Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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The good news is Washington’s cherry crop is projected to be as good as 2018; however, absent tariff relief from the ongoing U.S.-China trade tiff, a key market will remain limited. When China’s tariff went from 10 percent to 50 percent last July, right in the middle of the harvest, exports to China went from the most profitable to the pits, Fox News reported. “Growers in Washington State, by far the largest producer of sweet cherries in the U.S., saw their bumper crop lose $86 million in value...
Dear Editor, Has anyone noticed the paradox Waitsburg City Council proposes? It appears ridiculous to me for the City to consider abandoning its offices and functions at its present site in order to relocate to the “Kingdom Hall” the Jehovah Witnesses have put up for sale. Now Council is fussing over what to do about vacant commercial buildings on Main Street. To move City Hall to a location adjacent to the park and swimming pool directly places our local government in a known flood path. Recall that the JW’s building received signi...
I recently read an article about Amazon’s new Amazon Go convenience stores. The stores are the very definition of “convenient.” They have no cash, no lines and no cashiers. You simply download the Amazon Go app on your phone, walk in, pick up what you want and walk out. No standing in line and no messing with wallets or credit cards. So how does it work? The entrance of the store has a row of subway-style gates that only those with the store’s smartphone app can pass through. Patrons shop as a combination of sensors, cameras and compute...
by Kathryn Witherington, Port of Columbia Economic Development Coordinator The mission of the Port of Columbia is to maximize public resources and private investment to create jobs, provide infrastructure, and maintain and improve the economic vitality of Columbia County. As part of this mission, we work constantly to identify new opportunities for our community. In March of 2018, one of these opportunities arrived when Substitute House Bill 2664 was signed in to law. This bill gives ports in Washington State the authority to build broadband in...
Thanks to the Wildhorse Foundation, The Club in Dayton has an improved kitchen. A $13,095 grant from Wildhorse Foundation awarded in December provided for a new floor, new stainless-steel dish washing sinks, wall repairs and a home style cooking range. These improvements will allow the Columbia County Health District to provide cooking classes to members this spring. Thanks to our responsive contractors, the improvements were made during the holiday break so that club programming was not affected. This is the second grant provided to The Club...
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By Don C. Brunell While many eyes are on trade talks between our country and China, America’s port leaders are positioning their seaports to compete for increasing volumes of container traffic. After container shipments surged in November---primarily from pre-tariff contracts—they plunged by year end--impact of U.S. and China trade war. Outbound container volume at the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell 11.8 percent in November from the same month in 2017. It was a decline aft...
Dear Editor: According to 2017 FBI Crime in the United States (https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-11.xls) the following murders were committed by the means listed: 15,129—Total murder victims 7,032—Handguns 1,591—Knives or cutting instruments 692—Personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.) 467—Blunt objects (clubs, hammers, etc.) 403—Rifles 264—Shotguns Recently-passed Initiative 1639 placed great emphasis on so-called “semi-automatic assault rifles” yet murders committed...
Dear Editor: The theme of the December 27 City Council discussion about the Parks and Rec Committee and the preservation or demolishing of the Fairground’s grandstands seems to be spiraling down to a silo view of Waitsburg events and continuing program of work. We have an event, Waitsburg Celebration Days, that has been successfully implemented and been a benefit to promoting Waitsburg and Waitsburg businesses that seems to be overlooked in a determination to save the grandstands. Waitsburg Celebration Days is utilized as a promotional tool y...
It has been a trend in recent years, among those in pursuit of self-improvement, to choose a theme word to focus on for the year. Examples I’ve seen include: risk, freedom, courage, thrive, strength and health. There are a multitude of books, websites and “projects” based around the concept of adopting one word to focus on throughout the year. While I have given the idea some consideration, I’ve never gone so far as to pick a word for myself. (As a lover of words choosing one would be near impossible!) However, in returning to my positio...
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Around the beginning of 2007 I got the harebrained idea of starting a newspaper in Dayton. It was called Blue Mountain News and it came out approximately monthly. Though I always enjoyed writing, I had no background in journalism and really didn't know what I was doing. But with the help of two long-time and very talented staff members, Tanya and Vanessa, we cranked out 51 issues of BMN over exactly five years. We covered news and events throughout the Touchet Valley. It was great fun, but it...
As this year closes out, I wanted to let the citizens know what the city is working on currently, as well as a few items we have planned for next year. Probably the biggest remaining item on the council’s agenda is the possible relocation of city hall. After almost 50 years at our current location, the city is looking to relocate city hall to the former Jehovah’s Witness building next to city shop. The city has an acceptable offer in place, but it will need to be ratified by the city council at the December meeting. This is being considered for...
Christmas is a difficult time for anyone grieving the death of a loved one. It is especially hard when they were slain in the line-of-duty while protecting our country. It hit home again last month when Army sergeants Eric Emond, 39, Brush Prairie, and Leandro Jasso, 25, Leavenworth, were killed in Afghanistan. Both were experienced elite soldiers who served multiple tours in combat zones. Normally, the fallen are remembered on Memorial Day, but thanks to a Maine family and over 800,000 donors and volunteers, more than 1.8 million Christmas...
Dear Editor, On Saturday, Dec. 1, with the Columbia County-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 volunteers and community members, the Waitsburg Resource Center, for the second year, was able to deliver Christmas stockings to children in the City of Waitsburg. Remaining stockings were donated to Santa to deliver to children visiting him at Hometown Christmas. We could not have completed this project without the help of the volunteers, and especially the volunteers at the fire district who, once again, were willing to donate their time on a...
Dear Editor, Just read on page 3 of the 12/5/18 Union Bulletin that after five years of controversy, the “Yakima City Council voted unanimously to follow the will of the people . . .” regarding a project. How many years has the discussion of the Waitsburg Fairgrounds Grandstand been ongoing? In April 2018, the majority of those voting in the city election voted for removal. Thank you Council Member Kevin House for supporting that advisory vote. Rather than support voters and the outcome of the advisory vote, the fate of the grandstand app...
By Don C. Brunell The good news is Washington’s revenues continue to grow and projections for the next couple of years appear promising. That is welcome news, but it is sprinkled with caution about introducing new taxes. Our state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) quarterly update shows a whopping 17.3% increase in state income for the current biennium. That welcome announcement comes just in time for Christmas. For background, Washington’s budget is on a two-year cycle. The current...
Dear Editor, I’m part of a group looking into the possibility of establishing a community garden in Waitsburg. Our vision is for an accessible gathering place where people of all ages can come together and enjoy this activity. Right now, the biggest hurdle we face is finding the land to set the project up on. It would be a raised-bed garden, so the quality of the soil isn’t an issue. But we’d need some way of getting water for the plants (a spigot onsite, for example). If you own or know of a piece of land that we might be able to use, pleas...
By Jennie Dickinson, Executive Director, Port of Columbia At a recent public hearing regarding a conditional use permit for a proposed new business locating in Columbia County, two themes kept coming up that have caused the Port district concern. The first one was "How is this business helping the community?" and the second one was "The windmills have done nothing for us." The first statement was in regards to a potential blockchain business locating here. Many in the audience seemed to think...
By Don C. Brunell While massive wildfires are historic, they are more dangerous today. As our population grows, they are a greater threat to communities adjacent to wildlands. This year, with nearly 4.8 million acres already burned in the U.S. and wildfires finally contained in California, is shaping up to continue a trend that has seen the 10 worst fire seasons since 1960 in terms of acres burned, U.S. News reports. AccuWeather predicts the total economic loss to California when everything is...
To: Citizens of Dayton It is that time of the year to present you with the 2019 Budget for the City of Dayton. 2018 went by so fast that I really have to sit and think what we did this past year. Our theme for 2018 was “Building Infrastructure,” and we had a great amount of accomplishments in this area. The biggest project was the street repairs that were completed due to the damage our streets encountered during the freeze of January-February 2017. The city is spending the nearly $1 million that we received from FEMA, the State of Was...
A special thank you to the many friends of John Stellwagen. Our family wishes to thank you for your prayers, your many visits, and your many thoughtful and generous acts of kindness during his illness. John dearly loved this community. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you, The family of John Stellwagon...
One hundred fifty-five years ago, on Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a short address at the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It became one of the most renowned speeches in American history. In just 271 words, Lincoln reminded a war-weary public why the Union was engaged in and determined to win the Civil War. Here is the entire text of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the...
With colder temperatures and leaves starting to fall, I thought I would provide residents with some information regarding fall activities associated with the city. First, there has been a Washington State Department of Ecology burn ban in effect since January 1, 2007; meaning you cannot burn leaves or branches. The city does not pick up leaves, so please do not rake or blow them into the street as it actually can clog our street sweeper. Instead, residents of the city can dispose of their leaves in the leaf bin at the city shop in either bags...
By Don C. Brunell Shipyard workers in Portland are building the first commercial-scale wave energy buoy which, if it works, could be part of a system providing electricity to communities along our nation’s coastline. Vigor’s shipyard has a $6.5 million contract to construct an 826-ton buoy which can generate 1.25 MW (megawatts) of electricity. Its principle selling point is it generates electricity without CO2 or other greenhouse gas emissions. Vigor estimates each buoy would offset 3,000 ton...
