Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WALLA WALLA - Richard Wernette, who is running for Superior Court Judge for Department 2 in Walla Walla County, believes he would best fill the position because he has been in front of juries for 26 years. "I'm at my prime right now," Wernette, age 52, said. "I'm go- ing to go for it." Wernette, who grew up on a potato farm in the Southeast Idaho town of Firth, said he has wanted to be a lawyer since he was in high school. Even though he is very familiar with agricul- ture and rural cities, he... Full story
There is no sign from the wheat market that the great price rally of summer 2012 is complete -- no chart "sell-me" formation, no measureable change in the weather pattern that has sizzled up the wheat price in Chicago $3 per bushel to $8.95 in 20 trading sessions, and few traders with the gusto to actually sell into the path of such a "Northbound Express" freight train. So what accounts for the growing contrarian emo- tion, the drive to anticipate a selling point and capture the high? We know that prices cannot go up forever. We know that the...
DAYTON - Citizens of Columbia County are invited to the Dayton City Park from 5-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug.7, to join with thousands of communities nationwide for National Night Out. National Night Out is an annual anti-crime, anti-drug event sponsored by the National As- sociation of Town Watch and co-sponsored locally by Columbia County Sheriff's Of- fice and the Columbia County Friends of 9-1-1. Last year nearly 1,000 people attended National Night Out in Dayton. National Night Out is designed to heighten crime- and drug-prevention awareness,...
DAYTON -- Billy Joe Cook Jr., 24, has been of- fered a plea bargain that could put him behind bars for about five years. Cook was arrested on May 21 for a series of crimes starting with the April 3 burglary. His plea agreement with the state will require him to plead guilty to burglary in the second degree, theft in the second degree, posses- sion of stolen property in the second degree and malicious mischief in the third degree. These charges are related to alleged crimes committed April 3, April 23 and May 9 that included breaking into a gara... Full story
DAYTON - For plead- ing guilty to squatting in vacant homes in the city of Dayton and eluding police for months, Daniel Baxter has been sentenced with 40 months in prison. Baxter, age 34, pleaded guilty in June and was sen- tenced last Thursday to give victims to his burglaries a chance to make comments. Baxter pleaded guilty to seven of the 28 total burglary- related charges in June. Those charges were making false or misleading statements to a law enforcement officer, five counts of... Full story
DAYTON -- Rick Hamil- ton, former WP head soccer coach, was appointed by the school board to the athletic di- rector position for the Dayton School District on Wednesday, July 11. Dayton's former athletic director, Jack Smiley, passed away in early May. Hamilton begins his new position in August. Hamilton was the head WP soccer coach in 2010-11 and after the season he transferred to Arizona for a job opportu- nity. Dayton Superintendant Doug Johnson said Hamilton is notable because he worked...
WAITSBURG - When music teacher Rebecca Wilson was cleaning out some space in her closet she came across Waitsburg Marching Band uniforms that had been in retirement for nearly 30 years. Those red, cream and gold uniforms had been worn by hundreds of students from the 1950s through the mid- 1980s when the polyester and nylon formalwear was traded in for matching polo shirts. Part of the reason the band students no longer wear fancy uniforms is because marching bands aren't popular at small...
WAITSBURG - The Waits- burg School District board members and staff had hoped a large project that tore up the track and field to put in a new light system and press box would be completed before track season began this spring. But the project is not close to being done and the first foot- ball game of the season is just six weeks away. The school board approved the new lighting project in February, hoping to get it done before the beginning of track season so the track team wouldn't have to...
WAITSBURG - Nearly one year after a miniature-Main Street revival, some of Waits- burg's restaurants aren't getting enough local customers to keep their doors open. At least one is on the verge of closing its doors this summer, owners confirm. Last August, three new res- taurants had their grand opening and received an enthusiastic reception: Betty's Diner, the An- chor Bar and Coppei Coffee Co. (owned by the Times Publisher Imbert Matthee). Another eatery, La Monarca, also opened last summer. It's clear from talking to the owners that not...
DAYTON - Dayton's marketing approach is get- ting a facelift and residents are sure to reap the rewards of the anticipated boost in tourism. Some of the changes are already in effect. Advertise- ments are rolling out with the new slogan suggested by the AMI Advertising Agency and selected by the Day- ton Chamber of Commerce board of directors, "Expect the Unexpected," Director of Advertising at AMI Jeff Wright said. The board sent out a re- quest for proposals last October to several... Full story
The weekend: Eighty-six percent of the United States is in a drought. You might ask how this catastrophic mid western event will affects us. For one, watch for higher food prices. In the meantime, you might visit the Saturday Dayton Farmers Market with its boxed leafy vegetables, cherries, squash and potatoes. Maybe bring out the canning jars and save some of these beautiful summer foods today for the fall and winter months ahead. Who doesn't love a syrupy sweet dribble of plump wild cherries over vanilla ice cream in December? The winery:...
Waitsburg 7-13 Complainant had a message left on his answering machine from an attorney looking for a female subject that he has never heard of and does not know on the 400 block Orchard Street. 7-14 Report of possible animal cruelty, owner contacted and advisedabout housing and treatment of cats on the 700 block of Maple Street, Dayton 7-10 The theft of a bicycle was reported on First Street. A loose cow on thehighway was reported on Highway 261. A rollover accident with injuries was reported on Touchet Road. 7-11 A loose cow was reported on H... Full story
Ten Years Ago July 17, 2002 The Block Watch watermelon feed pulls a big crowd.The Block Watch Program is building momentum andgrowing with each event. At the last meeting, there were75 citizens interested in moving forward with the organiza- tion of the Waitsburg Block Watch. The next step will befor persons who attended a June organizational meetingto take sections of Waitsburg and contact others in thoseneighborhoods to network that whole town with watchingcitizens. The next event will be a community barbeque onAugust 6 in Preston Park.... Full story
July 19: Ray Johnson, Jessica Hofer, Jacob Johnson, Adam Mellish, Zachariah Beasley, Marilyn Stellwagen, Porter Larsen. July 20: Gary Marshall, Beverly Low, Janice R. Zuger, Brandon McKinney, Alexa Groom, Jamie Pet- tichord, Lisa DeCoria, Joan Winslow. July 21: Jill Wood, Andy Mays, Susann Anderson, Tamra Janovich, Emily Ho- gan. July 22: Virginia Neace, Tom Keeney, Kathy Buroker, Krissy Lytle. July 23: Inez Fletcher, Danielle Lehr, Chance Allen, Ashley Johnson, Thomas Reed, Dale Puckett. July 24: Jo Ellen Wat- son, Jessica Duncan, Mason... Full story
DAYTON -- After 16 years serving the city of Dayton as a city councilman and mayor, Bill Graham was ready to hang up his hat. But after sixmonth retirement from serving the city, he now is back in the council seat again. Graham, who has lived in Dayton for 30 years as of this August, retired from city council on Jan. 1. His position was listed as vacant and after the city tried to fill it and failed to find any interested residents, Graham said he decided to reapply and was appointed to the... Full story
DAYTON -- The final three candidates for the Co- lumbia County Health Sys- tem CEO position will be touring Dayton before they are introduced to the hospital board during its meeting on Tuesday, July 24. The CEO search has been underway since Charlie But- ton's resignation in May. But- ton left the district to take on a new job at Star Valley Medical Center in Afton, Wyo. The in- terim CEO filling in until a new CEO is hired is Jon Smiley. The health system's board put together a selection committee, comprised of board, staff and community...
HOMEROOM ASSIGNMENTS OUT WAITSBURG - Waitsburg parents of fourth, fifth and sixth graders should be checking the mail because the district mailed out homeroom assignments last Friday. The paperwork on its way to parents includes who will be their child's homeroom teacher for the intermediate classes, the schedule for each school week and a supply list. For more information, contact the school district at 509-337-6461. MORE EARLY RELEASE DAYS WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School Board has agreed to an extra seven early release days for the 2012-13...
As I compared the candidates for Walla Walla County Commissioner District 2, I noticed that only one candidate has never stopped learning and never stopped trying to improve on what she already knows. To me, that's an important fact because as county com- missioner, there is a lot to know. Every job has a learn- ing curve, but some jobs are just harder to learn because they are so complex. When you look at Chris Blackman's resume, I have no doubt that she has the intelligence and the determination to learn everything possible about the job....
In tough times we can't get everything we want, but how much time do we have to wait before our county commissioners learn to get along, cooperate, and work as a team? Teams take trust. If you read the Union-Bulletin or listen to the county commis- sioners' meetings, it's not hard to figure out that there's no trust with certain elected officials. And that's not how we are going to get things done in Walla Walla County. For example, what if there's a budget shortfall, yet the service or safety equipment is still needed? We need to know that...
Our First Anniversary E arly next month, it will be a year since we opened Coppei Coffee Co. As readers will recall, it was in early August when the café, Betty's Diner and the Anchor all opened at the same time following months of renovations and preparations. It was an exciting week- end. Switching hats from running the till at the Coppei nonstop to covering the news for the Times that first Satur- day, I wandered over to the diner to take pictures of the crowd there and stopped by the new...
Okay, we're taking two risks here. First is the risk of repeating ourselves because we've opined about local business support on this page several times before. Second is the risk of offending those Waitsburgers who get it and do exactly what we're hoping more local residents will do. But we're willing to take those risks because entrepreneurs in town, like myself, took a chance when they located their businesses here and we believe we deserve the community's support. The lo- cal businesses create jobs, generate city tax revenues, support...
PRESCOTT - Changes to the Walla Walla County Library District could mean facility ex- pansions and improvements at the Prescott and Vista Hermosa public libraries. Aletha Bonebrake, the in- terim executive director for the rural library district, said for years the rural district has had a con- tract for services with the public library in the city of Walla Walla. Because recently the city library and the rural district couldn't agree on a payment amount for the city library's services, the contract will expire in December and the partnership...
