Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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STARBUCK-Gerry Grubbs has been hired by the Starbuck School District as the next superintendent to take over for retiring superintendent Kevin Graffis. What does he think of Starbuck? "It is a beautiful little town and school," he said. Grubbs said the Starbuck school feels like school must have been one hundred years ago. He likes the multi-age classrooms. He said what the school lacks in supplemental resources; it makes up for with a smaller number of students and more personalized teaching....
DAYTON—Dayton School District Superintendent Guy Strot talked about some loosening of school sports restrictions by the state when the Dayton School District Board of Directors met in a work session last week. The state has decided to allow summer athletic conditioning from Sept. 27 to Nov. 27, he said. A typical summer season is for a team to have 20 organized practices in the months of June and July. With that in mind, he and Mark Pickel, Waitsburg School District Superintendent, and Martha La...
If you drive down Main Street Waitsburg, you'll see a cute pink house with white trim. That little house is one of many that Jason Gillen, owner of JLG Painting, has finished in the area. While 'professional painter' sits at the top of Gillen's resume, 'powerlifter/strongman' follows in a close second. Gillen has been into weight lifting since a young age, saying that it is a hobby as it is a lifestyle. "I got my first pair of barbells from my dad. I was, oh, seven or eight years old," Gillen...
For this year’s General Election, Walla Walla County Elections has moved all operations to the Pavilion building at the Walla Walla County Fairgrounds, 363 Orchard St., Walla Walla. Voter services, ballot processing, and Canvassing Board meetings will be conducted at this location. Jurisdictions: State of Washington: Referendum Measure No. 90, Advisory Vote 32, Advisory Vote 33, Advisory Vote 34, Advisory Vote 35, and Engrossed Senate Joint Resolution No. 8212; Federal: President / Vice President, U.S. Representative in Congressional D...
OLYMPIA—Registered voters in Washington state will soon receive their ballots for the General Election, Tuesday, Nov. 3. Ballots must be sent to registered voters no later than Friday, Oct. 16. Voters have until 8 p.m. Nov. 3 to place their marked ballots in one of over 500 drop boxes statewide. Drop-box locations can be found at VoteWA.gov, Washington’s online voter portal. People who choose to return their ballots by U.S. mail can use the provided postage-paid envelope. The U.S. Postal Service recommends that ballots should be returned by mai...
September 30 Investigation reference ongoing construction fraud. Prescott October 5 Brick thrown on victim’s front lawn. Walla Walla County A theft occurred in Prescott. Prescott October 6 Female arrested on domestic violence warrant. Burbank Male having hallucinations contacted in Burbank. Burbank Report of domestic disturbance. Walla Walla County October 9 Daniel Lee Strain was arrested by CPPD on 10/06. WWCSO, along with numerous other local agencies, had PC for numerous vehicle thefts and burglary charges. Walla Walla Residential B...
COLUMBIA COUNTY—Medical Appointment Gas Cards are available to any Columbia County resident in need of fuel for transportation to medical appointments outside of Columbia County. Fuel cards are available for those with a valid driver’s license, valid vehicle insurance, and proof of medical appointment date. Medical appointments should be within four days from the issuance of a gas card voucher. Eligible clients may have one voucher every 90 days. Stop into Columbia County Public Health to receive your voucher today. We are located at 270 E....
WALLA WALLA-The Walla Walla Association of Realtors and the Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC) are kicking off the season with a hunger for helping. The Care and Share Food Drive looks a little different this year, but the cause remains the same. For more than three decades, the Care and Share Food Drive, which takes place in October, has sent more than 100 volunteers out into the community to drop off orange donation bags on doorsteps. The Association of Realtors and BMAC decided that the bags...
Fire District #2’s Association is offering pink T shirts the month of October 2020 to help increase breast cancer awareness. T-shirts will be available at Ten Ton Coffee, 216 Main Street Waitsburg. Each colorful T-shirt is available for a $30.00 donation, though larger donations are always welcome. Profits from the sale of these T shirts will be donated to the Susan G. Komen® Breast Cancer Foundation. Fire District #2 would like to thank Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC) for partnering wi...
My son, Brandon Johnson, is running to be Superior Court judge. I am a proud father and, of course, am hopeful he will be elected. If he is, it will be his turn to be struck by lightning. Let me explain. We have two boys, Brandon and Jason. Brandon is 15 months older than Jason. In 1989, when Jason was 12, while at baseball practice behind Pi-Hi, he was struck by lightning. Their mother (Diane) and I were not there, but Brandon was. He saw his brother struck down. Jason’s heart stopped beating. He was technically dead. When the EMTs arrived, t...
I strongly recommend Brooke Burns for Superior Court Judge in the Asotin-Garfield-Columbia County Judicial District. Brooke has appeared in my courtroom on countless occasions in a diverse variety of cases over the past 14 years. She has always impressed me, whether she won or lost, not only with her intelligence and legal ability, but also with her professionalism, honesty, and commitment to the highest of ethical standards. Brooke Burns is humble and compassionate. She understands and takes very seriously the effect that a Judge’s d...
I have known Mike Mitchell for almost 30 years. We met when I took a job scrubbing clubs at Walla Walla Country Club as I was going to college. I later served the Walla Walla Valley in the education system, as coach, teacher, principal, central office administrator and currently work for CH2MHILL. Through it all Mike has treated me the same with a highly level of respect and thoughtfulness. I have found Mike to be trustworthy. There was a time (like everyone) I struggled with a very sensitive issue. I went to Mike for some assistance. Mike was...
I think Brandon Johnson has the experience, smarts, and personality to be a very good Superior Court judge. I urge you to vote for him. I am a Superior Court judge. I was first elected in 2008. Before that I was in a private law firm. Brandon Johnson was a lawyer in that firm. I know from personal experience that Brandon was, and is, a good lawyer. He studied and understood the law. He worked hard, was fair, and treated people equally. All important qualities for a judge. I have been told some people question Brandon’s experience in criminal l...
I have known Mike Mitchell both professionally and personally and believe that he is the most qualified to be our next Superior Court Judge. Mike is a man of the utmost integrity whose legal career has extended over all areas of criminal and civil law. He has 42 years as a practicing attorney including working in the Prosecutors office where he was involved in numerous jury trials. He was also a partner in a local law firm handling criminal cases. Since 1989 Mike has been a sole practitioner where he has gained the diverse skill sets required...
Garbe Reser shares my values. Perry Dozier is a party line Trump/Culp supporter. According to the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, Dozier said, “He wants Culp to be the man he answers to as the district’s next state senator.” I believe our next state senator should answer to all the citizens he represents. Not to a small-town sheriff who believes you only enforce the laws you happen to like. My vote goes to the candidate who will uphold the law, believes in science and shares my values that all people have a right to be equally represented. My vo...
I write in support of Brandon Johnson’s candidacy for Walla Walla County Superior Court Judge. Brandon worked for me as a law clerk when I was a judge on the Washington State Court of Appeals. He was smart. He worked hard. And he cared about people. I know that he cares deeply about his family and the Walla Walla Community. He will make an excellent Superior Court Judge and I urge the citizens of Walla Walla to vote for him. Judge Dennis J. Sweeney, Retired Richland, WA...
Thomas Earl Groom, Jr., fondly known as Bud, went to his cabin in Glory Land, Thursday, October 8, 2020 with his family by his side. Bud resided at Booker Rest Home due to difficulties caused by Lewy Body Dementia. Bud was born in Dayton, Washington on September 6, 1937 to Thomas Earl Groom, Sr. and Thelma Bessie Witt Groom, the fourth of ten children. Bud attended schools in Huntsville and Dayton, graduating from Dayton High School with the Class of 1955. He briefly attended Washington State...
Patty Baker breathed her last on October 1, 2020 at age 66 in Quilcene, Washington. After a nine month battle with cancer, Patty is free now from that body and at last with her Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven. Her hospice care at home surrounded Patty with the loving care of her husband and her four children, present with her at the time of her death. Born Patricia Anne French on May 7, 1954 in Seattle to Kay Joseph and Joan Margaret St Martin French, Patty was the third in a family of 14...
Those of us who may be familiar with one Becky Wilson in Waitsburg will be tickled to learn that there is now a second Becky Wilson in town. Recently, this Becky Wilson purchased the old Hofer farm property on Highway 12, about a mile south of Waitsburg. The four-acre property includes the house, a massive barn, garage, a large shop building, and two towering Locust trees. Wilson closed on the place in June, parked her Airstream trailer next to the house, and went right to work on restoration....
Blue Mountain Pheasants Forever (Pheasants Forever) recently teamed with Mike and Steve Erwin to relocate two wildlife watering guzzlers on their 1,000-acre lease with an expiring Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contract near Prescott. Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, the CRP is one of the largest private-lands conservation programs in the United States. In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program remove acreage from active crop production and...
Three baseball Hall of Famers, Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, and Joe Morgan, all passed away within nine days from October 2 to October 11. Together their combined careers spanned from 1950 to 1984. All won multiple World Series Championships. Edward Charles “Whitey” Ford (October 21, 1928 – October 8, 2020) Whitey Ford played his whole sixteen-year career with the New York Yankees. He was named to the All-Star team ten times and won six World Series for New York. He still holds Yankee team recor...
Last Friday, I think at least half of Waitsburg probably heard my deep, tortured sigh as I parked my car and put the top up for what will likely be its permanent status until next spring. No more racing down the highways at 65-70 mph with the sun in my face, hair blowing in my eyes. Mugsy, tethered in securely, will certainly miss the smell of goats, sheep, roosters, and growing wheat. I won’t miss his whining while he tries to break free of his restraints to sit in my lap while I’m dri...
With eight grandsons and nine great-grandkids, Norma Jo Shay has more than earned the title of Great Grandma. For many years she's been the mandolin strumming frontwoman of the band Grandma & the Boys and is affectionately known in all the local bluegrass jams. Grandma Jo is a friend to many Waitsburgers. She shares old songs and fresh fish, the winningest combination. She's been a tournament toxophilite, a skilled hunter with bow and arrow, rifle, or fishing rod in her illustrious past. The...
For over a quarter of a century, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Ann Lamont has inspired new writers with honest and down to earth advice, written with humor and experience. The title refers to advice Lamott’s father gave her brother, who was struggling with a school paper on birds. Just write one bird at a time, and don’t get overwhelmed. “Thirty years ago, my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We...
Over many decades I’ve been the proud parent of many cats but just one dog. And though cats are big-time nappers (who do you think invented the cat nap?) I don’t ever recall wondering if they ever dreamed, or what they might dream about. Sleeping with the dog has brought those questions front and center. Front and center is where Cookie likes to be after sliding, gliding, squirming, and sneaking her way into the prime spot in bed, pressed up on both sides against the Big Dogs (me and Mrs. G)....
