Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 329 - 353 of 1887
Columbia County Auditor Anne Higgins said that out of the 1627 ballots mailed, 868 had the potential to not be counted as they were either not returned or returned as undeliverable. Columbia County still had the second highest voter turnout in Washington State at 46.65% on election night, Higgins said. Higgins said eighty-five of the ballots were returned with a forwarding address and she was able to mail them on. An additional 24 ballots were returned with no forwarding information. “These 109 voter registrations will be inactive after the c...
Resolution is passed supporting continued operation of Snake River dams SNAKE River—The Columbia REA Board of Directors has voted unanimously in favor of a resolution in support of the continued operation of Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams, according to an Aug. 7 company media release. “The clean, carbon-free electricity that is produced by these dams plays a critically important role in supporting the needs of our members, said Columbia REA Board President Greg Knowles. The dams provide jobs and a wealth of co...
Running a small business is a huge undertaking. Seemingly endless resources pour into a venture that, hopefully, will service its community successfully. It's no wonder owners often refer to their business as their "baby." Even if a business owner is independently wealthy, supporting their baby isn't easy. Determining what a business needs to thrive sometimes isn't wholly possible until the running is already underway. The best way to mitigate some of the risks associated with starting a new...
DAYTON-—A trial in the case of the State vs. Benjamin Orozco is going forward, with jury selection taking place on the morning of Tues., Aug. 20, in Columbia County Superior Court, according to the County Prosecuting Attorney Dale Slack. Orozco was taken into custody in San Francisco, Nayarit Mexico in March, 2016. He was brought to the U.S. and served at the Tri-Cities Regional Airport on Dec. 15, 2016. He was arraigned in the Columbia County Superior Court, on Dec. 21, and charged with second degree murder, in the July, 1996 shooting death o...
Good food, good drink, good music and good fun were enjoyed by attendees of the annual Evening at the Depot auction fundraiser in Dayton last Saturday....
DAYTON—Touchet Valley Arts Council and the Liberty Theater in Dayton have added a new “Third Thursdays at the Liberty” to the cinema menu. On the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. the theater will feature a classic movie, documentary, foreign or independent film for $5.00 for all ages. “We’re excited to bring back a regular menu of non-first-release movies to diversify our cultural offerings to the community,” said theater manager Mike Ferrians. The first movie will be the classic 1964 musical, “My Fair Lady,” starring Audrey Hepburn...
DAYTON-Following a successful stint as interim Columbia County Public Transportation (CCPT) General Manager, David Ocampo was officially named to the position at the July 22 CCPT board meeting. Former lead dispatcher Darla Brown is the new transit supervisor. Ocampo was the district's safety and maintenance coordinator until he was pulled in as interim GM following the resignation of GM Dwight Robanske wo resigned in Dec. of 2017 after being placed on paid administrative leave in Oct. of that...
COLUMBIA COUNTY—When they met last week, the Columbia County Health System (CCHS) District Board of Commissioners signed off on medical privileges for physicians associated with Providence St. Mary’s Hospital in Walla Walla, for the purpose of providing telehospitalist services at Dayton General Hospital, during the hours of 7 p.m. - 7 a.m. CEO Shane McGuire said that adding telehospitalist care at night will give Dayton General Hospital physicians some relief and rest from their duties, during those hours. “It was becoming overwhelming for t...
A column by Carolyn Henderson Plein air painters get used to all sorts of weather. Because of the nature of their studio – outside, in the plain air – they operate without a roof over their heads. Unless, of course, they choose to bring one of their own. "During the Paint du Nord Quick Draw competition in Duluth, MN, we painted in a huge rainstorm," watercolor artist Jan Vogtman remembers. "The competition lasted two hours, exactly – they blow a horn to start and stop." Told to paint what she s...
Discovery Kids – 10-11 a.m. Every Wednesday A new, revamped and improved interactive story time for those in the toddler years! Come sing, dance, play and learn with Flash the Sloth. Family Summer Reading Moon Party 6:30-9 p.m. - August 15th Takes place at the Dayton Football Field. Join in for the final family event of this year’s Summer Reading Program. There will be dinner, prizes, a scale model of the solar system, a movie, telescopes star viewing and more! All under the full moon - a perfect time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the...
DAYTON-Tamara Demean ARNP has been hired to provide medical care to Columbia County Health System patients in both primary care clinics in Dayton and Waitsburg and in the Emergency Department. "They are working on getting a template into place for me to be able to have my own patient load," Demean said. Demean will be taking some walk-in patients starting on Aug. 1. Plans call for her to work three days a week in the Dayton clinic and one day a week in the Waitsburg Clinic. She said that...
DAYTON-When Levi Sowerby was given the news that he wouldn't walk again he got to work exploring alternative methods of healing, and within one year of receiving that diagnosis, it no longer applied. In 2005, 17-year-old high school gymnast Sowerby was representing the state of Texas at the National High School Gymnastics Invitational in Orlando, Fla., when things went awry for him. Sowerby was warming up for floor competition with a double back flip when he felt something in his spine slip....
DAYTON—Dayton Schools Superintendent Doug Johnson announced the resignations of Elementary School Principal Denise Smith and Librarian Valerie Kerr at the July 17 school board meeting. Smith was chosen from a field of three finalists as elementary school principal in August of 2017. Johnson said Smith has accepted an assistant principal position at an elementary school in Issaquah and said Smith began looking for other employment this spring, for both professional and personal reasons. Due to budget constraints, the District is not planning t...
Dayton High School's Class of 1969 gathered over the weekend of July 19-20 for its 50th reunion. Of 59 surviving classmates, 40 attended festivities at Dayton's Touchet Valley Golf Course and the annual Alumni Parade. Since the parade occurred on the day of Apollo 11's historic landing on the moon 50 years ago, it was decided to make that the theme for the float and the weekend. A rocket adorned the float as did banners proclaiming the class as "one giant leap for Mankind."...
DAYTON—Sixty local children will have the opportunity to appear on the Liberty Theater stage in a Missoula Children’s Theater (MCT) production of “Pinocchio” in early August. Pre-registration will take place during box office hours, from 2-5 p.m. on Tues., July 30 and Fri., Aug. 2 for children entering grades one through six. Auditions for parts will take place on the first day of camp which is Mon., Aug. 5 at 9 a.m. The week of rehearsals will culminate with two public performances, on Fri., A...
DAYTON—Terry and Jan Nealey will host a farewell ice cream social on Aug. 1 for YoungLife Area Director Marne Henderson, who is making the move to Olympia where she has accepted a staff position with Greater Olympia YoungLife. Henderson worked alongside Jan and Terry Nealey and others, when they started YoungLife in Dayton in 1999 and has remained active in the organization ever since. In 2018, Henderson took a leap of faith and retired from teaching after spending 15 years as a Waitsburg elementary and middle school teacher to become a Y...
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COLUMBIA COUNTY-Have you ever wondered how annual wheat yields are calculated? Local data-gatherer Joe Huether wasn't sure before, but he is now a part of the process, which he says he has found to be fascinating. This spring, Huether responded to an ad and was hired as a field enumerator to gather data for the National Association of State Departments of Agricultural (NASDA), which works to achieve sound policy between state departments of agriculture, the federal government and stakeholders....
DAYTON-John Laib is a third-generation Columbia County farmer. He and his wife Carolyn farm the 2,500 original acres on his grandfather, Albert Laib's, home place, and they lease and farm an additional 2,500 acres, growing mainly dry land wheat and alfalfa. They also raise cattle. Laib said the challenges facing farmers today are many, but the biggest frustration for him is that the state legislature is setting policies without understanding how rural communities in eastern Washington live. "It'...
DAYTON— At last week’s Dayton City Council meeting Christine Broughton was selected by the council to fill the remainder of Zac Weatherford’s city council term, which was created when he became Dayton’s Interim Mayor. The council interviewed Broughton and two other applicants, Cara James and Charity Herren. Mayor Weatherford thanked James and Herren for their interest in serving on the city council and encouraged them to apply for the seat recently held by Kathy Berg. Berg has submitted her resignation from the council effective June 30. Art...
COLUMBIA COUNTY—A grant of $637,000 will take the Touchet Valley Trail, to be developed between Dayton and Waitsburg, from the planning to engineering stages. The grant, awarded by the Washington Department of Transportation’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program will be used for environment analysis, surveying and engineering design to develop the trail and river crossings to 90-percent design completion, according to a Port of Columbia press release. Once constructed, the 9.7-mile “rails with trails” multiuse path will run adjacent to the...
DAYTON-Dayton's annual National Night Out event will take place at the Dayton City Park on Tues., Aug. 6 from 5-8 p.m. Columbia County residents are encouraged to join with thousands of communities nationwide in celebrating an evening of family fun and information during the anti-crime and anti-drug event. The City Park will be filled with events and activities. Banner Bank will provide free hotdogs which will be served with a smile by Dayton Kiwanis and Lion's Club volunteers. Pepsi-Cola...
DAYTON-"It's really amazing how much has been done with just volunteers. We have a really committed group of people working together to preserve our local history," said Blue Mountain Heritage Society (BMHS) President Paula Moiso. Since the BMHS was officially formed in 2004, the all-volunteer group has been hard at work educating the public about the rich and diverse history and resources of southeastern Washington through three heritage museums including the Palus Museum, the Smith Hollow...
DAYTON-Dayton City council members Delphine Bailey, Mike Paris, and Zac Weatherford are in the running to be Dayton's next mayor. Voters living inside the City will get the chance to decide which two will advance to the November general election when ballots are mailed out this week for the August 6 primary election. Delphine Bailey Bailey said she understands how to work within the guidelines of state and federal grant programs, and she understands the importance of maintaining the city's...
COLUMBIA COUNTY-For the first time, the Columbia County Development Disability Group (CCDG) has funds available to support, educate and meet the needs of the developmentally disabled and their caregivers in Columbia County. While $3,126 in ad valorem funds may not seem like a lot, the allocation makes all the difference to a group that has previously functioned with almost no budget. "We're so used to working with nothing that we're very frugal. And we have a very supportive community with a...
