Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 1893
COLUMBIA COUNTY—In April of 2018, Governor Jay Inslee approved 139 census tracts in 36 counties for Opportunity Zone status. One of those designations included the majority of Columbia County and allows the county to offer special federal tax breaks to encourage development and job creation. The Opportunity Zone program was a bipartisan proposal in Congress incorporated into the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It allows the governor of every state to designate up to 25 percent of eligible census tracts as Opportunity Zones – areas that are str...
DAYTON—The Frank E. Bauers American Legion Post No. 42 was organized in 1919, which was the same year the national organization was chartered and incorporated by Congress, according to Carla Rowe who has written a history of the Dayton organization based on the material published in various issues of the Columbia County Dispatch. She writes, "The Post is named after Frank Ernest Bauers, of Company M, 361st Infantry, ninety-first Division, wounded October 2, 1918 in the battle of Argonne in F...
DAYTON-The patriotic display honoring Columbia County veterans has been moved from the Smith Hollow Country Schoolhouse to the Palus Museum, at 426 E. Main Street. "The display was popular and deserved a more permanent location," said Paula Moisio, president of the Blue Mountain Heritage Society (BMHS). Moisio said the BMHS is collaborating with the Frank E. Bauers American Legion Post # 42 to honor local veterans who have served the nation. The expanded collection of items from local veterans...
DAYTON-In an April 11 emergency meeting, Columbia Commissioners unanimously approved Resolution 2019-22 which addresses the protection of Columbia County employees and elected officials. The resolution was drafted in response to the April 10 arrest of Columbia County Superior Court Judge Scott D. Gallina at the Asotin County Courthouse. Columbia County Prosecutor Dale Slack, who presented the resolution, briefed the commissioners on the case saying that Gallina had been arrested at the Asotin...
DAYTON-PacifiCorp is investing $3.5 billion to build four new wind projects and upgrade its Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington wind fleet. The upgrade includes "repowering" the 78 wind turbines at Marengo I, and the 39 wind turbines at Marengo II, east of Dayton. "Local communities may notice an increase in heavy equipment and vehicle traffic as early as May as work begins to widen leased access roads to allow for sufficient access to the sites," said Tom Gauntt, Media Spokesman for Pacific Power....
DAYTON-Beginning on April 19 the Blue Mountain Station Co-op will be open on Tues. through Saturday, from 10 a.m. until 6 p. m., said Patricia Sacha, the manager of the Co-op market. Sacha said on Apr. 19 there will be a grand opening with special deals and a drawing for a $25 gift certificate for use either at the Co-op or in the new retail garden nursery. She said vegetable starts, succulents, perennials and herbs from Harmony Gardens and Glass and Verdurous Gardens will be for sale. Sacha...
DAYTON-There's something new brewing behind the Village Shoppes on Main Street. Enthusiastic artist Jessica Griffin is opening the Dayton Creative Co-op, a mixed-use art studio with community at its core. "It's something I've been wanting to do for a really long time and I finally got the nerve to go through with it," Griffin said. The co-op's grand opening is all day Thurs., April 4 (10:30 a.m. - 8 p.m.) and will feature cake and two giveaways. Of the giveaways, a denim jacket, complete with...
DAYTON-The Touchet Valley Golf Course is open for the season, with a new fee schedule that makes an already enjoyable course even that much more pleasurable. Previously, greens fees were $18 for nine holes and $22 for 18 holes. Now, a flat $20 fee gets all-day play. Power carts can be rented for $15. "One of the greatest things about this course is that it is so playable for all levels of players. It's a shorter course, that still challenging. It's walkable, and really, really good for seniors...
DAYTON-Railroad enthusiast and author Thomas Hillebrant spoke about the history of the Walla Walla and Dayton Rails at the Dayton Historic Depot on Mar. 21. Hillebrant said there was a "great clamor" from local grain producers, early on, to tap into world markets by rail. He said the first local rail ran from Wallula to Touchet and had wood rails. Baker Boyer Bank Founder Dr. Dorsey Baker financed it and it was completed in 1875. A "spider's web" of competing rail routes soon ensued, including...
This "Don't Smoke - Pet a Cat" poster by Skylar M. won the most votes in the Columbia County Public Health Department's Great American Smoke-Out Poster Contest. Her poster will soon be seen gracing a local billboard....
Show and Tell Board members received a summary of the training and implementation steps to recreate a highly capable K-12 program in the District. Emphasis is on adopting identification criteria expected by the state and determining project-based activities for those students identified as highly capable. That process will begin this year with assessment in the 5th grade. The board thanked Kirsten Frankie, Jeff McCann, Sara Ortuno and Amber Olson for their work with the program. Superintendent’s Report (Doug Johnson) -The District will s...
Columbia County Health System staff participated in live training on Wed., March 20. Staff experienced hazmat scenario training and worked with doctors on intubation, sutures and stapling. Staff members practiced suturing on chicken breasts and pig hearts, intubated pig lungs and used a videoscope to intubate dummies....
A column by Carolyn Henderson There's a lot more you can do with an old horseshoe than nail it over your doorway for luck. At least, if you're Annie Behlau of Milton-Freewater, who creates sculptures of everything from Scottish Terriers to modern dancers, using old horseshoes and their ilk. "I gather steel scrap from salvage yards, junk piles, yard sales, and farms," the artist, who raised her now grown family on a 100-acre farm just outside of Dayton says. "I also use horseshoes gotten from my...
DAYTON—It was a full house at the March 18 meeting of the Columbia County Rural Library Board as area residents showed up to voice concerns about library policies and practices. Board chair Tanya Patton thanked the community for their willingness to be involved, saying there were more people in attendance at the meeting than she had seen at all the meetings in 13 years prior. The meeting opened with an introduction of board of trustee members, their education and their work backgrounds. Sarah R...
DAYTON—If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then why doesn’t the county have a dedicated human resources manager? Now, issues surrounding Shakira Bye’s termination from the library on Mar. 1 are prompting the county commissioners to take a more active role in library board operations. When the commissioners met with Library Board Chair Tanya Patton and Board Trustee Karin Spann last week, they wanted answers about practices and policies regarding library staff. Commissioner Chuck...
Community members pulled together to support the family of Danica and Michael Gatlin as their young son goes through cancer treatment. Nearly $3,000 was raised at the March 22 fundraiser....
Performers get into character as they practice for the upcoming Show Stoppers spring musical revue at the Liberty Theater. The show features 18 numbers from favorite past productions. See Page 9 for full story....
DAYTON—The Friends of the Dayton Community Pool has revamped its name and purpose. “We kept running into community conversations that talked about how lovely it would be to have a community or multi-purpose center in our county,” said President Vicki Zoller. Zoller said the members of the newly-formed Friends of the Columbia County Multi-purpose Center are researching and planning for a center that could combine a senior center and early childhood education center, and indoor pool into one shared space, and they are talking about adding a lau...
DAYTON—A $7,612 grant from the Wildhorse Foundation has helped enable the Touchet Valley Arts Council (TVAC) to address several safety and energy efficiency needs at the annex building adjacent, and integral to, the Liberty Theater in Dayton. The Wildhorse Foundation grant was combined with a smaller grant of $3,222 from the Sustainable Living Center in Walla Walla to complete energy efficiency and electrical safety upgrades. This project included adding insulation to the pre...
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Urban Growth Area land swap proposal moves forward DAYTON-City of Dayton Mayor Craig George will pass his gavel to Mayor Pro-tem Zac Weatherford on April 30. George read a letter of his resignation to the Dayton City Council during last week's council meeting. "It has been a pleasure and an honor to have served as your Mayor, and I want to thank the council for their great work and support these past years. We have all worked very hard for the betterment of Dayton," he said. George and his...
DAYTON—This year’s annual Liberty Theater spring variety show is “the best-of-the-best by the cream-of-the-crop,” according to co-directors and choreographers Julia Mead and Patti Jo Amerein. “Show Stoppers!” a musical revue highlighting favorite numbers from the past 17 fall productions, hits the Liberty stage March 29-31. Theater veterans Mike Ferrians, Elizabeth Jagelski, Brenda Henderson, Amerein and Mead “picked each others’ brains” to come up with a list of favorite numbers. But they are k...
DAYTON—Representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, shared fish and wildlife habitat updates in a public meeting at the Delany Room in Dayton on Feb. 28. The representatives shared specifically about the stream and upland habitat restoration work the Tribes are conducting near Dayton and addressed questions from the public. Presentations were delivered on management activities in the Rainwater Wildlife Area property as well as multi-year restoration work p...
DAYTON—The Friends of the Fairgrounds committee and the members of the Touchet Valley Golf Board are working together to create great resources for Columbia County. That was the take-away message on Monday when the golf board members met with the county commissioners. Bill Ayotte, owner of Chicken Bill’s restaurant, at the golf course, said there are rumors that the golf course people want to take land from the fairgrounds for a soccer field. “Our golf group has no intention to take over anyth...
Saturday night's Jimmy Durante fundraiser at the Dayton Eagles was a roaring success. The final tally hasn't been totaled but Auxilary member Barbara Fullerton said that the event brought in more than last year, which was $8,000. The Durante fundraiser follows in the steps of philanthropist Jimmy Durante who donated to "Help da kids." Each year the Eagles Auxiliary runs the event and chooses a child-centered group to donate to. This year's proceeds will be split between the 4-H Endowment Fund...
