BRIEFS

WP GETS ANOTHER WRESTLING COACH WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School Board unanimously approved Jan. 11 the hiring of a new assistant wrestling coach, Jason Just. The WP wrestling program is in its first year and it has two female participants, Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke said. The girls have not yet competed because there are not many female wrestlers in the area and it was recommended by Clarke that they have their own coach.

PUBLIC HEARING ON CITY FEES WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council is holding a public hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 18 to discuss rate increases. The city staff and council members will discuss raising rates for residents for water and sewer. Also, to help improve city roads, the city will be discussing increasing local sales tax or charging residents a car tab fee of up to $20. For more information, call City Hall at 509-337-6371.

NEW DEPOT ART EXHIBIT DAYTON - The Dayton Historic Depot will host an open house and artist's reception to honor a new art exhibit on Jan. 21. Admission is free. The open house will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Visitors can enjoy punch, light refreshments and later wine and visit with the artist, Charlene Collins Freeman. The solo exhibit will run at the depot from Jan. 21 to Oct. 1. The exhibit, Iron Horses, is a display of mounted railroad photographs. In addition to the photographic exhibit, there will be a display of model trains. The models were made by David Dire and donated by his niece Kenny Reeves of Dayton.

COALITION MEETING DATES DAYTON - The Coalition For Youth And Families meets the third Thursday of each month at 7:45 a.m. at the Delany Building next to the public library in Dayton. The meetings are open to anyone interested in the issues concerning youth and families in the Touchet Valley. For more information, please contact Rea Culwell at 509-382-1197 or Nancy Butler at 382-1511. Meeting Dates for 2012 are: Jan. 19, Feb. 16, March 15, April 19, May 17, June 21, July 19, Aug. 16, Sept. 20, Oct. 18, Nov. 15 and Dec. 20.

LIBRARY PUBLIC FORUM PRESCOTT - The Walla Walla County Rural Library District will be holding a public forum in Prescott on Jan. 19, at 6 p.m. at the Lions Hall Community Room. As part of an ongoing strategic planning process for serving the library needs of Rural Library District communities, the district is holding forums for the public in each community to ask residents how they would like to use their library, what services do they think are important now and what do they believe will be important to them in the future. The district and Friends of the Prescott Library invite all rural library district residents to join them for this conversation.

FREE LEADERSHIP SEMINAR DAYTON -- A free Leadership Development seminar will be held at the Delany Building on Jan. 20 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Presenting at this seminar will be Jenny Scott of Northwest Leadership Strategies. She will cover topics such as board organization, development and assessment, roles and responsibilities of volunteer boards, and bringing on new members and planning for succession. This seminar is open to any community member who currently serves on a volunteer board or would like to serve. The seminar is being co-sponsored by the SEWEDA, Dayton Chamber of Commerce, and Columbia County Community Network. There is no fee for the seminar, however a donation for lunch will be requested. To register, please call the Dayton Chamber of Commerce at 382-4825.

HEALTH & WELLNESS EXPO WALLA WALLA - Those interested in getting the new year off to a healthy start will want to attend the Marcus Whitman Hotel's first Health & Wellness Expo Jan. 21 from 1 to 5 p.m. A variety of vendors will offer health, fitness, and wellness information, door prizes will be given away, and the big attraction of the day will be the guest speakers providing a wealth of information during 20-minute presentations. The Expo is free and open to the public. It will be held in the hotel's Explorer Ballroom. The event will kick off with a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Cost for the lunch is $15 and reservations are required by calling 509-524-5110.

WATER RIGHTS WORKSHOP WALLA WALLA -- "Understanding your Water Right: A Workshop for Washington State Water Right Holders" will be the topic of two upcoming workshops at the William A. Grant Water & Environmental Center on the Walla Walla Community College Campus. With two sessions scheduled to convene at 2 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25, the informational program and format at each session will be the same with a panel of local water experts available to answer audience questions. Washington water right holders should plan to attend one of the two sessions on Jan. 25. If you would like more information on this topic or to schedule an interview, please contact Cathy Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Walla Walla Watershed Management Partnership, at (509) 524-5216 or cathy.schaeffer@wwcc.edu or Melissa Holecek, Education Coordinator of the WWCC Water & Environmental Center, at (509) 524-5208 or melissa.holecek@wwcc.edu.

AUTHOR READING WALLA WALLA -- Humanities Washington is bringing award-winning Northwest authors Dan Orozco and Jess Walter to Walla Walla University's Village Hall for a reading Jan. 25. The 7 p.m. event is free and you're invited! Orozco teaches creative writing at the University of Idaho and is a former Stegner Fellow and Jones Lecturer at Stanford University. His work has appeared in several "Best American" anthologies and literary magazines. Walter, the author of five novels and one nonfiction book, is a former National Book Award finalist and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award. Pieces from both authors appeared in Night Lights, an anthology published by Humanities Washington featuring work from 21 Northwest writers.