Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1417 - 1441 of 2504
Dear Editor, When Sheriff Turner took office in 2011 I spent a large amount of time reviewing several years of the Walla Walla County and Sheriff's Office financial reports, in order to fully understand the budgeting and accounting process. As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), I wanted to know the history and pattern of expenditures, as well as what Sheriff Turner had to work with. A couple of things became obvious quickly. First, in order to deeply understand the accounting and budgeting process involved in managing the Sheriff's budget...
Dear Editor, As a rural land and homeowner in Columbia County, I am pleased with the efficiency and responsiveness of our local 911 dispatch and fire department. While most local families are enjoying a Fourth of July, barbecues and all the holiday events, many department staff and volunteers are working to protect homes, property and people from fire; trading time with their families to protect us. Please continue to join me and support our local fire department, volunteer firefighters, 911 dispatch and County Emergency Services. They do a...
A sk any private eye and they'll tell you - "There's no feeling like plunking another file in the "solved" tray, especially when that case was as stressful as my last one." A couple months back, a fellow came in asking me to check out an outfit called Smithton Amalgamated Trading. The pay was good, but the job was hard. It was a case with more dead ends than a corpse's hairdo. I got my client what he needed, and he was more than a little surprised when I gave it to him. "You - you made it out,"...
A s Colorado and Washington state approve the sale of marijuana for recreational use and other states consider following suit, [the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Md., Nora] Volkow says, the notion that legalization represents a modest, cost-free move is dangerously overblown. The evidence on the supposed safety of marijuana - particularly marijuana in its modern, far more potent form - is far from clear enough to take this leap. "I think that what we are seeing is a little bit of wishful thinking in the sense that we...
Dear Editor, As former president of the Washington State Sheriffs' Association, I have had the distinct pleasure of working closely with Sheriff John Turner for the past four years. Sheriff Turner has proven himself to be an enthusiastic man of leadership, vision and unquestionable integrity who deeply cares about the law enforcement profession and the citizens of Walla Walla County. He constantly strives to find innovative ways to improve services to the citizens of the County. Sheriff Turner is both highly educated and experienced in law...
[Editor's note: This week we bring you what we hope will be a continuing Times feature: a look at an issue that has broad as well as local implications. Following are several excerpts from news features and opinion pieces from Washington and nationwide regarding the upcoming battle to reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank.] A U.S. agency that helps foreign companies buy American-made products is facing the biggest test in its 80-year history as House Republicans press to shut the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Companies including Boeing, General...
Last week, I took my first plane trip in eleven years. Naturally, I'd forgotten a lot about those things since I was five, including the heavily standardized script the flight attendant rattles off before takeoff. (This serves the convenient double purpose of emergency instructions and mild sedative.) But on the first leg of the trip, I was lucky enough to get a steward who didn't mind taking a creative riff or two: - "The lavatory is that small door down towards the back. It's the only door on...
[Editor's note: In July 1946, America was celebrating its recent victory in World War II, while also beginning its recovery from the trauma of that war. The July 5, 1946 issue of The Waitsburg Times featured an editorial written by its publisher at the time, Carl P Dilts. We bring it to you again, 68 years later.] T he Declaration of Independence was the most important political document ever conceived for man's preservation. To secure freedom, the colonists fought for six long years, christening a new nation in blood. The American temper was...
Ten Years Ago July 1, 2004 Curiosity got the best of Carol Mae Hodgins, proprietor of the Bullseye Gar-NGrill, when a locked safe came up on the block at Classic Auction in Waitsburg earlier this year. The safe cost $825, Hodgins said, and belonged to a Walla Walla attorney named Ringhoffer, who died a number of years ago. . . Inside Hodgins found several itesm include a ¾-carat diamong ring, a Euopean-cut diamond Masonic Lodge ring, a diamond stickpin, a Hamilton watch, some old ledgers, and two deeds for property in Dayton from 1892. This...
[Editor's note: The following is a statement from State Representative Terry Nealey regarding the June 2014 Washington State revenue forecast.] T he Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council last week released its quarterly revenue forecast for the state. Acc ording t o Chief Econo- mist Steve Lerch, the General Fund-State net change is an increase of $157 million for the 2013-15 two-year budget cycle compared to the previous forecast in February. The council also increased its fore...
Dear Editor, I am writing to share an experience I witnessed and was a small part of with Sheriff John Turner. While employed with Providence St Mary Medical Center, I was a member of the Revenue Cycle Dept. which was approached by Sheriff Turner regarding the billing for care of inmates at the jail. Sheriff Turner urged St Mary's to help his team come up with a solution that would benefit the community while maintaining the exemplary care St Mary's is known for. As a result, a contract was put into place for services which saves the taxpayer 5...
First self-taught lesson at Girls State: Don't start a speech off with "Hi, my name is Jane Smith and I'm running for Auditor," or anything that sounds even remotely like that. At Girls State, the day starts at 6:30 in the morning and ends at eleven at night - and that's on the good nights. And so the minute your pitch starts off exactly the same as everyone else's, people start dozing off. Yup, this is it - one of the most prestigious conferences out there - affording its attendees the...
When Pomegranate Center Director Milenko Matanovic left a successful artists collective for something more meaningful, we're pretty sure what just took place in Prescott is exactly what he had in mind. Matanovic turned his focus to empowering and strengthening communities by helping them to work together to create community gathering spaces, like the one recently completed in Prescott. In just a few months, Prescott residents encouraged and supported one another in dreaming, designing and building a space that will leave a lasting legacy on...
When the Girls State brochure noted that "hay fever and allergies are prevalent in the Ellensburg area," I was initially unconcerned as I've never suffered from either. But about a week ago, my eyes started watering and itching, my nose clogged up, and my throat got raw. In other words, almost immediately before traveling to the windiest, most pollen-laden city in the state (during, no less, the worst allergy season North America has seen for a while), I suddenly became allergic to something....
Summer starts this weekend (it's called summer solstice). It'll be gone before you know it, so here are some things you can do to make it more fun and more memorable: 10. Go to the Snake. Lyons Ferry Marina has great food and a boat launch. Walk out to the end of the point and watch the fishermen. The Lyons Ferry Park, right across the bridge, is open this summer too. 9. Go camping on the Tucannon. I haven't been camping in years, but I should. Campgrounds up the Tucannon are great for fishing o...
Dear Editor, Jerry Votendahl's letter of June 5 regarding Tom Cooper not working full-duty as a deputy for nearly two years is clearly intended to implicate Sheriff Turner for revealing confidential information. Missing from Votendahl's letter is the fact that Mr. Cooper, not Sheriff Turner, made this information public in the WWUB article published April 14, 2013. Mr. Cooper's contribution to the article also included personal medical information and claims on how his medical condition should have resulted in different employment decisions by...
The Columbia County Planning Commission considered a proposal this week to make a significant change to the zoning code in Columbia County. On Monday the commission held a public hearing to take comments on a revision that would allow on-site sales of agricultural-related products by businesses as a "conditional use" in the Agricultural/Residential-1 zone. It then held a vote. (I was at that meeting and I'll get back to it in a moment.) There's a map on Page 5 that shows exactly where the AR-1 zones in Columbia County are located. (They're the...
As you read this, there is a little "12" beside my name in the school district's student enrollment spreadsheet. Impossible, right? I mean, if school years could get cited for speeding, the 11th grade would be in an impound lot by now. Hard as it is to believe that next year will be my last year of high school, I find it still harder to wrap my head around the fact that it will be my brother's first. And he's trying out for the football team to boot. I'm not sure whether to feel scared for him...
The purpose of my column is to respond to the editorial offered by The Times in regards to the recent school board decision of making the culminating project (senior project) voluntary versus compulsory. Opinion and input from all sources is highly valued by the Board and is part of the process for making our schools the best they can be. With that said, this response is not seeking to rebuke the editorial, but rather provide some additional clarification. During the last ten years the record will show the board has repeatedly supported making...
When the first All Wheels Weekend was held in 1995, the earliest Ford Mustangs were about 30 years old. Now they're celebrating their 50th anniversary. Cars that were new when the first AWW was held are getting close to being classics themselves. In June of 1995, Elvis would have been 60. Now he'd be almost 80. Justin Shandor, "The Ultimate Elvis," who will appear in Friday night's free stage show, turned 11 that year. The graduating seniors featured in this week's issue of The Times have never known a time when there wasn't an All Wheels...
