Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Dear Editor, Previously I wondered how much more time and money should be invested in determining the fate of the Waitsburg Grandstands. The city has taken about a year so far and Randy had to request progress reports several times from the Spokane engineer who, it seemed, wanted more money to expand the scope of the study. Interesting that when informed it was unlikely the city would go for the expensive options it only took the engineer a couple of hours to state “…So tearing it down may be the best solution…” After attending the Fairgro...
One of my tasks every evening is to find the cat and get him in the house. He’s an indoor/outdoor cat, but he prefers to sleep inside at night, even though he isn’t always ready to turn in when I am. And he’s the same color as the dead grass around our house, so he’s hard to find. After a few fruitless searches around the property, I got the great idea of outfitting him with a GPS tracking device. That way, even if he was hunting mice in a dense thicket of brush, I’d be able to find him with...
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At last count firefighters were battling 82 major wildfires in 10 western states. The fires have already scorched 2,300 square miles of forests and range lands, dislocated thousands of people, and burned hundreds of homes and buildings. This has been the third worst forest fire season on record prompting western congressional members to add billions to emergency hurricane relief legislation It isn’t over yet. The cost of fighting fires already broke this year’s U.S. Forest Service budget. It...
Unfortunately, autocorrect was less-than-helpful in last week’s edition of The Times. Eleanora Montgomery shared that she, Karen Huwe, and friends, went river rafting in Riggins, Idaho. We must have made a typo and Word then “corrected” the word “rafting” to the word “farting.” The ladies would like it made clear that they went rafting, not farting. At least we were able to add a bit of levity to an otherwise gloomy week of national news. On the positive side, this gives us the opportunity to include a submission we received from a staffer who...
It’s Fair time in Columbia County. Kids and adults throughout the Touchet Valley will come to Dayton to celebrate a tradition more than a century old. This year’s Columbia County Fair starts Friday and runs through Sunday. Fairs are an American tradition of course, held in nearly every county in the country. They celebrate the deep agricultural and pioneering history of our forefathers. But fairs were held long before the founding of our country. Roman provinces held fairs that were hol...
Yes, that’s right. Don’t let the near-triple-digit temperatures fool you; summer vacation is over. Kids in Dayton and Prescott are back in school already, and Waitsburg’s kids will hit the books next week. Every year at about this time, newspapers everywhere write optimistically about the excitement of the upcoming new school year. They also give a stern warning to all of us drivers: “Watch out for kids!” Let me add my voice that. Our kids are a grade older, but they’re still kids. And they’re n...
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Dear Editor, At the risk of having a council member refer to another suggestion as “ugly” let me put forth other possible ideas regarding the fairgrounds & grandstands: What options are there to raise money to save the grandstand? Does the grandstand qualify for some sort of historical help? -If grandstand is demolished could folks bring lawn chairs for the mentioned concerts/events? -If grandstand is demolished create a tiered mound of dirt in its place for those lawn chairs. -If tiered mound is created possibly provide folding chairs for eve...
As a former Oregonian, I couldn't help but follow how Monday's eclipse impacted my old stomping grounds. I grew up in Condon, Ore., a town very similar to Waitsburg. The City of Condon website describes it as, "a proud, century-old farming community nestled between miles of rolling, golden wheat fields." Sound familiar? In Condon, the 'Fabulous Fourth of July' is the equivalent to Waitsburg Celebration Days. The celebration includes a parade, soap box derby, family games, breakfast and dinner...
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Dear Editor, When the issue of problems with the Waitsburg Fairgrounds grandstand first came up more than a year ago, it was supposed to be easy and inexpensive to determine whether to fix the problems and keep the structure or tear it down. After this much time and thousands of dollars spent on expert opinions, the decision has still not been made to repair or demolish. Are there other options? Portable grandstands were mentioned. Should their cost be added to the cost of demolition to be comparable with rebuilding? What about a pole-building...
Dear Editor, A few years ago Waitsburg was torn up one summer to make Main Street look pretty. Why wasn’t the infrastructure taken care of then? A couple of years later we had a leak on Main Street. Now a bridge needs to be replaced without the necessary funds to do it. How much of the plans are just “bells and whistles?” Heaven forbid it should be practical. I hope we won’t be stuck with more foolishness. Donna Murray Waitsburg...
Thank you to all of the fire departments, neighbors, and friends who helped fight and put out our fire. Risking your lives and equipment for us does not go unnoticed. Columbia-Walla Walla Fire. No. 2 did a great job at command. We appreciate all of you. Thanks again. Jack, Guy and Jesse McCaw...
My second go-around with a small-town newspaper was just as sweet as the first time Last summer, I held my first job in the field of journalism when I became a summer intern as a writer/reporter (and weekly storefront delivery boy) for the The Times while I was home after my freshman year at Washington State University. Due to a change in internship plans, I found myself asking Ken Graham if I could have my position back for one last (planned) summer writing for him. Luckily, he and Dena Martin...
Howard P Smith Farms would like to thank the six fire departments that responded to help put out the fire that consumed 200 acres of wheat on our property on July 25. We greatly appreciate your help and are grateful that the loss was not more. Sincerely, Howard P. Smith...
Somewhere in China, many centuries ago, people discovered that frozen cream was pretty tasty. Over time, the treat known as cream ice, or “ice cream,” made its way to Europe – most likely to Italy first. Americans were eating ice cream in the Colonies in the early 1700s. With triple-digit temperatures prevailing in the Touchet Valley this week, I figured this would be a great time to learn more about the perfect hot-weather treat. So to Google I went. I found a website called icecream.com (how...
One day a few weeks ago, out of boredom I suppose, I was rummaging through some of the dozens of old books and other materials in the back of The Times' office, when I came across a thin (64-page) soft-cover book simply titled "The Touchet Valley." I couldn't find a date on it anywhere, except that a couple of the photos were dated 1907 and 1908. There are lots of crisp black and white photos in it. It said it was "Issued by the Booster Club of Dayton, Wash. and the Improvement Club of Waitsburg...
One of the great inventions of modern times is the string trimmer – better known as the weedeater. (Like kleenex and band-aid, I've stopped capitalizing it.) For a long time, I owned two. One, which I bought more than 20 years ago, is powered by a two-stroke engine, which operates about three inches from my right ear. It requires me to mix oil with the gas before putting the gas in the engine. Then I have to pull the starting rope multiple times before it fires up. It used to start on the s...
As a member of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, I’m often involved in conversations about how to attract more visitors to our area. Actually, as small towns go, I think Dayton and Waitsburg do a pretty good job. Both towns have attractive Main Streets, and both hold multiple events that attract visitors. But the people who run businesses in those downtowns know very well that keeping the doors open is always a struggle, and anything we can do to bring more visitors to town w...
Divided since 9/11 I fear America has gone back to sleep – self satisfied and dead. I think about it every day. What am I living for? Could our unexamined lives not be worth the living? Though I write an unpopular letter I am still warm at age 93. Along with my World War Two friends we agree America should reinstate the military draft to active service for both young men and women. The results would bring discipline, ideological training, how to love another for freedom’s sake that are lacking in this country today. For example: People don...
With 2017 half over (yes, that’s right!) and summer in full swing, here at The Times we’re giving our newspaper a bit of a fresh look, as experienced readers will notice. Maybe it was the Fourth of July, or because we’re proud to be a small-town American paper, but we’ve added some red to our formerly blue theme. I hope you like it. Some other changes are underway, especially here on Page 4. For the past many months, we’ve featured a range of political commentary from the Washington Post news...
Republicans said they wanted to repeal and replace Obamacare because the exchanges were “broken.” By that they meant deductibles and premiums were too high and insurers were pulling out, leaving fewer choices and less price containment via competition. The Senate bill makes those things worse - taken the minimum actuarial value of the plans from 70 to 58 percent (i.e., the insurer has to pick up less and you have to pick up more of the cost), phasing out subsidies at a lower income point (350 percent vs. 400 percent of the poverty line) and...
The Senate health-care legislative draft - officially titled the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 - will, if passed, represent the greatest policy achievement by a Republican Congress in generations. Given that Democrats have filled the airwaves with wild claims that the bill amounts to mass murder, it may feel jarring to think of the bill as a historic achievement. But it is. For decades, free-market health-reform advocates have argued that the single best idea for improving U.S. health care is to maximize the number of Americans who...
