Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1352 - 1376 of 2504
Be it exporting the millions of tons of wheat harvested by local farmers, transporting essential cargo, or cultivating Eastern Washington's growing tourism industry, our community relies on its waterways in order to thrive. We need a healthy "river highway" in order to foster a healthy economy - yet our federal navigation channel on the Lower Snake River has not been maintained since 2005. While I am pleased the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing much-awaited maintenance dredging on the...
Dear Editor, In their periodic collective bargaining sessions, our School Board and the Walla Walla Valley Education Association (WWVEA) determine the quality of our schools, the services to be offered for children, and the priorities for levies funded by local taxpayers. Typically, the union works to reduce accountability, increase costs, and control service levels. For that service, the union requires all teachers to either become a member or pay a representation fee deducted automatically by the district. If the teacher elects to become a...
Dear Editor, Sheriff Turner has undergone a great deal of scrutiny during his tenure. Much has been printed and his opponent and his supporters have been given the opportunity to put their own spin on the stories. I would argue that there is a pattern of behavior by Sheriff Turner's opponent which should concern voters. He is touted as fiscally conservative. says something different to me. His many years of experience in law enforcement is cited. Not reading and understanding the importance of office communication regarding the Ortega Law as...
Who hasn't, at one point or another, contemplated starting a small business of their own? I think we all have a little bit of entrepreneur inside us, and sometimes it insists on coming out. I'm an enterprising person by nature, but I've never come up with a product of saleable appeal. The one original idea I did bring to market ("Leprechaun Lemonade", dyed a festive shade of green for Saint Patrick's Day) was a drastic fail. Now, several years later and having taken an economics class, I...
On a recent trip to the big city up north, I picked up a copy of "The Inlander," Spokane's well-established and popular alternative weekly newspaper. It's available free in places ranging from hipster downtown coffee shops to suburban Burger Kings and supermarkets. Near the back of my copy was a twopage spread called "The Green Zone." There I saw ads for three recreational marijuana shops (one was having a grand opening that week), three medical marijuana cooperatives and one store specializing...
Dear Editor, I had the pleasure of getting to know Sheriff John Turner while I served as an advisor to Walla Walla Dispatch. I recall Sheriff Turner's excellent demeanor and ethics as the task of upgrading the County's communications system came into focus. He very quickly gained an understanding of the cause, effect and long-term implications of a weather related system outage, and helped to chart a path toward its mitigation and restoration. Sheriff Turner worked closely with the EMCAB Director, partners, elected officials, and consultants...
Dear Editor, I am fairly new to Walla Walla; I've been employed as a Corrections Officer for the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office for 14 months. I've had the privilege of working for a sheriff's office that demonstrates professionalism to the highest degree. I believe this to be due in part of the expectations of Sheriff Turner, and his administration. Sheriff Turner expects his staff to be professional, thorough, meet expectations, and be proactive at all times in order to provide optimal service for Walla Walla County. I have never experie...
Some people go to county fairs for the rodeos; others for the deep-fried Twinkies; still others to see the amazing things people can do with yarn or wood. I go for the chickens. If you're ever hunting around for me at one of these events, go straight to the poultry barn. I'll be there admiring the residents - and, on occasion, talking to them. Yes, I talk to the chickens. Perhaps more than I should. I talk to the bantam roosters - sweet little guys about as high as your hand. They're not very intimidating. Sometimes they try to fix their machis...
The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving ~Oliver Wendell Holmes You better start swimming or sink like a stone, 'cause the times they are a-changing ~Bob Dylan T he new Columbia Pulp plant isn't a 100% sure thing, but it looks more real by the day. When I spoke with Columbia Pulp CEO John Begley last week, he said he saw no insurmountable hurdles ahead from now until the projected startup time for the new plant, a little more than a year...
DAYTON - Thirty four vintage racecars converged on Dayton over Labor Day weekend for their annual 200 mile endurance run. The cars and their owners are members of the Northwest Vintage Speedsters club, out of Portland. According to event organizer DaJuan Recknagle, the cars drove a 200 mile route on Sunday, which put them on city streets and county roads, all within ten miles of Dayton. The drivers had no information about the course until they were handed maps when the run began. Drivers and...
4-H Corral Wranglers - Waitsburg Beef Leighton Dorman: Reserve Champion 4-H Market Steer, Blue Fitting and Showing Kayla Beechinor: Senior Reserve Champion 4-H Beef Showman, Blue Market Skylar Druffel: Intermediate Champion 4-H Beef Showman Jared Farley, Drew Farley, Amy Farley, Tanner Druffuel, Logan Hersey, Hadley Beechinor: Market Blue Ribbons, Fitting and Showing Blue Ribbons Swine Lexie Benson: Reserve Grand Champion and Blue Fitting & Showing, Blue Market Cason Nichols, Devon Harshman,...
Dear Editor, Thanks to Councilman Kuykendall for at least asking about polling citizens to see which artwork they would prefer on permanent display to represent Waitsburg. A shame the Art Commission didn't consider doing that early enough to gain valuable input from more of those living in the community where the final choices would reside. Thanks, also, to Ross Hamann for reminding folks who could attend of previous input--from the community--regarding the original streetscape project and the fact that life-size interactive sculptures that fol...
Dear Editor, This is my continuing effort to keep you updated on the importance of the proposed Hospital Bond and levy on the November ballot. In three years we will lose our Medicare reimbursement of $350,000 per year because we have exhausted our depreciation (an allowed tax deduction based on a reduction in value of an asset over time). This, coupled with the Booker deficit, will total $747,000 in operational dollars that cannot be sustained within the current structure and services provided. Is this Bond a redesign, a remodel, or an...
Dear Editor, I was disappointed and offended in the editorial written in the August 28 Times by Ken Graham entitled "10 Reasons I'm Glad I Don't Have to Go Back to School." In particular reason 8 - denigrating being in the band. As a music educator for 25 years I am compelled to write and "teach" The Times about the benefits of a music education. Here are just a few of the facts- Secondary students who participated in music reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances, (alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse). Students with band and...
Dear Editor: Having spent the better part of 25 years as a resident of Walla Walla, I consider it a privilege to serve the people as a Deputy Sheriff. Although I have only been with the office since 2012, and some may deem my voice as that of "the new guy", I have spent the last decade of my life serving in the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps on both active duty and in the reserves. In that time, I have seen many different leadership types both stateside and in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have seen what works and what does...
I bought my first locker organizer yesterday. It's a kit full of black plastic planks that you can interlock to form several configurations of shelves. After a little fiddling around this morning, I decided on an H-shaped setup - notebooks on top, textbooks on the bottom, and a shelf in the middle for pencil bags, a day planner, and whatever forms may need taking home. I was super excited about this because my lockers for the past three years have been the stuff of urban myth. Landslides onto...
My mother passed away a year ago this week. I'm not a particularly sentimental person, but I have been thinking about her a lot recently. And I was reminded of her when I read a letter to the editor we received this week. It was my mother's fault that I took up the trombone way back in junior high school, and played it in the band (and stage band and orchestra) all through high school. Last week in this space I wrote a column - intended to be humorous - in which I recalled some of my...
Dear Editor, As a Hospital Board member and Friend of the Hospital I feel that it is important to keep you updated on issues relevant to daily operation of the hospital and the levy. I know that a levy is not a very popular issue, especially following an important school levy which did not pass! Both education and health are very important to our families and communities. In a recent letter to the editor I indicated that the hospital district financially subsidized Booker's operation for the past seven years at an average cost of $397,000 per...
[Editor's note: the following are excerpts from news stories around the country about firearm initiatives that will be on the ballot in Washington in November.] WhileWashington state voters won't weigh in on two competing gun-related ballot measures for months, money is already pouring into the campaigns in advance of the November electionhellip; hellip;Initiative 594, which is proposing universal background checks for gun sales and transfers, has a significant fundraising advantage over its rival. Initiative 591 would prevent Washington state...
Well, it seems as though I'm running out of summer quite rapidly. School starts next Tuesday. The Walla Walla Fair, long a herald of the break's end, will already be in full swing by the time you read this. The evenings are starting to get a little chilly, and my garden's finally yielding produce. For the most part, the elapsed time was uneventful. I worked from home, started a couple projects, visited family, hosted family, applied for a scholarship or two, baked way too much cake, and hugged...
1. I did it 19 times (including Kindergarten and graduate school). That was enough. 9. I hate shopping for clothes. 8. In high school I wasn't good enough to play football. (The one year I did, I learned things about pain I'd never known.) So when school started, it meant putting on my band uniform. It's not the same. 7. I had to walk a quarter mile to the bus stop and a quarter mile home every day. 180 times a year. With my trombone. 6. Did I mention that I was kind of a dork? Guys like me...
