Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Last week's Times ran a couple articles about gardening. As offering unsolicited advice is one of my favorite pastimes-and as I'm sure you're not interested in another week's worth of secondhand finals stress-I figured I'd share a couple horticultural tips of my own. (As for my qualifications, I do have some green stuff coming up in this year's garden, and barely half of it's weeds!) Yes, seeds are cheaper than plants. Yes, there's usually more variety in the seed-packet display than there is...
"Music soothes the savage beast" is a common expression with an uncommon history. It's a misquote from The Mourning Bride, a poem by William Congreve written in 1697, which opens "Musick hath charms to sooth a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." I know little or nothing about savage breasts, but I have quite a lot of experience playing guitar for a wide variety of savage beasts, mostly cats. The right sort of music actually does seem to be soothing for them, although cats...
WAITSBURG— The Waitsburg School Board met April 16, via Zoom video conference. Superintendent Mark Pickel, board members Ross Hamann, Pam Chapman, Sarah Bodrieau, Lisa Morrow and Christy House were present. Seven other staff and community members were present. During the secondary report, board members reported that they are hearing lots of positive feedback from parents and students about the online learning programs that teachers have implemented. Christy House asked for clarification on t...
The Waitsburg Garden Club used proper social distancing to deliver this year's flowers to Main Street's plant pots....
Photographer Bill Rodgers shared "Springtime in The Hollow", 2020 with The Times. He notes: "Late April is always beautiful in the Touchet River Valley, with Cottonwood trees leafing out in brilliant chartreuse and all the other spring green hues in the fields." The charm of the light red barn and the hint of the other outbuilding rooftop completes the scene....
DAYTON—Second grade teacher Ginger Bryan said the teachers at the Dayton Elementary School are working hard to educate students either through Google Classroom, which is for grades 2-5, and/or pencil/paper packets of activities, which are for grades K-5. Bryan said many of the elementary school teachers have trained in various ways to support students and their families at home during the COVID-19 challenge. “One of our new favorites has been the opportunity to use Google Meet technology via...
Markeeta Little Wolf wrote in to say, "I baked the featured Daniel Rossi Bread recipe (The Times, April 9 issue) Brilliant. Just thought I would share."...
Participate in our photo challenge!...
When toilet paper supply was becoming an issue, I thought I would Google it and see if it really was that hard to find. I had plenty on hand, and it wasn't about over stocking or hoarding. My thought was if I was able to order it easily, I could share with family and friends. I found a site called Accofe.com (which is no longer on the web) and found they had several different products, one of which was toilet paper. The picture showed a package much like we buy from Costco, and for just $25. I...
OLYMPIA—As of Friday, April 17, Washington residents can apply through the Department of Social and Health Services for emergency cash assistance to help meet their immediate needs. As a result of Governor Inslee’s emergency declaration in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has approved implementing the Disaster Cash Assistance Program, or DCAP, in Washington state. The Governor’s declaration of a statewide emergency and subsequent proclamation on March 18 enables DSHS to offer DCAP benefits to people who are not eligi...
Rey's Roast is now offering Ten Ton Roast beans. This is the same medium light northern Italian style espresso roast used at Waitsburg's Ten Ton Coffee. Jazz and Utie Ahler of the Whoopemup Hollow Ahlers hosted a party for their fellow canine friends Charlie Dimak, Cierra Cole and Parker McCaw....
Waitsburg School District honored the Waitsburg High School Class of 2020 with a 'Be The Light' display at the school football field on Friday, April 10 at 8:20 p.m. for 20 minutes. The scoreboard display read 20:20 and students parked alongside the field while community members stopped their cars and honked in support....
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County health officials confirmed on April 12 that the local case count for COVID-19 has more than doubled in the past week. Twelve additional residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday, April 3rd. This brings Walla Walla Counties case count to 21. Columbia County, as of April 12, still has one positive test-case for the coronavirus. Six of the Walla Walla County cases are from the Burbank/Wallula area and are related to a workplace exposure (see Tyson Fresh Meats). Five of Walla Walla County cases are f...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County health officials confirmed on Monday, April 13 that six positive cases of COVID-19 in Walla Walla County are linked to employment at Tyson Fresh Meats in Wallula. In addition, the Benton- Franklin Health District is reporting 28 lab-confirmed cases in Benton and Franklin Counties, with two additional probable cases, bringing the total number of cases to 30. This is considered a multi-county outbreak. Tyson is taking the situation very seriously and conversations with local and corporate leadership began early l...
DAYTON—The Columbia County Board of Commissioners (CCBC) has rescinded a nine-year-old agreement with the Columbia County Rural Library District Board of Trustees, regarding how appointments to the CCRLD board of trustees are made. In the past, interviews have been conducted by the CCRLD board of trustees, and their recommendations have been brought before the CCBC for tacit approval. Commissioner Ryan Rundell said he didn’t believe the agreement was adequate in the first place. He said it rem...
Waitsburg Garden Club President Susan Donegan sent an invitation to her members recently announcing that "It's time for our annual beautification project for downtown Waitsburg – planting out the pots that line our Main Street." The plants have been selected and were ordered through Nancy's Dream Garden Center. Karen Gregutt will set out the plants for each individual cement container early on Saturday morning (April 18th). Those who would like to help get the new plants into their new home, i...
DAYTON—The staff at Blue Mountain Counseling of Columbia County have been discussing ways to maintain good emotional health during this time of required social distancing, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinic Director Chrisann Christensen said she has some ideas to share. First of all, check in with friends and family routinely through phone calls, FaceTime, through text messages or by snail mail. Limit media coverage. “Information can be good, but there is so much information being pus...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020. This over $2 trillion economic relief package is intended to protect the American people from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19. Information about the $1,200 economic impact payments as part of the CARES Act, is detailed below. No action is needed by most Americans to receive a payment. However, the IRS recommends that everyone file...
WALLA WALLA—In 2019, 326 women and 174 children spent a total of 8,268 nights of rest in Walla Walla YWCA Domestic Violence shelters. Additional support this organization provides individuals in Walla Walla and Columbia County include sexual assault counseling, legal assistance in completing protection orders and support for victims during legal proceedings. With Governor Inslee’s 'Stay Safe, Stay Home' declaration in place, area residents are finding themselves in their homes 24/7, and that has some serious implications for providers of dom...
The National Domestic Violence Hotline's website provides a list of ways that the virus could uniquely affect intimate partner violence survivors: Abusive partners may withhold necessary items, such as hand sanitizer or disinfectants. Abusive partners may share misinformation about the pandemic to control or frighten survivors, or to prevent them from seeking appropriate medical attention if they have symptoms. Abusive partners may withhold insurance cards, threaten to cancel insurance, or...
DAYTON—A revenue shortfall associated with the costs for mitigating damage to county infrastructure due to the recent flood, and from economic impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the Columbia County Board of Commissioners to take an early look at cutting department budgets. County Treasurer Carla Rowe said she is anticipating a possible 15 to 20-percent loss of sales tax revenue which could impact distributions for May, June, July, and possibly August. The revenue from sales taxes...
DAYTON—Fred Crowe, Port of Columbia Commissioner representing District 3, has resigned from the Port Commission effective Thursday, April 9. “It has been a pleasure and honor to serve with the current and past staff and commissioners of the Port over several years,” Crowe said in his resignation letter. “We together have accomplished many worthy projects in support of economic development in Columbia County.” “I am supportive of projects currently in development and am confident the Port will c...
DAYTON—Columbia County Health System officials have been concerned about the financial health of Dayton General Hospital, the Waitsburg Clinic, Columbia Family Clinic and the Booker Rest Home, because of the high costs associated with preparing for a possible surge in patient care due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their concerns were reported in the Times on Apr 2. A special emergency meeting of the Health System Board of Directors took place on Wednesday, April 8. The purpose of the meeting was t...
Last July 4th holiday was the first time Daniel visited Waitsburg since we originally bought the house around 15 years ago. But, like the movie The Moneypit, the work and financial outgo is still ongoing and outgoing. During that first visit, even in the heat of the summer, he took it upon himself to build bookshelves for my 25 boxes of books. Floor to ceiling shelving against every wall in the upstairs bedroom and it is now our upstairs "library." His vacation was spent at Home Depot, behind a...
Chapter Three – Mr. B N'est Pas Une Boule! Mr. B is the name we gave to Cookie's ball in a failed effort to keep her from going ballistic every time we said the word ball. But more importantly, we've come to discover that the name represents something much more significant than any one particular object. In fact it's a transferable title, like Your Majesty. It is only given to one ball at a time, but once that ball has been lost or destroyed, the next one is now Mr. B, and Cookie seems not to m...
