Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 606 - 630 of 1893
DAYTON--Family and friends crowded the Dayton High School gymnasium on Saturday to hear the Class of 2018 Salutatorian Morgan Riley and Class Valedictorian Emma Sierra deliver their speeches and grant well wishes to the graduating seniors. Salutatorian Riley thanked the parents, community members and teachers of DHS for supporting the Class of 2018. Riley said that if her feelings are any indication, graduating and going out into the world is probably the most terrifying thing for all the new...
DAYTON – Anybody wandering into downtown Dayton Friday evening will be excused if they think they’ve entered a small-town time warp and jumped backward 50 years. Classic cars cruising Main Street and ‘50s and ‘60s music in the air will engulf visitors to downtown, as Dayton’s All Wheels Weekend revs up. Friday afternoon, cars will begin rolling into town for the weekend-long event. Registration starts at 4 p.m. in front of Bette Lou Crothers’ State Farm office at First and Main. This is Crothers’ 24th year leading the committee that puts on...
Cole John Ben & Sue Dickinson Memorial $500 Brandon Barton Memorial $300 Dayton High School Booster Club $500 Gailord & Jean Nelson $1,000 John Israel $500 Kay Preston Cochran Memorial $450 Ken & Shirley Golliher $500 Walla Walla Elks Vocational $500 Washington State Elks Association $1,000 WWCC Rasty & Nona Ketcherside Declan Russell WWCC Rasty & Nona Ketcherside Drake LaMere Blue Mountain Aerie #2618 Eagles $500 Emma Sandoval Sierra American Association of University Women $300 Blue Mountain Aerie #2618 Eagles $500 Columbia County Fund $1,500...
DAYTON—Former Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Don Foley appeared before the Columbia County Civil Service Commission on Monday to discuss his termination by Sheriff Rocky Miller last month. At the meeting, Foley requested a continuance in the matter to allow his attorney, David Rose, adequate time to prepare for a hearing. The Commission agreed, and a date for the hearing will be set between August 6 and August 23. Foley was terminated “for cause” by Miller on May 15, 2018, according to County Prosecuting Attorney Rea Culwell. That same we...
DAYTON— Columbia County Commissioner Merle Jackson has said it before, and he said it again last week, “How do we ever dig ourselves out of the hole if everybody keeps giving away our money?” The county has only two principle sources of tax revenue – property taxes and sales taxes – and the county commissioners have been seeking adequate revenue to cover the cost of essential services and pay for special projects. The commissioners had been anticipating a one-time bump in sales and use tax from construction of Columbia Pulp’s new straw pulp mil...
DAYTON-Former Sheriff's Deputy Don Foley has announced his candidacy for Columbia County Sheriff. Foley will appear on the August primary ballot for sheriff along with Deputy Jeff Jenkins and Chief Deputy Joe Helm. The two candidates receiving the most votes will move on to the November general election. Foley said his training as a forensic interviewer has served him well in investigations of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse cases, and will serve him well in his role as...
Carla Rowe DAYTON – Dayton native Carla Rowe said she will bring her expertise in the field of accounting and bookkeeping practices to the position of Columbia County Treasurer if she is elected in November. For the past 14 years, Rowe has owned her own bookkeeping business, CJ Bookkeeping, where she performs full-charge bookkeeping as well as providing her Dayton and Waitsburg clients with specific accounting needs. "I have always taken a proactive approach for my clients, and I will bring t...
DAYTON – Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell, came to an agreement last week with the College Place City Council to serve as prosecuting attorney for that city beginning immediately. Culwell told The Times she expects the College Place job to take about 10 hours per week, and she will do most of that work evenings and weekends. "They have a court docket twice a month, which lasts one to two hours each," she said. "Other than attending those, I'll do the rest of the work off hours." Culwell's...
DAYTON--A discussion about what steps to take regarding funding the much-needed irrigation system at the Touchet Valley Golf Course took place between Dayton Country Club Board President Roger Trump, board member J. E. McCaw, state Representative Terry Nealey, and the Columbia County Commissioners last week. A grant application through the Recreation Conservation Organization missed the May 1 submittal deadline and can’t be considered until the next grant cycle in 2020-21. Commissioner Norm Passmore said to submit the application now would b...
DAYTON—This year’s Memorial Weekend Dayton Days celebration, put on by the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, will kick off on Saturday, May 26, at 10 a.m. with the Dayton Days Main Street Parade. The crowd lining Main Street will enjoy another great parade, including fair courts, historic floats, classic cars and many other entrants. In the spirit of western history, additional activities are planned for Dayton Days this year, according to event chair Ginny Butler. “We wanted to get more families and kids downtown,” she explained. Immediately followi...
Dayton—Dayton Middle and High School Principal Paul Shaber has announced that he will resign at the end of this school year to take a job in Richland. “Paul has been an important part of our team here in Dayton,” said Superintendent Doug Johnson. “Using Paul’s leadership skills, the Middle and High School staff continued their growth as a team, and as educators. “Paul worked well with students and was a strong advocate for them in the classroom, and in activities,” Johnson added. “He was willing to step in where needed and provide leaders...
DAYTON-- During the Show and Tell portion of the May 16 school board meeting, Youth and Government Advisor Shayna Hutchens and four of her students talked about their experience at the state capital in Olympia. The students were also able to explore Seattle, including the waterfront, Pike Place Market and the Seattle Library, before their moving on to Olympia on May 2. Dayton was the largest high school delegation from eastern Washington, with 18 students attending the youth legislation...
DAYTON—Vicki Zoller from the newly formed Friends of the Dayton Community Pool Committee was present at last week’s city council meeting to talk about efforts the committee is making to help raise funds for repairs at the Dayton City Pool. The city recently decided to close the pool because it has significant infrastructure problems. Zoller said the committee is working with the Columbia County Community Network to set up a 501c3 organization under their umbrella. “This will insure that all monies are used in proper accordance, and help to pr...
DAYTON—At last week’s city council meeting, City Administrator Trina Cole said the public works staff was to meet with the Washington Dept. of Ecology on May 15 to talk about the wastewater treatment plant and the financing for it. Planning Director Meagan Bailey discussed successes with code compliance enforcement, particularly yard debris at a house on Clay Street which has been cleaned up. “Just this week we had 15-16 grass letters go out and about half of them have called to tell us they have mowed the grass,” she said. Bailey assured the c...
DAYTON--Mule Mania begins its Class list schedule of events for mules and donkeys, on Saturday, May 26, at 8 a.m., at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. The Mule and Donkey show features riding and driving competitions throughout the day, and on Sunday, from 7:30 a.m. until sometime in the afternoon, said Bev Rising, Mule Mania president and show manager. Rising said there should be a great show this year. “Bobbie Jo and Barney Chambers are bringing a lot of mules, and lot of people with them, to compete,” she said. Rising is also expecting som...
CEO Shane McGuire also reports on tele-psychiatric services, palliative care DAYTON--Speaking at the Hospital District board meeting for April, CEO Shane McGuire talked about the outreach and business enhancement initiatives that he and other CCHS staff have been working on. Contracts with the University of Washington to provide psychiatric support for CCHS patients are being finalized. Plans also include provision of tele-psychiatric services, so that patients can have face-to-face time with psychiatrists, he said. “We are particularly e...
DAYTON—Columbia County Public Works Director Andrew Woods has accepted a job in Olympia, where he will be the compliance and data manager at the state’s County Road Administration Board. “What I will miss most are my co-workers and the community,” said Woods. Woods is also proud of the grant funds the county has received for road and bridge projects and for fleet and facility modernization during his time with Columbia County, he said. Woods has served as Columbia County Engineer since January 2006. He said his last day on the job will be June...
DAYTON--There are some timely reminders coming from the WSU Dayton Extension Office regarding noxious weed control, 4-H and local crop tours. The county's Noxious Weed Control Coordinator, Rachel Hutchens, said the Weed Control Board is funded by county assessment, and there is some cost sharing available, for chemical costs, application costs, or both, to control of some of the county's worst noxious weeds. They include yellow star thistle, Japanese and Bohemian knotweed, leafy spurge and...
DAYTON-Audrey Bensel joined the Dayton Chamber of Commerce staff last month as assistant manager. She will share duties running the office in Downtown Dayton with newly hired director Melissa Bryan. Bensel was circulations manager at the Dayton Chronicle for about a year, before accepting the Chamber position. "This is right up my alley," she said. "I like to host parties." Bensel grew up in Dayton and graduated from Dayton High. She went on to WSU and graduated with a BA in Theater Arts in...
DAYTON-When the 2018 election is over, there will be several new faces in key positions in Columbia County government, and Chuck Amerein hopes to be one of them. Amerein is running to represent District 3 on the Board of County Commissioners, to replace Merle Jackson, who is retiring at the end of the year. Amerein said he has been attending the BOCC meetings for the past several months in order to develop an understanding of the issues, and he has been shadowing Commissioner Jackson, to...
Thanks to the entertainment industry, which in the last 100 years has shaped societal perspective on reality, many people think of someone in a paint-spattered smock and beret, grasping a palette, and acting in a less than rational manner. “Oh don’t mind him, he’s an artist, you know,” somebody sniffs. But artists, like art itself, are unique and individual, and textile artist Catherine Little, of White Bird, ID, who creates home décor gift and wall hangings depicting wildlife and country scenes, looks and acts like a likable, normal person w...
DAYTON--Safety is at the top of the list for students and staff in the Dayton School District. And now staff and administrators are better prepared to keep a situation like the ones at Columbine, Colo. and Parkland, Fla. from happening. Jon Ladines, owner of Force Dynamics, led GAP training workshop in how to use T-ball bats for classroom defense last week in the Dayton High School auditorium. Why T-ball bats? T-ball bats are considered by the FBI to be lethal weapons, said Ladines. "With the...
DAYTON – Dayton Country Club Board President Roger Trump has been on a mission this year in search of funds for the much-needed irrigation system at Touchet Valley Golf Course. Trump reported last week that he is looking into a grant with the state Recreation Conservation Office, which could yield up to $500,000 for that project. The RCO’s $3 million Land and Water Conservation Fund provides money for projects that preserve and develop outdoor recreation resources, but it carries certain stipulations, including a 20% soft match. Matching con...
