The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – What’s the best way to keep kids out of trouble after school? Give them safe, healthy activities to enjoy, says Dayton’s interim Secondary Principal Kate Wenzl. Members of Columbia Cares, the Coalition for Youth and Families, Columbia County Public Health and county commissioners agree.

“The amount we have to pay for juvenile incarceration goes down when we have an afterschool program,” said Columbia County Commissioner Dwight Robanske. The county budgeted $70,000 for juvenile detention costs this year; in years prior that budget was significantly lower, closer to $40,000...