Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 31
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg City Council met Wednesday, June 24 via conference call. All council members were present. The council discussed the six-year transportation plan, local coronavirus relief funds, and other items. The council reviewed the six-year plan as presented to them by city administrator Randy Hinchliffe. The plan, which starts in 2020 and ends in 2026, includes work on Main Street, Bolles Road, and city-wide maintenance. The total expenses over the six-year period is budgeted at j...
DAYTON—Doug Johnson is a man who loves kids and he will be involved with them, in some way, even after he retires at the end of June. Johnson has been in the field of education for over 41 years, teaching history to middle school students, serving as a school principal, and as a school superintendent. For the past year, he has performed a balancing act at the Dayton School District, as school superintendent and principal of the elementary school. Johnson stepped in to fill the vacant e...
Governor Jay Inslee and Secretary of Health John Wiesman announced on Saturday, June 27 that the Washington State Department of Health is putting a pause on counties moving to Phase 4 of the Safe Start recovery plan. Eight counties were eligible to move from Phase 3 to Phase 4 before the pause. “Phase 4 would mean a return to normal activity and we can’t do that now due to the continued rise in cases across the state,” Inslee said. “We all want to get back to doing all the things we love in Washington during the summer, and fully open our eco...
OLYMPIA—The Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Food Assistance program distributed 1.3 million pounds of food and served more than 192,000 clients during the week of June 25. In addition, during the first two weeks of June, WSDA and the state continued its support of the COVID-19 response partnership distributing 168,174 Washington Emergency Food Boxes across the state. The governor’s food security coordination team is looking ahead to address staffing concerns in August as Title 32-funded National Guard deployment winds down....
DAYTON—The Columbia County Rural Library District is moving ahead with summer programing despite the pandemic. Young readers are encouraged to sign up for their new Summer Reading Program, which began on June 15. The program gets a technological spin this summer as readers are encouraged to sign up for a computer application called Beanstack. Touted as the ‘Fitbit for Reading,’ the app lets patrons time reading sessions, log books by scanning their ISBN numbers, keep a log of current and past reading, track daily reading stats, and achie...
The Blue Mountain Resource Conservation and Development Council recently announced that the annual Swim the Snake event has been sidelined due to COVID-19. Organizers said that due to the increase in COVID-19 cases; and the need to mask up in Washington State, the organization cannot get approval to use the Franklin County Lyons Ferry Park for the event. Additionally, KOA Lyons Ferry is limiting access to the marina and camping for August and September; and the Columbia County Sheriff’s River Patrol boat is not available for policing the e...
WALLA WALLA—The City of Walla Walla’s Veterans Memorial Pool opened for lap swimming on Monday, June 29. Patrons must reserve a lap swim lane to enter the facility. Lap lanes are available for 45-minute reservations. The city encourages people to limit the use of the locker rooms, by wearing their swimsuit to the pool, and ask that people leave the facility within 10 minutes of concluding their lap swim reservation. Reservations for a lap swim time are available one week in advance, and reservations go quickly, so be sure to plan ahead. Reg...
CAMP MURRAY, Wash.—As communities across the state experience spikes in the number of positive COVID-19 cases, former U.S. Defense Secretary, and Richland, WA native, Gen. (R) James Mattis is urging Washingtonians to follow physical distancing recommendations and wear face coverings to help slow the spread. “The good news is we’re making progress,” Mattis says in a public service announcement. “And that is good news but we’re not at the end of the road. Make sure we’re wearing the face masks and we keep the social distancing. And let’s not go o...
OLYMPIA—The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) posts a detailed map of current Fire Danger warnings on their site located at https://burnportal.dnr.wa.gov/. In eastern Washington, this new fire danger rating system was implemented in 2019. Instead of basing the fire danger rating by county, it is now based on geographic areas that share similar fuels, climate, and topography in addition to administrative boundaries and is now called Fire Danger Rating Areas (FDRAs). The Lower Basin Fire Danger Rating Area (FDRA) is c...
DAYTON—Andrew Bassler, of Dayton, chose to combine his career and his love of fishing when he took the Education Coordinator position with the Salmon in Schools program. After four years of teaching local students about all-things salmon, he is ready to pass the torch to someone new later this year. “I didn’t really know much when I started,” the avid fly fisherman said. “It was as much a learning opportunity for me as it was for the kids.” Bassler said that serving as the Education Coordinator...
WALLA WALLA—Whitman College and Northwest Archives is creating a digital archive of the Walla Walla community’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. As our community begins to reopen, it is important to reflect on our experiences of the pandemic, including our experiences at work and school, our social and family interactions, and the changes to our routines. The college welcomes submissions in all languages from all members of the Walla Walla and regional communities. In partnership with the Walla Walla Mutual Aid Network and the Soci...
The Fourth of July is right around the corner. Each county and city in the area has its own fireworks ordinances. Are you aware of your local regulations? The City of Walla Walla allows fireworks to be lit within city limits starting at 9 a.m. on July 4 and ending at 12 a.m. on July 5. The City does have a small list of fireworks that are illegal within city limits, including skyrockets, missile-type rockets, firecrackers, jumping jacks, and chaser fireworks. For a complete list of rules and...
Dear Editor: Primary election day is approaching. Early voting begins on July 17th. Danielle Garbe Reser is the Democratic Party candidate for the 16th legislative district senate seat. Her experience, accomplishments, and commitment to working for the common good are unmatched. After graduating from Whitman College, cum laude, Danielle earned a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University on a full-ride scholarship from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the United States State Department. Between 2002-2015, Danielle worked for...
Dear Editor: On behalf of Black Lives Matter Walla Walla, we, the organizers, demand that the Walla Walla Police Department be held to the highest standards as they work to protect our community. We support Black Lives Matter. We take a firm stance against police use of brutality and force, as well as expect transparency and communication from the WWPD. Our demands are separated into two categories; Use of Force, and Representation and Accountability. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but rather a starting point for authentic, tangible...
June 25 Theft of riding lawnmower from 282 Ray Blvd. in Burbank, WA. Reporting party in the 57 block of Farmland Road reported being scammed out of money. Report of three juveniles spray painting graffiti at Bennington Lake. June 26 Deputies responded to a welfare check at an address on Hatch Grade Road, finding the subject deceased. Wallula, WA. Officer was dispatched to a single-vehicle injury DUI collision on Balm Street in Touchet, WA. A theft was reported at an address on McKinney Road, Walla Walla County. June 27 A bike rack was stolen...
WALLA WALLA—At the Walla Walla City Council meeting held on June 24, plans were outlined for three, possibly four, virtual Town Hall meetings. The meetings will be held in July and August to address public concerns over a variety of law enforcement issues. Council members were all in agreement with the need to schedule the meetings “sooner, rather than later,” and opted for the virtual meeting plan due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. The plan came as a response to local protests, rallies, phone calls, and over 1,891 emails received relat...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County’s application to move into a modified Phase 3 of the Safe Start Washington plan has been put on hold. Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman placed Walla Walla County’s application for a modified Phase 3 on pause Tuesday, June 30. Wiesman has requested the County monitor virus activity for an additional week. Walla Walla County Commissioners and the Department of Community Health submitted the application for a modified Phase 3 of the state’s Safe Start plan on June 19. Since that date, thirty-...
Along with the new mandate in Washington state to wear a cloth face covering, fraudulent flyers and wallet cards have been circulating citing exemptions for individuals from the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Washington State Emergency Management Division notes that although there are exemptions these efforts are being used by people as a reason to walk into any business they choose without a mask. The governor’s mask mandate does have exemptions, including people with certain disabil...
Climbing the mountainside, the temperature began to drop with the elevation gain. A welcomed change from the 90-plus degree heat in the Walla Walla Valley. In the truck bed lay my frame pack, stuffed to the gills with my pack tent, sleeping bag, spotting scope, and scant provisions for an overnight in the wilderness. Glassing elk and locating a suitable fall campsite were the main drivers for the trip, yet these were ancillary opportunities. A July wilderness pack trip provides an incredible sen...
DAYTON—The Touchet Valley Trail Steering Committee has released a detailed concept plan for the trail which is in the planning stages between Dayton and Waitsburg. The committee conducted a weekend of workshops, a semester of design work, and several virtual review sessions in the process of developing the plan, which currently has no funding attached. The plan incorporates all public comments received during last year’s survey, and from numerous public and private meetings about the trail. Aft...
WALLA WALLA-Two U.S. Army Corps employees at Little Goose Lock and Dam created a device that removed debris blockages within the dam. Mechanical Engineering Technician Jay Haugen and Maintenance Worker Kreg Buryta combined their talents in 2019 to design and fabricate a tool that could be used to remove debris from orifices (openings) within the dam. Logs, trash, and other debris adversely affected the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed salmon and steelhead along the Snake River. Successfully c...
DAYTON—This is year two of the Dayton Country Club’s five-year strategic plan to achieve financial independence and sustainability for the Touchet Valley Golf Course, said Sean Thurston who has led the charge for securing grants for Club projects. The primary goal in year two is the installation of an underground irrigation system, which will reduce labor expenses and decrease electrical expenses for the County while increasing the quality of the golf course and fairgrounds. Saving water for...
We have started the kitchen remodel. The discordant sound of drills, hammers, compressors, and cursing is ongoing. The cabinets have been ordered, we need to fix our ski slope floor, the appliances have been here for a year. Big news—the dishwasher is out of its box and is installed! It’s in a temporary place, waiting for the new cabinets, but it works! In anticipation of the new cabinets, I figured we could start to make a little progress. The first manageable task, installing electrical out...
So, you might ask, what have I been doing these past four weeks besides trying and failing to turn a two-day trip to South Bend into an unauthorized Indiana Jones sequel? Nothing earth-shattering, I’m afraid. Some crochet, a few tentative excursions into town, an eye appointment, a decent amount of creative writing, and a lot of reading (mainly court filings). I started a remote job a couple weeks ago and am having way too much fun with it, but I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you a...
