Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG - Salmon in Walla Walla and Columbia counties will be very happy to know some local conservation groups have received millions in funding to improve fish passage and fish habitat. On Dec. 12, the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office announced it was giving $30 million in grant money to different organizations across the state to help recover the salmon population. The grant money will provide more than 300 jobs over the next four years, according to the organization's website. Columbia County will receive $265,720 for...
Silas McClurg, a second grade student, is the Starbuck School District Elementary Student of the Month for November 2011. Silas is in his first year at Starbuck, and he is a superstar! He is excelling in all of his work in class and loving to learn. His Abraham Lincoln report was very well written, his reading skills are improving (he just finished a "Magic Treehouse" book) and he learned all about balancing and weighing objects in science. At recess and lunch times Silas is always helpful and...
DAYTON - The Lady Bulldogs lost to Asotin, 61-52, Saturday but there was much to be optimistic about for Dayton players and coaches. Despite the points on the scoreboard, Dayton had by far its best game of the season against the Panthers. "That was the best effort we've had all year," head coach Clayton Strong said after the game. "Tonight we just relaxed and played. I think we overcame our fear of failure." Asotin opened the scoring drive with a two-point shot and although Lady Bulldog Nicole...
DAYTON - The Dayton Bulldogs went 6-0 after beating Asotin, 56-41, Saturday in a game that quickly turned into a route for the Panthers. "We definitely felt we had control of the game," Bulldog Joey Schlachter said after the home court encounter. "We were worried about getting outrun, which we didn't let them do." The Bulldogs had a close game against Waitsburg- Prescott on Friday, but the team seemed much more comfortable in the game against the Panthers. Dayton opened the scoring drive and...
WAITSBURG -- The WP Cardinals aren't just the toast of Waitsburg, which honored the team with a special dinner sponsored by the Commercial Club at the Town Hall last Thursday -- the 2011 2B state football champions are the toast of the entire state. Quarterback Zach Bartlow last week was named Player of the Year on the Washington Associated Press All-State football team as voted by writers and editors from around Washington. It's the highest honor any football player can receive in his division. His father, WP head coach Jeff Bartlow, was...
DAYTON -- The WP Lady Cardinals opened league play with a 38-23 victory over their rival team, the Dayton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs outscored the Cardinals, 12-11, in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Cardinals 16-point halftime lead. The Bulldogs' first-half beating began when WP's Dionna Baker grabbed the tipoff to set up the first Cardinal bucket. It was a heated first quarter with the Cardinals quickly setting the pace of the game. The experience and quick hands of the... Full story
DAYTON - On the eve of the year-end holiday season, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office is warning homeowners that an elusive burglar is still at large in the Dayton area. The sheriff has also released a general description of the man, who has been sighted by several witnesses, but not close enough for a police sketch. Authorities describe him as a "tall, white male, between the ages of 25-50." The suspect has been targeting vacant homes inside the city limits for the past several months, forcibly entering them, stealing personal property and...
DAYTON -- The WP Cardinals and Dayton Bulldogs duked it out once again last Friday night, battling point-forpoint in an old-fashioned rival basketball game. The Cardinals hit nine threepoint buckets in Friday's game, but missed one when it really counted giving the Bulldogs a 53-50 victory over the Cardinals. The Bulldogs brought down the opening tip and it was game on from there. It was quickly established that this was going to be a fast-paced, run-the-floor kind of game. The Cardinals were...
POMEROY - Dalton LaRue pinned for the second time this season, beating Gabe Davis of Gar Pal in the second round of his first match at the WP wrestling team's first big meet in Pomeroy on Tuesday. "Davis had the length," head wrestling coach Lanny Adams said about the Gar Pal wrestler's fourinch height advantage over LaRue. "But Dalton outmatched him based on his knowledge of the moves." LaRue was the first and only WP athlete to pin during an informal unscheduled meet in which the Tigers...
The general trend in wheat prices, even with $2 per bushel swings, has been negative for nine months since February 2011, from highs at or above $8.67 per bushel. High points in the pattern have been lower than previous highs, and each low has been lower than the previous (book definition of a downtrend). As of Monday, Dec. 19, the leading Chicago wheat contract was trading at $5.84, $2.83 cents lower than the February 2011 high and a new low dating back to July 2010. There was no surprise in this, as the supply of wheat in the world has been...
DAYTON - Barely three months ago, Dayton-based real estate broker Blaine Bickelhaupt sold a 1,700-acre farm in Whitman County for about $1,600 an acre. If he sold the same property today, he could probably get $1,900 per acre. "I have investors from across the country looking for farm ground," said Bickelhaupt, owner of Windermere Real Estate/Blue Mountain realtors, who has a client base of about 10 potential buyers interested in crop land in the Pacific Northwest. Two years ago, he had perhaps...
DAYTON - A new business in Dayton is offering up casual, family-style pizza to fill residents' tummies. Time Out Pizza, at 134 East Main Street, opened very quietly on Oct. 27, said co-owner Phillip Sortomme. Sortomme, his wife Samantha and Smantha's father Eldon Wittig wanted to open up another family pizza store and thought Dayton was the perfect place. "We like the town," Sortomme said. "And we noticed there' no (pizza) delivery around here." Wittig has owned and operated pizza restaurants...
December 23: Tyler Hofer, Joyce Beckley, Claire Raven, Alta Daniel, Larry Bickelhaupt, Lorene Brown, Kim Douglas, Carl Smith, Richard Bessey, Karen Lambert. December 24: Shirley Kitterman, Carolyn O'Brien, Ed Lawrence, Shane Hilton, Mary Conner, Barbara Wagener, Tracey Harper, Karen Stroobants. December 25: Solon Pietila, Donna Manley, Les Richardson, Sonia Borrowdale, Annette Becker, Carol Hevel, Dalton Carlisle, and Neil Maxwell. December 26: Sandra Farley, Sydney Claire Brookshire, Dr. Mel Laidlaw, Jennifer Nielsen, Margie Douglas. December...
Waitsburg 12-13 Vehicle prowl reported on unspecified city street. 12-16 Informational report, possible narcotics violation at Waitsburg High School. Malicious mischief, writing on a desk at Preston Hall. 12-17 Child custody dispute on Arnold Street. 12-18 Vehicle rollover crash on Middle Waitsburg Road, no injuries reported. Dayton 12-13 Stray animal on Highway 12. Suspicious circumstances reported on South Second Street. Violation of protection order reported on South Third Street, unfounded. Suspicious circumstances reported on Cottonwood... Full story
Thanks to its tumultuous history and unique geography, America's culinary fabric is dense with an overwhelming variety of cultural threads. Today, we are both an indigenous population and waves of immigrants, each group with its own cooking traditions. With such a diverse pantry and confluence of peoples, the result is a complex tapestry, food weaving its self into our culture. Most food and wine historians agree that trends in food and wine have no limit to mimicking current events of the day. At this very moment, while U.S. politicians eye... Full story
Ten Years Ago December 27, 2001 From the renovation of Waitsburg High School to Sept. 11, The Times cites the many changes that marked 2001. Pat Mohney's being in the right place at the right time to rescue Alexis Nordman from a pair of attacking Rottweilers, Glynn Davis was honored as Snowmobiler of the Year by the Blue Mountain SnoMo Club, Touchet Valley Communications, a new Internet service provider was introduced, Bill Thompson was named Lion of the Year, Brad Green joined The Times as an Educatorin Residence, and other accomplishments...
DISTRICT LEVY TO GO ON BALLOT WAITSBURG - Last Wednesday night, the Waitsburg School Board approved a maintenance and operations levy resolution. The levy will be before voters on the ballot for the Feb. 14 Special Election. If approved by voters, in 2013 the district would collect $435,000 ($3.62 per $1000 assessed valuation). For collection in 2014, the district would receive $447,000 ($3.72 per $1000 assessed valuation). The money would help maintain school programs and athletics, employees and the district's facilities. CITY GETS GRANT FOR...
To the Editor, The Walla Walla Port Commissioners acted wisely to eliminate Director Jim Kuntz's $25,000 deferred compensation package. In my opinion, the additional compensation beyond his base salary was both deceptive and excessive. Clearly, the total compensation of $159,726 he received last year was inappropriate and unjustifiable, in light of allegations of his unprofessional behavior in the workplace and his inability for years to bring jobs to the valley. The fact that Mr. Kuntz is still employed at the port in any capacity is the...
Nostrant Gets New Liver S EATTLE -- When Dennis Nostrant received an urgent call on his dedicated "transplant" cell phone at 2 a.m. on Dec. 4, he learned he had six hours to make it from his home in Thronton, south of Spokane, to the University Medical Center in Seattle. He had reason to be somewhat skeptical. Three times over the previous months he had received similar calls from his medical coordinator at the center calling him in to be ready for a liver transplant only to be told that, for...
The hills around Waitsburg were socked in Monday. Fog as thick as split pea soup obscured everything but a dozen feet in front. It was a reminder that it's sometimes hard to know or see what lies ahead. According to some students of history and prophets of doom, that's the way it will be for the global community in 2012. We're not talking about the normal ups and downs of the international economy or oil prices or food prices or regional conflicts. We're talking about the end of the world as we know it. It's supposed to happen about a year from...
DAYTON - Last Wednesday evening, community members gathered in the library's Delany building to see the final suggestions from an architect company as to what the city's Historic Commercial Avenue could look like in the next 10 to 20 years. Dougherty Landscape Architects, from Eugene, Ore., was the company hired to redesign the street to enhance its connection to Main Street and link the county courthouse, Blue Mountain schoolhouse and all of the "jewels" in between. "It was (David Dougherty's)...
WAITSBURG - Citizens of Waitsburg should be ready to be recounted. City Manager Randy Hinchliffe said the recent federal census count was lower than the city believes it is, at 1,217 people. With a lower count, the city will receive less money from the state each year, he said. The state currently dishes out funding through liquor tax, gas tax and other revenues based on the city's current population. With a low count, Hinchliffe is worried that until the next census, the city could miss out on a good amount of state money. "If you leave it...