Top 10 News Stories of The Year

1: Tragic Murder

For the first time in a decade, the Dayton community was shaken by news of a murder.

In early May, Joseph Shuba (left in photo with attorney Dale Slack) was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife Susan at the couple’s 3rd St. home.

2: Squatter Caught

Daniel Baxter, a 34-year-old transient man with ties to Montana, California and Pennsylvania, was arrested after a chase through the streets of Dayton.

3: Best Western Breaks Ground

During All Wheels in June, local dignitaries and company owners broke ground for the new Best Western hotel in Dayton. By November, construction was well underway. In this shot, Lisa Naylor talks to project manager Fred Smith during a hard-hat tour of the site.

4: BM Station’s First Tenants

The Port of Columbia’s innovative new Blue Mountain Station announced late in 2012 that it has landed its first three anchor tenants for the Artisan Food Center on the outskirts of Dayton.

They Grassroots Goats of Dayton, Gypsy Girl of Dayton and Pasco, and Big Kahuna Ltd. Hot Sauce of Walla Walla.

5: Waitsburg Gets Business Park

Port of Walla Walla officials announced they will develop the agency’s 12.6-acre site north of Waitsburg and already have an anchor tenant in hand.

Hary Johnson Plumbing & Excavating intends to build a 10,000 facility on the first of seven lots in the park that is expected to generate new jobs for the town’s economy.

6: Hospital District’s New CEO

After hospital district CEO Charlie Button offered his resignation, the district’s board went on a search for a new director and hired Dale Polla in October.

Polla had been administrator at the Missoula Health & Rehabilitation Center in Montana

7: Shake Up At Fair Board

A shake up at the Columbia County Fair left the organization without a manager and with a big fundraising challenge, but also new board members.

Then-manager Shane Laib’s contract expired after two years and was not renewed. In the wake of that development and earlier board resignations, the group scrambled to reorganize and prepare for the 2012 fair.

Charlie Barron, a Waitsburg resident, took over as the board’s new president.

8: Mike Talbott Is New Commissioner

Dayton’s Mike Talbott edged out Tom Bensel for the open seat on the three-member Columbia County Board of Commissioners in the 2012 general elections, which also saw the passage of initiatives to legalize pot, same-sex marriage and charter schools statewide.

State Rep. Terry Nealey ran unopposed and State senators Mike Hewitt and Maureen Walsh won re-election.

9: Kuykendall Joins Waitsburg Council

Engineer K.C. Kuykendall wins a contested Waitsburg City Council election against candidates Tiffany Lapo- si and Bart Baxter.

10: Kids’ Job Shadows Welcomed

High school is difficult for many students. For students with special needs or disabilities, connecting with peers and the community is a major challenge. A program at Dayton High School helps those stu- dents by giving them job shadowing opportunities so they can learn and be- come comfortable inter- acting with more people.