Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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When long-time cohort Desi Kitchens unexpectedly strolled up nodding her head in agreement about our winter Cabernets, I thought, who better to pal around with during Barrel Tasting Weekend than Desi, who equally loves wine. First Up: Foundry Cellars winemaker Mark Anderson's '03 Cabernet Sauvignon: 89 percent cabernet, 20 percent merlot. This is a Cab created uniquely like the Smithsonian artist that Anderson is; layered in explosive strokes of tannin, brambleberry and "meat-in-a-glass," a profile given two years ago by yours truly. This par...
Ten Years Ago December 21, 2000 Crews of Northwest Grain Growers worked all weekend, 24 hours a day, to empty a grain tank on the northern edge of Waitsburg containing 150,000 bushels of wheat. Employees noticed a recently added skid-steer loader door at the base of the 160,000-bushel steel tank had failed posing an immediate hazard to employees, passersby and the elevator facility. Twenty-Five Years Ago December 5, 1985 Waitsburg Commercial Club made plans for the first Hometown Christmas on Friday and Saturday, December 9 and 10. The...
DIXIE - No one seems to know exactly how tall the Northwest Grain Growers elevator in Dixie is, but even those who work there say it's no higher than 130 feet. That means the small town's tallest item, which is visible from Highway 12 tucked back in the fields south of its outskirts, will soon be eclipsed by an even loftier structure. Inland Cellular is set to build a 180-foot cell phone tower at 9970 East Highway 12 near the elevator this spring and is seeking public comment on its proposal under the National Preservation Act of 1966. Local...
TOYS NEEDED FOR TOTS WAITSBURG - For the first time ever, Waitsburg residents can make a contribution to the annual Toys for Tots program right here in town, at the Waitsburg Hardware and Mercantile on Main Street. New, unwrapped toys donated to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program will be distributed as Christmas gifts to needy children in the Touchet Valley this holiday. Cash donations may also be made at the hardware store. The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to l...
SKI BLUEWOOD OPENS DAYTON - Ski Bluewood's first season under new ownership started on Friday and drew a steady crowd over the weekend. With several feet of new snow since late last week, general manager Travis Stephenson said the new management was excited to kick off the 2010-2011 ski year in a year that promises lots of snowfall. As in years past, the mountain will be open 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. daily except on Mondays and Tuesdays. Ski Bluewood honors season passes purchased under former owners Stan and Nancy Goodell and offers a full co...
KENNEWICK - Lady Bulldogs coach Scott Hudson called Tuesday night's pre-season game in Kennewick, a "Tale of Two Halves." The score at halftime was 26-25, with the Riverview Panthers just one point ahead of the Dayton girls. But Bulldog Courtney Mings suffered head injury in the first quarter, and the remaining seven varsity players quickly grew exhausted. Dayton scored just seven more points in the second half to Riverview's 40, ending the game 66-32 with the Panthers in the lead. "I thin...
WAITSBURG - With nine returning varsity on WP's girls basketball team, head coach Jerry Baker knows he won't have too much to worry about. Baker has worked with most of the girls on the team before. "It's nice not having a new learning curve," Baker said. "I have already had most of the girls before, and the one I haven't already knows how I work." Baker doesn't let the girls slack a bit. He gets out on the court and shows them how it's done. During break, it's a quick drink, and then he has the...
WAITSBURG - Due to one of the best football seasons many people in this town have ever seen, the WP boys have started their basketball season off later than planned. Monday was only their fifth practice, and they play their first game of the season Tuesday, Dec.14, against Weston-McEwen. "Starting the season off late will be a small challenge, but I believe that with our coaching staff, we should not have a problem," said Cardinal Eshom Estes. And coming hot off the field, from a nearly unparal...
WAITSBURG - Crowning one of the best fall sports seasons in its history, the WP athletics combine handed out annual awards Monday to the individual athletes who made happen in cheerleading, volleyball, football and cross country. The WP Tigers' soccer awards will be presented at Vista Hermosa at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. "Before our cross-country season began, I was unsure of how it would play out, if this small boys team, half of whom were freshmen, would be able to make our third consecutive...
KENNEWICK - The Dayton boys lost in their pre-season match against 1A-school Riverview on Tuesday evening, but not by much. The final score was 45-40. "It was good competition," Bulldogs head coach Roy Ramirez said Tuesday night. "They (the Panthers) are a step up to a whole different league, and that's what we wanted for pre-season." The Bulldogs started slow and played poorly in the first half, Ramirez said. They were down 11 points at the break. "We just couldn't get anything to fall, and...
3-6: Property Damage. Property damage reported on E. Main Street, Dayton. 12-5: Accident. Vehicle slid off roadway at Ski Bluewood gate, no injuries. Theft. Report of theft of medication on Patit Avenue, Dayton. 12-4: Fire. Suspicious smoke reported coming from residence NW of Dayton and Cottonwood streets in Dayton. Deputy made contact and discovered the smoke was coming from a secondary chimney. Juvenile Problem. Kids observed playing on the hay bales at Ag-Link , on E. Washington Avenue in Dayton, throwing hay around. 12-3: Vandalism. Vand...
Dear Editor: Your Dec. 2 edition incorrectly stated that the football team this year was the first Waitsburg team to have an undefeated season. In response, please let me tell you about the undefeated 1967 Waitsburg Cardinals. We not only had a perfect 9-0 record, but we were dominant. In eight of the nine games, the first-string defense shut out the opponent. The only game in which an opponent scored on the first-string defense was a 40-12 victory over DeSales. Our offense was not as good as our defense, but our offense was good. The first...
For the last two and a half years, Greg and I have been diligently working to establish an American Bicycle Association sanctioned BMX track for the Waitsburg community. When we joined this town four years ago, we saw the benefits for our four children and ourselves. Previously, we had become involved with the Walla Walla BMX track and with the other families developing and using that facility. In addition to the exercise and healthy lifestyle surrounding BMX, a local track would perm...
The current Waitsburg City Council has thus far kept a steady hand on "the ship of state," and we support their fiscally prudent management of city affairs. Its members have conducted public hearings on proposed, albeit small, tax increases and solicited public input on other agenda items, plus contributed thoughtfully to other decisions before the city. But we need to respectfully ask the council to take another look at an important item on which they acted, at least in our opinion, too hastily during their last public meeting. On Nov. 1...
June 12, 1919 - November23, 2010 Leslie C. Pardue, 91, passed away on November 23, 2010, at the VA Hospital in Spokane, Washington, following complications after surgery. Memorial services will be in the spring of 2011 at the Westside Cemetery in Lakeview, Oregon. Les was born in Lakeview, Oregon, where he grew up and married his childhood sweetheart. He worked many years as a logger with his own truck and even served as Justice of the Peace in Lakeview. Les moved his family from Lakeview in 1959 and worked as a heavy equipment operator in O...
DAYTON - More than a dozen concerned citizens and civic leaders packed into the Delany Room at the Dayton Memorial Library last Wednesday morning to voice their support of programs aimed at reducing drug and alcohol use in Columbia County. The Columbia County Coalition for Youth and Families is looking in the next three months to apply for a Drug-Free Community Grant, which could bring $1.25 million into the Touchet Valley for programs aimed at preventing substance abuse among youth. "We're looking at about 400 hours investing in ap...
WAITSBURG - Carlos Norris entered his first BMX race when he was 6. It was at the Walla Walla Valley BMX track where the Waitsburg youngster got his first taste of a course sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association, the excitement of competing with other racers and the cheers from his family. "I liked going over the hills and stuff and go after a trophy," said Norris, who is now 8. But Norris hasn't raced in two years. His mom, Lisa, who works in Walla Walla, had to come all the way back...
DAYTON - Officials have less than a week to decide whether voters in the Dayton School District will pass judgment in February on a new school levy. With expenses rising and revenue disappearing at an alarming rate, Superintendent Doug Johnson and the five-member school board are sweating it. "The first question people are going to ask is, 'What are we going to spend the money on?'" Johnson said during a public presentation at the school last week. "The problem is, I don't know. I just know we're going to need it." With cuts proposed at the s...
WAITSBURG - Less than eight months after it was repaired by Haskins Co. of Spokane at a cost of 140,000, the Waitsburg grain bin that split and spilled several thousand bushels of wheat last year failed again in the same spot, Northwest Grain Growers officials said Tuesday. "This should not have happened," said David Gordon, general manager for Walla Walla-based Northwest Grain Growers. "But when these things happen, you correct them." Gordon said about 1,500 bushels spilled from the bin t...
