BRIEFS

WAITSBURG HOMECOMING THIS WEEK

WAITSBURG - Waitsburg students, families and com­munity supporters are gearing up for homecoming this week. Wednesday - 12:15 p.m. School assembly and pep rally; field night begins at the football field at 6 p.m. with a barbe­cue provided by donations from Inland Cellular and Gina Wilson, activities start at 7 p.m. Thursday - 2 p.m. Buff Puff volleyball and pep rally; home volleyball game Thursday evening.

Friday - 12:15 p.m. Potato sack races and pep rally; home­coming football game kickoff at 7 p.m. The game will begin with a presentation of senior football players and their parents followed by a presentation of senior cheerleaders and their parents. At halftime the cheerleaders will perform a dance, the marching band will perform and then Homecoming Roy­alty will be presented. Saturday - Homecoming dance at Preston Hall begins at 8 p.m.; presentation of court is usually around 10 p.m.

FIRST 'PUNKINBURG' PLANNED WAITSBURG - Rural Green Youth Enterprise offers children and families in Waitsburg and surrounding com­munities the opportunity to experience good, wholesome and free Halloween fun with its first annual PunkinBurg Pumpkin Carving and Painting Contest on Saturday, Oct. 30.

Pre-contest pumpkin sales will take place Oct. 16 and 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the outdoor deck of the Whoop Em Up Hallow Café. Activities at PunkinBurg will include a chance for visitors to have their picture taken with Izzy the camel.

LOCAL TRANSIT STAFF AWARDED DAYTON - Columbia County Public Transportation received several awards this fall from the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool at the 2010 Washington State Public Transportation Conference held in Spokane in September. The first award, the Golden Coach Award, is presented to the agency with the most significant reduction in claims in a 24-month period from December 31, 2007, through December 31, 2009. Columbia County Public Transportation had no claims in 2009 resulting in a 100 percent reduction. This is the first time since 2004 that a member of the 24 public transit participants in the state insurance pool has achieved this success in claims fre­quency reduction. CCPT is the fourth transit system in the state insurance pool's 21-year history to have achieved this milestone. The second award presented was the Diamond award, which is given to an member of the state insurance pool who has achieved a calendar year without any reported claims. The insurance pool's average per reported claim is every 175,000 miles. Columbia County's average since 2005 is almost 500,000 miles.