BRIEFS

AGLINK HIRES STEPHENS

WAITSBURG - AgLink, formerly the Columbia County Farm Bureau, has hired Alan Stephens for its fuel deliveries in Waitsburg and Dayton. Stephens, who is from the Touchet Valley, was working for TEMA, his family's trucking business in Dayton, before joining AgLink.

Stephens will be working with Orville Branson delivering heating and other fuels to homes, businesses and farms. Branson will eventually retire but no date has been announced.

WAITSBURG BUSINESS CENTER OPEN

WAITSBURG - The new Waitsburg Business Center on Preston Avenue is available for professional and/or business tenants.

The 1,600-square-foot center, which used to be home to the old Waitsburg Clinic, consists of two, 575-square-foot office suites, a smaller 185-square-foot space likely to be used by the center's owner, Marci Perkins, a kitchen, bathrooms and a generous conference room. It will have all the modern high-tech conveniences of teleconferencing and wi-fi.

For more information, call 509-337-6028.

DAYTON CHAMBER'S MEETING

DAYTON - The Dayton Chamber of Commerce will have its quarterly membership meeting on Wedensday, Aug. 4, at noon at the Delaney Building at 111 S. Third St. in Dayton. The meeting will include presentations by Community Council Executive Director Julie Reese regarding study topics and implementation plans underway in the Walla Walla valley (www.wwcommunitycouncil.org), and by Jody Martin, director of Columbia Cares, which is kicking off a new health program, Action To Change. She will explain how individuals and business can get involved. Lunch is $5 per person with RSVPs requested by 5 p.m. on Aug. 2 at the Chamber: 509-382-4825 or chamber@historicdayton.com.

PROPERTY TAX DEFERRAL PROGRAM

OLYMPIA - Homeowners on limited income can apply to defer paying their second half property taxes due Oct. 31. The application deadline is Sept. 1. First-half taxes that were due April 30 must have been paid.

Applicants must have an annual household income of $57,000 or less in 2009, have owned the home for at least fiveyears, use it as their primary residence, and have sufficient equity. Deferred taxes cannot exceed 40 percent of equity. The deferred taxes must be repaid, with interest, when the property is sold or no longer used as the homeowner's primary residence. The interest rate is 3 percent for 2010. For more information, call 360-570-5900, or contact your county assessor.