Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 337 - 361 of 589
DAYTON - An equine virus cut the number of entries in the Dayton Days parade by more than half, but the community showed up for the annual pageant nonetheless and spirits were high, organizers said about Saturday's sunny event. "The community support was great," said Claudia Nysoe, director of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the parade. "It was a small parade but big in spirit." Parade coordinator Darby Yates said the average of 80 entries was down to 32 this year, but many...
WAITSBURG - The company that picks up garbage for households in Waitsburg has proposed a new exclusive 10-year agreement with the city that raises the net waste collection portion of families' utility bill by 50 percent. The net rate for garbage pickup for a 64-gallon or 96-gallon can (the size most households have) would rise to $15.76 from the current $10.55, an increase of $5.21 or 49.3 percent. The fees are part of the water, sewer and garbage services residents pay in one bill to the city every month. The city, which has to pay excise tax...
DAYTON - Amidst concerns over the spread of a highly contagious equine virus in the region, Dayton Days organizers Tuesday night decided to cancel two days of Pro West rodeo this coming weekend. But the Dayton Days Parade, though horseless, will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, as will the Queen's Coronation dinner on Friday and the Queen's luncheon after the parade. "Although it's terrible to do it at this late a date, I feel it's the right decision," Dayton Days Treasurer Melissa Hansen after her board's long deliberations over the matter on...
WALLA WALLA - After his younger brother James was disqualified in the 100-meter dash on a technicality during sub districts in Clarkston two weeks ago, Cardinal Antonio Thompkins decided it was time for him to step up. Though he had never won the short sprint at any meet, he thought he would try it anyway - win one for James. His first-place finish at Martin Field last week became one of the biggest upsets during the district championships and helped the WP men's team win the overall...
DAYTON - Spring time in the Tucannon Valley. The hills around Dixie at twilight. A snowbound Dayton barn. The Tri Cities in the grip of an electrical storm, its lightning bolts splitting the dark night from sky to street scape. Beauty and drama is what admirers of John Clement's photography have come to expect from him. Now these admirers and those who enjoy awardwinning regional interpretive photography can find it two ways: During this Saturday's artist reception at the Wenaha Gallery in...
DAYTON - Its doors haven't officially opened yet, but the new Hometown Carpet & More store on Main Street is already busy with customers. "Just yesterday, I had five or six walk ins - people with projects," co-owner Teeny McMunn said on Thursday. "People are finding us." That official opening date is June 1, she said, but the 600-square-foot store front next to Jacci's Yarns (formerly the quilt shop), is pretty much ready with dozens of carpet, tile and even cork flooring samples. "We can't...
DAYTON - Anyone who has picked up a copy of the Blue Mountain News has seen her work. Anyone who has laid eyes on the new Liberty Theater Gazette has seen his. Delicious Country Cupboard pastries and ice cream, Rawhide Bar & Grill fun, whimsical retro Liberty Theater cinema promotions: what you see is what you get from Vanessa and Josh Heim. Together, the couple provides the attractive "look and feel" of the ads in these and other publications, often doing content design as well, including...
DAYTON - It's not every day Chandra Richardson and Caitlin Riley get to beat up their principal. But Andy Maheras actually welcomes their screams, kicks and punches because it's all part of a valuable lesson for the 16-year-old high school girls. Besides, Maheras doesn't feel any of it. He's protected head to toe in a Redman suit used in martial arts, law enforcement and prison guard training. "This is a message that needs to get out: how do you protect yourself," said Maheras, who is well...
For the first time this year, The Times is awarding its Community Service Scholarship to graduating seniors from Waitsburg, Prescott and Dayton who have made a signifi- cant difference in the lives of others or in their community. Doing the math, this means there should be three recipients. However, we are pleased to announce there are actually four students who will get $500 from our newspaper for reasons that will become evident below. In Waitsburg, we want to congratulate Christy Poirier. In...
WAITSBURG - Cardinals and Bulldogs from throughout the Touchet Valley made it into the state playoffs for softball, track and field, and golf this week. By deadline on Tuesday night, Cardinal Dakota Baker and Bulldog Dain Henderson made the next round in the golf tournament at the Meadow Park Golf Course in Tacoma, tying one another for 10th with a score of 84, 12 above par. That means the two valley players are among the last remaining 40 high school students who were expected to advance to Wednesday's final round. "I'm excited knowing he's...
WAITSBURG - "Thank you to all our Veterans for keeping us safe and free." Those were the words of parade co-announcer Fred Hamann Saturday morning moments after Perry Dozier flew his twin-engine Cessna Golden Eagle low over Main Street in a salute to Waitsburg and those who served their country in conflicts since World War II. With the Color Guard of American Legion Post 42 members in Dayton and flag carrier Emily Adams leading the way, the Waitsburg Parade was in progress, basking in late May...
DAYTON - The last time Jay Penner saw the potential for stripe rust to cut yields at his farm in half was 50 years ago . That was right around the time of his high school graduation, when his family grew the club variety of a wheat called Omar on the household's farm northwest of Dayton. "The red (from the rust fungus) was so bad you couldn't tell the combine from the field," Penner recalled. Penner and many other farmers in the Touchet Valley are working hard to avoid such catastrophic losses this year, but they're on edge because weather...
CLARKSTON - It hasn't happened before that anyone can remember, but there is a good chance WP will end up with two track and field Triple Crowns at this week's big district championship meet in Walla Walla. Eshom Estes and Kristin Potter each are stars in three events and may end up winning them, track and field head coach Jeff Bartlow said. And that isn't because the competitive field in the district is weak. Both Cardinals rank in the top 10 for their events statewide. Estes, a thrower,...
WALLA WALLA - Now that the baseball season is over for the Tigers and Bulldogs, Touchet Valley fans of the sport can turn their attention to a professional season full of games and events. Locally, it starts this week with the appearance in Walla Walla of Marvin Benard, the retired major league outfielder who now lives in Kennewick, where he teaches batting and supports youth baseball activities. The former San Francisco Giant will speak at the 29th annual Walla Walla Valley Youth Baseball...
DAYTON - Why were Dayton High School seniors Molly Payne and Davy Phillips selected as the 2011 recipients of the Philanthropic Education Association's Citizenship Award? Kris Takamura, president of the Dayton's Chapter BJ, put it this way: "To win this award," she said during a Thursday night presentation at the Delaney Building, "requires honesty, courtesy, amiability, morality, punctuality and character. You guys are very good examples of that." Payne and Phillips are the 81st recipients of...
DAYTON - I let Trent Hafen catch his breath after he ran the 800 meters during the season's last Middle School track meet Thursday in Dayton. He pretty much blew everybody out of the field. But that's to be expected for an eighth grader who ranks as 13th in the nation for his age group in the 1,500 meters. I asked him how he did it. Having been a runner myself since I was 18, I had a hunch what he was going to say. "It's hard to explain," he said. "It feels natural to me. It feels like I have...
WAITSBURG - Proudly bearing the Stars & Stripes behind the Veterans' Color Guard this coming Saturday morning, 12-year-old Emily Adams will do more than spearhead Waitsburg's annual parade. She will help kick off events season in the Touchet Valley. Waitsburg's nonagenarians Bettie Chase and Jane Butler will not be far behind as the parade's Marshalls this year. Saturday's Waitsburg Parade day, which will keep visitors busy from breakfast through dinner, will be followed Memorial Day weekend by...
WAITSBURG - The way Stanley Heller describes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' proposed new flood control project for Coppei Creek certainly sounds enticing: protection against a 100-year flood, a possible reduction in home owner's insurance rates and requirements, and possible implementation before the area sees too many more cold wet winters with high snow packs and lots of rain. "It's hard to know when that big (flood) event is going to happen," said Heller, the Corps' project manager based in Walla Walla. "This is a good year to consider...
WAITSBURG - City Clerk Randy Hinchliffe has the approvals in place and now it's up to the City Council to decide at their regular monthly meeting Wednesday night whether to allow Fire District No. 2 to use the old apple warehouse or "bunk house" east of the McGregor plant to for a training exercise - a firefighting training exercise. That would mean the 90-year-old building, which was deemed by a Portlandbased engineer several years ago to have good "bones," to be burned to the ground, its...
DAYTON - The City of Dayton's Board of Parks Commissioners Monday night floated the idea of raising entry fees for the city's popular swimming pool by a third, an initiative that failed last year. Concerned about the cost of maintenance, wages and repairs, Parks Board Chair Christine Broughton asked the Dayton City Council to consider raising general admission to $2 from the current $1.50, while the season's pass would go up to $62 from $50 for individuals and to $100 from $85 for a family of up to five. Those hikes would represent a 33...
WAITSBURG - Three Waitsburg ensembles performed in Tuesday night's " Under My Umbrel la" Spring Concert. The Wai tsburg High School Chorus opened the evening with a harmonious rendition of "Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key as everyone saluted the flag. Seventh and eighth-grade musicians from Preston Hall launched their series with "Little English Suite" by Leroy Jackson, followed by "Tribal Drums" by David Shaffer, "Coronado Spanish March by Eric Osterling and "Afterburn!" by Randall S...
WAITSBURG - You may have the best team in the state when it comes to speed, endurance and agility, but if your athletes don't manage to perform within the tight rules for track and field, you're going to get knocked out of the competition. That was this week's focus for Cardinals track and field head coach Jeff Bartlow as he and his team prepared for the sub district qualifiers, which determines which athletes go on to the district meet. The Cardinals were scheduled to head for the qualifiers Wednesday, after practising the relay protocol in pa...
TOUCHET - The Lady Tigers suffered a 9-2 nonleague defeat against the Touchet Indians Monday, but it didn't matter from a playoff perspective. After splitting a double header with the De- Sales Irish last Tuesday in Prescott, WP is the No. 1 seed in the SE2B and play the No. 2 league seed at districts May 20 at Trac in Pasco. The opener against De- Sales last week was scoreless until the bottom of the third when Alyssa Hafen made it safely on base then continued to steal her way across the plate...
LYONS FERRY - The weather in the Snake River area may still have rain and chill in the air, but the recreational boating and fishing season is under way. "The catfish are biting like crazy," said Jim MacArthur, who runs the Lyons Ferry Marina on the Snake near Starbuck with his wife Angela. The marina opened March 1 and will switch to its summer schedule on May 23. That means breakfast for boaters and campers will be added at the restaurant seven days a week to the current lunch and dinner sched...
PRESCOTT - No one in the Prescott School District is in denial. Times are tough. Earlier this year, the Junior Senior High School was listed as one of 50 schools in the state with academic performance problems. The district has a year to fix it. Meanwhile, Prescott has lost 11 students, or 5 percent of its student body, so far in 2010 - 2011. And late last month, district officials announced they'll need to cut two teaching staff positions and eight hours of non-teaching staff time due to lower...
