Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 788
STARBUCK-Gerry Grubbs has been hired by the Starbuck School District as the next superintendent to take over for retiring superintendent Kevin Graffis. What does he think of Starbuck? "It is a beautiful little town and school," he said. Grubbs said the Starbuck school feels like school must have been one hundred years ago. He likes the multi-age classrooms. He said what the school lacks in supplemental resources; it makes up for with a smaller number of students and more personalized teaching....
DAYTON—Dayton School District Superintendent Guy Strot talked about some loosening of school sports restrictions by the state when the Dayton School District Board of Directors met in a work session last week. The state has decided to allow summer athletic conditioning from Sept. 27 to Nov. 27, he said. A typical summer season is for a team to have 20 organized practices in the months of June and July. With that in mind, he and Mark Pickel, Waitsburg School District Superintendent, and Martha La...
DAYTON—Columbia County Hospital System (CCHS) CEO Shane McGuire is concerned about how the Flood of 2020, COVID-19, wildfires, and the smoke from them, is impacting the emotional health of CCHS employees and people throughout the local community. He shared those concerns with the Hospital District board of commissioners at their meeting in September. “We are experiencing a mental health crisis in our community and state,” he said. “In our own community, we have seen an uptick in suicide attempt...
Landowner participation is crucial COLUMBIA COUNTY-Columbia County is in the beginning stages of gathering the data required to determine if the Voluntary Stewardship Program has met its initial goals and benchmarks. With the five-year report due January 2020, the Columbia County VSP hopes the county deems the program a success. The VSP is an optional, non-regulatory alternative that allows area stakeholders to develop and implement work plans to protect critical areas while promoting agricultur...
DAYTON—Despite economic challenges, building activity in Columbia County and neighboring jurisdictions is going strong, according to Columbia County Planning Manager Dena Martin. In her department update to the Board of County Commissioners at the end of September, Martin reported that despite a temporary spring construction shut-down due to COVID 19, all jurisdictions served by the County have already met 2020 projected annual permit revenues. “This is especially encouraging because there hav...
STARBUCK-Wally and Joanne Knouf are finalizing plans to purchase the Starbuck/Lyons Ferry Marina KOA business from Steve Klontz representing 7 K's Enterprises of Washington, Inc. The Knoufs are the KOA concessionaires, operating the campground, restaurant, and store at the marina. They will take over from Steve Klontz on Nov. 1. The Knoufs were "work campers" at the KOA when Klontz took over as concessionaire from Jim and Angela McArthur, in 2018. They were hired by Klontz to manage the day to...
DAYTON-The Columbia County Public Health Administrator shared information about COVID-19 at last week's meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, and it was mostly positive. Martha Lanman said the last time anybody in the community tested positive for COVID-19 was on Sept. 2, and that person has since recovered. The schools are open for in-person learning, Personal Protective Equipment supplies are stable, and a strong collaborative partnership has developed between the Health Department, em...
DAYTON—Shane Laib is leasing the building at 262 East Main Street for use as an indoor marketplace. For the past several months, he has been busy with painting, installing new carpet and lighting, and creating individual spaces for vendors when the marketplace opens in October. Vendors were displaced when VS Mainstreet, a vintage/antique mall at 245 East Main Street, closed its doors earlier this year, and some of them will be moving to the Main Street Marketplace. “All of the vendors still des...
STARBUCK-Zonia Dedloff was appointed mayor at a special city council meeting on Sept. 22. She replaces Richard Ells, who has resigned, in part, for health reasons. City Clerk, Jan Ells, has also turned in her resignation, effective Sept. 30. The Ells are planning on traveling and enjoying their retirement. Zonia Dedloff has lived in Starbuck for fifty years. "I love Starbuck. I always have," she said. Dedloff has served on the city council for the past four years and was the Mayor Pro-tem...
9- year survivor tells her story DAYTON—Eileen McMunn, “Teeny” to those who know her, is an eighteen-year survivor of breast cancer, an amazing feat considering her cancer was identified as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). This type of breast cancer is not fueled by estrogen and progesterone receptors, or by HER2, a type of protein. It accounts for 15-percent of breast cancer in the Caucasian population and 35-percent in the African American population Though TNBC cancer can have the s...
DAYTON-Librarian Kristie Korslund said Dayton Memorial Library staff attended a conference on Space Planning Progress last November. They learned about traffic flow and how to maximize patron enthusiasm for library collections. When patrons are finally allowed back inside the Dayton Memorial Library, they will be pleased to see what has taken place since the building closed in March because of COVID-19. The library board and staff have moved forward with making upgrades on the main floor level...
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson I think it should be a “must-read” for everyone to help understand that the justice system is not equal for everyone and circumstances are different in different parts of the U.S.A. It’s the true story of a lawyer who works for a social justice type institute that takes on cases of people on death roll who were wrongly convicted, children, sentenced to life in maximum security prisons without possibilities of parole, and other...
STARBUCK-The first thing you notice when you meet Starbuck School District Superintendent Kevin Graffis is what a big man he is. Graffis has played professional football, and as he begins to talk, his love of sports comes across. Just two years into his first teaching job in Bridgeport, Wash., he was tapped by the San Francisco 49ers to play professional football. He said he played two preseasons with the 49ers but didn't make the final cut; and ended up playing in the United States Football...
DAYTON-Kim Clark, General Manager of Bluewood Ski Resort, said the forecast is for a "good, strong snowfall all winter long," and he is keeping his fingers crossed. Clark said the goal for the upcoming ski season is normal operations with as few disruptions as possible. "We know there is a huge pent up demand out there, as shown by our spring season pass sales. We're excited about the season ahead and can't wait to welcome guests back up to their hometown ski area." Bluewood Ski resort is part o...
STARBUCK-The town of Starbuck, nestled between Hwy. 12 and Lyons Ferry Marina, northeast of Dayton, has a small school district serving forty students. All of the District's students, except for three who are distance learning, are being taught in real-time, since school began on Aug. 25. Luann Truesdale, the office administrator, spoke of all the work that has gone into preparing the school to meet COVID-19 requirements for returning students. She said "bubblers" were disconnected from...
DAYTON-Dayton is becoming a magnet for people who are attracted to the rural lifestyle. Dayton Chamber of Commerce Manager Molly Weatherill-Tate said a couple from Colorado recently moved to Dayton, and a man from western Oregon is thinking about moving to Dayton when he retires. Another family moved to Dayton sooner than they had planned to, because of the COVID-19 situation, and she has sent relocation packages as far away as Missouri, California, and Texas. "People generally seem to be...
DAYTON—City Administrator Trina Cole provided the Dayton City Council with an update about the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) project at last week’s council meeting. “We are moving forward with constructed wetlands,” Cole said. She said while it seems like progress is slow, the City and its partners; Anderson/Perry & Associates, the Confederate Indian Tribes of the Umatilla, Washington Water Trust, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Dept. of Ecology continue to work on the project...
DAYTON—In the aftermath of the Flood of 2020, and during the COVID-19 shutdown, Columbia County Commissioner Mike Talbott expressed the following sentiment. “All we need now is a trifecta.” Talbott was referring to the addition of wildfire to the year’s challenges. Columbia County witnessed its first fire of the season this month; the Rattlesnake Fire, thirteen miles southeast of Dayton, burned roughly 475 acres in the Umatilla National Forest. Emergency Management Director Ashley Strickl...
DAYTON—Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney Dale Slack said it took jurors just 45 minutes to return a verdict of Guilty of Assault in the First Degree in the trial for the State vs. William Fletcher. Fletcher had been charged with First Degree Assault for allegedly beating Laura Romig, in her Dayton home, in Jan. 2019. Romig is wheelchair-bound, and the assault left her with substantial injuries requiring treatment in a Spokane hospital. Slack said jurors agreed to a special verdict of D...
DAYTON—On Tuesday of last week, Columbia County Commissioner Ryan Rundell reached out to the Times to present the County’s side of the story regarding talks with the City of Dayton for law enforcement, dispatch, emergency management, and district court services, which have stalled. The City has said the County has not been negotiating in good faith and has asked the County to enter into mediation to renegotiate the Interlocal Agreement or to draw up a new contract. Rundell said the County inf...
DAYTON—Dayton School District Superintendent Guy Strot presented updates on the opening of schools to the board of directors at their workshop last week. “The beginning of the school year has been relatively normal. Teachers are teaching, students are learning, and there have been no real discipline issues since the start of school on Aug. 25.,” he said. Eighteen students at the elementary level, 17 at the middle school level, and 18 in the high school are currently in distance learning mode. El...
DAYTON—Who is caring for the kiddos when mom and dad go back to work, now that there are only two licensed daycare providers in Dayton, Susan’s Home Daycare and Demaris Daycare? Demaris Daycare is currently operating with only two students, a situation Sylvia Demaris hopes will change in the next month depending on her husband’s health. Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson talk about the lack of daycare options at a community round table conversation, on Aug. 13. She said enrol...
DAYTON-Whiskey and brandy distiller "Rusty" Figgins has sold XO Alambic to a large distillery, in the Salem, Ore. area, and he is moving with his family to the Isle of Man, U.K., where he will be the master distiller and manager at Fynoderee Distillery. Not only will Figgins continue the Fynoderee Distillery tradition of gin production, but he will be leading the way into Manx single malt whiskey production, from locally grown barley. Figgins said the COVID-19 shutdown played a part in this...
DAYTON—The Port of Columbia held a public information meeting last week to share the results of a broadband feasibility study with the public and to answer questions. Fifty-seven people attended the meeting, along with the Port Commissioners, Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinsons, and Lydia Caudill, who has been tasked by the Port to work on the broadband project. Dickinson said, “I think it went very well.” Internet service providers were well represented, along with a good...
DAYTON—The Dayton City Council is seeking mediation with the County over the Interlocal Agreement (ILA) for Law Enforcement, Dispatch, and Court services after talks have stalled. The decision was made at a Special City Council meeting on Monday after the City Council heard from Dain Nysoe on the Public Safety Committee, Mayor Zac Weatherford, and City Attorney Quinn Plant. “We are at an impasse right now,” Mayor Weatherford said about the negotiations. Weatherford said the City has an oblig...
