Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 2487 - 2511 of 5637
WAITSBURG-After serving for nine years, Waitsburg School Board member Marilyn Johnson has handed in her resignation. While Johnson and new board member Lisa Morrow exchanged a few jokes about Johnson resigning as soon as Morrow was hired, correlation doesn't equal causation in this case, as Johnson had been planning to retire for some time. "I'd like to thank you for your service to the district for the past nine years," said chairman Ross Hamann. "It's been a real pleasure having you on the...
Aug. 16, 2018 WAITSBURG—Present at last week’s meeting of the Waitsburg School Board were board chair Ross Hamann, vice-chair Marilyn Johnson, members Christy House and Russ Knopp, and newly-appointed member Lisa Morrow. The meeting opened with a presentation by the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Department on the possibility of the district hiring a school resource officer – a deputy who would spend most of his or her time in the district’s three classroom buildings. “Just being there for t...
DAYTON-Clint Atteberry is well into his second year working out of the county Planning and Building Department as the Code Enforcement Officer for both the City of Dayton and Columbia County. Atteberry said he patrols all eight zones in the city, tackling one zone every day, looking for violations of Dayton's municipal code. He also investigates citizen complaints for both the city and county. "It's an ongoing process," said Atteberry. "We're doing everything by the code, and I'm doing as much...
Washington Army Guard pilot Chief Warrant Officer Melissa Coombs and her co-pilot, Major Ray Leonard, flew this Lacota UH-72 light utility helicopter to Dayton for the Aug. 7 National Night Out celebration in Dayton city park. They said the helicopter is used for homeland security, disaster response missions, and for medical evacuations. National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police, emergency personnel, and community partnerships to make neighborhoods safer...
WAITSBURG—Most Waitsburg High School alumni over the past couple of decades were required to take a class called “Life Management Skills” their junior year. The class met in the Home Ec lab, a long room in the middle of the building with a row of kitchen stations against the far wall. Students balanced mock checkbooks, put together hypothetical budgets, learned how to comparison-shop for groceries, and went over the ups and downs of using a credit card. Come test day, they were expected to be experts on everything from car insurance to IRAs,...
DAYTON—Preliminary results from the Aug. 7 election showed that the Columbia EMS Levy is passing with just over 71% yes votes. A 60% yes vote is required for passage. Fire District 3 Chief Jeromy Phinney said that although there are still votes out there to count, it is safe to say it is passing. “I’m most happy to have that kind of support from the community. It looked like the precincts in all areas of the county were supportive,” he said. “I think that’s huge. It will help us with our staffing and equipment needs and generate the funds t...
WAITSBURG – After two days missing, Kate Hockersmith, of Waitsburg, began to worry about her cat, Finn MacCool. "He's an indoor cat during the day, then he goes out at night," Hockersmith explained. Hardly one to pass up an opportunity for food or affection, Finn made his way to their Seventh Street home eventually. Along with him he dragged a foot-long, steel claw trap which had caught and broken two of his toes. Hockersmith did not see which direction Finn came in from, only that "he came up s...
DAYTON-Vicki Zoller, President of the Friends of the Dayton Pool Committee, spoke to the Dayton City Council last week about work the committee is doing to help the community build an aquatic center in Dayton. The city pool was closed this year because of infrastructure issues, and youth in the Summer Recreation program have been swimming in the Prescott Pool, she said. Zoller said the committee used funds from grants to pay for their swim passes, and to bus them from Dayton to Prescott and...
Authorized Anderson and Perry and Associates, Inc. to complete engineering services associated with Inert Waste Landfill Project. Authorized Change Order No. 1 for the FEMA Street Repairs Project – FEMA portion Authorized Change Order No. 2 for the FEMA Street Repairs Project – City/Seneca portion Authorized Ordinance No. 1937, amending certain sections of Title 11 of the Dayton Municipal Code – Zoning. Planning Director Meagan Bailey referred to this a general housecleaning of the DMC. Authorized Pacific Power to replace all street light...
DAYTON—On Monday, the Columbia County Civil Service Commission ruled that Columbia County Sheriff Rocky Miller was justified in firing deputy Don Foley earlier this year. Foley was terminated by Miller in May for overstating his time on timesheets. A letter signed by commission members Craig George, Richard Di Lorenzo, Jeff McCann and Bonnie Williams said, “Mr. Foley’s termination was made in good faith, and his dismissal was substantiated.” At an August 8 hearing in front of the commission, Foley’s attorney, David Rose, said that the Sheri...
LEWISTON—On August 10, a large fire on the top of Lewiston Hill damaged Inland Cellular’s infrastructure, causing a significant loss of service to a large area affecting several counties, including Columbia and Walla Walla. Inland reports that their voice and text services are not operating. However, their 4G LTE and 3G data services are working and operational. In a press release Inland Cellular said that until services are restored, customers will be unable to dial 911 in the event of an emergency. The company recommends using a land lin...
DAYTON-Jim Pearson, Program Director at The Club, Dayton's new after school activity center, has been busy helping the team get the program up and running for a Sept. 4 opening. Pearson said building construction at The Club has entered its final phase. "Last week a lot of elements have come together," he said. Pearson said the goals for the program are to help students take pride in ownership, develop healthy self- esteem, and learn how to get along well with others. While students will...
OLYMPIA - The Washington State Public Works Board last week awarded $5,430,540 in pre-construction loans to 10 cities, counties and water districts throughout the state, including Waitsburg and Dayton. According to a news release, this is just the second time in five years the Board has had funding available to issue low-interest loans for public infrastructure improvements to roads, water, sanitary sewer and street systems. Waitsburg will receive $90,000 for water and sewer line extensions...
Columbia County EMS Levy: Yes............1,022 (71.5%) No............408 (28.5%) Walla Walla County Sheriff Tom Cooper.......1,099 (11.2%) Mark Crider.......4,857 (49.6%) Matt Stroe.........3,839 (39.2%) Columbia County Sheriff Don Foley..............83 (6.0%) Joe Helm..............843 (61.1%) Jeff Jenkins...........453 (32.9%) Columbia County Commissioner Chuck Amerein.......295 (62.9%) Dain Nysoe............174 (37.1%) Columbia County Treasurer Carla Rowe.............865 (61.7%) Cathy Shochet.........536 (38.3%) State Representative,...
DAYTON-Since purchasing the old Dayton Chronicle building at 358 East Main St. in September, Vonda and Mark Anderson have put in long hours, and have used lots of elbow grease, to renovate the building to accommodate their residence and her quilting business. It took three months to strip everything down to the floor joists and expose the original brick walls, said Vonda Anderson. During that process a 130-year-old fireplace was discovered on the main level, and another, older stone foundation...
If you're outside, look up. If you're inside, look out the window, and up. What do you see? Sky, hopefully. And probably, somewhere, clouds. Poofy or wispy, blazing white or thundering grey, here and there or blanketing the air, clouds are so ubiquitous that we frequently forget they're there. Artworks in the sky, clouds shift and change their shape in a moment, never staying long in one place. They're fascinating. "I find myself easily distracted now when I see clouds," says Walla Walla...
WAITSBURG – For Marne Henderson, this will be the first August in 15 years that she hasn't spent time setting up her classroom at Waitsburg Elementary School. Henderson exited her position as third-grade teacher in June and says she feels the time is right to pursue her passion as YoungLife Area Manager. Henderson is a fourth generation Waitsburg High School graduate. She attended Eastern Oregon College and Walla Walla Community College for one year each, playing basketball at both. She then w...
DAYTON-Newly elected Dayton High School Alumni Association President Cara Watts has some ideas about how to infuse the association's coffers with some much-needed cash so that giving back to DHS students can continue. "I don't think people understand how much the Dayton Alumni Association gives back," she said. Historically, the association has provided funds through membership dues, donations and memorials, for Youth and Government, FBLA, uniforms for Dayton cheerleaders, and scholarships for...
WAITSBURG – For years, summer in Waitsburg has been an excuse for residents of all ages to pump up their bike tires and two-wheel their way through the streets. But this year, Waitsburg’s youngest cycling enthusiasts are getting a little extra incentive to use pedal power: the Bicycle Rodeo is coming to town. The event, called Bikes on the Road, will be held August 16, from 9 to 11 a.m. It is sponsored by the Walla Walla County Traffic Safety Task Force Bikes on the Road will give kids of all...
DAYTON--Because he is already a Certified Patrol Officer Connor Ehr will be patrolling Columbia county roads, as soon as he goes through orientation, and gets his new uniform, he said. "Luckily I don't have to go back to Academy. This will cut a lot of time for the Department," said Ehr. After graduating from Richland High School in 2010, Ehr said he did a short stint as a new housing plumber in the Tri-Cities before joining the Army. Ehr's basic training was at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri,...
DAYTON--Leonard Ruff, the architect responsible for building data processing centers in Quincy, Wenatchee, and in Douglas County, was on hand at a community information meeting last week to discuss a Bitcoin mining center being planned near Dayton. Columbia REA has signed a contract with Eastern Mineland LLC, of Bellevue, Wash., for its Bitcoin operation to be located next to the CREA substation on Patit Road, which is in a light industrial zone. The company is attracted to Dayton because of its access to green energy provided by the wind...
WAITSBURG – At the Waitsburg School Board meeting on July 19, 2018, Chairman Ross Hamann, Vice-Chair Marilyn Johnson, and board members Russ Knopp and Christy House were all present. The Facility Supervisor’s report was enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies: Potentially thousands of bats have taken up residence in a disused chimney at the elementary school. While removing the creatures before the end of summer will likely be fatal to many of the juvenile bats, concerns about student safety have led officials from the Department of Fish and...
Some people, when they say the word "art," breathe it with such reverence that those hearing feel like it's some kind of religious artifact – unreachable by the ordinary person, stuffed away in museums to be viewed only after you have purchased a ticket. But art really is everywhere, if you look for it. One of the more unexpected places to find art is on your doorbell, an especial pleasure if you own one crafted by Timber Bronze 53, a family-owned business in Wallowa, Ore., that specializes i...
