Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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This week we have the privilege of presenting the writing of nearly 150 young contributors. Students at Waitsburg Elementary School have written Christmas poems or stories, or even letters to Santa Claus, and they've submitted them to us for publication. (And we're not even paying them.) Last year in this space I said that, when you write for a living, it can sometimes feel like digging ditches with your fingertips. That's an example of an analogy, which is something we writers like to use,...
[Editor's note: The previously struggling Seattle Seahawks have regained their former destructive potential the past three weeks and the national press has noticed. Herewith some examples:] You can run the plays fast, but you can't hide, not from a defense as good as the Seattle Seahawks'. The vaunted Philadelphia Eagles offense under coach Chip Kelly, the fastpaced, big-play unit that also has one of the best running backs in the NFL in LeSean McCoy, was no match for the Seattle defense Sunday in the 24-14 loss. The Seahawks held the Eagles...
A round the holidays, parodies of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" are a dime a dozen. But for lack of more mirthful inspiration (and with my tirade on snow-day quotas censored by the powers that be), here goes nothing. Ahem hem hem: On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me A six-man ja-cu-zzi! On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Two golden duckies for the six-man ja-cu-zzi! On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me Three trash cans to put alongside...
I f and when it is completed, Whoopemup Meadows will probably increase Waitsburg's housing stock by more than 50% from its current level. That seems immense, but it will take awhile. Co-developer Gene Warren says the new new114-lot development on Waitsburg's northwest corner, described in our Page 1 article, could take 20 years to complete, depending on market conditions. If it takes that long, it will work out to an average of less than six new homes per year. That does NOT qualify as...
Dear Editor, Congrats to Paul, Sherry, and Kathy on their many years of pharmacy service and recent retirement. During my hospice nurse tenure in the Dayton area I had frequent contact with Elk Drug staff who had a beautiful service attitude and great respect for hospice patients and their families. When there was a critical need after hours, Paul always responded without hesitation, "I'll be right there," and even offered to deliver. I saw Sean carrying on the same superb service. Congrats to the community on passing the hospital levy!...
[Editor's note: This week we hear from some pundits around the country with excerpts from columns they've written about President Obama's executive action on immigration.] A year ago, when asked if he had the authority to end deportations of illegal aliens he said, "Actually, I don't." Three years earlier, when pressed as to why he could not act on his own on immigration he said, "The notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true." Well, now the president says it is true -- he can alter the laws unilaterally. Why...
I just love Christmas. The whole season is so warm and cheery and beautiful, and even the air seems to glisten with a - "We interrupt your childhood to bring you a reality check. Young lady, you have two essays to finish for next week, a publication deadline tonight, a litter box to scoop out, and optional-but-strongly-recommended "sleep" to schedule. Be advised." All right. (*cough, Scrooge, cough*) Essay. Right. The prompt is "Elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities and explain...
We report this week, in an article on Page 9, about the Dayton School District's new approach to facilities improvements. Instead of seeking voter approval for a bond levy measure that would allow a major renovation of school facilities, the Dayton School Board will likely go out next year for a capital improvement levy instead. With a capital improvement levy, the district won't borrow money by issuing bonds and then pay them off with tax revenues. Instead, it will propose to undertake a limited set of projects and likely complete them over a...
To the Waitsburg/Prescott School Communities: On behalf of the team, school and community of supporters of Mount Vernon Christian School, I wanted to let you know how impressed we were to have had the opportunity to compete with your Tiger team in the State 2B/1B Boys' Soccer Championship Saturday. My first thought is how humble and gracious your team players and coaches were. They were so very respectful as they competed - appropriately physical, organized and solid in their skill work and establishing of a system. They knew what they wanted...
I t's been two years since I started writing this column. In a way it feels a good deal longer, but sometimes it still seems like I just started yesterday. My very first piece, as those of you who've read me from the beginning know, was a relatively boring list of Christmas gift-shopping tips. Last year, I commemorated this column's first anniversary by offering a slightly less boring list of Christmas gift-shopping tips. This year, as I am completely shot for other inspiration and Black Friday...
On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing the last Thursday of November that year as a national day of Thanksgiving and Praise. Prior to that time, many American states celebrated Thanksgiving at different times of the year, though usually in autumn, after harvest. According to historical sources (yes, they're online, but they're trustworthy), most Americans consider the first Thanksgiving to have been held by settlers at Plymouth Plantation in 1621, after...
[Editor's Note: November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and the Columbia County Health System is reaching out to Touchet Valley residents to help them understand the disease, and measures available for prevention and treatment.] What is diabetes? As many people know, diabetes is a group of disorders that characteristically involves the body either not making enough insulin or not using its own insulin efficiently. As we take in food for energy use in the body, most of it is turned into glucose, or sugar for our later use. Our pancreas...
Waitsburg High School gets its graduation caps, gowns, and stoles (flat silky scarf things) through a company called Herff-Jones. The seniors buy their graduation gear this time of year and receive it sometime in the spring. It costs $41 to rent the gown and purchase the cap and stole (the cap being a potential stomping ground for head lice and the stole, due to the fact that it's imprinted with a school and a date, being highly un-reusable). That's all we're required to purchase. (Technically,...
On Sunday morning I got up, put a couple of logs in the wood stove and then walked across the cold wood floor in my bare feet to the kitchen to fill the kettle and make my morning pot of coffee. When I turned on the tap, the water barely trickled out. And then it stopped. I stood there and stared at it in disbelief for about a minute. I turned the faucet back and forth several times. Nothing. I stared at it some more. I'm not normally someone who wallows in self pity, but at this particular...
