Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 297
DAYTON-Superintendent Guy Strot has begun the implementation of a plan to improve the Dayton School District. The district has recently lost far too many students to surrounding school districts, particularly in the secondary school. He hopes to stem or even reverse this exodus from the Dayton District. The first step is to determine why students are leaving. This process has begun and continues through exit interviews with students and teachers who have already left. The Center for Excellence...
DAYTON—The Economic Development Steering Committee met via Zoom on November 2. Jennie Dickinson kicked the meeting off with an update regarding a grant from the Innovia Foundation for startup businesses. Two businesses in downtown Dayton, Table Rock Meat and Main Street Marketplace, have benefitted from the grant in the past. This year $5,000 has been awarded to Annie’s Attic, a new cafe and a vintage furniture business coming to Dayton, both owned by Laura and Tony Auckerman. A second sta...
DAYTON-The sprawling Blue Mountain Station has become a key player in Dayton and Columbia County's economy. It provides production space for fine candy makers, craft spirit distillers, soap crafters, and growers of organic produce. The road to success has been long and, at times, rather difficult. The idea for the Station first came to light in 2007, when Jennie Dickinson was hired as Executive Director of the Port of Columbia. "When I moved from the Chamber to the Port, it was June of 2007,...
DAYTON- The Dayton School board held its regular School Director’s meeting at 6 p.m. on October 20, 2021. The board approved the consent agenda, which consisted of the minutes for the September 15, 2021 Board Meeting, a donation from Walla Walla Toyota of $2000 to the Associated Student Body (ASB), hiring both Owen Lanning as Middle School Boys Basketball Coach and Jeannie Walter as Freshman Class Advisor. Also in the consent agenda was the recommendation to hire Melanie Morgan as Senior Class Advisor and finally, a recommendation to accept D...
DAYTON - A regular meeting of the City Council was held using Zoom at 6 PM, October 13, 2021. During public comment, Sheriff Joe Helm announced that he had appointed Deputy Cesar Rivera as Chief Deputy. The Sheriff also stated that the department was preparing for the opening of deer hunting season and the influx of visitors which that entails. He also mentioned that the increased patrolling of Main Street for traffic violations would continue. The City Council approved the minutes from the...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met for a work session at 6 p.m. on October 6, entirely online using Zoom. Including the school board members, about 22 people participated in the Zoom meeting. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Superintendent Strot began with a brief discussion of his plan to share substitute teachers between the Dayton, Prescott, and Waitsburg school districts in an attempt to ameliorate the shortage of substitutes. Next, Strot moved on to a discussion of r...
DAYTON-The Columbia County Commissioners met for a regular meeting on October 4. Commissioners Rundell and Hall were present at the meeting. Commissioner Amerein was absent from the Monday morning meeting. The commissioners' meetings will be moved from Monday to Tuesday starting this month. Charles Eaton reported on behalf of the Columbia County Public Works. He presented a resolution to award the Bosley Bridge Emergency Repairs consulting contract to Anderson Perry & Associates of Walla Walla....
DAYTON-Local retired farmer and Port of Columbia Commissioner candidate Jack Miller recently cut ties with the Columbia County Conservatives, saying that he did not agree with the dangerous core beliefs of the political group. "I didn't agree with a lot of the things that they were espousing, to the point I decided that I did not want to be associated with them in any way," Miller said. "And that was that." The group, which has become known for its anti-vaccination and anti-masking rhetoric,...
DAYTON—The Economic Development Steering Committee held a regular monthly remote meeting on October 5, 2021. Martha Lanman, Columbia County Public Health Administrator, announced that there were 21 active cases, with more than 20 tests performed that morning. She commended the Columbia County Health System for their ongoing hard work as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. She clarified that the COVID-19 case count is still a roller coaster in the county. She observed that cases seem to taper s...
DAYTON--Ron Asmus, owner of Ron Asmus Homes, Inc in the Tri-Cities, is moving ahead with construction of the new Assisted Living Facility units and he expects construction to begin within the next thirty days. The monthly cost of each leased unit, originally calculated at $12,000 each, has shot up an additional $2,000, because of the high cost of lumber and other building materials, according to CCHS CEO Shane McGuire at last week's hospital board meeting. "Everything is more expensive, right...
DAYTON—The Dayton School Board met Wednesday, September 15, for a regular school board meeting. Business items on the agenda included a review of multiple out-of-endorsement teachers, consideration for substitute teachers’ payment raise, and adopting a new social studies/history curriculum. The meeting was halted after the consent agenda was approved and the public comment portion of the meeting began. School board candidate Aneesha Dieu spoke during this portion of the meeting, but com...
DAYTON-The Port of Columbia Commissioners met for a regular meeting on September 8 via Zoom. The Commissioners appointed Shawn Brown as chairman, filling the position left by the late Earle Marvin. "I want to reiterate that I so much appreciate Commissioner Marvin's service to the Port, and I have his wife and family in my prayers as they move forward through this difficult time," Brown said. Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson said that she reached out to Commissioner Marvin's...
DAYTON—The Dayton City Council met for a hybrid meeting on September 8, 2021. Columbia County Sheriff Joe Helm shared that 57 traffic tickets were written over the past month, 38 were within city limits. He said that a new deputy is currently going through his Field Training Officer (FTO) program and that he is doing well. He said that the department hopes to have the new deputy working on his own as soon as training is complete. Sheriff Helm and County Prosecutor Dale Slack are currently p...
DAYTON—Fireworks have been an issue for city and county officials as fire conditions continued to worsen in Walla Walla and Columbia Counties. Columbia County Commissioners held a public hearing on Tuesday, September 7, to discuss an ordinance to allow the county to impose emergency bans on fireworks should local fire conditions warrant it. Currently, Columbia County and the City of Dayton cannot impose a ban on firework sales and use, even if there is immediate fire risk due to drought or s...
DAYTON— County Commissioners approved a mandate that requires masks at the Columbia County Fair this weekend at a meeting on Tuesday, September 7. The mandate, signed by Dr. Lewis Neace, Columbia County Health Officer, will provide an added level of protection for exhibitors, guests, and facilitators. “As our cases continue to go up, we are looking at the fair,” Lanman said. “We need to do something at the fair, to make it clear that we have additional cases in our communities.” Lanman sa...
DAYTON-In November 2015, Norm Passmore's dental practice closed in Dayton, and treatment options for Medicaid patients became slim. Realizing the importance of preventative dental care to whole-body health, the Columbia County Health System administrators got busy. The result is the Columbia Family Dental clinic located on the Dayton General Hospital campus at 1012 South Third Street. Since the grand opening on June 30, Audra Morgan DMD, Michael Strang DDS, Registered Dental Assistant Cherie...
In just a few days, cows, curly fries, and farm critters will take over the Columbia County Fairgrounds for a "Blue Ribbon A-Fair." For the young horsewomen from Rocking D Riders 4-H club, the fair began early after the Columbia County Fair Horse Show was moved to an earlier weekend to solve time and space constraints. Having the show held on a weekend before the fair allowed fans and riders to distance themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic safely. Under the guidance of 4-H leader Shelli Bryan...
DAYTON—The Dayton School Board called an emergency meeting on Monday, August 30, to discuss switching to remote learning for middle and high school students. Columbia County Public Health officials agreed with the decision to go remote for secondary students, Superintendent Guy Strot told meeting attendees. “This is a good opportunity to try and get cases back under control, instead of letting it grow to a much larger issue,” Strot said. Over the weekend, Superintendent Strot said that one v...
DAYTON—On Aug. 12, The Times reported on the vaccination rate for the Columbia County Health System employees, which stood at about 52 percent. Columbia County Health System (CCHS) CEO Shane McGuire said some of the 218 employees had reacted strongly to Governor Jay Inslee’s Aug.9 proclamation that health care workers be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. A few have resigned in response to the mandate. However, he said ongoing support is being provided to help CCHS healthcare workers with their decisi...
DAYTON—The Dayton School Board met on August 18 for a regular school board meeting. Dayton School District had its first day of the 2021-22 school year on August 24. Before the business meeting, Superintendent Guy Strot spoke on recent mask mandates, which went into effect on Monday, August 23. Strot said that, aside from health-related risks, the school district had multiple reasons to comply with the mandate. According to Strot, the school’s insurance company has stated that they will not ins...
DAYTON—A 2020“Washington Child Care Industry Assessment” sponsored by the Washington Department of Commerce characterizes Walla Walla and Columbia counties as childcare “deserts.” This means 96-percent of families in Columbia County and 18-percent of families in Walla Walla counties do not have the childcare they need. In 2020-21 three in-home providers in Columbia County closed their doors, pushing the county into a childcare crisis. The issues for parents who seek care for their children...
DAYTON—The Dayton City Council met Wednesday, August 11, for a regular meeting. The council continues to meet in person, with the option to join via Zoom. During the first public comment period, council members heard from Howard Novak urging them to consider hiring more than one animal control officer. Novak said he had been attacked or threatened by a dog on more than one occasion. Mayor Zac Weatherford said the city is currently working with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office to create and...
DAYTON—A question on the minds of many in our community is why the Columbia County Health System (CCHS) does not require its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Back in January, CCHS employees took an internal survey to assess their receptivity to the vaccine. According to Stephanie Carpenter, COO, one-third said yes, they would. One-third said probably, but not now, and one-third said they would not get the vaccine. Last week, Carpenter said that currently, only a little over half o...
DAYTON—The Dayton City Council human resources and financial committees met Monday, August 9 for a work session. Due to the nature of the meeting, no action was taken on any agenda item. The council will meet for a regular monthly meeting on August 11, at 6 p.m. Frustration was a shared feeling across the attendees, as requests for specific financial paperwork have continued to go unfulfilled. Council members said that they have been requesting clear, concise line items regarding salaries for c...
DAYTON--Guy Strot sat down with me last week to talk about his first year as the Dayton School District Superintendent and Elementary School Principal and his thoughts about the upcoming 2021-22 school year. Just days after completing a 390-mile bike ride in California, from Crescent City to San Francisco, he said his legs were still a little sore. “It was a lot hillier than I thought. And of the 390 miles, there were 300 miles with no shoulder, ranging from a six-inch shoulder, and 100 m...
