Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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This much green is a hopeful sign. Spring is here!...
WALLA WALLA-Providence Medical Group is now offering drive-through screening and testing at Urgent Care for people with symptoms of COVID-19. The Fast Track Clinic is located at the white tent on the north side of Urgent Care, 1025 S. Second Ave. in Walla Walla. The drive-through is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. The Fast Track Clinic allows people to be rapidly screened and, if appropriate, tested without leaving their cars. They also receive COVID-19 information and directions for...
DAYTON—At the Columbia County Health System board meeting last week, CEO Shane McGuire shared his concerns about financial stability, emergency preparedness, and possible impact on patients and health system staff, in light of the potential for a serious local outbreak of COVID-19. McGuire said, “We have stopped all non-essential visits in physical therapy, imaging, and the clinics. This volume generates about half of our monthly revenue. . .This is happening at the same time that we are spe...
Along with many annual fundraisers that help our local non-profit organizations, The American Legion Post #42’s Spring Bingo scheduled for April 25 has been canceled. No future date has been set....
On March 23rd I fell out of my Wheelchair at the corner of 6th & Main. A woman stopped, then Jim Lynch stopped, and together they got me in the wheelchair. Before I could turn to thank the woman, she had gotten back in her car and left. So I would like to thank these two, it was nice of you. THANK YOU Jim Wills...
DAYTON—Dayton Mercantile can now process phone orders for groceries and CCPT will deliver the orders to residences. CCPT will also deliver meals to the Starbuck Senior Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays, along with grocery orders to residences. Volunteers are needed to act as intermediaries. Call CCPT at: (509) 382-1647 to volunteer, or for more information. Contact the Dayton Mercantile at: (509) 382-2563....
In Walt Gobel’s obituary last week, his birthdate was erroneously listed as May 12, 1944. Walt was born on February 20, 1944....
WALLA WALLA—The Blue Mountain Community Foundation has created a COVID-19 Response Fund and is organizing an advisory committee so that charitable resources can be directed to nonprofit organizations assisting people affected by the COVID-19 virus pandemic in the Walla Walla Valley. Other local philanthropies are creating funds either on their own, or in partnership with BMCF. The Sherwood Trust, a privately held Trust in Walla Walla, Wash., made a $10,000 grant to BMCF’s fund, and an anonymous donor gave $5000 to the Fund in addition to the...
OLYMPIA—The Department of Licensing (DOL) is temporarily closing all driver licensing lobbies beginning March 31, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. All appointments are being cancelled at this time and no appointments will be made going forward. “The safety and health of both employees and customers is paramount. Sanitation products continue to be difficult to purchase and ensuring appropriate social distancing during in person transactions is difficult” said Teresa Berntsen, Director of the Department of Licensing. “We appreciate patienc...
WAITSBURG-Waitsburg residents are refusing to let the quarantine boredom get the best of them. Over the weekend, a few community members issued community-wide challenges, finding creative ways to encourage social-distancing approved exercise. Matthew and Krystal Wyatt went live on Facebook last week and challenged the community to use sidewalk chalk and decorate the areas in front of their house with encouraging messages. If you don't have a sidewalk, a driveway would do just fine! When the...
DAYTON—On Monday, March 30, XO Alambic, the Dayton distillery announced the immediate start of production of ethanol-based, anti-viral hand sanitizer, CovidEx AV. Friday, March 27 was the distillery’s last day of regular whisky and brandy production and the company has adapted its production schedule to answer the local need. Last week, the Columbia County Emergency Management Director, Ashley Strickland, asked XO Alambic owner and distiller, Rusty Figgins, if he would consider making ethanol-ba...
WAITSBURG-Electric and hybrid cars continue to grow in popularity. The City of Waitsburg recently embraced this growth, and in early February, City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe oversaw the installation of a public-access electric vehicle (EV) charging station at the city shop. "My goal was to give people traveling through the city another reason to stop," said Hinchliffe. "With more and more electric cars on the road, I thought a charging station between the Tri-Cities and Clarkston was a...
Governor Jay Inslee’s statewide order to close all nonessential businesses by March 25, unless the employees can work from home, leaves many Washingtonians asking what qualifies as an “essential” business and whether or not they need to go to work while the order is in effect. People who qualify as essential workers include those working in the following sectors: •Healthcare •Emergency services •Food and agriculture •Energy •Water and wastewater •Transportation and logistics •Other community-based government operations and essential functions...
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the Walla Walla Valley. This means for most of us doing things very differently in the weeks ahead. Those fortunate to have work they can do from home are doing it. Those of us with reliable broadband and a smart phone are learning new technologies to stay connected to people we work with and care about. These are trying times for us all. For those in our Valley in need, the COVID-19 pandemic is especially troubling, both in terms of accessing necessary services and in taking those precautions that mini...
To the Editor: When I announced my candidacy in January for position 1, Washington State House of Representative – Legislative District #16, I imagined discussions on neighbors’ doorsteps and forums with engaged citizens. I imagined listening, learning, agreeing and agreeing to disagree. However, the word pandemic did not come to mind, yet here we are. According to the 4 county health departments that make up LD#16, each have confirmed cases of COVID 19 and sadly, 4 people have died in Benton county. My campaign plan and strategy required a s...
To the residents of Walla Walla County: Due to the restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, you, your friends, or your family members might be out of work, missing personal contact, favorite activities, or living and working in extra-stressful conditions. As officials elected to serve the residents of this county, we’d like to thank everyone who is helping to keep our Valley safe and working to maintain a sense of normalcy during this crisis. Everyone has a part to play, including health care workers, first responders a...
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg City Elections are scheduled to be held on April 6, 2020. The City Council has three seats open, after council members K.C Kuykendall, Kate Hockersmith, and Terry Jacoy decided not to run for re-election this year. Karen Gregutt is on the ballot for a return seat on the City Council. She hopes that by contributing her professional experience, she will bring fresh ideas to Waitsburg and its citizens. Gregutt's career includes 30 years as the managing partner at Kaye-Smith...
Since the statewide directive to shelter-at-home, the streets of Waitsburg have become eerily quiet. The Times has received information that the streets may not be as empty as they seem. Several anonymous sources have sent photos of encounters with what appear to be beasts who walk upright on oversized feet. Could these springtime sightings be proof there are hatchling Sasquatch in our area?...
DAYTON-Shellie McLeod brings her experience as an innkeeper to her new job as Events and Membership Coordinator for the Dayton Historic Depot Museum and the Boldman House Museum. She said she worked at the Weinhard Hotel for Dan and Ginny Butler for ten years, before she and her husband, Gary, bought the hotel from the Butlers in 2008. "As an innkeeper I organized events for our guests such as Murder Mystery Weekends, private retreats for clubs and organizations, as well as weddings, memorials,...
April 2: Dan Butler, Bill Butler, Kay Hawks, Sandra Nogle, Dawn Hinchliffe, Cassandra Leid, Jacob Smith and Bonnie Jones. April 3: Donna Knotts, Deanna Huffman Tipton, Terry McCoy and Mary Beth Reese. April 4: Tanner Patton, Carly Mary Jean Pearson, Dan Hofer, Jack Murphy, and Tarah McCaw. April 5: David Smith, Ray Jeremiah, Frank Williams, Frances Allion, Susan Syferd, Jessica Meier and Rob Fry. April 6: Dane Kiefel. April 7: Griffen Hinchliffe, J. W. Clayton, Carla Gritman and Jo Polumsky. April 8: Rita Green, Harlan Hulce, Lori Holmes,...
DAYTON-What does it mean to be the new Boldman House Museum manager in a museum that is closed through May 1 because of the concerns around the novel coronavirus? Amy Rosenberg is now conducting virtual live tours of the museum on Facebook, every Saturday at 2 p.m. "I'll be exploring different areas of the house and the collection every week," Rosenberg said. "There's so much to see, I'm sure I have months of content." Rosenberg has been a museum volunteer for the past couple of years and is...
While continuing to shelter at home, we have tried to be productive; working, unpacking and organizing the homestead. We have been working in the yard, dragging flagstone, bricks and cinderblocks from scattered locations to one area. Now when I look at the Northeast side of our backyard it looks like a mason resides here. We have also been unpacking Daniel’s boxes, mostly cookbooks, (30 boxes to be exact). It’s difficult to unpack the books and not look at the titles since I am a cookbook fan, and it certainly beats looking at my ret...
Some wannabe philosopher on the internet – the quarantine seems to be bringing them out of the woodwork in droves – recently commented that all this isolation is forcing people to face their true selves and some folks aren’t handling the introduction very well. I’d beg to differ. In the nearly three weeks I’ve spent hunkered down, the only thing I’ve learned about myself is that my bangs don’t fluff up overnight if I brush them out before bed. Granted, I was a fairly solitary person before...
The first book I ever read cover to cover was Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, and now, many decades later, it remains the best book I ever read. I mention this because the special relationship between Christopher Robin, and Edward Bear, aka Winnie the Pooh, is very much like the relationship I enjoy with my dog Cookie. Like Pooh, who adored honey, Cookie has a nose for good food, especially bacon, but also whatever happens to be cooking at the moment in the kitchen. And much like Pooh, Cookie...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Waitsburg Resource Center (Food Bank), is working to ensure that their volunteers and neighbors (clients) are all safe. As a result, they are currently open on Thursday afternoon from 2-4 p.m. Items are pre-bagged now, and the Resource Center will not be observing weight restrictions based on the number of people in each family group at this time. Neighbors will not be allowed in the building for self-selecting items. Neighbors are asked to wait outside on the s...
