Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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DAYTON - The Bulldogs boys varsity team fought until the bitter end in their 60-41 loss against the WWVA Knights Tuesday night, but they could not get past their two biggest season-long hurdles: height and second-half shooting malaise. "It's been like that all year," head coach Roy Ramirez said. "You can't fault their effort. They all played hard. They ran the floor well. They passed the ball well. But during the second half they have a tough time putting the ball in the hole." And not b...
DAYTON - Tuesday night's 38-31 victory over Walla Walla Valley Academy wasn't quite as sweet for the Lady Bulldogs as the 45-40 cliff-hanger win over DeSales on Saturday, but the seniors were pleased they pulled it out of the hat on their home court during Senior Night. "It was awesome to get a win," senior Malia Frame said. "It was a bit messy, but we were able to pull it off." With only one regular- season game left against Tri Cities Prep on Saturday, the Lady Dogs are virtually guaranteed s...
WAITSBURG - Kate Hockersmith, the instiga- tor and, some might say "mother," of Waitsburg's bluegrass scene, remembers the first local jam night. It was some time in December at the old Carmen's Deli on Main Street. She put the youthful Troublemakers, fresh from their musical exchange in Ja- pan, in the same room with several veteran bluegrass musicians from Walla Walla and created a Touchet Valley tradition marking its fifth an- niversary this winter. Together with bluegrass lessons...
PRESCOTT - After serving as its "accidental" superintendent for three years, Dr. Bill Jordan announced last week he will be leaving the Prescott School District at the end of the school year. "Our district is strong, good things are happening," Jordan said in a telephone interview. "It's a good time for someone to come in and take over this district." Jordan, who has been universally praised for turn- ing around a school dis- trict struggling with enrollment, morale and academic achievement,...
Having been in band at Waitsburg’s Preston Hall for two years, my son Niko knows what it takes to get ready for performances. But his most recent “gig” was a bit different. Niko, who plays guitar in jazz band at Bainbridge High School, along with three dozen of his fellow band members, received a surprise last-minute invita- tion to a special event last week. How last-minute? Let’s just say they had a mere five days to practice four pieces, three of which were original arrangements of songs t...
WAITSBURG - Waits- burg Mayor Walt Gobel has invited the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to join in the 100th anniversary of the Days of Real Sport this spring in Waitsburg. And one idea for their participation is an Indian relay event, often described as one of the most exhilarating equine sports. The idea drew immediate enthusiasm from a race coor- dinator for the Umatilla tribe, who said Native American relay racers from all over the west would welcome such a...
PRESCOTT - Residents of Prescott are rallying behind the family that lost nearly everything this week- end in one of the town's worst structure fires in three decades. Jason and Christine Steele and their four children were forced from their home at 410 Touchet St. on Sun- day after a fire that started in their garage spread quickly through the four-bedroom one-story structure. Walla Walla fire districts 7 (Prescott) and 2 (Waits- burg), along with other area stations, responded to the...
WAITSBURG - In an- other sign Waitsburg's Main Street is struggling, the own- ers of Betty's Diner have decided to close temporarily and "regroup" this month. It's unclear what its schedule will look like when the res- taurant reopens, probably in February, they said. The development follows last year's closure of La Monarca Mexican restaurant and comes amidst reports of slowing revenues for other establishments. After almost four years, Etcetera's is also wrapping up its business in the Plaza...
WAITSBURG - It's rare for burglary victims to ever see their stolen goods again. But Waitsburg residents and even some Columbia Coun- ty households who were hit last year may get lucky. And some already have. During a drug bust in Walla Walla last month, local law enforcement of- ficers stumbled on an enor- mous treasure trove of stolen items, the county's largest in recent memory. The find leads authorities to hope they can soon nab a handful of burglars operating in the Touchet Valley and return much of their loot to the rightful owners. The...
WALLA WALLA – Waitsburg’s Joanna Lanning can breathe a little easier these days. More than a month ago, the part-time caretaker of the Pioneer Park Aviary in Walla Walla was dusting off her resume after getting a layoff notice from the city. She was starting to make calls and send off emails to organize a massive foster home placement effort for the 150 birds at the facility. And she was getting deeply depressed at the thought of emptying the pens and closing down the feathered friend...
WAITSBURG - With the first tenant already in hand, the Port of Walla Walla plans to break ground for its new Waitsburg Business Park north of town in January, according to Jim Kuntz, the agency's executive director. "We think it's going to be a magnet for other businesses," Kuntz said in a presentation last Tuesday to members of the Waitsburg Commercial Club. "We're excited about it." The 12.6-acre industrial site will have seven lots of varying sizes. The first order of business is the constru...
WAITSBURG – A group of Waitsburg community leaders is determined not to let the 100th anniversary of the Days of Real Sport go unnoticed or, better yet, make the third weekend in May a full-fledged horse- centered extravaganza with or without the return of pari- mutuel racing. “We’re just getting off the ground,” Waitsburg Mayor Walt Gobel said about the group that met for the first time on Dec. 17 to plan for the 2013 DRS commemorative festivities. “But I’m really excited about it. Ther...
Since we bought The Times more than three years ago, we've made a lot of changes we believe have improved local readers' access to good and timely information. One of those changes is more indepth and, at times, critical reporting of public agencies such as the hospital district, schools, city governments, county government and so on. One of the most important reasons for this approach is the need for local residents and tax payers to know how their hard-earned contribu- tions to these agencies are be- ing spent and what decisions their...
WAITSBURG - Attendance at the recent WHS Harvest Ball was down compared to the Homecoming Dance earlier in the school year, according to Waitsburg School District officials. Only 40 kids showed up for the second of three annual school-facilitated dances. Short of a student body survey, it's hard to know why fewer students attended the event, but school officials are concerned some would-be dancers stayed away because of the controversy over dance rules and parent access to the kids' social activities. "I think it's sad our kids are i...
PRESCOTT - The public swimming pool in Prescott got a huge lift from a recent $54,000 grant earmarked by the Sherwood Trust for capital improvements to the facility. The grant, the largest ever received by the Prescott Joint Park and Recreation District, is equal to half the agency's total 2013 budget of $110,400 approved through a city levy initiative earlier this year. "We're delighted," said Patsy Adams Warnock, the district's chair. "It makes us feel our hard work has been seen by others and they real- ize this pool is such an impor- tant...
DAYTON - On the eve of Ski Bluewood's 2012 open- ing, the resort's owners have hired new managers to run the mountain and get it better known in the region. With more snow in the forecast this week and into the weekend, Ski Bluewood looks poised to open at 10 a.m. on Friday, the new managers said this week. WWG Ski, the Tri-Cities- based group that bought Ski Bluewood more than two years ago, has hired Jody and Brandy Ream, a veteran ski industry couple from the Midwest to become the re- sort's...
WALLA WAL- LA - More than once dur- ing her three months at the Walla Walla Regional Fire Academy this fall, Dayton's Heather Truitt's experience was a bit like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. "I thought to myself 'I don't know if I can do this,'" the 22-year-old volunteer fire fighter said. "I didn't realize how much was involved." It was intimidating at first, she said. Not only did she have to "step it up to keep up with the boys" physically, but the "homework" of reading and theory was...
TOUCHET - Chuck Car- ruthers remembers how doz- ens of residents of Prescott volunteered their time and resources to launch the city's library in a space donated by the Lions Club. "There were 66 people who donated their time and skills," said Carruthers, who was mayor of Prescott at the time. "The district provided the books. It was a coopera- tive effort." The year was 1999 and the space was 900 square feet. More than a dozen years later, the community has far outgrown its little library, so its residents are thrilled they will get a new one...
WAITSBURG - Some time before Coppei Coffee Co. opened on Main Street in August of 2011, Allison Bond and her husband Bruce Donohue had their eyes on a downtown building to start a café just like it. They had the same thought I did when they took one look at the Burg: This place needed a coffee shop. Now they'll have it, or rather, Bond will have it. Coppei Coffee Co., Llc., has leased its premises and equipment to Bond's Llc, Bitey Parrot. The papers were signed recently and she officially took...
Hewitt Tops Nettles For Senate Dozier Beats Blackman For Commissioner Talbott Edges Out Bensel For Commissioner WAITSBURG - Mike Talbott edged out a narrow victory over Tom Bensel for Columbia County Commissioner District 1 Position 1. Talbott came out on top of the General Election last Tuesday by a margin of only 117 votes. One hundred thirty-eight ballots are estimated left to be counted on Nov. 9, which could impact this close race. Talbott came out ahead last Tuesday night with 1,029...
SEATTLE – Normally, it would be the kind of notoriety a small town wants to avoid: A murderer rents a home on a quiet leafy street as his base of operation to knock off a former lover and pin the blame on her ex- husband. But that’s only if the story were true. In the case of “Killer Cuvee,” a new book by Steven Wells, it’s harmless fiction and Waitsburg is merely an edge-of-the-wine country backdrop to a larger plot that unfolds thrillingly in Walla Walla, Seattle and London. Wells, who lives...
SEATTLE - Kirby Kallas-Lewis wanted to operate his boutique distillery in Waitsburg. He and his wife KT Niehoff bought the Lounda- gin Building on Main Street four years ago to redevelop as a hotel just at the time Kallas-Lewis began to take an interest in making spirits. For a while he explored the idea of setting up his operation in the basement. Regulations for a distillery on the premises of a lodging establishment, however, proved tough. So, he abandoned his vision for the distillery,...
PRESCOTT - The pressure is on. Just more than two years into their successful combine soccer program, the Waitsburg- Prescott Tigers are now the state's defending champions. The young team famously beat the Providence Highlanders to win the state 1B/2B crown and bring it home to Prescott late last year. "Every game's going to be harder (this year)," head coach Mark Grimm said. "Everyone wants to take down no. 1." The Tigers, now going into their third year as a soccer power, will have to take on the league without the likes of ace goalie...
WAITSBURG - Or- ganizers of this year's Pioneer Fall Festival are hoping Waitsburg mer- chants will step up to provide food for the event's numerous guests now that the traditional buf- falo barbecue has been discontinued. "We're now almost ready to begin publiciz- ing the event and would like to mention the food," said Jeff Broom, presi- dent of the Waitsburg Historical Society. "We would like to include a list of those who will par- ticipate." Broom said he hopes local restaurants and busi- ne...
Our First Anniversary E arly next month, it will be a year since we opened Coppei Coffee Co. As readers will recall, it was in early August when the café, Betty's Diner and the Anchor all opened at the same time following months of renovations and preparations. It was an exciting week- end. Switching hats from running the till at the Coppei nonstop to covering the news for the Times that first Satur- day, I wandered over to the diner to take pictures of the crowd there and stopped by the new...
