BRIEFS

FOOD BANK CENTER MEETING

WAITSBURG - At 4:30 p.m. on Friday, organizers of the Waitsburg Food Bank will meet to discuss its relocation and expansion at its planned new AmericanWest Bank location.

The new center's board had its first meeting on Dec. 28 with pastors Mike Ferrians and Bret Moser, Pam Conover and Christy House.

Friday's meeting is open to anyone who wants to see the new space, help think through its layout and clean. A user agreement between the Food Bank and AmericanWest Bank is pending but seen as a formality.

The new center is also looking for items to use in its new office: a new laptop computer, a new all-in-one printer (print/ copy/scan/fax) and a new or barely used refrigerator. If you have any of these items to donate, please contact Pastor Moser at 509-337-6589.

CITY HEARINGS POSTPONED

DAYTON - Dayton City Council members have postponed their regularly scheduled meeting of Monday, Jan. 10, until the next regular meeting on Jan. 24, at 7 p.m. in City Hall. All business planned for this week, including public hearings regarding a moratorium on applications for city rights of way and the renewal of Pacific Power's franchise agreement with the city, will be postponed until the Jan. 24 meeting.

WAITSBURG WOMAN TO ENTER PLEA

WALLA WALLA - The Waitsburg woman charged last month with first-degree theft in Walla Walla County Superior Court made her first appearance on the charge Monday.

Michelle M. Paul, 36, of 810 Walnut Street, Waitsburg, will enter her plea on Jan. 24. The former operations supervisor and teller with Community Bank was charged with stealing more than $9,145.13 in June from the Eastgate branch where she worked in Walla Walla, according to the Walla Walla police report.

Paul, who was fired June 22, is accused of "redepositing" four checks presented by three customers and processed about two months earlier. Paul cashed the checks, according to police, and kept the money.

The checks should have been shredded 30 days after they initially were presented, but "were somehow kept in a separate place, known most likely only to Michele Paul," the police report says.

BULLYING RULE REVISED

WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School District Board of Directors will convene for their regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday at 8 p.m. New business on the agenda includes the first reading of a revision to the district's policy regarding prohibition of harassment, intimidation and bullying, previously adopted in April 2008. Also up for revision is the district's policy regarding use of tobacco and nicotine substances.

WW BAND SPREADS WORD

DAYTON - Walla Walla band Hand Picked will play at the Dayton Seventh-Day Adventist Church, at 1525 S.4th, on Jan. 22, at 11 a.m. A freewill offering will be taken after the program.

Hand Picked came together in about 1997, when the Dickersons, Greenlaw, and Wagner families, joined to play gospel-bluegrass music. When not in the Walla Walla Valley, they're out playing in churches around the Northwest.

HELP PLAN SEWER CHANGES

DAYTON -Dayton city officials will present a community meeting on Monday, Jan. 24, for residents and other concerned citizens to meet with Washington State Department of Ecology representatives and city leaders to discuss upcoming planning needs and potential improvements that will be required for Dayton's Wastewater Treatment Facility.

The event will take place at 6 p.m. at Dayton City Hall, 111 S. 1st Street. For additional information, contact city hall at 509.382.2361 or email requests to cityclerk@daytonwa.com. Refreshments will be provided.

LOWER FLAGS IN MEMORY

WALLA WALLA - In memory of those who were injured or lost their lives in the tragedy in Arizona on Saturday, and in compliance with a request from the governor, Walla Walla County Commissioners have directed that all flags at county offices be flown at half-staff through Friday, Jan. 14.

FURLOUGH DAYS ANNOUNCED

WALLA WALLA -Walla Walla County this week announced its schedule of various furlough (unpaid closure) days for 2011. The county voted in 2010 to issue unpaid closure days for various offices in an attempt to cut back spending in 2011.

The 12 furlough days for the Department of Human Services and the Public Health Department, will be: Jan. 14, Feb. 18, March 11, April 22, May 27, June 10, July 1, Aug. 12, Sept. 2, Oct. 7, Nov. 14, and Dec. 23. (The Human Services Department will be closed on furlough days. However, Crisis Mental Health and Residential Support services will continue to be available seven days a week dispatched through the crisis line.)

Six furlough days, Jan. 14, March 11, May 27, July 1, Sept. 2, and Nov. 14, will occur for these county offices and departments: Assessor; Auditor (to include elections, recording, and accounting, as well as vehicle licensing); Commissioners; Facilities Maintenance; Personnel; Public Records Officer; Treasurer; and WSU Extension.

Other offices and departments that will maintain current regular hours to the public, pursuant to the state constitution, memorandums of agreement, or as emergency responders, are as follows: Superior Court; District Court; County Clerk; Coroner; Prosecuting Attorney's office; Sheriff's office; Jail; Juvenile Justice Center/Court Services; Emergency Management; Emergency Medical Services; and Public Works Department.