Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Before I begin, a couple of caveats: First, I’m a proud graduate of the University of Washington, and I prefer my apples purple and gold. And second, you can probably tell that this column is about football, so if that’s not your thing, you might want to move on to the Mitt Romney article. It’s been fun to watch a successful Washington State Cougar football team this year and see their fans get all excited. It’s sort of like when your kid brother gets better grades than you do one semester – you’re proud of him, but you know he’ll never...
PRESCOTT – With fresh memories of the prior night's windstorm that left thousands of Spokane residents without power during the first cold snap of winter, attendees were all ears during a Red Cross disaster preparedness class held at the Prescott Library last week. Casey Branson, Disaster Preparedness Coordinator for the Kennewick American Red Cross branch, discussed the Red Cross organization, how to prepare for a disaster, and what resources are available to citizens, at the Wed., Nov. 18 c...
Friday morning, hours before news broke that terrorists killed more than 100 people and wounded hundreds of other innocent victims in coordinated, bloody attacks all around Paris, President Barack Obama told Americans that “we have contained” the advance of the Islamic State. Now that the Islamic State is claiming credit for these attacks, we know just how wrong he was. After Paris, it’s clear: Doing the minimum won’t make us safe. It’s time the president stopped hedging and took meaningful steps to defend us and our allies. The president...
It is very important for people traveling by airplane this Thanksgiving to consider the consistency of their pies. They must be firm. If your pie’s interior is found to be too soupy, that culinary labor of love might be banned from boarding. And don’t try to slip pie by the agents of the Transportation Security Administration. Expect the same degree of scrutiny your pie might get from the judges at a county fair. “As a general rule of thumb,” the TSA advises, “if you can spread it, spill it, spray it, pump it or pour it, then it’s usually in...
This is likely to be the last copy of The Times you’ll see before Thanksgiving, so we thought we’d give you some things to think about as you head into the 2015 holiday season: According to CNN.com, TV dinners were invented in 1953 when Swansons had 26 tons of frozen turkeys left over after Thanksgiving that year. (And you thought you had a lot of leftovers!) Someone had the bright idea of slicing them up and wrapping them in foil, with trimmings. The day before Thanksgiving has the most liquor sales of the year. The day after Thanksgiving is...
It took the Chicago wheat futures market 12 grinding sessions to reach up 44 cents to the high close of Wednesday, Nov. 4 at $5.25, then it peeled backwards 33 cents in a couple of days. All that was accomplished in the week was a confirmation of the range highs back to July. Can this wheat market ever break out of the sideways pattern that has defined the price since July? It will require something more that we have on the board right now…weather, currency shifts, global peace… Since we are busy with a trapped market ping-ponging back and for...
WALLA WALLA – Corrections experts say that a large percentage of jail inmates suffer from mental health and/or chemical dependency illnesses which negatively impact their ability to function as contributing citizens. Walla Walla County Commissioners, the County Corrections Department, and the County Department of Community Health have recently established new programs to provide behavioral health treatment and support for those inmates. “Having these services made available in the jail is something the Board was interested in, to allow inm...
Veterans Day will probably be over by the time you read this, but it’s on my mind, so I’m going to talk about it anyway. My grandfather was in the military during World War I. He was in Europe, though I don’t think he saw combat. But I can remember him talking about how horrible that war was and the devastating affect it had on many of the young people of his generation who survived the war. It was supposed to be “The War to End All Wars.” It didn’t work out that way, but in the years immediately thereafter, there was a clear sense of gratitud...
TOUCHET VALLEY – Like death and taxes, fraud plays few favorites. Young or old, rich or poor, nearly everyone of legal age is a potential victim, whether random or targeted. Scams are a constant concern, but with fraudulent activity typically taking an uptick during the holiday season, it’s wise to be vigilant. Last month’s Dayton Police Notes are peppered with reports of fraudulent calls, and that’s probably a fraction of the calls that were actually received by citizens. Conversations with Wa...
Today, many elected officials are fixated on tearing down coal-fired power plants and replacing them with solar and wind farms. But that isn’t practical, because when there is no wind or sunlight those plants produce no electricity. There is an alternative. Nuclear power plants supply 10 percent of world’s electricity. But opponents say they are too dangerous and too expensive. They point to the 1986 meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union, considered to be the wor...
It’s Tuesday, Nov. 3 as I write this; the day this paper goes to press. Yesterday I got an email from Amazon announcing new “countdown to Black Friday” deals. “It’s never too early for a good deal,” the email says. I completely agree. And it’s never too late either. So the message is, if you simply can’t wait until the day after Thanksgiving to do your Christmas shopping a month before Christmas, why not get on Amazon.com now and do your Christmas shopping two months (almost) before Christmas. But by sending me that email, Amazon clearly...
Every year on Veterans Day, the nation pauses to recognize and honor all the men and women, living and dead, who took up arms in defense of America. Our nation owes Veterans a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. It’s our duty – not just on Veterans Day, but every day – to remember the sacrifices they’ve made and to make certain that our commitments to them and to their families are honored. And that duty is most especially important to those of us privileged to serve Veterans at VA, as well as here at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center....
The presidential election campaign is topping the national news all the time these days, with Hillary Clinton gaining and Donald Trump slipping in the polls. But that election is still more than a year away. You’ll probably be reading about it in this space next October. Right now, it’s time to pull our heads out of our TVs for a few minutes and take a look at the election that’s directly in front of us. Touchet Valley voters have a number of important choices to make in the next week. In Waitsburg, residents in the city will be deciding wheth...
While I don’t usually comment on items in the local paper, I felt that the this issue was important enough to warrant a response from the City as it is clear to me that the majority of people still don’t understand the issue at hand. First, a new tax will not show up on tax statements next year, as property taxing is always a year behind. Taxes collected in the current year are for the prior year, so money collected in 2015 is actually for 2014s taxes. Therefore, the citizens of Waitsburg will not be taxed for the Fire District, should the ann...
Dear Editor, With continued developments, I would like to ask you, the privately ran and operated Waitsburg Ambulance Board why you are giving a vote of no confidence to the staff after the passing of Richard Nauman? It pains me to hear that you have voted to end the career of multiple staff because of your own agenda and age, not adding younger board members. Letting your own age control the lives of others as elders of our community, what lesson are you teaching the younger generation? Are you really trying to tell them it is better to give u...
Yes, I know, this advice seems painfully obvious, and even trite – sort of like your mother telling you that vegetables are good for you. But if you live in Waitsburg, it’s best to keep this advice in mind and pay attention. Voters in this fair city are being asked to approve a measure that would allow annexation of the Waitsburg Fire Department into Walla Walla County Fire District 2. This is actually a really good idea. The two departments are housed in the same building and they share personnel. It would surely be more efficient to ope...
[Editor’s note: A group of protesters floated the Snake River earlier this month, urging the removal of the four lower Snake River dams to help fish recovery. They succeeded in one thing: putting the dam removal issue back in the news spotlight. Below are excerpts from a news story and recent opinion columns on each side of the issue.] The issue of breaching four giant dams on the Snake River to help endangered salmon runs has percolated in the Northwest for decades, but the idea has gained new momentum. After renewed political pressure to remo...
Dear Editor, Prescott Library and the Friends of the Prescott Library would like to thank everyone who contributed to our successful Fall Fundraiser held at the Lion’s Hall in Prescott on October 3. Our success would not have been possible without all the generous contributions of the patrons of the event, the wide array of diverse items donated, and the support of the community. Thank yu to everyone who volunteered their time including the kitchen crew who made all that delicious food possible! Also, we would like to thank the Waitsburg T...
Dear Editor, The residents of Columbia County and Waitsburg, once again, have an opportunity to determine the future of healthcare in their respective communities. A review of the candidates for the Hospital Commission reflects an expressed interest in the importance and need to maintain health care in our communities. All have experience and professional backgrounds that compliment their ability to provide necessary policy and strategic planning direction given time on the Commission. However, the changes that are occurring within the...
