Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Pollinators are busy taking care of the remaining along Lower Hogeye Road wildflowers as the heat winds down and gives way to cool, fall weather....
WAITSBURG—Emotions were high as parents and caregivers voiced opinions about the recent mask mandate at the Waitsburg School Board meeting on August 23. Secondary principal Stephanie Wooderchak reported that middle and high school business offices were now open, and staff would be available Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. School registration was August 23-26. Ice cream socials and open house events were also held this week for middle school students to give them a chance to meet teachers, learn...
DAYTON—The Dayton School Board met on August 18 for a regular school board meeting. Dayton School District had its first day of the 2021-22 school year on August 24. Before the business meeting, Superintendent Guy Strot spoke on recent mask mandates, which went into effect on Monday, August 23. Strot said that, aside from health-related risks, the school district had multiple reasons to comply with the mandate. According to Strot, the school’s insurance company has stated that they will not ins...
This movie tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the football team at a Fort Worth orphanage during the Great Depression. The team went from playing without shoes—or even a football—to playing in the Texas state championships. The architect of their success was Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson), a legendary high school coach who shocked his colleagues by giving up his privileged position to teach and coach at the orphanage. Few knew Rusty’s secret that he was an orphan. Recognizing that his scrawny players couldn’t beat the other teams with brawn...
DAYTON—The Port of Columbia has opened a new grant opportunity for start-up businesses in Columbia County. Through funding provided by Innovia, a private foundation that serves eastern Washington and northern Idaho, the Port of Columbia is offering micro-grants to start-up businesses. Grants up to $5,000 will be awarded to qualifying businesses upon review and recommendation by a local committee. Qualifications for applying include, but are not limited to: • Business Plan • Business License • Ability to have a business location physica...
On Monday, August 23, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 and older. This is the first COVID-19 vaccine to receive full approval in the United States. The FDA ruling should help overcome vaccine-hesitancy in some unvaccinated people who have stated this as their primary concern. According to the FDA, the approved vaccine will now be marketed as Comirnaty to prevent COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and old...
WALLA WALLA—Head over to Historic Downtown Walla Walla and join 2020 & 2021 Parade Marshalls Doug and Margie Krueger at the Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days Parade on Saturday, September 4 at 10 a.m. The parade is proudly presented by Baker Boyer Bank. Event coordinators are excited for this long-standing community event. To date, there are over 150 entries in the parade. This year is also a “Royalty Reunion” year. The parade will feature past royalty members from each year dating back to 1955. If you missed the entry deadline for the parad...
UMATILLA NATIONAL FOREST-Good news in the Blues, the Green Ridge Fire has seen minimal growth over the past few days, aided by weekend rainfall and cooler weather. On Tuesday, August 24, the Green Ridge Fire had burned 39,471 acres, and was 35% contained. Officials report that fuel moisture encouraged less than 50 acres of growth on Monday. While containment did not increase, firefighters are becoming increasingly confident that additional portions of the fireline in Divisions M and K will soon...
Letter to the Editor I was present at last Thursday’s school board meeting. As anticipated, there were some there who voiced strong opposition the governor’s mask mandate. The view was expressed that the Waitsburg School Board should vote to defy the mandate. There was rationale given. Unfortunately, though, some were vehement in their demands and seemed to have difficulty considering any perspective but their own. When the time set for public comments was over the board made an attempt to discuss the matter among themselves. This dis...
WALLA WALLA—With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, Providence St. Mary Medical Center asks people not to come to the emergency department unless they are experiencing medical emergencies such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, high fever, or a traumatic injury. People seeking COVID-19 testing or treatment for mild symptoms or other non-emergency care should not use the emergency department. “Walla Walla has been incredibly supportive of healthcare workers during the pandemic, but the support we need most is for people to get...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County Department of Community Health (DCH) and healthcare partners will open vaccine clinics on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday beginning August 25. All clinics will be held at the Providence Southgate campus with varying appointment times. The clinics on August 25, 26, and 27 will run from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., and the clinics on September 1, 2, and 3 will run from 3-7 p.m. All clinics will offer both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Janssen, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine. There will be a mix of first- and second-dose a...
DAYTON—A 2020“Washington Child Care Industry Assessment” sponsored by the Washington Department of Commerce characterizes Walla Walla and Columbia counties as childcare “deserts.” This means 96-percent of families in Columbia County and 18-percent of families in Walla Walla counties do not have the childcare they need. In 2020-21 three in-home providers in Columbia County closed their doors, pushing the county into a childcare crisis. The issues for parents who seek care for their children...
I made a rookie plant collector mistake the other day, and failed to properly quarantine alocasia plants I found at The Home Depot. They were just too pretty to hide away! As a result, a handful of my plants started showing signs of spider mites and I had to act quickly before they got out of hand. Truth be told, I can't tell for certain if the mites came home on the alocasia, as there are a million and one ways that the pests can make it inside, but my recent infestation did not start until I...
Warm Springs Ranch is a family-owned u-pick 100-year-old fruit orchard in Whitman County right on the Snake River and now with delicious ripe peaches and the nicest people in the most beautiful place. Traveling from Columbia or Walla Walla counties, head north on SR 12, continue north on SR 127 to SR 26 at the town of Dusty. Then head east for a few miles on SR 26 and make a right turn onto well-marked Penawawa Road. Stay on that nicely maintained mixed paved/gravel road for 12 miles, losing...
With thirty-six games left to play, the Seattle Mariners find themselves still competing for a playoff spot. Though the Mariners are unlikely to catch the Houston Astros for the division title, they are only three games behind the second wild-card spot. Ahead of them are the Oakland A’s, who Seattle is currently playing a two-game series, and the Boston Red Sox. After the short series with the A’s is over, they will have seven more games with them before the end of the season, so there is time to catch up to them in the standings. As luck wou...
I tend to lean into things when I shouldn't. When I feel sad, I overdo the mopey ballads and let the blues wash over me. When I'm home alone and already feeling tense, I find it the perfect time for a horror movie and start jumping at every creak of the floorboards. It would be smarter to avoid exacerbating these negative feelings, but I can't help myself. Appropriately, as COVID numbers have been taking off again, I've decided to lean into my anxious hypochondria by listening to a delightfully...
Shakespeare wrote in his play The Twelfth Night, "If music be the food of love, play on!" Obviously, Shakespeare didn't have to listen to Daniel's playlist. I grew up in a houseful of music and musicians. My maternal grandfather and all his ten siblings were musicians, mostly violinists. Although the musical talent gene skipped my mother, she did appreciate and love music. My father also came from a musical family. Although he never took lessons, he could sit at a piano and plunk out tunes by...
Ten Years Ago August 15, 2011 It was never Wyatt Withers' sole inspiration for going in the Navy, but once he had decided to join it certainly helped having a grandfather who had served in the same branch many decades ago. Choosing to be "seasick over digging a fox hole," longtime local farmer Jack McCaw went to amphibian training school in preparation of the Allied invasion of Japan when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He became part of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's...
Kohlrabi, with its funny name and alien appearance, is the type of overlooked vegetable that can seem intimidating to most home cooks. Originating from northern Europe, kohlrabi is in the brassica family, related to kale, broccoli, and cabbage. Both the bulbous stem and the sprouting leaves are edible, with a sweet crisp flavor that can be enjoyed raw or cooked. This past week, the first kohlrabi of the season was ready to pick in our garden, a welcomed change from the recent endless bounty of z...
Help wanted signs are showing up in storefront windows across the nation, with 9.3 million job openings being reported in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists have been studying this most recent employee shortage and the effects the gaping holes in the workforce have had for businesses, workers and consumers. Locally, businesses have had to adjust to the shortages. Waitsburg Grocery has had to close an hour earlier for nearly a month, missing out on the...
