Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 29
DAYTON—The Board of County Commissioners on Monday announced the discontinuation of non-contracted services to the City of Dayton in the areas of Emergency Management and Dispatch and Law Enforcement for non-criminal and non-emergency calls. Non-contracted services include calls such as dog bites, abandoned vehicles, and city code violations. The reason the County gives for the discontinuance is due to unresolved contract negotiations with the City. The County claims fees to the city have not b...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County’s application for entry into Phase 3 appears to be in jeopardy (see story, page 5) due to Monday’s announcement from health officials that twelve additional COVID-19 cases were reported since Friday, June 19th’s total. As of Tuesday, June 23, the county has 29 active cases all of whom are under home isolation. The county has had three deaths from the virus to date. City of Walla Walla Development Services Director Elizabeth Chamberlain speaking as Liaison for Unified Command, remarked in a video shared to Faceboo...
DAYTON—The Columbia County Public Health Department has reported nine positive cases of COVID-19, stemming from the same household. None of the nine people are over 60 years of age, but one of them has been hospitalized. Of the nine cases, two live in Benton County, where they are being managed by the Benton Franklin Public Health Department, according to Martha Lanman, the County Public Health Director. There was an increase of testing by Columbia County Public Health staff after a man v...
OLYMPIA—In a media update on Tuesday, June 23, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that facial coverings will be mandatory statewide, in all public places and will take effect this Friday, June 26. Inslee added that a willful violation of this order is a misdemeanor. Inslee noted Washington State’s recent rise in COVID-19 cases, particularly in Eastern Washington, as prompting the directive. Inslee stressed using common sense regarding this mandate, noting that what type of mask you wear is up to you, and that you do not need to wear one when you are...
WALLA WALLA—In a move to support local healthcare workers during an uncertain, stressful and unpredictable time, Providence St. Mary Foundation has awarded $20,000 in scholarships to locally-employed Providence St. Mary caregivers. Thirteen applicants received awards to help pay for courses and degrees that are relevant to their current role or their professional development. Awardees include: Alanna Dodds, Mariah McQuown, Lorraine Tilstra, Doreen McCulloch, Brooklyn Scott, Sherri Greenwald, Lauren Mason, Amy Johnson, Guy Einig, Ashley L...
WAITSBURG—On Wednesday, June 17th the Waitsburg Lions Club Salmon BBQ committee met and determined the fate of the annual event for 2020. Originally scheduled for September 19th, the committee decided to cancel due to the uncertainties concerning large public events during the Coronavirus pandemic. The second of the Lion’s Club’s two annual fundraisers, the Salmon BBQ’s cancellation follows the cancellation of the Club’s Rib Feed, which was to be held on March 20. Ross Haman, the Club’s outgoing president said the Salmon BBQ typically r...
WAITSBURG—Pastor Stan Hughes of Waitsburg’s Presbyterian Church announced that the church will welcome congregants back for worship in their sanctuary on Sunday, June 28 at 10 a.m. Pastor Hughes met with the Session of Elders last week where the decision was made to begin meeting again in person. “We will be ready to greet you in a safe and sanitary church building, with plenty of hand sanitizer, and the explicit reminder to maintain safe social distancing,” said Pastor Hughes. “Some of you may still be cautious about church gatherings. We unde...
WALLA WALLA—Nonprofit organizations addressing food and hunger, housing and homelessness, health and mental health, and child and youth programs will be the focus for the Blue Mountain Community Foundation’s (BMCF) general operating discretionary grants in 2020. The online application opens July 1 at www.bluemountainfoundation.org. BMCF will consider applications as they are received on a rolling basis. The goal is to award the initial grants in early August 2020. Eligible applicants are tax-exempt 501(c)3 charitable organizations and pub...
PRESCOTT-Prescott Pool Manager Kyra Hartley is a highly experienced lifeguard and swimming instructor and she recently stepped into the role of Pool Manager at the Prescott Pool. A double major in business administration and psychology at the University of Puget Sound, she may need skills in both areas to manage the changeable situation for outdoor recreation this summer. Hartley took steps this spring to get her lifeguards Red Cross re-certified by working with Walla Walla YMCA's Director of...
DAYTON—The Board of Columbia County Commissioners has agreed to ask voters for help with funding the Flood Control Zone District (FCZD), again, this year. Proposition 1, asking voters to approve a permanent general excess levy of $0.10 per $1,000 of assessed value to help fund the Flood Control Zone District, will go before voters again in the November General Election. If passed, the levy will generate an estimated $100,000 each year to be used by the FCZD for grant matches and a program that will include a sandbag program for public use. Floo...
Pat Largent joins the ranks of the nonagenarian, a fancy word for 90, this month. Where the chronological age of 65 is in our culture is considered a senior citizen and 70 plus is considered by some accounts elderly, I am supposing Pat would be considered 'elderly.' As I recently watched Pat, with her cane, stepping down the sidewalk in Waitsburg I began to recall times with Pat over the years. This amazing woman is someone for whom the word elderly just doesn't seem appropriate. Although...
Sixteen weeks into this pandemic and I’ll admit, I’ve grown a little weary of the mask debate. Excuse me, cloth face-covering discussion. It seems endless, and redundant, and far too enmeshed in emotions and political parties. It’s exhausting! Do I choose to go to the trouble of sewing my own, having someone else make one for me, or buy some to wear when I go out and about these days? Do I always remember to have it on my person when I stop into a grocery store or pick up some takeout? Do I wear one at the home of friends? While seated at an...
Dear Editor: Down through the ages whether in chains or cuffs character has been more important than color. Guilt from defying authority brings on bad consequences and defines character. In spite of being either free or prisoner the issue is not color. We need to get our priorities straight by the Book or we get what we deserve. Sometimes it’s death though not always. Seventy years ago, at age 27, I was headed for Hell. Grace was offered to me and I accepted it. I am here to tell you to choose Grace and respect authority. Grace has no color b...
Dear Editor: Now is the time to make a big effort to rebuild our community by shopping small. Waitsburg has 600 households. If every household, every month spent $20 less out of town or on line and spent that $20 with our local hometown merchants, it would amount to $12000.00 in additional monies spent in Waitsburg, additional sales tax for our city services, and an opportunity to meet our neighbors. Every dollar spent locally, circulates locally 7 times. When you buy from your local small business neighbor, that proprietor pays her rent, city...
Dear Editor, I would like to respond to the letter sent to the editor a few weeks ago regarding face masks. I believe the writer is mistaken as to the efficacy of the masks. Community spread has increased, mostly as a result of relaxed “stay at home” orders and more public interaction. The more I read about the spread and the recent uptick in cases, the more I am convinced that masks in public places, although not a panacea, are useful in slowing down the spread of COVID-19. The reason masks were not recommended at the start of the pan...
WALLA WALLA— Walla Walla County Commissioners decided at a special meeting on Thursday, June 18 to apply for a modified Phase 3 of Governor Inslee’s Safe Start plan. Phase 3 of the state’s plan allows outdoor recreational gatherings to be limited to 50 or fewer people, the county’s application modifies that to 25 or fewer people. Travel in Phase 3 would allow all non-essential travel to resume, Walla Walla County is requesting a modification to allow essential travel and limited non-essential travel for Phase 1, 2, or 3 permissible activit...
This week we lost a true friend who loved Waitsburg. Denise Edwards was described as a wonderful lady and a scooter riding, defender of all animals and children. We will miss seeing Denise at the Waitsburg Grocery in the mornings and later in the evenings chatting and laughing with her friends in front of the hardware store. Friends are planning a celebration of Denise's life to be held at Preston Park. Date and time to be announced....
When I spoke to the congregation as we went into Phase 2 in Walla Walla County, I said that we have been praying heavily over the direction of the church, when to reopen the building, and that it may feel that we are slower moving than other churches in our area. This past week has been a mixture of emotions as the leadership of the church has continued to pray and ask God for answers. On Wednesday night we prayed over a June 28th opening for an outside service. That night was a night of restless sleep as I realized that I was rushing God’s tim...
May 26 Officers were dispatched to hit and run collision which had previously occurred at the Touchet Chevron gas station. June 15 Adult male reported his dog was shot at an address in the 400 block of Valley Drive. The person who shot the dog stated he shot the dog as it was on their property attacking their livestock. Burbank, WA. June 16 An individual reported theft of tools from construction site at the 800 block of Abbott Road, Walla Walla County. A report of burglary and malicious mischief was reported at an address on Lake Road in...
Skills and experience gained along with bonds of friendship WALLA WALLA-A Walla Walla native and WA-HI graduate, Jenna Watts was just finishing up a nine-week traveling nurse stint at Harlem Hospital in New York City when she and I spoke a week ago. "New York has a special place in my heart, my dad lives here, and I spent all of my summer's here growing up," she said. The coronavirus crisis and Governor Cuomo's appeals for doctors and nurses to help, resonated with her. In early April, The New...
LEWISTON, Ida.-In our family, saying 'Idaho is a world of its own' is a long-running joke. My sister moved to Lewiston almost four years ago and last weekend she got married at Hell's Gate State Park. We never knew how much of its own world Idaho was in until we visited the state during a pandemic. Washington has been in a four-phase reopening plan since the end of May with many counties still heavily restricted, Walla Walla County included. Idaho implemented a four-stage reopening plan, called...
WALLA WALLA-The cancellation of the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days was met with both a sigh of relief and a breath of frustration. Youth exhibitors, especially market animal exhibitors, are hopeful an alternative sales opportunity will be found. Raising a market animal is expensive. Hogs, for example, are purchased in early to mid-March as weanlings. From the day the animal arrives, the 4-H or FFA member has to care for and work with their project. FFA and 4-H members must purchase special...
Oops! Happy belated Father’s Day. I apologize, I missed the date. (Senioritus?). The title of this column was probably a fourth-grade assignment, one that I was happy to complete because my Dad was the best! I miss him and Mom, every day. He was adamant that my brother, sister and I stayed in touch with one another. Thanks to Zoom, FaceTime and Houseparty, we see each more often than when we lived in the same state. One of the COVID benefits, we can see and visit with one another without b...
In my daily work as a wine reviewer, I pay particularly close attention to the scents of a wine and the finish of the wine. The better the heads and tails, front and back if you will, the better the wine. And I’ve noticed that there’s an analogy in the dog world. The nose of the dog, and the tail of the dog, gather and relay essential information about the mind of the dog. We’ll look at the tail in a future chronicle. The nose, for most dogs (and I feel really bad for short-nosed pups like...
Any adventurer will, at one point or another in their career, find themselves turning to philosophy. On some precarious mountain peak or vast barren plane or beat-up dorm mattress, the great mysteries of the human experience beset such people like roving predators. “Why,” fretted our own intrepid adventurer, “did the airline reschedule our flight to last for fifteen hours, including two four-hour layovers? And that with an hour’s drive after we land! One would have thought that the scarcit...
