Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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DAYTON-"We're hardwired for violence. The fact that you are sitting here right now means for generations and generations, there were people in your background who knew how to operate in violence, or else you would not be here today," Columbia County Under Sheriff Robbie Patterson said to the Dayton Citizen's Academy students during last Friday's class. Patterson said a course on self-defense is actually a course in violence, and he talked about the importance of understanding the difference...
DAYTON-The Dayton Chamber of Commerce, the Dayton Development Task Force, local organizations and Main Street businesses kicking off a program to beautify Dayton's Main Street. The Adopt-A-Storefront Program began as one woman's brain child. Former 4-H Program Coordinator Lorna Barth said she wanted 4-H clubs to be able to show off what they do and bring some attention to 4-H programs. "Earlier this year I was looking for ways to allow clubs in Columbia County to celebrate the 100th year of 4-H...
DAYTON—City of Dayton Mayor Craig George presided over a lengthy city council meeting last week, which will be his last before he retires on Apr. 30. “I really want to thank the council. I’ve been to many meetings in the state and the councils are pretty contentious and don’t always get along . . . Everyone in this council has always done what we all think is best for the citizens of Dayton and I appreciate that.” City council members Mike Paris and Delphine Bailey have both informed the council...
DAYTON-The Walla Walla and Columbia Conservation Districts are the lead agencies for a restoration and improvement plan for fish and wildlife habitat on the Touchet River, from the SR 125 bridge at Waitsburg, upstream, into the upper reaches of the North and South Touchet River and Wolf and Robinson Forks. Landowners potentially impacted by the plan were provided with an overview of the process at meetings held last week in Waitsburg and in Dayton and they were invited to help shape the plan. Speaking in the Youth Building, at the Columbia...
DAYTON-The patriotic display honoring Columbia County veterans has been moved from the Smith Hollow Country Schoolhouse to the Palus Museum, at 426 E. Main Street. "The display was popular and deserved a more permanent location," said Paula Moisio, president of the Blue Mountain Heritage Society (BMHS). Moisio said the BMHS is collaborating with the Frank E. Bauers American Legion Post # 42 to honor local veterans who have served the nation. The expanded collection of items from local veterans...
DAYTON-PacifiCorp is investing $3.5 billion to build four new wind projects and upgrade its Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington wind fleet. The upgrade includes "repowering" the 78 wind turbines at Marengo I, and the 39 wind turbines at Marengo II, east of Dayton. "Local communities may notice an increase in heavy equipment and vehicle traffic as early as May as work begins to widen leased access roads to allow for sufficient access to the sites," said Tom Gauntt, Media Spokesman for Pacific Power....
DAYTON-Beginning on April 19 the Blue Mountain Station Co-op will be open on Tues. through Saturday, from 10 a.m. until 6 p. m., said Patricia Sacha, the manager of the Co-op market. Sacha said on Apr. 19 there will be a grand opening with special deals and a drawing for a $25 gift certificate for use either at the Co-op or in the new retail garden nursery. She said vegetable starts, succulents, perennials and herbs from Harmony Gardens and Glass and Verdurous Gardens will be for sale. Sacha...
DAYTON—About forty people gathered in the Delany Room last week to help kick off the first in a series of discussions regarding the planned 9.7-mile Waitsburg-to-Dayton Multi-use Path. Alexandra Stone, a landscape architect with the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program was the guest speaker at the Dayton Chamber-sponsored Cup of Joe. Stone said the main thrust of the meeting was to gather concerns and interests to let a steering committee begin more focused work, in a sustained way. “Think about a dream...
DAYTON-Railroad enthusiast and author Thomas Hillebrant spoke about the history of the Walla Walla and Dayton Rails at the Dayton Historic Depot on Mar. 21. Hillebrant said there was a "great clamor" from local grain producers, early on, to tap into world markets by rail. He said the first local rail ran from Wallula to Touchet and had wood rails. Baker Boyer Bank Founder Dr. Dorsey Baker financed it and it was completed in 1875. A "spider's web" of competing rail routes soon ensued, including...
DAYTON—If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then why doesn’t the county have a dedicated human resources manager? Now, issues surrounding Shakira Bye’s termination from the library on Mar. 1 are prompting the county commissioners to take a more active role in library board operations. When the commissioners met with Library Board Chair Tanya Patton and Board Trustee Karin Spann last week, they wanted answers about practices and policies regarding library staff. Commissioner Chuck...
DAYTON—The Friends of the Dayton Community Pool has revamped its name and purpose. “We kept running into community conversations that talked about how lovely it would be to have a community or multi-purpose center in our county,” said President Vicki Zoller. Zoller said the members of the newly-formed Friends of the Columbia County Multi-purpose Center are researching and planning for a center that could combine a senior center and early childhood education center, and indoor pool into one shared space, and they are talking about adding a lau...
Urban Growth Area land swap proposal moves forward DAYTON-City of Dayton Mayor Craig George will pass his gavel to Mayor Pro-tem Zac Weatherford on April 30. George read a letter of his resignation to the Dayton City Council during last week's council meeting. "It has been a pleasure and an honor to have served as your Mayor, and I want to thank the council for their great work and support these past years. We have all worked very hard for the betterment of Dayton," he said. George and his...
DAYTON—The Friends of the Fairgrounds committee and the members of the Touchet Valley Golf Board are working together to create great resources for Columbia County. That was the take-away message on Monday when the golf board members met with the county commissioners. Bill Ayotte, owner of Chicken Bill’s restaurant, at the golf course, said there are rumors that the golf course people want to take land from the fairgrounds for a soccer field. “Our golf group has no intention to take over anyth...
WALLA WALLA-On Feb. 28 at Whitman College, 1979 Whitman Graduate and Board Trustee Stephen Hammond presented his program: Piecing Together a Family History through Genetic DNA. The presentation was part of the Archaeology Institute of America Walla Walla Chapter lecture series, and in honor of African American History month. An avid genealogist, Hammond has spent hours delving into classical family history research and DNA research to clinch that history. "I tend to talk people's ears off,"...
DAYTON-It took just ten minutes of deliberation behind closed doors for Columbia County Commissioners Mike Talbott and Chuck Amerein to select Ryan Rundell to fill the vacant seat on the Board of County Commissioners. The Commissioners also interviewed Kaye Eaton and Thomas Konen on Monday night at the Columbia County courtroom, before heading in to executive session. It's a big responsibility," Rundell said, minutes after being sworn in. "It's an honor to be picked. They had good candidates to...
DAYTON – Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney C. Dale Slack said the Benjamin Orozco murder case has been re-set, from March 11 to July 8. Slack said May 8 is the deadline for the exchange of all evidence that is intended for use in the trial. This will be followed by arguments dealing with the admission of certain evidence in the trial, at a hearing set for May 31, at 1:30 p.m. in Superior Court. Pretrial and readiness will be heard on June 5, with the actual trial taking place July 8-19, Slack...
DAYTON – The local Republican Committee has selected three finalists from a slate of nine applicants in the running to fill the District 1 seat on the Columbia County Board of Commissioners. A special meeting will be held at the Columbia County Courthouse on Mon., March 11 at 7 p.m. to interview finalists Thomas Konen, Ryan Rundell and Kaye Eaton. It will be up to commissioners Chuck Amerein and Mike Talbott to choose one of the three applicants to fill the seat formerly occupied by Norm Passmore, who resigned in January. Amerein and Talbott w...
DAYTON—The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office had a busy week last week. “We’ve been putting in a lot of overtime,” said Civil Deputy Tim Quigg speaking at last week’s Citizen’s Academy. Quigg said there were ten arrests made last week, primarily due to Deputy Foxe’s diligence. He said all the arrests stemmed from ongoing investigations. Three burglary cases, two motor vehicle theft cases, one criminal trespass, two outstanding warrants, four theft cases, two malicious mischief cases and one d...
DAYTON—The Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson frequently says jobs in Columbia County are counted by ones and twos, and the ones and twos are adding up. At last week’s Cup of Joe, Port Economic Development Coordinator Kathryn Witherington, introduced a few new businesses in Dayton to attendees gathered at the Winter Rose Café & Boutique. Winter Rose Café & Boutique All things led back to Dayton, according to Amanda Toms, who along with Tyler Usco, are the proprietors of the Winter Rose Café & Boutique. While living in North Ca...
DAYTON-The lowest gas prices in the area and the tastiest chicken curry can be found at the Hot Spot gas station and deli, located at 401 W. Main St. in Dayton. Swarit Gaur and his father, Prasoon Sharma, have been busy planning a road map to success since taking over the business in January. This includes sharing their own special chicken curry with the customers. Gaur said he and his father use only the freshest ingredients in the curry, which includes onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, cream and...
DAYTON-Items on the agenda at last week's city council meeting included an update on the city's Wastewater Treatment Plan Project. "We're getting closer in negotiations with some land owners," said Mayor Craig George. He said there will be an executive session to discuss property acquisition for the proposed Wastewater Treatment Plant Project at the March 13 city council meeting. George said a land swap is being conducted between the city and the county. He said the city will swap land owned nea...
DAYTON-"They make them in fun, flavored colors. They are very easy to use and are very discreet, too," said Chelsey Eaton, a county public health program coordinator. Eaton was talking about "vaping," or smoking e-cigarettes, and why that practice isn't as harmless as it appears. Eaton said e-cigarettes were first developed in China to help people stop smoking and they arrived in the U.S. in 2007. "At that time they were using simple juices. They weren't yummy. They weren't colorful," said...
Because most of my gardening experience has been in the desert, the prospect of getting to grow an English-style cottage garden when we moved to Dayton, in 2012, was beyond my wildest dreams. Little did I know there would be a constant running battle with the wildlife for dominance, beginning with the squirrels and deer. The squirrels made quite a summer production out of tearing the immature walnuts off the tree in the back yard, and chewing them, and spitting them, and running around burying...
DAYTON-"Women are going to be excited about it," Museum Director Tamara Fritze said about the new exhibit currently on display at the Dayton Historic Depot. This exhibit includes clothing, foundation garments, and hats and purses, from the 1890s through 1989, with accompanying history for each decade about fashion and culture. Fritze said it has taken about a month to finish the exhibit. "Matching the dress form to the clothing was the most challenging part," she said. "We had to come up with...
DAYTON—At their regular meeting last week, the Board of County Commissioners and Charles Eaton, the county engineer, discussed moving ahead with their intention to create a county-wide flood control zone district, a process that was started by City of Dayton Mayor Craig George and former County Commissioner Merle Jackson, early in 2017. At that time, Commissioner Jackson expressed concerns about recent high water events and the accumulating amount of gravel just north of the Highway 12 B...
