Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Despite declining enrollment in some districts and cuts across the board in the state budget for education, school district administrators in the Touchet Valley remain optimistic. "We have always been conservative in our budgeting," said Dr. Carol Clarke, Waitsburg superintendent. "But we're hopeful the number of students will be there." Enrollment is down in Waitsburg and Prescott, which means a loss of thousands of dollars. Each full-time equivalent student means close to $6,000 for the district. In addition, the state has cut programs th...
Ten Years Ago August 17, 2000 The Washington Conservation Crew workers completed beautification of the entrance to the camping side of Lewis Clark Trail State Park last Thursday in preparation of the re-opening of the campsites for the first time since the 1996 floods. Area farmers should be wrapping up grain harvest in about a week, if the weather holds, according to J.E. McCaw, branch manager of Northwest Grain Growers in Waitsburg. Several people got a chuckle out of the noon whistle on Tuesday, Aug. 1. Waitsburg Fire Chief Brandt Kleist wa...
August 5: Dale "Skip" Buroker, Jonathan Schuler, Jo Ann Hansler, Bill Clayton, Dianna Riggs, Debra Davison, Michael Collie, David Murphy, Melanie Hevel. August 6: Seth Reese, Adelle Smith, Rita Pierson, Elizabeth Cole, Doris Hulce, Kelly Zuger, Abigail McKinley, Jackie Helm, Kathy Baker, C.J. Horlacher, Les Hyder, Bill Ramsey, Billie Jean Towers. August 7: Dale Ford, Tim Huwe, Kevin Richardson, Brooklyn Smith. August 8: Ginny Butler, Jeremiah Bennett. August 9: Kaye Wagoner, Tish Hulce, Adam Rogers, Tracy Gluck, Robert Anderson. August 10:...
Walla Walla County Coroner Five Walla Walla County residents are running for county coroner, including incumbent Frank Brown, who has decided to run again as a write-in for this election. Recent controversy involving law enforcement complaints about Brown left the busy coroner "disheartened," but after encouragement from friends, family and community members he has decided to run again. "I was being harassed because I wasn't doing things 'the way we used to do it,'" Brown said Tues...
WALLA WALLA - Walla Walla County residents have two weeks to cast their votes in the current primary election. Ballots were mailed on Friday, July 30, and must be postmarked no later than Election Day, which is Tuesday, Aug. 17. County positions on the ballot include assessor, auditor, clerk, coroner, prosecuting attorney, sheriff and treasurer. Only county coroner and sheriff positions are contested. Other offices up for election include U.S. Senator and District 5 U.S. Repre...
WALLA WALLA - Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) representatives associated with the new Highway 12 project have advised that the incorrect county road name signs, printed and put in place by the state along certain portions of the new highway as part of the project, will be corrected by mid-August. Although the county-designated road names were determined months ago and the information provided to the state, unfortunately there was a mix-up and some incorrect signs have been put up. The area from the Myra Road roundabout...
DAYTON - Thursday, Aug. 12, Dayton student athletes and their parents are asked to attend the Fall Sports Clearance night held in the high school auditorium. The meeting will begin with general information about the district's athletic program followed by individual team meetings hosted by coaches for students in grades 7-12. Sports included are football, volleyball, cheer, cross country, and co-ed soccer for high school and football and volleyball for middle school (grades 7-8). The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., but parents are in...
WAITSBURG - A mandatory high school fall sports meeting for all high school fall sports athletes will take place Monday, Aug. 16, at 7 p.m. in the Waitsburg High School Auditorium. All athletes must bring one or more parent/guardian to the meeting. Fall sports include: cheerleading, cross country, football, soccer and volleyball. Athletes must have a current physical and insurance in order to participate in any sports. Contact the Waitsburg High School with any questions at 509-337-6351....
DAYTON - On Thursday, September 2, federal forest entomologists, a state forest health specialist, a state fireregulations forester and NRCS Washington State Forester will join private forest landowners and local NRCS Soil Conservationist and Blue Mountain RCD Coordinator on a timber tour through Columbia and western GarfieldCounties. The purpose of the field visit is to examine individual trees and timber stands struggling to survive following catastrophic fires in 2005 and 2006. Many trees were not directly affected by the fires, but s...
WAITSBURG - Based upon news reports from NASA, there is a really good chance that both Wednesday night will offer an opportunity to see the Northern Lights. NASA says there is a large solar storm rated as a C3 Class Event, and that the increased solar winds improves the chances of seeing the Aurora Borealis even further south than they are typically seen. The chances of seeing them are increased if you are pretty high up in altitude, and away from city lights in the Walla Walla area. The top of Minnick Hill outside of Waitsburg is...
6 Willow, one of Walla Walla's premier downtown art galleries, is trying a little something different with its next exhibition, opening Friday, Aug. 6. They have invited 13 artists to provide seven pieces of work to basically fill the gallery space between now and Oct. 31! Don't miss out on seeing a filled-to-the-brim gallery with many works of varying media. Additionally, several arts events are scheduled during this three-month exhibition, so be sure to check out what they're up to on...
Talking with my 3-year-old grandson Maxi is like Christmas in summer. I love his silly wiggle and non-committed rhetoric. For instance, I never knew that bees fly backwards and trucks are "pluper." My son interprets, "He means purple, Mom." Yesterday, Maxi pushed a chair over to the counter, much like his dad did when he was 3 years of age, and climbed up to help make a salad. Of course, he ended up putting olives on his fingers, making them dance like puppets, and gobbling them up one at a time just like his dad did. In fact, this kid looks...
Waitsburg/Walla Walla County Dayton/Columbia County 7-27: Threats. Telephone threats reported on Main Street, Dayton. Vandalism. Vandalism at the Dayton school bus garage reported. Trespassing. Trespassing reported on Tucannon St., Starbuck. Abandoned Vehicle. Abandoned motor home reported on Port Way, Dayton. 7-29: Illegal Burning. Illegal burn reported on Rose Gulch Rd., Dayton. 7-30: Fire. Lightning-strike fire reported at mile post eight on State Route 261 near Starbuck. Vandalism. Vandalism to gas pumps reported at Ag-Link, in Dayton....
When I was a child, I was fascinated with the beautiful bluebirds in the area where I lived in the "Old" Kettle Falls, Wash., north of Spokane. The western and mountain bluebirds were plentiful there in the spring and summer. The mountain species is typical of high elevations in summer, most common above 5,000 feet as quoted from "The Golden Field Guide." Both of the species are found in our Blue Mountains above Dayton, Waitsburg and Pomeroy. An excellent loop into the high mountains follows a ridgeline south from Dayton above the Nor...
The city of Dayton is currently in the process of adopting an ORV ordinance that would work in conjunction with Columbia County's already existing ordinance allowing ORVs access to the forest service boundaries on Eckler and Maloney Mountains via Mustard Hollow Road. This city ordinance, if passed, would allow ORVs to access Mustard Hollow Road from within the city limits of Dayton. Copies of the ordinance can be downloaded from www.daytonwa.com. During the first public hearing that held J...
In the Last Good Deed of 55 Plus Club caption last week, the names included in the caption should have read, left to right, Pat Largent, Delores Gohlman, Jeanetta Monfort, Lillian Judd, Loyal Baker, Janice Wills, and Mary Arland. The Times staff apologizes for the errors....
Dear Editor, I urge the people of Washington State to elect Charlie Wiggins for Supreme Court Justice. I don't have enough room to tell you why Charlie is the best candidate because I must inform you about the justice Charlie is running against, Richard Sanders. Judges cannot do anything that would create an improper appearance that he or she might favor a party to a case. Justice Sanders was disciplined by the Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct for improperly personally interviewing sexually violent predators with cases pending...
DAYTON - It's Monday afternoon. Auditions are over, and the roles have been cast. Now 48 children in the Touchet Valley have just four days to rehearse for a live, musical performance they'll stage in front of friends, family members and total strangers this coming Friday and Saturday nights at the Liberty Theater. For most of the children, who range in grade level from first through 12th, the annual summer play in Dayton is their only shot at experiencing theater arts - and they welcome the...
PRESCOTT - When Prescott School District Superintendent Dr. Carolyn Marsh announced in June that she wanted to retire in the hopes of being rehired, she knew she was taking a risk. After all, there is no guarantee she'll get her old job back by the time school starts again. Her goal was to resume receiving her pension benefits, which she forfeited after taking the superintendent's job in Prescott three years ago, then be rehired as superintendent and receive the position's salary as well. Such "retire-rehire" scenarios are not unco...
DAYTON - Construction of Puget Sound Energy's Lower Snake River Wind Energy Project in Garfield County started about four months after the company obtained approval for its conditional use permit this year. Don't expect the same for the Columbia County portion of the wind turbine project, a company official said earlier this week. The weak economy in the utility company's Washington state market appears to have taken the wind out of the project's blades. "PSE has no firm plans for the start of construction at this time" said Anne Walsh,...
