Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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. WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board held a regular monthly meeting on May 16 at the Waitsburg Elementary School. All board members, Sarah Boudrieau, Christy House, Stephanie Cole, and Lisa Morrow, were in attendance, with Carol Clarke joining via Zoom. During the secondary principal’s report, Stephanie Wooderchak said the well-attended prom was enjoyable for all. Students from both Dayton and Waitsburg celebrated together at the combined event. Waitsburg’s Megan Forney was selected as the Wal...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board held its regular meeting at 6 p.m., May 18, 2022. All Board members, Aneesha Dieu, Zac Fabian, Grant Griffen, Jeffry McCowen, and Korinda Wallace, were present in the high school auditorium, Superintendent Guy Strot and student representative Madison Richardson. Members of the public attended in person and on Zoom. The board approved the consent agenda, including hiring two elementary teachers, Angela Kenney and Amanda Wade. It also included the retirement of the high school science teacher, Doug Yenney. Dr. C...
The weekend kicks off on Friday evening with the ATV Sunset Cruise WAITSBURG-The third weekend of May is here, and after two years of cancellations, Waitsburg Celebration Days is back and bigger than ever. The weekend-long event will kick off on Friday, May 20, with the annual Sunset Cruise ATV Ride. ATV riders can check in at the Waitsburg Fairgrounds, near the former parimutuel betting booths, starting at 4:00 p.m. Route information will be available at check-in, and riders and drivers are...
DAYTON-The committee on the task force looking into developing a childcare facility and early learning center in Dayton will provide the public with an opportunity to learn more at a meeting on Monday, May 23 at 6 p.m. at the Columbia County Fairgrounds Pavilion. Former State Representative Terry Nealy will moderate the seven-member panel. Childcare will be provided. "There appears to be a lot of misinformation out there, including this is government-run daycare, that hospital district taxes...
DAYTON- The Port of Columbia held its regular meeting at 5 p.m., May 11, 2022. All commissioners were present, Genie Crowe, Johnny Watts, and Seth Bryan. Port Director Jennie Dickinson was also present in person. Members of the public attended both in person and on Zoom. The meeting began with a presentation on affordable housing in Columbia County by Community Council representatives Catherine Veninga, Rachel Elfenbein, and Laura Prado. The presenters used the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) definition for affordable h...
Land purchase voted down in split city council vote. DAYTON- The Dayton City Council held a regular meeting at 6 p.m., May 10, 2022. Mayor Zac Weatherford and council members Misty Yost, Teeny McMunn, Dain Nysoe, Kyle Anderson, and Tyler (Tiger) Dieu were present at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church parish hall, while Laura Aukerman attended on Zoom. The city council voted unanimously to authorize the mayor to sign an annual membership for $35 with the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC). MRSC is a nonprofit organization o...
WAITSBURG-Time to send The Times your yard sale information to be included on the official Community Yard sale Map. The map will be printed in The Times June 2 edition, on The Times Website, and on social media. Let us help buyers find your sale. Let us know the location of your sale. Please include any information about what you will have on offer. you can even send a few photos of your most delectable sale items. Include your name, contact number, or email for The Times' use only. Email...
WAITSBURG-Waitsburg Celebration Days officials announced that Karen Peters Tonne and Dan Katsel will lead the 2022 festivities as the Parade Marshalls. Karen Peters Tonne is a lifelong area resident, including attending the Waitsburg School District for all 12 years of her schooling. She worked various jobs in the area before she took a job as a mechanical designer. She worked at Hanford, and later, at Key Technology, in Walla Walla. In 1964, Tonne was selected as a Days of Real Sport Princess,...
DAYTON- The Dayton School Board convened a special board meeting at 7 p.m., May 9, 2022. The meeting was held in the Dayton High School auditorium and on Zoom. All school board members were present in person, Aneesha Dieu, Zac Fabian, Grant Griffen, Jeffrey McCowen, and Korinda Wallace. The superintendent, Guy Strot, was also present. The first agenda item was the superintendent/principal search. Strot said two paths were open to the board, either hire a permanent Superintendent/Principal or hire an interim one-year Superintendent/Principal. Th...
DAYTON—The Columbia County Commissioners met on Monday, May 9, for a short work session. The only item on the agenda was ‘general discussion.’ Commissioner Marty Hall shared that he was heading to Pomeroy to meet with a representative concerning the Turkey Trail Restoration Project funding redirection. Initially, the project was supposed to take place in 2021 but was canceled by the Turkey Trail/Green Ridge Fire that burned last summer. Hall did not specify where project funds would be redirected, but he did note that they would still benef...
Well, there are laws, but they never had many teeth, and for quite some time, they have had no teeth whatsoever. Court rulings have consistently determined that a show of disrespect towards the flag or the National Anthem is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. But the laws are still on the books, and they describe clearly what is considered respectful behavior and what counts as Flag desecration. Presumably, most people who openly display a flag that has been desecrated do so out of ignorance and not out of an attempt to show...
Vicki Sternfeld-Rossi The 2022 Lions Club Rib Feed was a wild success, with sold out tickets, pans full of tender ribs, scrumptious side dishes, and the Don Thomas building full of friends and neighbors grateful for their community....
DAYTON – The Dayton City Council held a work session meeting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, in person and on Zoom. All councilmembers were present; Laura Aukerman, Misty Yost, Teeny McMunn, Dain Nysoe, Kyle Anderson, and Tyler (Tiger) Dieu were present in-person, as was Mayor Zac Weatherford. The purpose of the meeting was for the council and City to work on a strategy to move forward on the City’s sewage treatment plant. Weatherford wanted to emphasize that the project was not dead after the council’s vote not to purchase the recommen...
The Columbia County Commissioners held a regular meeting on May 2, 2022. All commissioners were present for the meeting. The current Public Works Director, Amber Phinney reported that the county received its first $6,000 allotment from FEMA after waiting for more than two years. Phinney added the next allotment should be awarded next month for $93,000. Phinney commended Kellie Steinhoff for her work filing for the allotments and added that Steinhoff is working on paperwork for a third allotment. County Engineer Jeremy Weiland gave a brief updat...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg City Council met on Wednesday, April 20, for a regularly scheduled meeting. April was the first month that the council offered a Zoom option. The option will be available for future meetings, and log-in information is provided at www.cityofwaitsburg.com with upcoming meeting agendas. Those using Zoom said it was difficult to hear. The city is exploring options to improve the online sound quality for future meetings. Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office (WWCSO) pro...
Hidden in Plain Sight program scheduled for May. DAYTON – The Dayton School Board held their regular meeting at 6 PM, April 20, 2022, in the High School Auditorium and on Zoom. All members of the board were present in the auditorium, Aneesha Dieu, Zac Fabian, Grant Griffen, Korinda Wallace, and Chair Jeffrey McCowen. Madison Richardson, the student representative, and Superintendent Guy Strot were also present in the auditorium. Only a few members of the public were present in the auditorium, and fewer than ten were listening in on Zoom. The b...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board met on April 21, 2022, for a regularly scheduled meeting. The middle school robotic class presented an overview of some of the projects they have been working on. The robotics class taught by Colby Starring has been learning everything from inventorying supplies, designing robots, implementing a design plan, and coding. Board member Carol Clarke asked if the students were able to work at home. Students said they could not work at home because they didn’t have access to the field-specific supplies from cla...
DAYTON – A caboose on an active railroad track is not something most of us have seen in a very long time. Likely, most people under forty have never seen one. Few people have probably seen a caboose emblazoned with large block letters, "WARNING! REMOTE CONTROL." At Dayton's Caboose Park, visitors can see a yellow Union Pacific caboose up close. With its distinctive cupola, it is a great example of the cars once widely used. From the 1830s, cabooses were used to provide shelter for the crews o...
The Dayton Chamber of Commerce held its annual Community Choice Awards Banquet on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Each year, the public submits nominations for exceptional citizen, employee, business, and youth. This year, the Chamber added two categories to recognize, Start-up Business and Non-Profit of the year. A selection committee, made up of the Chamber Board and community members, selected the winners. Though this year's banquet remained small, the Chamber didn't want to miss an opportunity...
Dayton School District Superintendent Guy Strot has submitted his resignation to the board. A special School Board meeting was held April 27 to accept the resignation effective June 30, 2022. Strot joined the Dayton School District following the retirement of Superintendent Doug Johnson in 2020. During his tenure he created a restructuring plan and a retention plan for the district. The district has faced many challenges in the last few years, including a large number of students choosing to...
DAYTON – The Dayton City Council met at 6 p.m., April 12, 2022. All Council members were present, Misty Yost, Tiger Dieu, Marchand Hovrud, Dain Nysoe, Laura Aukerman, Teeny McMunn, Kyle Anderson, and Mayor Zac Weatherford. The Chamber of Commerce Director, Belinda Larsen, announced their awards presentations would be held on April 20, 2022, and they are working on the Dayton Days and All Wheels Weekend events. The Chamber is discussing parade routes with the County. The City Council handled s...
DAYTON – Actions taken by the Port Commisioners at the April 13, meeting may have ended years of work on the Touchet Valley Trail Project. The meeting at the Columbia County Fairgrounds Youth Building was standing room only and well attended on Zoom. Director Jennie Dickinson, Chair Gene Crowe, and Council Members Seth Bryan and Johnny Watts were present. The meeting began with public comments focused on the Touchet Valley Trail Project (TVTP). Concerns from those against the project included f...
PRESCOTT-Kimberly Smith grew up working with horses and cattle in Prescott, Wash. She spent ten years participating in 4-H showing animals, arts and crafts, and photography. Many will remember her days in the Days of Real Sport royalty in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Recently, Smith has become involved with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wild horse and burro program. BLM manages and protects wild horses and burros on close to 27 million acres of public lands across western states in the U.S. The g...
DAYTON—Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Since 1995, the Columbia County Community Network, ComNet, has provided “umbrella” agreements under its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status to local organizations that cannot afford or maintain non-profit status or waiting to file for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt determination. ComNet Board President Vicki Zoller explained that under the ComNet umbrella, smaller entities can apply for grants as a 501(c)(...
Waitsburg Commercial Club is holding its Annual Awards Dinner at the new restaurant on April 12. WAITSBURG-A pizza maker and a Bloody Mary mix master walk into a bar. No joke, the bar was the empty Anchor Bar located in the American Legion, post 35, building on Main Street in Waitsburg. Tom and Judy Bennett have embraced the building's history and want to incorporate the essence of the American Legion post and what it once was; good company and good food to their new business American 35. The co...
