Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 34
Columbia County's second largest employer and third-highest taxpayer began an orderly shutdown of its wheat-straw pulp mill on Sunday, March 29, and completed the suspension of operations on Tuesday, March 31. Although classified as a critical manufacturing facility according to Gov. Inslee's Stay Safe, Stay Home declaration, the Board of Managers decided to layoff 93 salaried and hourly workers, retaining only eight employees. "This action was taken to protect employees and their families and... Full story
"This year's Celebration Days weekend of 'family friendly' fun events are cancelled due to Washington State health concerns about COVID-19," said Lisa Naylor, President of the Waitsburg Celebration Days Committee. The board met last Wednesday, April 1st, utilizing Zoom and phone conference calls. During the meeting, board members discussed the impact of COVID-19 in Walla Walla and surrounding counties, with some members of the board weighing in with their personal concerns about potentially... Full story
WAITSBURG—Preliminary election results for Waitsburg’s mayor and city councilmembers were tallied Monday. With a total of 318 votes cast, voters will return Kevin House and Jim Romine to the council and adds Karen Gregutt, Karl Newell and David Paxton as new councilmembers. The election will be certified on April 15 at the next Waitsburg City Council meeting. The meeting will be conducted remotely via conference call. Interested community members who would like to listen in on the meeting should contact Waitsburg City hall for call inf... Full story
This weekend Ten Ton Coffee gave out 85 free bag lunches and raised over $500 for the Waitsburg Resource Center food bank! They give much love and thanks to their thoughtful community for helping people in need during this time of crisis.... Full story
The Board of Commissioners (BOC) for Waitsburg’s volunteer fire department, Columbia Walla Walla County Fire District #2, is advertising for the first paid Fire Chief position in the department’s history. The BOC is seeking a part time fire chief for the volunteer fire department. They are looking for an individual with a strong Emergency Medical Services background to serve the fire district which covers parts of both Walla Walla and Columbia County. The board hopes the new chief will be an effective leader to the department and com... Full story
WALLA WALLA—The Walla Walla Board of County Commissioners will release information about a possible extension of the due date for payment of property taxes. The current due is April 30, 2020. In a press release, the commissioners note language in the state law, that “During a state of emergency declared under RCW 43.06.020(12), the county treasurer, on his or her own motion or at the request of any taxpayer affected by the emergency, may grant extensions of the due date of any taxes payable under this section as the treasurer deems pro... Full story
OLYMPIA—Gov. Jay Inslee announced a month-long extension of his 'Stay Home, Stay Healthy' emergency order on Thursday, April 2. The order, which banned all gatherings and temporarily shuttered non-essential businesses, will continue through May 4. “Epidemiological modeling from the University of Washington predicts we will have at least 1,400 deaths this year,” Inslee said. “We are yet to see the full toll of this virus in our state and the modeling we’ve seen could be much worse if we don’t continue what we’re doing to slow the spread.” Publ... Full story
OLYMPIA—Governor Inslee has taken action to allow the Department of Licensing (DOL) to temporarily extend the expiration dates of driver licenses. If your driver’s license is set to expire in the next 90 days (April 3 through July 3), the DOL will send you a letter confirming your expiration date has been extended. You will not receive a new card, however, the new expiration date will be updated on your driver record and available to law enforcement. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has also granted an extension on com... Full story
WALLA WALLA— In order to provide better service to customers, the City of Walla Walla is adjusting the availability of the Sudbury Landfill to the public. The goal is to maintain a balance between these factors: The state of Washington’s COVID-19 restrictions on business operations Service to local residents The health and safety of Landfill operators and customers Effective immediately, landfill access for essential businesses and local and state government entities will be available between 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thu... Full story
DAYTON—To respond to the economic impacts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Columbia County encourages property owners to pay property taxes as early in April as possible, to help fund vital services needed now, and in the months to come. Annual property tax collection is split into two payments, with due dates at the end of April and October. The due date for the first half of property taxes remains April 30 for tax parcels in Columbia County. According to County Treasurer Carla Rowe, property taxes fund essential services in state and l... Full story
When Governor Jay Inslee delivered his 'Stay Home, Stay Healthy' declaration on March 13 announcing the closure of all public and private K-12 schools in Washington state, school leaders across the state were suddenly confronted with the problem of providing distance education to their varied students. Waitsburg Superintendent, and elementary school principal Mark Pickel reacted quickly, calling a stand-up meeting of all staff that afternoon. His elementary staff spent the upcoming weekend preparing “binders, packets and folders for six w... Full story
On Monday, April 6, Governor Jay Inslee extended Mid-March’s school closure directive to close all public and private K–12 schools throughout the remainder of the 2019–20 school year. Waitsburg School Superintendent Mark Pickel checked in after the announcement and noted that he will continue working with his colleagues at Educational Service District 123, as well as the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to strategize best practices for distance learning. Pickel and Secondary Principal Stephanie Wooderchak have plans to meet... Full story
Meals will be delivered by school bus to the following locations: (Times are approximate) Bus #1 11:00 a.m. – Valley View Court 11:30 a.m. – Country Village 12:00 p.m. – Cameron Court Bus #2 11:00 a.m. – 1st Street/Richmond Ave 11:20 a.m. – 4th Street/Dayton Ave 11:25 a.m. – Knoblock Apartments 12:00 p.m. – 4th Street (Adventist Church Parking Lot) Meals will also be available for pickup at the Dayton Elementary Multipurpose Room at 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, please contact the administration office at (50... Full story
WAITSBURG—Pick up times and locations for Waitsburg students are as follows: 202 Harmon St. 9 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. 705 Maple St. 9:20 a.m. - 9:35 a.m. Whiskey Canyon Parking Lot 9:40 a.m. - 9:55 a.m. High School Parking Lot 10 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. 900 Caroline St 10:20 a.m. -10:35 a.m. Preston Hall Parking Lot 10:40 a.m.-10:55 a.m Catholic Church Parking Lot 11 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Waitsburg Grocery Parking Lot 11:20 a.m.-11:35 a.m.... Full story
A huge thank you for the fella who saw me trying to balance a large box, purse, and mail to go into the post office. He stepped right up and, with permission, took the box in and placed it on the counter. It made my day.... Full story
In an email to her Mythical/Moveable Blue Mountain Bluegrass Jam group, facilitator Kate Hockersmith announced the cancellation of the free, weekly, all-ages jam session. However, she has been updating the group’s Facebook page with daily postings from a video series entitled “365 Fiddle Tunes.” She noted the recent additions of three videos by Canadian fiddler Patti Kusturok. She doesn’t plan on posting all 365 of the videos, “but you can sure find them on YouTube, as soon as you view the first one, it’s a great way to be introduced... Full story
Dear Editor: I’m so grateful that in all its understandable focus on the COVID-19 virus, Congress did not lose sight of the need to improve care and support for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia. Approximately 5% of the more than five million Americans living today with Alzheimer’s have younger onset. Until now, these folks have been ineligible to receive vital Older Americans Act help like nutritional programs, in-home services, transportation, legal services, elder-abuse prevention and caregiver support. I lost my mother way too s... Full story
WALLA WALLA—The Blue Valley region is fortunate to have an option for an additional temporary inpatient hospital should there be a surge in hospitalizations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Providence St. Mary Medical Center has been working 12-hour days for the past three weeks to prepare the former Walla Walla General Hospital building at 1025 S. Second Ave. in Walla Walla to receive patients. The temporary hospital is located at the Providence Southgate Medical Park and will be an extension o... Full story
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommend that people wear cloth face coverings when they are in public settings where they may not be able to maintain six feet of distance from others. This might include trips to the grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store, health clinic or similar places of significant community-based transmission. This is not a mandate that you must wear a face covering. It is considered an... Full story
Columbia County Public Transportation is accepting homemade cloth face masks at their office at 507 W. Cameron St. in Dayton. Columbia County Emergency Management Director Ashley Strickland said the masks must be made according to CDC guidelines. CCPT will wash them, sort them, and distribute them. To obtain, or deliver homemade masks visit the CCPT office, or call them at (509) 382-1647. More information can be found on the Emergency Management Facebook page at: Columbia County E-911 and... Full story
DAYTON-The Blue Mountain Artists Guild has been adorning Dayton's public spaces with their artistic endeavors every month, since the Guild was started by local artist Vivian Eslick McCauley, in 2008. This is how it works: The artists paint according to monthly themes, which are selected for the entire year, usually in November. The current month's theme is hung in the Delany Building, during the Guild's regular business meeting, which takes place on the last Tuesday of each month. The prior mont... Full story
DAYTON—Dayton Historic Depot Manager Tamara Fritze is busy with important behind the scenes museum work, pending museum reopening on May 4. She said work continues on inventory of the museum’s entire collection of artifacts. Fritze said thorough historical research must be completed and a written description of all that is known about the artifact will be included in their database. “This helps us create interesting exhibits and helps us provide answers to our visitors’ questions,” Fritze sa... Full story
My household is extremely lucky in that it hasn’t felt much of an economic impact from this whole mess. My mom is teleworking overtime, my brother’s job at a ski shop wasn’t going to be netting him very many hours in April under the best of circumstances, and I’m still an unemployed bum. But I know that many workers—indeed, industries—haven’t been as fortunate. To my readers who have taken an economic hit from COVID-19, know that you are in my thoughts and prayers, and please don’t hesitate to g... Full story
We finally finished unpacking all of Daniel's books (all 30 boxes of them), and his totes full of kitchen equipment, including a vast amount and variety of spices and a treasure trove of chemicals. The majority of the bottles, packages and tools are foreign to me. He looked at me with his usual one eyebrow raised show of disdain as I rolled my eyes at the jars and packets we were moving into the pantry. But I admit, I'm becoming a believer. He has become extraordinarily accomplished in the... Full story
I've concluded that there are really just two types of dogs - those who like playing with balls, and those who do not. From the first day we spent together, me tossing and Cookie chasing a ball across an empty infield in a deserted park, it was clear that she was a ball dog. Up until then my only ball dog experience was with a big-boned mutt that lived a couple doors up from our home on Palm Avenue in West Seattle. The short and narrow street sloped downhill from there, ending in a small park... Full story
