Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1649 - 1673 of 2505
Dear Editor, What was the City think- ing when they were redoing West 7th.and decided it would be nice to put the 4 foot of rock between the sidewalk and the curb? Not only does it serve no real function, it is also danger- ous for me and others with medical devices, I.E. walk- ers, crutches, wheelchairs. I was expecting to see the strip filled with dirt, grass and trees, but, no, it was river rock. A law suit just waiting to happen. Jim Wills Waitsburg...
Dear Editor, I would like to update our wonderful community on my medical status. With the help of friends, family, local business and many, many community members, we were able to go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota in June, expecting to have brain surgery. After three very long and extensive days of testing, the surgeon (Dr. Link) along with sev- eral of his associates made the decision to put brain surgery on hold. He felt he would do more damage than good, due to the location of the tumor. At this point I have the entire...
Some weeks, my ex- perience doesn't lend itself well to a nicely organized, cohesive piece. On those occasions, I string my thoughts together in the order they enter my brain. This style of organization is known as 'stream of con- sciousness'. It's sort of the 'fruitcake' of writing styles - some people can't stand it, while others think it does the single truest job of capturing the human experience in all its raw, gritty glory. If you fall into the latter category, prepare for dis-...
This time each year in our hometown The county fair comes our way Where the folks gather round to be happy and spend theirday ~ from "County Fair," by The Beach Boys F airs are as old as civilization. In ancient Rome, special holidays - which allowed a break from work - were marked with gatherings they began calling Fairs. Fairs in the middle ages often included markets, where farmers would sell their goods and craftspeople would sell their wares. (The word fare is a variation that now often refers to food and drink.) Wikipedia's entry on...
Last night, when I took Dizzy for a walk up the alley, past the el- ementary school and back down Main Street, I looked up at the night sky. The moon wasn't quite full since it had an oval side, but it was bright. Around it, stars hung quietly above Preston Hall. One of them was on the move. Or, wait, it had a very small flashing light that hinted at its linear progress across the sky at least a mile high: a jet making its way west, probably to Portland International. In Waitsburg, I had never s...
Summer is finally winding down. With mere weeks until school’s back in session, it’s time for me to start panicking and finish up all my break-time projects before I’m saddled with classwork again. At the end of every summer, I like to take stock of all the little things I’ve learned, if only to reassure myself that I haven’t entirely blown my vast expanse of free time. The (partial) list is as follows: • If you attempt to make divinity candy on a humid day, even if the weather looks perfe...
...to err: human. A hundred years from now, scholars and anthropolo- gists who dig through the archives of The Times (and why wouldn't they?) will think that most of the content in last week's issue was published on July 18, rather than August 15. All of the proofreading that was brought to bear last week didn't catch the fact that the date listed at the top of each page - except Page 1 - contained the incorrect date. One thing we love about newspaper publishing is its per- manence. While we regret our error last week, we promise it won't be...
The purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. ~Sydney J. Harris S ydney J. Harris wasn't anybody particularly important (he was a newspapermanhellip;in Chicago) but he was well-known for his pithy quotes. We like this one. Over the next couple of weeks, nearly 1,000 students in the Touchet Valley will be back on campuses in Waitsburg, Dayton, Prescott, Starbuck and at Jubilee Academy. And for many local students recently graduated, they'll be back on campuses throughout the country. Hopefully many mirrors will be converted. For...
We want to thank all the volunteers that helped put out the lightning fires that hap- pened Saturday night. From the McCaw Group...
MILTON-FREEWATER - The 33rd Muddy Frogwater Country Classic Festival and Corn Roast in Milton-Free- water, Oregon will take place on August 16-18 at Yantis Park. This old-fashioned family event includes every- thing from a Kid Zone to an art show. There are activities, events, contests and games for all. Two local bands will rock the bandshell at Yantis Park. Bring your own lawn chair or claim a bale of straw and enjoy Shank's Pony on Fri- day night and Backroads on Saturday. Admission is free. A local talent show competi- tion rounds out the...
Whenever I see a clump of clover in the middle of a lawn, I habitually stoop down and examine it, look- ing for a four-leaved speci- men. I've done this ever since I found out that these actually exist in the wild, rare genetic mutations of the workaday three-leaved variety. Well, this weekend, while on a kayaking trip, I actually found one on the banks of the Snake River. It wasn't all pretty and perfect like the bizarrely symmetrical versions that rear their plasticine heads ev- ery Saint Patr...
Fair season is just around the corner, and so is the Pendleton Roundup: Sept. 11 - 14. Around here, that annual event within easy driving distance needs little introduction, but it's worth re- membering how the first Roundup more than 100 years ago was billed: "A frontier exhibition of picturesque pastimes, Indian and military spectacles, cow- boy racing and bronco bust- ing for the championship of the Northwest." Why? Well, we here in the Touchet Valley may want to zero in on one aspect of the...
When Dale Polla was hired last fall as CEO of the Columbia County Health System, we at The Times, along with most other community mem- bers, breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that finally a long stretch of turmoil at our local healthcare provider had ended. Apparently it hadn't. On August 1, Polla agreed to resign during the regular Columbia County Health System Board of Director's meet- ing. In interviews given after the resignation, board chair Lisa Naylor indicated that the board was...
When our country was founded, Thomas Jefferson declared that governments should only derive their power from the "consent of the governed." Four score and seven years later, at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln reminded us that ours was a government "of the people, by the people, for the people." Last week, the House of Representatives paid worthy tribute to the legacy of our Founding Fathers. We have renewed our commitment to putting people before politics. Last week, House Rep...
We're about a month out from the first day of school. I'm excited, but I'm apparently alone in my ex- citement, because every time I make some wistful com- ment about wishing school were back in session I get the death stare from my little brother. I recently read an article about "Summer Learning Loss," a phenomenon in which children forget a good deal of the past year's learn- ing over the summer. "Well, hey," I thought, "that can't be a problem for me. People are always telling me how great...
Luthier: Someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. From the French word "luth" (lute). I f you haven't met them yet, I hope you will soon: Joe Patrick and Gail Gwin. This week and next, we'll be introducing them to you through two feature stories. Mine about Gail's print- making art runs this week in the Touchet Valley Life section (see page 7). Larry Davidson's piece about Joe's instrument shop will be in the Times next week, but I couldn't resist giving you a preview....
More than three years ago, we wrote an editorial reminding Dayton residents to watch what they flush down the toilet or the kitchen sink. The crew at the waste water treatment plant had a problem keeping out items that do not decompose or are toxic enough to make the fish in the Touchet River sick. The facility on the edge of town that processes sanitary waste can handle organic matter that it breaks down with bacteria that eat it. It's a lot like a septic system that way. But when it comes to items such as diapers, tampons, applicators,...
Techno- Savings While we all know that computers, smartphones and app purchases cost us money, I wonder how many of us take advantage of the ways they can save us mon- ey. If you become familiar with a few good resources and are willing to spend an extra couple of minutes prior to making a purchase, your computer or smartphone can nearly always save you some cash. At the very least, it can let you rest assured that you're getting a good deal. Retailmenot.com is a website that I visit frequently...
This month's book re- views are provided by Amy Rosenberg, manager of the Dayton Memorial Library. Northanger Abbey It seems to me that when most people discuss Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice gets all the attention. Every other summer or so, I like to revisit my pal Jane and I reread all six of her published books. P & P has a well-deserved place in the literary cannon. It's arguably the first modern novel. Every formulaic rom-com you've ever seen has Pride and Prej- udice to thank, because...
I 've been depressed on and off for the past week or so. Blame it on the stir-crazies, a lack of social exposure, or the fact that I haven't taken ad- vantage of all this great sun we've been getting, but I've been feeling down lately. It reached a fever pitch on Sunday. Don't ask me why, don't ask me how. But it was bad, folks. Real bad. I had a bad feeling about the trip we were taking Sun- day afternoon - to Bennington Lake in order to use our newly-purchased kayaks. Besides the fact that I...
It's not too often that we have dinner with a guest from our Seven Porches Guest House. But the traveler who stayed with us this weekend happened to wander into the Whoop Em Up Hollow Cafe so we invited him to pull up a chair and join us for a glass of rose and a bite to eat. I've always liked that about the Whoop and eater- ies like that. Patrons greet, chat and co-mingle inside or on the terrace: evening sun, company and good food - what's not to like? When Scott Fisher made the booking on the...
