Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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If you look closely while driving along Highway 12, just outside of Walla Walla, you may catch a glimpse of the red fox family that has made their den in the middle of a wheat field. Rumor has it that there are as many as three kits in the den this spring....
WAITSBURG—The warm spring sunshine is out, but it isn’t safe to put the face masks away just yet. Vaccination eligibility is expanding, however, bringing us closer to a mask-free future. In Walla Walla County, Group 1B, Tier 1, which includes all people 65 years or older, all people 50 years or older who live in multigenerational households, educators and staff for pre-k through 12th grades, and all childcare providers, is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccinations. Also eligible at this time in...
DAYTON—Columbia County Treasurer Carla Rowe believes the duty of the treasurer’s office is to collect taxes, not to make judgments on who is, or who is not, qualified for delinquent tax deferrals. That is what she says she will be required to do if one of two pieces of Washington state legislation, dealing with the state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus, pass into law. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1332 suspends interest and penalties during a state of emergency declared under RCW...
DAYTON—The Coalition for Youth and Family, a Columbia County-based substance abuse prevention and mental health advocacy group, invites the public to join the virtual Hidden in Plain Sight event on April 21, at 6 p.m. Hidden in Plain Sight is an educational experience that walks you through a typical teenage bedroom. The inside of the bedroom is set up with drug paraphernalia “Hidden in Plain Sight.” This is an interactive display/program that offers adults some insight into current trends in youth substance abuse, drug paraphernalia, conce...
WAITSBURG—Trapshooting is back at the Frank Bramlett Range in Waitsburg. Stop by on Sunday afternoons, starting at 2:00 p.m, and test your skills breaking clays! April 17, the Waitsburg Gun Club will host Duo Day. Come shoot either your 22 long rifle or shotgun! Top shots will win a Cabela’s Gift Card ($100, $50, and $25), all will leave with pork sausage thanks to Blue Valley Meats! Range opens at 8 – Fun starts at 9!...
WALLA WALLA—Gesa Power House Theatre presents a screening of the award-winning documentary film The Falconer on Friday, April 9 at 7:00 PM with an encore screening on Wednesday, April 14 at 7:00 PM. Each screening will be followed by an exclusive pre-recorded conversation between Director of Film Programming Warren Etheredge and filmmaker Annie Kaempfer. This intimate filmed portrait follows master falconer Rodney Stotts on his mission to build a bird sanctuary and provide access to nature for his stressed community. The Falconer weaves R...
As it goes in a small town, The Times staff, friends and contributors have become a family and we lost a valued member on Easter Sunday. With great sadness, we share news of the passing of Norma Jo Shay, affectionately known as Grandma Jo. Jo was known far and wide as the mandolin strumming frontwoman for the band, Grandma & the Boys, where she, late son Shawn Wray and friend Joe McCutcheon played bluegrass, old-time country, and gospel songs locally and on tour. Jo's love for music was...
If you want to travel to simpler times, all you have to do is pop Grandma & the Boys’ Old Time Gospel into the CD player. A true testament to the bluegrass genre, this locally produced album features the voices of the late Grandma Jo Shay, the late Shawn Wray, and Joe McCutcheon, with lively mandolin and smooth acoustic bass. Though I was late in finding this album, Grandma Jo’s version of “Amazing Grace” is, without a doubt, one of my new favorites. I never had the privilege of meeting her, bu...
When I first landed in Dayton in 2012, I didn’t know anybody and wasn’t sure how I was going to find out anything about my new community. I got my first insight into the community through reading a copy of Ken Graham’s news magazine, Blue Mountain News. I want to thank Ken for that and for hiring me at The Times in 2015 to be the Dayton reporter. That put me on a fast track to knowing Dayton and being embedded in the community. I have had the good fortune to cover some pretty big stories for C...
WALLA WALLA—A free screening for skin cancer will be May 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Providence St. Mary Regional Cancer Center. Registration begins on April 12. The screening is a cooperative event offered by the Cancer Center and the Walla Walla Clinic Dermatology Department. Dr. David Panther and physician assistant Ken Busby perform the screenings. All individuals entering the center are required to wear masks covering both their nose and mouth and pass a brief screening for COVID-19 at the d...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg Gun Club will be hosting two Range Safety Officer training sessions in April. Range Safety Officers oversee the safety of gun ranges and events, and help educate individuals when it comes to firearm safety. The first training session will be April 22, from 5 p.m- 9:30 p.m, and the second training will be on April 24, starting at 9:00 a.m. To register, visit www.nrainstructors.org....
March 29 Abandoned vehicle reported at Gaines Quarry. Eager Road Citizen contact at Dayton High School. 3rd Street Suspicious activity reported. Bruce Street March 30 Abandoned vehicle reported at Starbuck Post Office. Main Street Threats. 3rd Street Welfare check. Cottonwood Street March 31 9-1-1 Call. Starbuck Welfare check at Homestreet Bank. Main Street Non-injury accident reported. Clay Street April 1 Disturbance reported at the football field/ track. Cottonwood Street Harassment reported at Dayton City Park. 1st Street 9-1-1 call....
March 29 A road sign was damaged. Walla Walla County April 1 Physical domestic assault. Walla Walla County April 2 Female arrested for DWLS 3rd. Walla Walla April 4 A violation of a court order was reported. Walla Walla County Warrant arrest. Walla Walla County DUI arrest. Walla Walla April 5 Suspect driver hit a vehicle and left the scene. Walla Walla County...
The lion of early spring has roared, and shops are embracing the relaxed pandemic-related restrictions as they shake off the winter blues. As shoppers, we have gotten used to wearing face masks and the smell of hand sanitizer, and before we know it, we will be used to packing reusable shopping bags with us. According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington shoppers use two billion single-use plastic bags each year. Most bags go in the trash once people get home and put their...
DAYTON-Work to remove sediment from the Touchet River, in the area of the Hwy. 12 and railroad bridges and the confluence of the Patit Creek, is on hold until the Columbia County Flood Control Zone District receives a cultural resource review permit from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Flood Control Zone District (FCZD) Administrator Charles Eaton told the FCZD board of supervisors that he hopes to have the permit in hand this week so work can begin in the next few...
Well, it's April, and I'm still rather behind on the gardening chores. No news, I suppose. Every year I print off a 12-month calendar from the web to keep track of the garden chores and notable occurrences in the garden and around the farm. Maybe it's the biologist in me coupled with a poor memory that makes the garden calendar so useful. To date, I'm working on year five of the calendar, and it's a surprisingly helpful reference tool. I often use the previous years' calendars to remind me what...
DAYTON--Kelley Wolther, of Wolther Family Farm, has leased the garden at the Blue Mountain Station from the Port of Columbia. The Wolther family has been selling produce from the farm garden, on the South Touchet River, for the past few years, and they were looking to expand. "This was a good opportunity," she said. Wolther plans to sell fruit and vegetables, and she will have eggs for sale at the Co-op in about a month. She is also planning to offer $20 farm to fridge produce baskets with...
It's been a while since many of us have heard from the Frog Hollow Band, a local music group composed of five men from Walla Walla and Waitsburg who are friends to many of us. Knowing how frustrating it has been to be a performer without gigs during the last year, I called up my friend Brian Richards, drummer for Frog Hollow, to check in with the local Alternative Country-Rock group whose music we've enjoyed for years. "We're still here!" Richards said. He says the group has been collecting...
After defeating UCLA in dramatic fashion in overtime to win 93-90, the #1 seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs advanced to the championship game against #1 seeded Baylor Bears. For Gonzaga, it was a chance to be the first undefeated basketball team since Indiana in forty-five years. For Baylor, it was the team’s first finals appearances in team history. Baylor won the jump ball, and on their opening possession, Mark Vital missed his first two shots but grabbed the offensive rebound on both before Davion Mitchell hit a jump shot for the first points of the g...
WAITSBURG—The Dayton-Waitsburg Wolfpack ended the spring season 3-3. The Wolfpack traveled to White Swan High School and picked up a 40-12 victory on the short turnaround week. Monte Pettichord started the game off throwing 6-8 for four touchdowns (TD) and 206 yards in the first half. Pettichord and the Wolfpack receivers, especially the three senior starters Evans, Finney, and VanBlaricom, charged into a fast start and allowed DW a head start at halftime, up 32-6. From that first TD on the Wolfpack, the defense held White Swan in check, as t...
The Dayton-Waitsburg Wolfpack is a part of the Eastern Washington Athletics Conference 2B league. The league announced its athlete selection on April 5. Football EWAC 2B Football All-League Offense. 1st Team - Shawn Evans, Receiver 1st Team - Theo Anderson, Offensive Line 2nd Team - Monte Pettichord, QB Honorable Mention - Colton VanBlaricom, Receiver Honorable Mention - Mason Finney, Receiver EWAC 2B Football All-League Defense. 2nd Team - Theo Anderson, DL 2nd Team - Adam Pucket, DL 2nd Team - Mason Finney, Linebacker 2nd Team - Colton...
With vaccinations in full force, we appear to be in the last stretch of the painful COVID-19 era. It has been just over a year since we began gradually shutting down and going into relative hibernation. This week, we will pass the anniversary of one of COVID’s first household-name victims. John Prine, the legendary country and folk singer-songwriter, left us on April 7th of last year, passing away from complications due to the rapidly spreading virus. As we approach the anniversary of his d...
Dayton-The Blue Mountain Artists Guild Gallery Shows are now open to the public. This marks one year since the Guild went to virtual gallery exhibitions in Dayton, Washington. The guild has been working in isolation since pandemic restrictions were imposed early last year. Now that local exhibition venues are back open, artwork can be seen and experienced in person at four locations around Dayton and online via the virtual gallery videos. The members voted unanimously to continue with the...
Ten Years Ago April 7, 2011 The Walla Walla Union Bulletin and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce will offer a free Facebook Seminar on Monday, April 11, at 6 p.m. at the Dayton Library in the Delaney Room. Social media coordinator Jeremy Gonzalez will show guests how and why using social media like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to grow their businesses. Twenty-Five Years Ago April 11, 1996 The annual Junior Livestock Show in Waitsburg April 5-6 was a success, sponsors report. Participants included Millie the bulldog who put on her game face for...
Over the years, certain spices have become such well-loved staples in my kitchen that I have learned to make great use of buying in bulk. Housed in neatly labeled mason jars, and taking up several shelves, my collection reflects several millennia of global spice trade. Among my favorites is paprika, whose bright red color and sweet warm spice, adds a distinctive flavor to popular dishes from many cultures. Originating in central Mexico, the peppers used to make paprika made their way to Spain...
