Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 2503
To the Editor: I join with you and your publication that this community, Columbia County, NEEDS a public swimming pool. Community members have been working hard since the closure of our beloved pool after the 2017 season. We are SO close! This fall, Proposition #1 will ask voters to approve creation of a POOL DISTRICT, under the state regulations that guide Parks and Recreation Districts, RCW 36.69.010. Approving a district is CRITICAL to move forward to build a facility that meets the needs of our community. A POOL DISTRICT can: Compete for...
To the editor, I feel that I must respond to a recent letter to the editor that stated a personal opinion about the book “Our Skin…” and stated that in that person’s opinion, “children do not even notice skin color.” I know, respect, and very much appreciate the person who wrote this letter and what they have done for this community, but I must respectfully disagree with this statement and perception. I can tell you that when my son was about four years old, we were living in a community with people from many different countries. My son and...
To the Editor: My library file dates back to 2005. Letters to the editor, as is mine, are combinations of opinions and facts. • For approximately 70 years, the City of Dayton operated the Dayton Memorial Library supported by city taxpayers. • In 2005 the county voted to form a taxing district to help fund the library to improve services. • The city and the county library district made an agreement to mutually operate the library. The county had the bulk of the cash, and the city retained their building and all the pre-county district mater...
To the Editor, A video from a private anti-library Facebook group emerged the other day. In it, Pro-dissolution spokesperson, Jessica Ruffcorn makes several false claims. The worst of these is that dissolving the CCRLD and shuttering the library are two separate actions. Ms. Ruffcorn claims to have “found out and reviewed and confirmed,” that “the building, the trusts, money, the equipment, the furniture and the pre-district collection” will revert to city ownership, “which means we will have a budget to run a library, at least temporari...
Dear Editor, This is a letter of support for the Columbia County Library staying open! The group of people that would have it closed have offered zero evidence of any child ever being harmed by the library, its books, the library board, or the previous library director. Only conjecture: conjecture is a guess, an inference, a theory, or prediction based on guesswork. That’s per Webster’s definition. According to the Columbia County prosecuting attorney to the best of his knowledge, there has never been a reported case of child abuse at the lib...
Dear Fire District 2 Residents of Waitsburg and Walla Walla County, We are absolutely thrilled to extend our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who cast your votes in favor of the levy lid lift for District 2. With these new funds, our small local fire department will continue to take significant strides toward enhancing our community’s safety and well-being. Our station has limited availability during the work week because most of the volunteer staff work outside of town. Your willingness to invest in our station paves the way for...
Letter to the Editor, I am concerned about the current situation with our library. It makes no sense to me that anyone would want to close such a valuable resource in our county. When the first petition to close the library showed up at the Senior Center, I read it ( as I was taught to read anything before I sign) and was immediately incensed that this was in the works! Then, I read some of the letters to the editor in the Chronicle. This motivated me to go do my own research. I do not listen to gossip and hearsay. My quest is to seek the...
To the editor, Some leaders of countries, cults, & religions know that if you keep most of your people uneducated or undereducated, they are easier to control to that leader’s viewpoint. That is one of the reasons our early U.S. leaders promoted public education for all, including women. Until then, most female children did not have access to learning to read. Ignorance increases hate! Those backing the proposition to dissolve our Columbia County Rural Library will cause all of us to lose our library. What will they put in its place? I...
To all Columbia County Residents Hear ye, hear ye. ‘Tis time for another ballot initiative. We must forbid ranchers from buying and raising bulls. Imagine what might happen to the pure innocent minds of our Columbia County teenagers if they witnessed a bull doing what bulls are purchased to do. It boggles the mind. All kinds of possibilities enter their imaginations. These terrible thoughts must be stopped before it’s too late. Then imagine 11 months later when the calf is born but the rancher has to help with the delivery. Oh my goodness! Suc...
Dear Editor, Regarding the movement to dissolve the library, there’s a lot of information that isn’t being represented accurately and in its entirety. To start, I keep hearing that “after a yearlong battle, a petition to dissolve the library was the only option left,” and yet public records show the first book challenge happened in September 2022, and the first signature on the petition was in February 2023. That is not a “yearlong battle.” Furthermore, many individuals were told that this petition was to specifically address several inappropri...
One does not admire the person who attends the Community Picnic and spits in the spaghetti sauce. It reminds us of the pesky kid we all knew who would play Monopoly until it was clear that winning was not a possibility for him, and who would violently upend the board sending the game pieces tumbling to the ground and run home, crying. The Dayton Library opened in October of 1937, the same year as San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and Mount Hood’s Timberline Lodge. For 86 years, thousands of Columbia County men, women, boys, and girls have mad...
Dear Editor, Our library is a very important resource for us. Personally, the library is our only computer and our only copy machine. My daughter walks to our library at least twice per week. She checks out DVDs and books very often. Her favorite books are ones about knitting and crochet because she makes gifts for people. We don’t have a car. So, we do everything locally. Every week my daughter uses the computer at the library to check e-mail and print off the songs we sing for church. I help lead the worship at our church and need the c...
To the Waitsburg School District voters, My name is Tia Hays. I am running for Waitsburg School Board member because I love our community and want to support the kids in our district. I have 3 children in our district currently; a 1st grader, a 6th grader and a sophomore in high school. I have a vested interest in the quality of our kids’ education and school experience. My top priority is to help provide a superior learning environment not only for my children but for all children in our district. I stand for cooperation and transparency b...
On a recent morning, in the interest of journalistic research, I typed the words “gender curious books for kids” into the Google search box on my phone. The first listing that came up was for a site called littlefeminist.com, which included the following article: “The 17 Best Children’s Books About Gender Identity and Expression.” The second listing was for readbrightly.com: “7 Books That Teach Kids About the Fluidity of Gender and the Importance of Acceptance.” The third listing was for paren...
Editor, I am very concerned over the unrest with the Columbia County Rural Library District and the petition to dissolve the rural library district. Our library serves many people in our community of all ages. I do realize that there is an issue with some of the books and what age level they have been accessible to. It is certainly cause for concern, but abandoning the library is a drastic measure and would leave a very large hole in our community. The library offers the ability to make copies, access to computers, books, movies, early educatio...
Can this really be happening? I’m talking about the petition to close our beloved, free public library. Are there better ways to solve our differences than to go to extremes? Why would we want to emulate dictators in other countries who suppress their people’s freedoms? Because of the first amendment, we are free, and we need to stay free. There are ways to work out our differences, Do we change the locks on our doors and kick our children out of the house because we have a disagreement or we don’t like the color of their hair? Do we poiso...
To the editor: I would like to address the proposed dissolution of the Columbia County Rural Library District. It is only from a privileged place that one could say a library is unnecessary, and it is a narrow view that only sees a building with books. The library keeps a homeless person warm, safe, and off the streets. The library helps parents and their children meet others so they aren’t so lonely. The library offers entertainment to those who can’t afford to go to the movies, buy DVDs, or streaming services. The library welcomes str...
To the editor, A common behavior of physical or emotional abusers is they don’t take responsibility for their actions. They make comments like “He/she made me do it.” In their mind, it’s OK to attack because the victim did something they didn’t like. An abuser blames everyone else for their own misbehavior. They have a choice to do something besides attacking another person. They chose to give into their own anger and ignore self-control. At one library board meeting, when decisions were made that didn’t agree with, the dissolve the library spo...
For the past year, I have kept my distance from the growing brouhaha over the library. However, with such a valuable community resource now in jeopardy, I can no longer sit on the sidelines. While I’m eager to address the rumors, misinformation, and made up facts being spread throughout the county, I first wish to provide some historical perspective. I led the successful campaign to form the Columbia County Rural Library District (CCRLD). I then served on the board of trustees for 14 years. I am passionate about libraries and their vital role i...
Editor, Let’s take a step back and look at how we can enhance the lives of our families and neighbors. How do our actions benefit our community? What are our motives? Are they self-serving or good for humanity? What resources in this community enrich the lives of you and your neighbors? What resources are we lacking? At a recent city council meeting, the topic of growing the tax base came up. Do we have the resources to draw new businesses and residents to our community? What would you look for if you were looking for a small thriving c...
To the Editor As we stood in the front yard looking at a fleet of fire trucks and water trucks from three counties this afternoon, I was filled with deep gratitude and admiration for the crews that showed up to stamp out the wheat fire that had, just minutes before, come within 50 yards of my house. Jake Adams – Captain of the volunteer Columbia Walla Walla Fire District #2 stationed in Waitsburg, was first on the scene, along with my neighbor farmer and friend, Bill Frazier. The wheat fire t...
To the Editor At the June 26th library board meeting, it became clear that most people in the audience want to keep our public library. Not everyone agreed on how it would be run, but they didn’t want to lose the library. They want our community to come together again as friends and neighbors. If the library is defunded in the Nov. election, the library and Delany building would immediately be closed. The buildings would belong to the City of Dayton, who does not have a budget to support the site. All the printed contents of the library w...
To our community, What has happened to reaching out to those with differing viewpoints in a friendly and respectful manner to discuss opposing issues? The vile name-calling which cast aspersions on the soon-to-be former director of the library is unconscionable. Where is the goodness in the people of this community? We talk about protecting children, yet your behavior is nothing that we would want children to be exposed to. Please reconsider your actions and take the high road as members of this community. If you don’t like the books in the l...
Shame on You For those in our community who have spread lies and misinformation about our library director should be ashamed of themselves. If there was even a thread of evidence to your lies, you had every right to report them to law enforcement. I believe your vitriol is more of a threat to your children, grandchildren and our beloved community. And to those who have signed the petition to close our cherished library, ask yourself how this will help the children of Columbia County. These children will not even be able to vote on this matter....
Dear Editor: As I have mentioned before, don’t let “their” opinion be yours. Take time to visit the library, talk to Todd, the director, and see how much the library has to offer. In a recent conversation with a friend, they mentioned the library having pornography, but in the same conversation, they admitted to not having been to the library or talked to Todd. In my opinion, moving a book is not about keeping our children safe but more about control. Keeping our children safe is a whole lot more than moving a book or closing a library that...
