Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 465 - 489 of 2504
Dear Editor, Waitsburg is called, “One of a Kind”, and from the turnout of volunteers for this year’s Traffic Safety Coalition/the Department of Walla Walla County Community Health Bicycle Rodeo, I couldn’t agree more. Except this year we were joined by many other groups in the area. Volunteers included: The Bicycle Barn, The Christian Motorcycle Association Bikers in Prayer, The Waitsburg Resource Center (Food Bank), The Waitsburg Christian and Presbyterian churches, State Patrol Officer Grandstaff, the Waitsburg School District, parents...
It’s a story I’ve heard too many times in my own life and in the lives of the many small business owners I meet: Person grows up in a small town. Person moves to a city or urban area for college or work. Person yearns to return to the small-town life they love or return to raise their children in the same environment they grew up. However, a lack of job opportunities makes this American Dream unattainable. While it’s heartening to see many of our region’s major metropolitan areas flourish in this unprecedented booming economy, we need to incl...
A column by Gary Hofer All the world is in a curious Babel. Images of trouble flash and tumble and fears rumble. Those who desire power call with ever-greater urgency for more. Yet all the while the world rolls on, never missing a day or an hour. The sun comes up, the chickens cackle and the mourning dove calls. Switch-on harvest; time of gathering, the beginning of preparations for winter, the heartbeat of an ancient rhyme of seasons and work, a song of the gifts of nature and a miracle of earth, rain, soil and sun; where a single seed...
Last week I was reminded that just because I am an avid reader of newspapers and the owner and publisher of this newspaper, I am not a reporter. This hit me when I opened the July 11 Times and found an error I was completely responsible for. First, by giving incorrect information to the managing editor, Dena Martin, then not proofreading the final story before it went to print. As I said, I am not a reporter. I am, however, a publisher so I am printing my first correction: The article "Patriot's Parade Begins with a Dare" states that Anita...
Shortly, after Apollo 11 landed on the moon and astronaut Neil Armstrong took his famous first steps on the dusty lunar surface, some comedian in our army unit at Ft. Knox, KY, posted a sign in our barracks: “Sorry, Drill Sgt., No Green Cheese!” Our basic training drill instructor was already “highly agitated” because President Richard Nixon ordered a “training holiday” so we could watch live television coverage of landing. On July 20, 1969, our unit was supposed to take what was called “Military Stakes.” That test would determine if we...
What happens in China, doesn’t always stay in China. In fact, when it comes to tough new garbage and recycling restrictions, they may migrate elsewhere sooner than you might think. For example, Shanghai is one of the world’s largest cities with 26.9 million people. It is suffocating under mountains of trash its residents generate daily. It lacks an effective recycling and disposal system. “Instead, it has trash pickers to sift through the waste, plucking out whatever can be reused,” The Economi...
Dear Times Staff, Please note the change of address as of August 1. I am writing to tell you how much I am enjoying the newspaper since you have taken it over. What a great job you are doing. The layout is beautiful, and the content is so thoughtful. There is a wonderful energy to the paper now which is reflective of the people that live in the area. My family had a real presence on Main Street and in the area when we lived there. My mom and dad had the TV/electronics shop in the Plaza, the first cable TV to people. The speakers on top of the...
When my parents graduated from high school in 1936, a college education was too expensive for the son of a copper miner and the daughter of a plumber. Eighty years ago, our country was in the middle of the Great Depression and teens took odd jobs to help put food on the table and pay the family bills. In those days no bank would lend money to college students. Following World War II, there was new hope for veterans, The GI bill paid for veterans to complete their college or trade school education. My father, for example, graduated from trade...
Hopefully, when American and Chinese leaders meet to resolve trade differences, talks won’t breakdown and result in a new round of tariffs or product restrictions. It is in both nations’ interests for presidents Trump and Xi Jinping to find common ground. Our state has lots riding on those negotiations. The Brookings Institute points out that Washington would be “the worst off” of any state because 154,000 people are employed in industries that would be affected by new Chinese countermeasures. Especially troublesome is the Chinese indicat...
During the 1992 presidential campaign, then-candidate Bill Clinton famously intoned, "I feel your pain," reassuring voters he understood what they were going through. Since then, similar statements of empathy have become a staple for politicians. But it doesn't always ring true for every constituent. Take family business owners, for example. Family businesses account for 50 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, generate 60 percent of the country's employment, and account for 78 percent of all new job creation, the Conway Center for...
Dear Editor, Hello Dayton --- Thank You! The weekend before the car show (Sunday- June 9 thru Wednesday am – June 12), the Jawbone RV Club from the Lewiston/Clarkston area rolled into town and set up camp at the fairgrounds. There were 11 rigs, 29 people and three couples who stayed at the Best Western on account of their trucks losing their “get up and go” at zero hour. Many of our members said that they had been “THROUGH DAYTON” lots of times but never stopped to take in the town. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting your historical sites, wi...
During World War II, the American GI earned the reputation for being innovative, adaptable and resilient. Nowhere was that more evident than the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. For example, Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, was assigned to drop paratroopers and land gliders behind the German lines on Normandy. They needed to secure roads and bridges for Allied tanks, artillery and supply trucks once the Nazi forces were dislodged from their beach fortifications. B...
Dear Editor, Saturday June 8th, I was in Waitsburg for a memorial service at the Catholic Church. I parked behind the church in front of the Richardson’s home. After the service, I was walking to my car and noticed 3 dogs, a Labrador, a German Shepherd, & a Pit Bull, in the fenced yard across the street at 270 W 6th Street. They started barking and running along the fence. I was ignoring them but wanted to be aware of them as well. The pit bull was at the side of the house and started running toward the fence, but instead of stopping, the d...
Last January, Boeing was poised for another record year. The company’s order book burst at the seams. Things seem to be going Boeing’s way. In 2019, Boeing planned to step up deliveries of KC46 aerial refueling jets to the U.S. Air Force and the new 777 composite-wing jumbo jet was entering its critical test phases with plans to begin deliveries within the next two years. Boeing’s contracts for new aircraft climbed to 1,500 Dreamliners (787) and over 5,000 Max (737) jets. The company is capable of handling increased production. Its mammoth manu...
Dear Editor: It’s never too late to say “Thank you”!. We have been planning to send personal notes out to the many volunteers that helped make our Waits- burg Celebration Days Parade, but as usual some- times, life just happens. The biggest issue is that we do not have each of your mailing addresses so that makes it a major project, one that we do not have time for right now. Therefore, we are thanking each of you, via The Times with this Letter to the Editor. First of all, we thank the WCD Board of Directors for their support. They conti...
On April 21, 1962, the Seattle World’s Fair opened. The “Century 21 Exhibition” ran for six months, drew 11 million visitors, turned a profit and left the Northwest with a wonderful Seattle Center. Well over a half century later, many of the fair’s landmarks remain and the Center’s 73-acres is a gathering place for people from all walks of life. It is Seattle’s Central Park. The Space Needle has become Seattle’s landmark. Conceived in an architect’s notebook, it was constructed in eight months...
There are dams that should come down and those that shouldn’t. Hopefully, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts its review of the 14 federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers, that will become abundantly clear. That review is expected to be ready for public comment in late 2020. Here is the difference. Demolishing the two dams on the Elwha River west of Port Angeles was a good thing. They were built in the early 1900’s to bring electricity to the Olympic Peninsula at a time when sal...
Waitsburg High School National Honor Society Advisor Liv Leid shared this recently received email from the American Red Cross, regarding the recent NHS blood drive with The Times readers. Dear National Honor Society, Thank you for coordinating the Monday, April 29, 2019 blood drive. We are very pleased with the drive overall, and the willingness of the donors to share this life saving gift. The efforts of the Waitsburg Community have always been greatly appreciated and their support of the community blood program will go a long way toward...
....
With the dust settling from the 2019 legislative session, the focus is assessing the impacts on taxpayers and our economy. Our state’s budget grew by a whopping 17.5 percent, which is one of the largest increases ever. Gov. Jay Inslee and his Democrat colleagues who controlled the legislature came to Olympia last January set on raising taxes despite higher than projected revenue collections. “Rather than looking for cost savings, lawmakers chose to raise more than $1 billion in new taxes over the next two years and $2.5 billion over four yea...
Dear Editor, Waitsburg Celebration Days is fast approaching. The reason for it was to maintain the date formerly held by Days of Real Sport after horse racing disappeared from the local scene. Volunteers are the key to the success of these events. Waitsburg Commercial Club proposed doing something to reserve the third weekend in May and the result was Waitsburg Celebration Days. Many of those involved with the weekend’s events are “retiring” due to various reasons. Walt & Gwen Gobel have co-chaired the Parade Committee for many years and this...
Montana’s legislature took the unusual step of exempting older, less-valued mobile homes from property tax as a way to stem homelessness. The bipartisan legislation, which Gov. Steve Bullock signed into law last week, aims to keep people in their homes. It exempts mobile and manufactured homes worth less than $10,000 and at least 28 years old from taxation starting next year. In Montana, a state with just over a million people, there are more than 22,000 residences where owners are in danger of losing their homes and being evicted if they c...
By Randy Hinchliffe, Administrator With spring finally arriving, the City would like to update you on a few items it is working on for the upcoming months. You may have noticed that the Walla Walla County Public Works crew has been in the City recently, crack sealing and patching some of the streets. This work is being done in preparation for the County crew to return and chip seal Orchard Street, Academy Street, Harmon Street and East Camp Road around the middle of June. This work is being done as a preventive measure to help keep up our...
“One of the biggest challenges of the 21st Century is dealing with the progress of the 20th Century - especially old computers, monitors, cellular phones and televisions. These appliances depend on potentially hazardous materials, such as mercury, to operate. After a five-to-eight year useful life, many are tossed into dumpster and sent to landfills where they can leach into the soil and groundwater.” That was the opening paragraph of a column I wrote 20 years ago. However, today the pro...
Dear Editor: Each year older adults are making positive impact by taking part in activities that promote wellness and social connection, sharing their wisdom and experience with future generations, and enriching their communities. They are volunteers, employees, employers, educators, mentors, and advocates. Older Americans Month (OAM) provides resources to help older Americans stay healthy, independent, and provides resources to help communicate support and celebrate their diversity. This year’s OAM theme is “Connect, Create, and Contribute”, w...
