of her incumbent by 61.03 percent on Tuesday night in the General Election. With the combined results of Walla Walla and Columbia counties, Sproul was ahead of incumbent Blaine Bickelhaupt by 61.03 percent, 1062 votes. Bickelhaupt had achieved 38.96 percent, 678 votes. "I think it's pretty exciting - I'm really surprised," Sproul said...
WAITSBURG - An unexpected bout of the flu hit WP's star runner Seth Deal at the state competition on Saturday in Pasco and Deal placed 16th of 140 boys in the 5,000-meter race. Coach Joanna Lanning said Deal didn't know he was going to be ill and ended up vomiting and dry heaving during Saturday's race throughout the whole course. He finished in 17:08. "It's just amazing what he accomplished," Lanning said. "That's part of the way life is sometimes." Lucas Graham from Northwest Christian-Lacey placed first in the race with a time of 16:17....
DAYTON - Dayton's Betty Ann Fletcher and Elaine Hudson were nearly speechless last Thursday night when they were announced as the 2011 Citizens of the Year by the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. The women could barely squeak out that they were honored after being hugged and cheered on by their family and friends in the community who had attended the chamber's 65th banquet at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. Roslyn Edwards, whose husband Steve won the award last year, presented on his behalf and...
DAYTON - Dayton is getting a Best Western hotel that will broaden the kind of accommodations available in town. "This is going to give Dayton an opportunity to springboard us to the next level," said Claudia Nysoe, the executive director of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. Nysoe and Windermere agent Blaine Bickelhaupt have confirmed the hotel is in the works. "It's just in the beginning stages," Bickelhaupt said. "We're getting it rolling as fast as possible." The developers are meeting, but Bickelhaupt said nothing will happen soon because the...
WAITSBURG - For the second time, Waitsburg- Prescott's Seth Deal is the boys cross country District 9 champion. Deal took first place on Thursday at Clarkston High School with a time of 15:30 in the varsity boy's 3-mile race . WP's E.J. Meserve will join Deal at the state competition because he placed 11th with a time of 17:12. The top 15 runners in each race will go on to compete at state. Meserve shaved nearly one minute off his time Thursday from a competition on the course earlier this seaso...
