Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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By Don C. Brunell American companies are beginning to feel the pinch after Congress killed the Export-Import Bank last June. It is increasingly putting our manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage. Not only are we losing orders to foreign competitors, but some domestic manufacturers are shifting jobs and production to other countries where those banks exist. GE announced it plans to move 350 jobs from its Waukesha, Wisconsin gas engine plant to a new factory in Canada, which has its own versi...
Dear Editor, I just wanted to thank you for the picture on page 12 of your last issue of the Class of 1975. I attended school in Waitsburg from 4 - 8th grade and should have been in that picture but we moved from Waitsburg in the summer of 1970. I have not seen these people since then and just wanted to say it looks like everyone has aged well. Carry on my former classmates. Ron McGuire Deer Park, Wash....
The City of Waitsburg and our local Fire District 2 have entered into an agreement to annex the city into the district. If the plan is ratified by voters, District 2 will take over firefighting duties within the city starting next year. This idea makes perfect sense. The district surrounds the city, and the two entities already share a fire station. Why not simplify everything by absorbing the city FD into the district. In separate but related news, the Waitsburg Ambulance Service has also entered into an agreement with District 2 to dissolve...
Wheat prices in Chicago have just touched their highest point since mid-August. Tuesday’s session closed up a dime, now at plus 63 cents in 22 trading sessions. Clearly the fact that U.S. wheat is far over-priced into many export markets is not the driving factor. The underlying strength has had more to do with shifting positions held by large trading funds, now short-sold just 37,006 contracts of wheat in Chicago versus 55,151 in the week of 9-11. As the funds complete their “cover” (buy back) of these positions as they eventually must, the w...
In the eleven months since voters in the Columbia County Hospital District approved a $5.5 million bond levy for a major remodel of Dayton General Hospital, I’ve heard from a number of readers who are concerned that nothing much seems to be happening. It’s true that most of the action has been behind the scenes so far: a lot of design and budget decisions remained to be made after the vote. But those pieces are mostly in place now, and the curtain will soon lift on a show that’s certain to be action-packed. As we report in the front-page this...
U.S. national winter wheat planting reached 19% as of Sept. 20, down 4% from last year and only 1% off the five-year average. USDA on the 21st rated topsoil moisture in Kansas at 59% adequate to surplus, Oklahoma’s at 49% and Texas at 32%. Washington’s winter wheat crop is 55% in the ground, versus a 56% five-year average. Idaho 27% in v. 24% normal, Oregon 19% v. 15%. There is no stress on the market from these stats! Corn harvest is just beginning to roll, with 7% done versus the 15% five-year average. Soybeans 3% in the bin versus 7% nor...
The Times was approached recently by an employee of the Walla Walla Cannabis Co. about the possibility of running ads in our paper, and also placing a paper box at the business. My first reaction was the same as it always is when a new potential advertiser approaches us: Hooray! Another customer means more money for us. But my enthusiasm was tempered as I considered the reaction we might get from some of our readers. I know that many people in our area are uncomfortable with having businesses...
Chicago wheat just put in a positive price week, the first since August 5-6-7-8. December futures jumped from $4.65 to $5.01, 36 cents in six trading sessions. A two month old trend-line was broken last Friday when the “Dec” closed decisively over $4.85. So now what? In order to confirm a new upward price bias, we have to build a case for higher prices based on more than just a pattern on the chart. And that, oh best beloved, is a tale yet to be told. Some of the enthusiasm for wheat came in sympathy with corn, which received a boost from las...
Waitsburg’s annual Pioneer Fall Festival will feature a great variety of activities for kids of all ages on Sunday. Pioneers of the Year will be honored and pies will be baked and auctioned off. Waitsburg’s museum complex, including the Bruce Museum and the Wilson-Phillips House, will be open for tours. A community church service will be held at 11 a.m., and, as usual, a vintage style show will be held in the afternoon. But a special treat this year will be on the stage in front of the Bruce Museum. A big lineup of music performers will perform...
By Rea Culwell, Columbia County Prosecutor "What trial is scheduled for next week?" I get this question a lot. I used to think that maybe the person was interested in my job as a prosecutor . . . but I quickly learned it wasn't about me or the job. In most cases, the inquirer received a summons from the court to serve as a juror and they wanted to know who was on trial and who was accused of what crime. And usually the conversation includes "I can't be on that jury." In the not too distant...
First of all, let’s give a big giant 195 pound “BOO” to the judges of the biggest pumpkin contest at the Walla Walla County Fair. What they did was “un-Fair.” (See our Page 1 story for more details.) I would think that fair officials could trust a bunch of hardworking kids who put that much effort into the grand pumpkin to believe them when they say the entry form was mailed on time. But enough about that. We’re coming up on weekend number two of local fair season. Preparations are underway fo...
This summer our region has been ravaged by wildfires. We’ve seen unprecedented damage—homes burned, communities evacuated, and both civilians and firefighters tragically killed. An area nearly the size of the State of Delaware has burned, and dark, smoke-filled skies across our state remind everyone of the devastation facing our region. Until we are certain you and your neighbors are safe from these catastrophic fires, we will pay whatever it costs to fight them. That is our policy today, and I will ensure it continues to be our policy. Ove...
It’s hard to believe that summer’s over for kids and their teachers (though not for the rest of us – September will, no doubt, bring more warm, sunny weather to the Touchet Valley.) School’s already up and running in Dayton and Prescott, and kids head back to school next week in Waitsburg. Every year at about this time, newspaper editorialists throughout the land write optimistically about the excitement of the upcoming new school year. They also, without fail, give a stern warning to all of...
I've known Gabe Kiefel (now referred to as "Mr. Kiefel," by my two youngest sons, which continues to throw me for a loop) since he was in elementary school. He graduated from WHS, along with my oldest son, as a member of the Class of 2005. These days, he is a busy husband, dad, Waitsburg middle school teacher and coach. When my youngest son returned home from football practice one night, saying that coach Kiefel, wasn't at practice because he was donating bone marrow, I was surprised, but...
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