Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 588 - 612 of 2504
Last spring, Boeing revealed its proposed hypersonic passenger airliner, which would fly much higher and faster than the Concorde-the only previous supersonic commercial airplane. For reference, supersonic jets fly over the speed of sound (660 mph or Mach 1), while hypersonics surpass Mach 5 or 3,800 mph. Boeing told the annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference held in Atlanta that its sleek new airplanes would travel at Mach 5, enabling them to cross the Atlantic...
Dear Editor, My professional law enforcement career has been spent patrolling the highways of the great State of Washington. Twenty-five of my 33-and-a half-years with the Washington State Patrol have been spent serving and protecting the citizens of this great county. Being a Walla Wallan is, literally, in my blood. My uncle, Art Klundt, was Sheriff of Walla Walla County for 16 years. His son, my cousin, Kenneth, was Sheriff for four years. I was born and raised in Walla Walla. In my 56 years, I’ve had both successful and failing attempts a...
Dear Editor, Dain and I would like to thank everyone who stopped by the “Nysoe for County Commissioner” booth at the recent Columbia County Fair. It was great to be on the main fairway to see and greet so many people. The weather was perfect, and while Dain was busy listening to people express their thoughts about problems in the county, I had a fun time giving out honey sticks with little notes on them saying “BEE WISE, VOTE FOR NYSOE” Some of the kids came back many times, getting a handful for their “brother,” and that was great because we...
Dear Editor: I write urging readers to vote for Dain Nysoe as Columbia County Commissioner. As noted by previous writers, Dain Nysoe is uniquely qualified by his education, his leadership in economic development, and by his keen perspective on our county as a fourth-generation resident. To get things done as a county-level leader today, these factors are necessary and important. And so is character. I know Dain well. As cousins, we grew up together on what was a larger Donohue farm during the 1950s and 60s. We hauled hay, drove trucks and...
Dear Editor, Please elect Everett Maroon to represent the 16th Legislative District in Olympia. A 1992 graduate of Syracuse University, he is devoted to public service and is eminently qualified to serve. Before moving to Walla Walla, Maroon was the lead manager for ORC Macro’s Interface Design and Evaluation Group, responsible for the transition of many public health and health research systems to the internet. In 2003, he won the company’s Employee of the Year Award. Maroon is now the executive director of Blue Mountain Heart to Heart. Und...
Dear Editor, This is a letter of thanks and acknowledgement. We staff members at Booker Rest Home were overjoyed with how our wonderful community pulled together to help our residents. On Friday, Sept. 7, BRH (Booker Rest Home) was able to take 21 residents to the Columbia County Fair. This was an unprecedented number of residents to go on an outing. This feat would have been impossible without the support of the Columbia County Fair Board. The Fair Board accommodated the various needs of our residents and staff to make this a successful...
Dear Editor, My family and I are proud to support Matthew J. Stroe for Walla Walla County Sheriff. I strongly encourage my friends and supporters to vote for Matt Stroe. I worked with Matt for many years at the Sheriff’s Office. During his tenure with Walla Walla Sheriff’s Office, Matt gained the experience and knowledge necessary to be an effective Sheriff. He served honorably as a Deputy Sheriff for four years and as a Crime Analyst for two more years. Matt offers a diverse background in law enforcement where he has been cross-trained fro...
Dear Editor I am writing this letter in support of Dain Nysoe for Columbia County Commissioner. His educational background in business and public administration are perfect for the job. His management of the family farming operation has informed him of the needs of the agricultural community. His tenure on the Dayton City Council has informed his knowledge of how city government runs and the challenges people who live in Dayton face. I’ve always known Dain to be thoughtful and fair and believe he will be a great commissioner for everyone in C...
Dear Editor, In 2015, I was a Corrections Sergeant at the Walla Walla County Jail. During that time, the Commander position became vacant and the Sheriff’s Office was trying to find a qualified person to fill the position. I was asked if I had thought about advancing my career at the jail. I asked if they were talking about applying for the Commander position. The response I was given was yes. My response was “that job takes more experience than the seven years I have.” At that time, I had successfully graduated two corrections acade...
Dear Editor, In November, Columbia County voters will elect a county commissioner for District 3. Outside of politics (since this is not a partisan position and decisions taken by our commissioners do not involve political viewpoints), how do we decide who is the best qualified? The most important part of being a county commissioner is approving the county budget and overseeing its spending across every department in the county. Without a background or knowledge of accounting, this would be almost impossible to understand, let alone manage. We...
I want to first take the opportunity to assure City of Waitsburg residents that our current situation with the wastewater treatment plant is not something to panic about. Yes, the pressing system needs to be replaced, but no, we will not be dumping directly into the river; in fact, that would never be an option. Nor are you going to have to stop flushing your toilets anytime soon. We have reached a point with our pressing system where we are looking at an emergency-type situation IF we do not get it replaced, but we are currently working on...
Dear Editor, Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers has many noteworthy achievements. She has had 10 bills passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives, five of which have cleared the Senate and been signed into law by the President. Did you know she fought for and passed the Faster Care for Veterans act, authored major new laws to help people with disabilities to become independent, helped pass legislation to protect our Columbia and Snake River dams, won expanded support for the Spokane Teaching Health Center and community clinics to bring more...
Last April, Washington wheat, apple and cherry growers hoped U.S. and China trade negotiators would resolve differences and prevent imposition of damaging tariffs on our state’s leading crops. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and the costs are adding up. Thousands of Washington farmers now find themselves on the front lines of a battle between the two largest economies in the world. Here’s what has happened so far. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on $34...
While most of our attention in the Pacific Northwest these days is on trade wars, tariffs and wildfires, there are critical talks underway between the U.S. and Canada over future allocations of the Columbia River system’s water. The two countries are renegotiating the Columbia River Treaty, which went into effect in 1964. It is a 50-year agreement which both nations can redo, providing there is a 10-year advanced warning. That occurred, and negotiators are now busy meeting. A new agreement w...
Dear Editor, I read the recent article on Waitsburg School District considering dropping Life Management Skills (LMS) as a requirement with interest and concern. I am a WHS graduate who benefited from taking Running Start classes in the mornings my senior year. Having exhausted most of my class options at the high school, my Running Start classes helped fill out my schedule, allowed me to earn some transferable college credits, and eased my transition to a four-year college. Now, as a college professor, I may seem like the perfect advocate for...
Dear Editor, This last Waitsburg City Council meeting, held August 15th, left me with some serious concerns about city maintenance in general and the wastewater treatment facility specifically. The discussion revealed a problem with equipment that was identified years ago as being a problem. The immediate problem has now become an emergency situation, the outcome if no solution is found within the next 2-3 weeks is potential release of untreated or partially-treated waste into the river. This I believe comes with a $10,000 a day fine. There wer...
Most of us who work at The Times are old enough to remember when a "phone" was something with a rotary dial, and a camera was a completely separate device that you put rolls of film into. I'm happy to announce that we've added a staff member who grew up with cellular phones and digital cameras, and who has exceptional skill with the modern technology that we all now use to produce this newspaper each week. Brianna Wray joined The Times this month and will provide reporting on Waitsburg news and...
Since 2002, the U.S. Dept. of Energy has funded construction of a $17 billion project to encase radioactive wastes in solid glass logs. It is scheduled to start operations in 2022 and treat more than 56 million gallons of hazardous liquids which are stored in tanks on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. It is called vitrification, a process by which the State of Washington and federal government agreed in 1989. It is complicated, time consuming and very costly. To speed up treatment and reduce...
Dear Editor, Thank you to the Waitsburg, Dayton, Walla Walla County, and College Place fire districts for responding to the many fires on Highway 124 in late July. Also, special thanks to our neighbors and friends who helped us fight these fires. The McCaw family Waitsburg...
Dear Editor, I am writing this letter in support of Dain Nysoe, for Columbia County Commissioner. Dain is a fourth generation resident of Columbia County. He is the manager of his family farming operations, therefore very familiar with the geography and the roads of the area and the needs of the agricultural community. Mr. Nysoe has been a viable member of the Dayton City Council for several years and is aware of how city government operates and of the challenges people of Dayton and the county face. He has served on the Finance committee as...
The City of Waitsburg does not have a Facebook account and does not participate in social media in any format. Should any citizen have a concern or know of a situation that warrants the city’s involvement, please contact City Hall directly rather than posting complaints and comments online. If we don’t know about the issues, we can’t address them, and simply posting online will not help solve any problems. While it might not be the fastest process, sometimes taking up to a month, the city does have procedures in place to address a great numbe...
DAYTON—Chaplain Terry Rice jump-started a conversation about end of life wishes when he presented “Five Wishes,” to folks at the Dayton First Congregational Church, on July 29. “The best time to plan is when things are going alright. Whether you are 30, or 70, this is a good time to talk,” said Rice, who has served with Walla Walla Community Hospice since 2011. Rice said Five Wishes is the brainchild of Jim Towey, a legal attorney for Mother Teresa. Towey lived in Mother Teresa’s Washington...
Dear Editor, I am asking you to support and vote for Dain Nysoe for Columbia County Commissioner. As a fourth-generation resident of the community, his educational and public service background make him an ideal person for the position. As manager of his generational family farm and a seven-year member of Dayton City Council, he is fully aware of the problems and assets of our county. He will bring a level-headed and non-partisan attitude to the Commission. Please vote for Dain and elect a person who is not only approachable, but responsible....
Dear Editor, Thank you for placing my article about the Winder family in your paper. I have received good information from two sources that is very helpful in continuing my family History. My wife and I will still be in Dayton on the 12-13th of September to see and photograph my family grave sites for our book. Thanks Again Melvin (Mel) Jasmin Warrenton, Ore....
Dear Editor, Recently, our household received a colorful mailer from the “PAID FOR CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS FOR US CONGRESS” campaign, indicating that “Liberal Lisa Brown chose to protect dangerous sex offenders instead of our children.” What this mailer doesn’t say is 1) Lisa Brown voted against the 1996 WA State bill because it did not provide protection for pre-schools or child care centers, and would not have accomplished more safety for children, 2) the 1996 bill passed the house, but was never voted on by the Senate, apparently because no o...
