Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Park and Recreation Pool levies in Prescott and Columbia CountyOLYMPIA, WA — The polls in Washington state closed at 8 p.m. on November 5. Updated results are available for : Columbia County at www.columbiaco.com/616/2024-General-Election, Walla Walla County Election Results are available at https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20240806/wallawalla/ Washington State, including all county results, are posted at https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20241105/default.htm. Voters can check to see that their ballot has been processed for the election at...
WAITSBURG-Tuesday afternoon, Waitsburg residents saw a familiar sight at harvest-three wildland engines and a tender heading towards a fire, with sirens blaring. The trucks left in quick succession from the Columbia Walla Walla Fire District #2 (CWWFD2) fire station, carrying eight volunteers who turned out for the call. The call was for a standing wheat field fire on the west side of Lower Waitsburg Road in Fire District #7. The Waitsburg crew joined fire districts #7, 9, 4, City of Walla Walla... Full story
WALLA WALLA-The YWCA Walla Walla invites the community to read two books this month for Domestic Violence Action Month (DVAM) and then meet for discussions and soup suppers at the YWCA Reception Room. The first selection is "No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us." Written by journalist Rachel Louise Snyder and published in 2019, "No Visible Bruises" uses personal accounts to shed light on the complex problem of domestic violence. "The humanity of each person... Full story
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla Community College (WWCC) announced the launch of Warrior Pledge, a new scholarship program that will provide free tuition and other support to eligible students, enabling them to enroll at WWCC regardless of their financial circumstances. The Warrior Pledge program starts with a pilot cohort of 50 students beginning college in Fall Quarter 2022. The program was created to help students who may not otherwise be able to enroll due to financial constraints. WWCC pledges to cover eligible recipients’ cost of tuition, boo... Full story
WALLA WALLA/COLUMBIA COUNTIES—Grocery stores, childcare facilities, gyms, bars, and restaurants are just a few of the indoor industries in Washington preparing for a sooner-than-anticipated mask mandate lift. Governor Jay Inslee Monday announced that Washington’s mask mandate will be lifted on March 12, instead of the original March 21 date. The announcement was made in a joint statement with the governors of California and Oregon, following updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “We’ve continued to monitor...
WALLA WALLA, COLUMBIA COUNTIES—According to COVID-19 data collected by the New York Times, at least one in six Walla Walla County residents has been infected with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The New York Times COVID tracking uses data from state, local and regional health agencies, and the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. On Monday, January 10, Walla Walla County reported 253 new cases over the weekend, marking a total of 790 active cases in the area. The county experienced an 85% increase in daily cases c... Full story
COLUMBIA, WALLA WALLA COUNTY—A letter shared online by Walla Walla County Commissioner Jenny Mayberry on Monday, August 30, expressed that local health officials are concerned about a potential employee and volunteer exodus over vaccine mandates. On August 9, Governor Jay Inslee announced a mandate that required all healthcare providers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by October 18, 2021, or be terminated from their position. The mandate includes all professional firefighters, v...
Mike Ellsworth is a strong supporter of the Touchet Valley Trail, and with good reason. The long-time Dayton resident had just gotten back into cycling when he hit the road for an early morning ride on June 25, 2015, headed towards Waitsburg with a goal of 25 miles. Ellsworth was roughly three miles outside of Dayton, just in front of Joann Pullman’s house on Highway 12 when a vehicle struck him from behind. “What we think happened- the gentleman who hit me had worked all night at Smith Frozen Foods. He had worked all night, was on his way home...
Sherwood Trust is presenting free community workshops on equity and empathy. The second in the four-part series is June 16 and will highlight rural leadership. “We welcome community members to share in a live community learning experience that we hope will inspire and motivate actions to build equity and empathy into your daily routine,” said Sherwood Trust Program Director Julia Leavitt. The free virtual event will take place Wednesday, June 16, from 9-10:30 am PST. To register, visit sherwoodtrust.org. Participants will hear from local and na... Full story
WALLA WALLA COUNTY—The Walla Walla County Elections Filing Week closed May 21. Candidates filing for positions within the City of Waitsburg filed through the County for the first time, after council members voted to move away from a city-ran election system in 2020. The vote to move away from the city-ran election sets the city up to have all future elections run by the State of Washington, in accordance with RCW 35.30.080. After this year, city elections will be run like all other cities in the state. Unlike city-ran elections in the past, c...
If you are feeling a bit uneasy about our intense sunshine and high temperatures, you are not alone. Plant communities are struggling as well. And while we can water lawns, gardens and orchards with hoses and sprinklers, dry land soft white wheat growers in our region rely on rain. With less than normal rainfall, the local soil is dry from low levels of precipitation last year and this past winter. The roots of wheat on the surrounding hills are getting stressed That stress goes straight up...
5 Candidate filing begins at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, May 17th and closes at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 21st. Candidates may electronically submit declarations of candidacy through the county website at: https://voter.votewa.gov/candidatefiling/candidatelogin.aspx In addition, candidates may file in-person at the Walla Walla County Elections Office, 315 W. Main St., Room 203, or by mail. Office hours are Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The submitted information must be legible, timely and...
WAITSBURG—The warm spring sunshine is out, but it isn’t safe to put the face masks away just yet. Vaccination eligibility is expanding, however, bringing us closer to a mask-free future. In Walla Walla County, Group 1B, Tier 1, which includes all people 65 years or older, all people 50 years or older who live in multigenerational households, educators and staff for pre-k through 12th grades, and all childcare providers, is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccinations. Also eligible at this time in...
In 1992, ten years after Pheasants Forever came to fruition in Saint Paul, MN, Walla Walla’s Blue Mountain chapter (BMPF) held its first fundraising banquet. Among those responsible for its success were John and Bertha Hinchliff of Dayton, WA. Upon moving to the Dayton area from Lewiston, ID, the Hinchliffs purchased property near Turner and later a farm near Dayton. Fitting with their commitment to conservation, the Hinchliffs assisted the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) by raising and releasing ringneck pheasant, bobwhite qu... Full story
WALLA WALLA—The housing crisis in the Walla Walla region has reached a tipping point. Thankfully, this problem is not unique to the region. With a decrease in affordable housing across the nation, community-based groups have been experimenting with creative solutions to alleviate the problem. These efforts to provide access to safe, comfortable housing to low and middle-income families have led the charge for communities like ours. In 2018, the Walla Walla Community Council (WWCC) recognized t...
This past week, it has been noticed that the newly hired fire chief for Columbia-Walla Walla (CCWW) County Fire District 2 has been missing. Waitsburg residents have noticed an increase in activity at the local fire station on Main St. since Michael Moynihan joined Fire District 2. The new Chief made a good first impression on local building owners who are aware of the fire-fighting vulnerabilities of 120-year-old commercial buildings that share walls. The sight of new volunteers and multiple...
WAITSBURG—Most big game hunting seasons have come to a close. As hunters finish processing their deer and elk, reports of animal carcasses disposed of by hunters in the Touchet River have begun coming in. Hunters who do not have access to fields or ditches to dump their game carcasses may be tempted to leave the remains in rivers or other waterways, with hopes that the carcass will wash away. Wildlife officers would like to remind hunters that there are many options to dispose of the unusable re...
In September, wildfires that tortured the Pacific Northwest did a number on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area (Swanson Lakes), located about 10 miles south of the town of Creston. Swanson Lakes is a 21,000-acre tract of native grasslands nestled among the channeled scablands of the Columbia Plateau. Shrub-steppe and riparian/wetlands comprise the dominant habitats, and much of the area is rangeland, with some old Conservation Reserve Program...
Halloween hopefuls have been dreading this since March when memes began to surface on the internet message boards regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea was determined: put the mask on now to save Halloween. Skeptics were present in the comment sections of SubReddit pages, insisting that there would be no Halloween without a safe and efficient vaccine. Well, here we are six months later. #QuarantineHalloween approaches as Walla Walla County rests in Phase 2 of Gov. Inslee's Safe Start Plan....
A massive smoke cloud covered Washington with heavy smoke over the weekend A supermassive cloud of smoke blanketed parts of the Pacific Northwest over the weekend, leaving many areas in the 'hazardous' air quality range. Fires are still raging across Washington, Oregon, and California, creating a plume that meteorologists expect to hang around for a while. The fire season has been fueled by an unusually dry, hot summer, with the last measurable rain dating back to July, which measured less than...
There are less than four weeks to respond to the 2020 Census, and the counts for the area are less than satisfactory for many area residents. With just over three weeks left, Eastern Washington was about 35 percent away from being fully enumerated: Far below the national average and a likely representation of primarily rural communities, like Waitsburg and Walla Walla, across the nation. Of 39 Washington Counties, Walla Walla ranks 13th with a response rate of 67.9 percent. In 2010, Walla Walla...
Testing sites for COVID-19 are available in Walla Walla and Columbia Counties. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, be aware of symptoms, and know where to test if necessary. Providence St. Mary’s Medical Center- W Poplar St, Walla Walla 24 Hour ER Access • Appointment required • Referral not required • Testing for all patients Remain in your vehicle and call the hospital for further instruction (509) 897-3320 Providence Urgent Care- 1025 S 2nd Ave, Walla Walla • Appointment not required • Referral not required • Testing for certain patie...
Justin Bradford is excited to get underway as the new Superintendent of Prescott School District. Most recently, he was the Director of College Place School District's Special Education Department, and before that, he was Superintendent/Principal in Harrington, WA. As of Friday, July 24, Bradford has plans to open on-site when school begins August 31. Bradford has received survey responses from approximately 20 parents to date, who are supportive of in-person learning. He is working to encourage...
Washington 16th Legislative District – Senator Perry Dozier (Republican Party) Elected Experience: Walla Walla County Commissioner 2009-2016 Chairman 3 years, Budget Committee 5 years; Washington; Association of Wheat Growers, Past President; Washington State Barley Commissioner; Northwest Grain Growers Board of Directors, Past President Education - Whitman College B.A. Economics Danielle Garbe Reser (Democratic Party) Elected Experience: As a first-time candidate, I'll bring a needed b...
According to the Mayo Clinic Health System, wearing face masks, combined with other preventive measures such as frequent hand-washing and social distancing, can help slow the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone over the age of 2 wear a mask while in public settings. However, there has been much debate about wearing masks and misinformation has spread online. Myth: I’m not sick so I don’t need to wear a mask.... Full story
