Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 351 - 375 of 788
DAYTON-The Friends of the Fairgrounds-Columbia County have an abiding interest in maintaining the rural and historic nature of the county fairgrounds, said the group's president, Julia Mead. Since forming in Oct. 2017, the group has accomplished much, under the umbrella of the Columbia County Community Network. "They have been invaluable to our progress with guidance for prioritizing projects, setting a budget and seeking grants," said Mead. Eventually the FFCC will spin off as an independent...
DAYTON—Talk to someone about how you feel. That was the take-away message about suicide when the Columbia County Coalition met last week. Matthew Wyatt, Pastor of the Waitsburg Christian Church, said the topic of suicide is something most people want to avoid. “That’s not working”, he said. “Let’s get the message out.” Wyatt said the best policy is to encourage adults and youth to talk about suicidal feelings with people they can trust. “As a leader I am doing my very best,” said Rick Walters, Prevention Counselor at the Dayton School Dis...
Economic Development Coordinator Kathryn Witherington and Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson posed with the “Jolly Green Giant” at the Port’s first annual Night Market at the Blue Mountain Statin on Friday night. The replica of the Green Giant was one of the items purchased by Dickinson from the estate of Jan and Owen Agenbroad. Owen Agenbroad was a research agronomist for the Green Giant Company in Dayton for 30 years. He and Jan passed away in 2016....
DAYTON-Bluewood Ski Area's 2018-19 season is set to begin on Friday as the ski area welcomes skiers and snowboarders to the mountain. According to Bluewood General Manager Kim Clark, there was 20 inches of snow at the base and 23 inches at the summit last week. The National Weather Service forecast is calling for more fresh snow heading into opening day. Bluewood will be open Friday through Sunday, and then daily from Dec. 20 through and including January 1, except for Christmas Day, when it is...
DAYTON-Tyler Usco and Amanda Toms want you to relax when you visit their new café and boutique at 217 East Main St. in Dayton. Usco said there was a soft opening for the Winter Rose Café & Boutique during Christmas Kickoff and now they are ready for some serious business. "We've been steadily picking up business," he said. Usco, who got his start cooking at the Marcus Whitman Restaurant in Walla Walla, said his Spicy Avocado Bagel has been a hit. He also recommends the Papa Scramble and the P...
DAYTON—A pre-trial conference for accused murderer Benjamin Orozco has been set in Columbia County Superior Court for Jan. 9. Orozco has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of second degree murder in the shooting death of Dayton resident Lance Terry, and first degree assault, in the wounding of Dayton resident David Eaton 20 years ago. Orozco and an acquaintance, David De la Rosa, became involved in a confrontation with Eaton and Terry behind the PDQ convenience store in downtown Dayton o...
December 5, 2018 DAYTON—High School Senior Kaleigh White was interviewed and accepted by members of the Dayton School Board at last week’s meeting to be a student representative on the Board. White said she is interested in political science and the opportunity to be a representative on the board will give her a “feel for things.” White cited a lack of respect by students for their fellow students and teachers as problematic, as well as a lack of student participation in sports and clubs....
DAYTON-The Friends of the Dayton Community Pool met with city officials last week to discuss whether, and if so, how to move forward on repairing or replacing Dayton's pool. The city's 35-year-old pool was closed for safety reasons this summer because of infrastructure problems, including a leaking pool tank, inoperable boiler and water heater systems, and dangerously cracked decks. City officials and the Friends group have reviewed the condition assessment report performed by an architectural f...
Bruce Goodell, Darla Brown, David O Campo, Melissa Ferrians, Steve Mertens, and Dayton Mayor Craig George are shown with the 2017 Safety Stars trophy the Columbia County Public Transportation Board Authority received from the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool for consistently being a good performer in terms of agency auto losses. The Safety Star Award also comes with a cash award of $1500, to be used for employee recognition. The award is to recognize member transit agencies who maintain...
DAYTON—In his report to the Hospital Board of Commissioners at their regular meeting last week, Columbia County Health System CEO Shane McGuire said a lease has been signed with the Port of Columbia for office space in the Rock Hill Industrial Park. He said the Certified Nursing Program, Palliative Care, and Marketing Services will move into this building. Dr. Kyle Terry has completed provider training for the CCHS Wound Care Program and will be the Medical Director there. This will allow Dr. K...
DAYTON-County Emergency Services Director Lisa Caldwell is leaving her position to go to work as a Subject Matter Expert for the Michael Baker Institute, starting Jan. 7. Caldwell said the Michael Baker Institute is headquartered in Pittsburg, Penn., and works in the area of public safety and mapping with Geographic Information System Technology (G.I.S.) She said she will work from her Dayton home as part of a virtual nation-wide team. "My job will be building relationships and providing...
DAYTON-Community education can make all the difference in the quality of life for people living with dementia, and for their loved ones. That was the message Katie Roughton delivered to a group of business leaders, caregivers and patients at two workshops in Dayton on Nov. 7. "This is so you as a community know how to approach a dementia patient who is out and about," she said to those in attendance. Roughton said there are 85 different types of dementia, and they are caused by structural and...
DAYTON-Newly-elected county officials Carla Rowe, Dale Slack, Anne Higgins and Chuck Amerein are gearing up to assume office on Jan. 1. They met with the Columbia County County Commissioners last week to receive encouragement and guidance. Treasurer-elect Carla Rowe said she would like to receive training in the "underutilized" software program currently used in the Treasurer's Office, and she hopes to meet with individual department heads to discuss streamlining reports. Rowe said she is...
Nov. 14, 2018 DAYTON—The Dayton City Council held the first of three public hearings for the city’s proposed $7,078,230 budget for 2019, during their monthly meeting last week. The budget reflects an increase of 3.9% over 2018’s, and it includes rate increases for water and sewer utilities that will go into effect in January. The proposed increase is $5.95 for sewer and $4.05 for water, for a residential unit within the city limits. Mayor Craig George said the purpose of the increase is to help...
DAYTON—During a presentation to members of the public last week, Washington State Parks Planner Laura Moxham gave an overview of plans being developed for three area state parks: Lyons Ferry, Palouse Falls and Lewis and Clark Trail. Before inviting the public to share their ideas for the parks, Moxham discussed some of the pros and cons of each park. She said that since being designated the state’s official waterfall in 2014, increasing numbers of people are visiting Palouse Falls State Park, up from 85,000 visitors in 2010, to around 190...
DAYTON—Dayton is known as “The Town that Still Believes,” and to celebrate the holidays once again, the Dayton Chamber of Commerce is putting on the 12th annual Christmas Kickoff celebration the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. On Friday the Backroads Club in Dayton will hold its Ugly Xmas Sweater 5k walk/run, on a 3.2 mile course around town, starting and ending at the Columbia County Courthouse. The race is dog, stroller and wheelchair friendly, and there are cash prizes in individual and group-related categories, said organizer Rache...
More than two years ago, members of the Dayton Kiwanis Club had a vision to send high school students to Washington D.C. to reinforce leadership skills and give them an inside look at democracy in action using the nation’s capital as a living classroom. The club received a donation and a grant from Blue Mountain Community Foundation. The group is called Dayton Kiwanis Road to Leadership. Working with Dayton High School and the Close Up Washington D.C. nonprofit organization, the group offered s...
DAYTON-Whimsical costumes, confectionary props and a 70s vibe will captivate the audience that turns out to see the Touchet Valley Arts Council's 18th-annual fall musical production of "Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka," which will debut at the Liberty Theater on Nov. 15. The show is based on the book, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," by Roald Dahl, and tells the story of the enigmatic Willy Wonka, who stages a contest by hiding golden tickets in five candy bars made in his candy factory. The pr...
DAYTON-Judy Miller, a former Center Manager for Lincare in Walla Walla, is the new Clinic Director for Columbia Family Clinic and Waitsburg Clinic. Miller has been on the job Oct. 22, getting to know the staff in the clinics and hospital. An assessment of the clinics was recently performed by an outside consulting firm, and Miller said she and the staff will be looking into changes that will enhance the patient experience. Miller and her husband, Miles, like to spend time viewing the area...
DAYTON—An endowment to pay for all annual 4-H memberships has just been announced by WSU Dayton Extension Agent Paul Carter. In 2017 the state instituted an annual $25 membership fee for attendance in 4-H, a move Carter says was discriminatory to families having financial difficulties. So he set about to see what could be done to help them Carter said he recently met with the Blue Mountain Community Foundation to start the process of creating an endowment. The initial need is for $10,000 to e...
DAYTON-Kim Clark, General Manager of Ski Bluewood wants to get the word out about $400,000 worth of facility improvements that are sure to make this year's skiing even more "uplifting." "We have just completed the first lift improvement since 1986," he said. Clark said the old platter-pull has been removed and replaced with two conveyor-type lifts, one of which is the 120 ft. Easy Rider, with two separate teaching pods. The other is a completely covered, 400 ft. long, teaching area. The idea is...
DAYTON—The Columbia County Health System is close to signing a lease for the Port-owned building formerly occupied by Columbia County District Court, according to CEO Shane McGuire. During last week’s hospital district board meeting, McGuire said that the space will be used for the Certified Nursing Assistant program, as well as for an offsite education facility. McGuire told the hospital district commissioners that the first round of payments have been received from Washington Rural Health Acc...
DAYTON—The Delany Room was packed on Monday night as the Columbia County Planning Commission heard from the public and from stakeholders interested in a Site Plan Development Agreement Application for a proposed bitcoin mining center to be located on Columbia Rural Electric Administration property east of Dayton. After a short presentation from Leonard Ruff, the architect for the applicant, Eastern Mineland LLC, and followed by a lengthy Q&A session, the three members of Planning Commission present deliberated on the merits of the bitcoin m...
DAYTON— Columbia County Planning Director Meagan Bailey presented a list of 10 final docket items for inclusion in the 2020 Comprehensive Plan update to the board of county commissioners last week. However, Docket Items 8 and 9, which drew the most negative response from the public during an October 8 planning commission meeting, were removed. Bailey told the commissioners that Docket Item 8 was a request from the planning staff to revise the AR-2 minimum parcel size, which is a 10 acre/dwelling unit maximum density, and is more commonly called...
DAYTON—The Columbia County Public Transportation Board of Commissioners has placed General Manager Dwight Robanske on paid administrative leave without giving any explanation as to what is being investigated, or why. County Commissioner Mike Talbott said that an investigation will begin this week when attorneys from the state risk pool are brought up to date on the issue. “We don’t know anything, and we’re not going to know anything, until they make their decision,” said Talbott. Meanwhile the CCPT staff will cover duties normally performed...
