Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 2069 - 2093 of 2505
I'm always amazed when I hear my friends, neighbors and colleagues complaining about the state of our country or community only to find out that they've not voted in a national or local election. I took the opportunity to attend our county caucus in Walla Walla earlier this month and was shocked to find only a handful of people from Waitsburg, Prescott and Dixie in attendance. Maybe it's because most folks feel that their opinion won't make a difference. I've struggled with that thought myself. But if we're going to make a difference it has to...
When will the Port of Walla Walla understand that they are a public agency and accountable to the public? Recently the port director hired a 30-hours a week project manager for more than $60,000 a year plus full benefits. This was done without any public notice of the job opportunity and did not give qualified individuals an opportunity to apply. Circumventing fair hiring practices in this manner is outrageous and should be questioned. Why does the Port of Walla Walla and Director Kuntz believe they can behave so differently from other public...
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law earlier this month a resolution that would give financially distressed biomass processing facilities and pulp and paper mills a break from compliance rules dealing with the expensive process of clean-energy conversion. Prime sponsor Sen. Brian Hatfield, D-Raymond, was prime sponsor of Senate bill 5575, which calls for a change in the 2006 voter-approved Energy Independence Act (Initiative 937) to further define what biomass-elements may constitu...
A few weeks ago, I received a big envelope with a calendar in it. It was called "Wisconsin Horsepower." The postmark was also from the Cheese State. I did a double take. Whom did I know in Wisconsin? I opened the calendar and two letters fell out, both from someone named Jim Bragg. I searched my gray matter. Jim Bragg. Jim Bragg. Nothing. I read the title of his letter, "Coast To Coast," and I suddenly realized who had sent me the packet. Jim Bragg was the 70-something man who stopped in Waitsburg on his walk across America! The near...
Waitsburg Memorial Scholarship Fund In memory of: Andrew Groom, Luanna Kalahele, Neil Witt and Sara Leid Heggen From: Bill & Roseann Groom...
In the Times edition on May 13, 2010, I wrote about my experience playing the piano for patients at Booker Annex, many of whom are dementia patients. A March 9, 2012, edition of the Union-Bulletin featured a story on its health and fitness page that read: "Dr. Brent Bauer, professor of medicine and director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., says research is beginning to catch up with the value of music in promoting healing." He credits the Natural Institute of Health with the changing...
After a Friday night of happy hour and late-night drinking, many fail to consider the repercussions of driving while impaired, but legislators have. Various changes to the driving- under- theinfl uence law have unanimously passed the Legislature and become effective upon the governor's signature. The reform puts more stringent penalties on those convicted of drunk driving including increased fees and facial recognition systems on ignition-interlock devices. Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland,...
With the imminent departure of Charlie Button, CEO of Columbia County Health System, the hospital district that serves Dayton and Waitsburg is at a crossroads. For a number of reasons, staff, patients and the community that supports the small rural health care district through their taxes have had their share of challenges in recent years: plenty of turnover, employee burnout, state inspection citations, emotional public meetings, billing trouble, state funding cuts and so on. Calm, order and predictability have returned to some degree since...
In 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case called Citizens United v. FEC (federal election commission) that corporations and unions have the right to spend unlimited money influencing elections to ensure that their interests are the ones our politicians are concerned about. This comes at the expense of the interests of the American people. Now corporations are using hundreds of millions of dollars to buy our elections and, consequently, are drowning out the voices of average Americans. They don't even have to disclose their identities, hi...
Swimming Pools Offer Services For All Families WAITSBURG - The bout of warm, sunny weather in the Touchet River Valley made us long for summer days to come and the summertime recreation involved. The residents in the Touchet Valley are extremely lucky because we have three city pools our families can spend the day at all summer. They offer lap swim, swim lessons, water aerobics and simply a place we can cool off when the mercury rises. Even better is that our local pools offer free services to...
I t isn't always easy to find good employees. Despite the poor economy, or perhaps because of it, adults otherwise employable people struggle with substance abuse and reliability issues. Even some self-employed contractors sometimes have a hard time showing up sober or on time or to live up to the expectations of their advertised services. And then there is the question of professional qualifications, which are often difficult to gather in a small community like ours. That's why an employer like The Times is blessed to find parttime staff...
Somehow it seems unfair for the port to be spending millions of dollars to create and extend an unincorporated area of the county while the incorporated cities like Waitsburg and Prescott are not offered these same opportunities. These are being done with the port taking the initiative and ignores the vast impact the wheat and apple industries in these rural areas not close to the urban centers have. Douglas Venn Prescott...
Last week, the Dayton High School Boys basketball team participated in the State B tournament held in Spokane. After three days of competition the boys brought home a sixth place trophy and some great memories. The team, their families and the coaching staff should be very proud the team's accomplishments. During the tournament and throughout the year other students participated alongside of our team. These students were members of the cheer squad and the band. The cheer team practiced all season and committed themselves to preparing for...
A Rodeo With A Great Cause: Our Children WALLA WALLA - For 30 years, collegiate cowboys have been making a difference in children's lives. March 9 through 11 is the 30th anniversary of a partnership between the Walla Walla Community College, Exchange Club of Walla Walla and the Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Together they put on the WWCC Collegiate Rodeo, Riding Against Child Abuse, and have raised $300,000 for local child abuse prevention activities and college rodeo, said Dick...
ell, we may be a few weeks early for the official change of seasons on March 21. But with temperatures in the lower 60s by the end of the week, the time of crocuses, daffodils, tulips and spring cleaning is upon us. And the travel season isn't far behind, which means we want our town to looks its best for visitors. This year should be good for the Touchet River Valley as a tourist destination. Waitsburg has already been mentioned in "Sunset Magazine" and will soon be featured in "Seattle Magazine." Dayton's Main Street should see more activity...
Photos of Dayton senior basketball players and cheerleaders in the Feb. 23 issue of the Times were credited to the owner of the photos. The photographer was Scott Kirk....
Words cannot express the gratitude and love we felt from this community at the loss of our dad, Neil Witt. We want to thank each and every one of you for the help, food, cards and prayers during this hard time in our lives. It was truly a wonderful tribute to our dad and a huge gift to all of us knowing how much he was cared for. Thank you, The Witt family...
Dear Editor, I would like to say a big thank you to the Waitsburg Fire Department for their prompt action on our chimney fire on Sunday. Thank you, Maxine Buchite, Waitsburg...
This week's column quotes from Bill Gulick's "Chief Joseph Country" I visited the site of the Lewis and Clark encampment with the steel silhouette sculptures featuring 80 artistically detailed silhouettes depicting a typical campsite of the Corps of Discovery as they passed through on May 2, 1806. I noted on the plaque at the site that they traveled 19 miles that day. Inside Lewis and Clark Trail State Park "In early May of 1806, Lewis and Clark passed through here on their return from the Pacific Ocean heading east." They traveled on the trail...
Presenting Coppei Cafe! I n early February, Coppei Coffee reached its first big milestone. We marked our first half year in business! Needless to say, lots of people ask us: well, how is it going? The honest answer? We're off to a very decent start, considering we launched at the tail end of the busy travel season and headed straight into fall and winter. Lots of Waitsburgers, some Daytonites and a number of customers from Prescott and Walla Walla have embraced us wholeheartedly. Some patrons...
A few weeks ago, we ran an editorial about the shifting burden of responsibility to the shoulders of our youths. More and more these days, changes in privacy laws and government policies force teenagers to be more in charge of their destiny early on in life whether they are ready or not. This is quite aside from the benefits to teenagers of recognizing well before they become adults that they need to develop a vision for their lives and use that as a source of inspiration to do well in school, and learn to become self-sufficient. This week, we...
