Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG – Waitsburg Council member Jillian Henze and her older sister, Alison Beaudry, are golfing buddies. They play together about once a month every year during golf season. It’s a bonding time for them but it has a competitive side. “She has always been able to outdrive me,” Henze explains. “She would hit the ball much harder than me, but it’s usually off in the trees somewhere. I can hit the ball straight, but it takes me two hits to get the distance she can get in one.” Henze has bee...
DAYTON – The Kiwanis Club of Dayton, Washington, celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. The group was first organized at the Dayton Hotel on October 19, 1922. Like many fraternal organizations that started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Kiwanis is organized around chartered local groups connected functionally and financially to an international governing body. Kiwanis International, established in 1915, states its mission as "dedicated to improving the world one child and one c...
DAYTON – The Columbia Port Commissioners held their regular meeting at 5 p.m., September 13, 2023, in the Port Office. Commissioners present were Genie Crowe, Seth Bryan, Johnny Watts, and the Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson. Dickinson opened the meeting with a discussion of the current and 2024 draft budgets. She will complete the final 2024 budget and schedule a public hearing in October. Reporting on port assets, Dickinson said Cedar Rain signed a new two-year lease at Blue Mountain Station. Abbi Russell, Senior Communications S...
DAYTON- The Dayton City Council held its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on September 12, 2023. Mayor Zac Weatherford and council members Teeny McMunn, James Su’euga, Michael Smith, Kyle Anderson, Dain Nysoe, Laura Aukerman, and Shannon McMillen were in City Hall. Sheriff Helm gave a report during which he discussed the increasing graffiti problem in the City of Dayton but did not discuss a solution. The first public comment period opened with a resident asking if the City of Dayton would take over the library should the Columbia Rural Library D...
DAYTON - Waitsburg's Natalie Knudson, a freshman at Walla Walla High School, has been dancing since age four. Erika Greenup, recently of Dayton, has been sewing since age six. Her husband, Devin, had a knack for contorting his face in all sorts of funny ways. His parents called him the next Jim Carrey. These are the new directors who are working hard on this fall's Touchet Valley Arts Council (TVAC) production of "The Little Mermaid," scheduled for a 13-show run beginning November 9 at the...
DAYTON- The Dayton City Council held its regular meeting on August 8, 2023. Mayor Zac Weatherford and council members Teeny McMunn, James Su’euga, Michael Smith, Kyle Anderson, Dain Nysoe, and Shannon McMillen were in City Hall. Laura Aukerman was absent. Sheriff Helm gave a report during which he discussed the increasing graffiti problem in the City of Dayton but did not discuss a solution. In his report for the county, Commissioner Ryan Rundell said the county hired Jan Strohbehn as the Public Health Director. Strobehn had most recently b...
DAYTON-I recently knocked on the door of Dayton's Historic Depot at 222. E. Commercial Street. Kristina Blake, the new Manager of the Depot as of June 13, greeted me in period costume clothing. She's fully into her latest post. She wasn't dressed up for just our interview, however. "I'm going to be in period clothing all the time at work. I want visitors to feel they've walked into another time." Blake said. Talk about getting your history on. "Actually, it's a whole package deal," she says. "I...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met at 6 p.m. on July 19, 2023, in the high school library. School board members present were Chair Jeffrey McCowen, Grant Griffen, and Zac Fabian. Aneesha Dieu was not present. Superintendent Rich Stewart was also present. No members of the public attended in person or by using Zoom. The board approved the consent agenda, including the approval to hire Sam Korslund as the middle school head football coach and the resignation of Kelly Steinhoff as a middle school LAP paraprofessional. Stewart said online s...
DAYTON – The Columbia Port Commissioners held their regular meeting at 5 p.m. on July 11, 2023, in the port office. Commissioners present were Genie Crowe, Seth Bryan, Johnny Watts, and the Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson. Dayton Mayor Zack Weatherford gave a presentation on using the port’s railroad right-of-way to lay sewer lines for the city’s new wastewater treatment plant project. The pipe would generally be laid on the north side of the track connecting the gravity sewer line at Commercial and Stedman Roads to the area near the p...
DAYTON-Three local veterans were awarded Quilts of Valor at the War Memorial in Dayton on Independence Day. Quilts of Valor is a non-profit organization created in 2003. It has presented over 327,000 quilts to comfort service members and veterans touched by war. Linda Clarys is a member of Quilts of Valor and has been creating quilts through the program for local veterans since 2019. She pieces and sews the quilts, with help from others, including a quilter who machine quilts the finished...
DAYTON-Kids from The Club in Dayton will participate in community gardening this summer at Onyx Farms at Blue Mountain Station. Last fall, the Port of Columbia leased the 1/2 acre plot next to the BMS nursery to Andreas Castellanos to create a community garden. Castellanos described the Onyx Farms on FaceBook as "a community effort to connect people to the soil and each other by growing various crops. A learning process for all involved." In May, he invited the public to participate in farm...
DAYTON-Women with Edwardian hairstyles, men in waistcoats, and trained horses were seen waiting patiently outside Dayton's Depot Museum last week. They were not waiting for an arriving train but to film their scenes for a short film produced by Walla Walla University. As the actors waited, the producers, Walla Walla University film students, and production staff, including director Richard Ramsey, were busy preparing for location filming. I met with one of the producers, Matt Webster, on the...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met at 6 p.m. on June 14, 2023, in the High School library. Members of the school board present included Chair Jeffrey McCowen, Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, and Zac Fabian. Superintendent Rich Stewart was also present. Korinda Wallace resigned from the School Board before the meeting. Jamie Trump, who spearheaded the sixth-grade camp at Camp Wootan, reported on this year’s camp. Sixty-seven sixth graders participated, supervised by 13-15 adult helpers and 16 day-instructors. Trump discussed camp activities, inc...
DAYTON-Numerous cars dragged the "gut" Friday night as car enthusiasts walked the streets to watch the cars zoom by. Vendors were available for food and drinks, and Main Street businesses welcomed patrons throughout the evening. The band Cruz Control played on the courthouse lawn as people danced and little kids practiced their hula hoop skills. Saturday was the Show 'n Shine where vehicles of all types and years lined Main Street. Visitors and car enthusiasts were able to see everything up...
DAYTON – The Port of Columbia Commissioners held their regular meeting at 5 p.m. on June 14, 2023, at the Lyons Ferry Marina restaurant and on Zoom. The commissioners typically hold the June meeting at the marina, which is leased from the port. Commissioners present were Genie Crowe, Seth Bryan, Johnny Watts, and the Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson. Dickinson reminded the commissioners that they had budgeted for a new staff position, an Economic Development Coordinator. At the time of the m...
DAYTON- The Dayton City Council held its regular meeting on the evening of June 13, 2023 at Dayton City Hall. Mayor Zac Weatherford and council members Teeny McMunn, James Su’euga, Laura Aukerman, Kyle Anderson, Dain Nysoe, and Shannon McMillen were present; Tiger Dieu resigned on May 16, 2023, and his post remains vacant. Sheriff Joe Helm gave his report in which he covered call statistics and mentioned some past and planned activities, but summarized his report by saying, “no major changes.” Director of Emergency Management Tina Bobbi...
DAYTON—Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney C. Dale Slack requested and received an informal opinion from the Washington State Office of the Attorney General clarifying the voter eligibility to petition and vote on the issues concerning the Columbia County Rural District Library. A group of residents dissatisfied with the library’s Request for a Reconsideration of Materials policy, are circulating a petition to place a proposition on the ballot to dissolve the library district. Should voters decide in favor of dissolution, all of the books and...
MidSchoolMath addresses a critical time for students in relation to math education. DAYTON—The Dayton School Board held a work session meeting in the high school library at 6 p.m. on June 7, 2023. School board members present were Jeffrey McCowen, Zac Fabian, and Aneesha Dieu. Superintendent Rich Stewart and Business Manager Jana Eaton also attended. Korinda Wallace attended using Zoom. Grant Griffen was absent. The only action item on the meeting’s agenda was to approve the adoption of MidSchoolMath (MSM) for the 6-8 grades math cur...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met on May 17, 2023, in the High School library: School Board Chair Jeffrey McCowen, and members Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, and Zac Fabian, and Superintendent Rich Stewart were present. Board member Korinda Wallace was not present. Several student and teacher groups gave presentations at the beginning of the meeting. Cole Kenney, a Title 1 Para, gave a presentation on Title Small Groups which offers individualized instruction in reading and math in grades K-5. The program uses “Read Well” to track the stude...
DAYTON – The Columbia Port Commissioners held their regular meeting at 5 p.m. on May 10, 2023, in the Port of Columbia conference room and on Zoom. Commissioners Genie Crowe, Seth Bryan, and the Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson, were present. Johnny Watts was absent. During public comment, Joann Patras from All Saints Thrift Store thanked Dickinson for her help in the thrift store’s successful grant application to Sherwood Trust. Patras addressed Dickinson, saying, “What a blessing you were to me. You were so kind and so helpful.” She sai...
DAYTON- The Dayton City Council held its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on May 10, 2023. Mayor Zac Weatherford and Council Members Teeny McMunn, James Su’euga, Laura Aukerman, Kyle Anderson, Dain Nysoe, Shannon McMillen, and Tiger Dieu were present at Dayton City Hall. Belinda Larsen from the Chamber of Commerce gave an update on chamber activities. She reminded the council that Dayton Days is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend and All Wheels Weekend will be in June. Sheriff Helm reported that two deputies graduated from the state’s police aca...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met for a work session at 6 p.m., on May 3, 2023, in the High School library. School board members present were Grant Griffen, Zac Fabian, and Aneesha Dieu; Korinda Wallace did not attend. Superintendent Rich Stewart and Business Manager Jana Eaton were present. Included in the Consent Agenda, the board approved hiring Clayton Strong as HS Boys Head Basketball Coach and Owen Lanning as HS Boys Assistant Basketball Coach. The board also approved Kelly Steinhoff as a volunteer MS Track Coach and approved a GEAR U...
DAYTON-On April 28th, Christian Gonzalez and 11 other students from middle schools around the region competed in the GEAR UP 8th Grade Career Showcase Competition in Tri-Cities, Wash. He and the other participants from Walla Walla and Tri-Cities schools presented their career plans to a panel of three judges. The students were judged on content and delivery. Gonzalez impressed the judges with his determination, knowledge of his chosen career in neurosurgery, and his ability to connect with his...
DAYTON—A group of Columbia County residents is circulating a petition to dissolve the Dayton Rural Library District. Jessica Rufficorn posted a photo of the petition on Facebook in March. She and other community members who wish to dissolve the library district have posted their dissatisfaction with the library’s collection, the Library Board of Trustees, and Library Director Todd Vandenbark on the Facebook pages, including Dayton Speak freely(sic). The dissolution efforts follow the group’s dispute over 11 books on gender identity, sexual iden...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board held a regular meeting at 6 p.m., on April 15, 2023, in the high school library. School board chair Jeffrey McCowen, board members Korinda Wallace, Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, Zac Fabian, and Superintendent Rich Stewart was also present. The board approved the consent agenda. Seven students in Angela Kenney’s fourth-grade class gave a presentation on raising salmon, which they will release in the Touchet River in May. The students spoke about the entire salmon life cycle. Middle school teacher Jeff McCann int...
