Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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DAYTON-Former Sheriff's Deputy Don Foley has announced his candidacy for Columbia County Sheriff. Foley will appear on the August primary ballot for sheriff along with Deputy Jeff Jenkins and Chief Deputy Joe Helm. The two candidates receiving the most votes will move on to the November general election. Foley said his training as a forensic interviewer has served him well in investigations of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse cases, and will serve him well in his role as...
Carla Rowe DAYTON – Dayton native Carla Rowe said she will bring her expertise in the field of accounting and bookkeeping practices to the position of Columbia County Treasurer if she is elected in November. For the past 14 years, Rowe has owned her own bookkeeping business, CJ Bookkeeping, where she performs full-charge bookkeeping as well as providing her Dayton and Waitsburg clients with specific accounting needs. "I have always taken a proactive approach for my clients, and I will bring t...
DAYTON—The overall financial picture for the Columbia County Health System is positive, according to Tom Dingus, with DZA and Associates, an independent auditing firm that works with the Hospital District. Dingus outlined the 2017 audit report with the CCHS Commissioners, and administrators at their regular meeting last week. The challenge for smaller Critical Access Hospitals, like Dayton’s, is getting the cost to provide patient care to not exceed payments, and CCHS is trending in the right direction, said Dingus. Dingus said there will be...
DAYTON--A discussion about what steps to take regarding funding the much-needed irrigation system at the Touchet Valley Golf Course took place between Dayton Country Club Board President Roger Trump, board member J. E. McCaw, state Representative Terry Nealey, and the Columbia County Commissioners last week. A grant application through the Recreation Conservation Organization missed the May 1 submittal deadline and can’t be considered until the next grant cycle in 2020-21. Commissioner Norm Passmore said to submit the application now would b...
DAYTON—This year’s Memorial Weekend Dayton Days celebration, put on by the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, will kick off on Saturday, May 26, at 10 a.m. with the Dayton Days Main Street Parade. The crowd lining Main Street will enjoy another great parade, including fair courts, historic floats, classic cars and many other entrants. In the spirit of western history, additional activities are planned for Dayton Days this year, according to event chair Ginny Butler. “We wanted to get more families and kids downtown,” she explained. Immediately followi...
Dayton—Dayton Middle and High School Principal Paul Shaber has announced that he will resign at the end of this school year to take a job in Richland. “Paul has been an important part of our team here in Dayton,” said Superintendent Doug Johnson. “Using Paul’s leadership skills, the Middle and High School staff continued their growth as a team, and as educators. “Paul worked well with students and was a strong advocate for them in the classroom, and in activities,” Johnson added. “He was willing to step in where needed and provide leaders...
DAYTON – During their regular meeting last week, the Port of Columbia commissioners adopted a greenhouse emissions policy, as requested by the Washington State Department of Transportation. DOT has requested the policy as part of the grant application process to obtain $330,000 for the design of the $3.5 million Dayton to Waitsburg non-motorized trail. According to Port Manager Jennie Dickinson, The policy takes into account improved energy efficiency through the Port’s support of wind energy and installation of three electric car charging sta...
DAYTON-- During the Show and Tell portion of the May 16 school board meeting, Youth and Government Advisor Shayna Hutchens and four of her students talked about their experience at the state capital in Olympia. The students were also able to explore Seattle, including the waterfront, Pike Place Market and the Seattle Library, before their moving on to Olympia on May 2. Dayton was the largest high school delegation from eastern Washington, with 18 students attending the youth legislation...
DAYTON—Vicki Zoller from the newly formed Friends of the Dayton Community Pool Committee was present at last week’s city council meeting to talk about efforts the committee is making to help raise funds for repairs at the Dayton City Pool. The city recently decided to close the pool because it has significant infrastructure problems. Zoller said the committee is working with the Columbia County Community Network to set up a 501c3 organization under their umbrella. “This will insure that all monies are used in proper accordance, and help to pr...
DAYTON—At last week’s city council meeting, City Administrator Trina Cole said the public works staff was to meet with the Washington Dept. of Ecology on May 15 to talk about the wastewater treatment plant and the financing for it. Planning Director Meagan Bailey discussed successes with code compliance enforcement, particularly yard debris at a house on Clay Street which has been cleaned up. “Just this week we had 15-16 grass letters go out and about half of them have called to tell us they have mowed the grass,” she said. Bailey assured the c...
DAYTON--Mule Mania begins its Class list schedule of events for mules and donkeys, on Saturday, May 26, at 8 a.m., at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. The Mule and Donkey show features riding and driving competitions throughout the day, and on Sunday, from 7:30 a.m. until sometime in the afternoon, said Bev Rising, Mule Mania president and show manager. Rising said there should be a great show this year. “Bobbie Jo and Barney Chambers are bringing a lot of mules, and lot of people with them, to compete,” she said. Rising is also expecting som...
CEO Shane McGuire also reports on tele-psychiatric services, palliative care DAYTON--Speaking at the Hospital District board meeting for April, CEO Shane McGuire talked about the outreach and business enhancement initiatives that he and other CCHS staff have been working on. Contracts with the University of Washington to provide psychiatric support for CCHS patients are being finalized. Plans also include provision of tele-psychiatric services, so that patients can have face-to-face time with psychiatrists, he said. “We are particularly e...
DAYTON--There are some timely reminders coming from the WSU Dayton Extension Office regarding noxious weed control, 4-H and local crop tours. The county's Noxious Weed Control Coordinator, Rachel Hutchens, said the Weed Control Board is funded by county assessment, and there is some cost sharing available, for chemical costs, application costs, or both, to control of some of the county's worst noxious weeds. They include yellow star thistle, Japanese and Bohemian knotweed, leafy spurge and...
DAYTON-Audrey Bensel joined the Dayton Chamber of Commerce staff last month as assistant manager. She will share duties running the office in Downtown Dayton with newly hired director Melissa Bryan. Bensel was circulations manager at the Dayton Chronicle for about a year, before accepting the Chamber position. "This is right up my alley," she said. "I like to host parties." Bensel grew up in Dayton and graduated from Dayton High. She went on to WSU and graduated with a BA in Theater Arts in...
DAYTON-When the 2018 election is over, there will be several new faces in key positions in Columbia County government, and Chuck Amerein hopes to be one of them. Amerein is running to represent District 3 on the Board of County Commissioners, to replace Merle Jackson, who is retiring at the end of the year. Amerein said he has been attending the BOCC meetings for the past several months in order to develop an understanding of the issues, and he has been shadowing Commissioner Jackson, to...
DAYTON--Safety is at the top of the list for students and staff in the Dayton School District. And now staff and administrators are better prepared to keep a situation like the ones at Columbine, Colo. and Parkland, Fla. from happening. Jon Ladines, owner of Force Dynamics, led GAP training workshop in how to use T-ball bats for classroom defense last week in the Dayton High School auditorium. Why T-ball bats? T-ball bats are considered by the FBI to be lethal weapons, said Ladines. "With the...
DAYTON – Dayton Country Club Board President Roger Trump has been on a mission this year in search of funds for the much-needed irrigation system at Touchet Valley Golf Course. Trump reported last week that he is looking into a grant with the state Recreation Conservation Office, which could yield up to $500,000 for that project. The RCO’s $3 million Land and Water Conservation Fund provides money for projects that preserve and develop outdoor recreation resources, but it carries certain stipulations, including a 20% soft match. Matching con...
DAYTON – For 11 years, Joe Helm has been Chief Deputy for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, and he is now running for sheriff in the 2018 election. If elected, Helm said he would like to restore the fundamental functions of law enforcement which are to enforce, educate, prevent crime. And he wants to make sure deputies are more than mere community guardians, but are also active community members. As Sheriff, Helm said he will strengthen community-oriented policing programs and collaborate w...
DAYTON – Jeff Jenkins says he has many ideas about how to address an understaffed and underfunded Columbia County Sheriff's Department, an inadequate jail facility, illicit drug use in the community, community trust and participation, working with other agencies to solve crimes, and restructuring the department to better serve the community. "I ride around in a patrol car all day, and what else is there to do but think?" he said. Jenkins will be on the 2018 election ballot this fall to r...
DAYTON – Dayton School Superintendent Doug Johnson’s report to the school board at last week’s meeting included an update on capital projects. Johnson said three entry doors have been replaced, one into the kitchen and two on the back side of the high school. He is working on cost estimates for surveillance cameras, which will be placed in the main entryways during the summer. Seventy-five phones have been installed throughout the school system, and the roofing and boiler replacement projects are in the preparatory state. Johnson said he is wo...
DAYTON-Citing public health, safety and liability issues, the Dayton City Council voted last week to close the city pool for the 2018 summer season. The vote was unanimous. "The staff was heart-broken," said City Manager Trina Cole about the council's decision. The pool, which was built in 1982, is developing cracks on top and below the deck and in the crawl space, and is heaving in places. Cole said the entire pool needs to be sandblasted and repainted, and that work cannot be done before a...
DAYTON – Columbia County’s recycling program will be up and ready to begin receiving mixed paper/newspaper, aluminum, and cardboard as soon as Basin Disposal, Inc. places bins at the county’s new recycling station. The station is located in a fenced in area slightly north and east of the entrance to the transfer facility on S. Cottonwood St. BDI will place three bins there to receive corrugated cardboard, mixed paper/newspaper, and aluminum, and the site will be monitored by camera. That’s the good news. The bad news is the market for recycla...
DAYTON—Colby Litzenberger, of Tucannon Development, LLC, has stepped up to the plate with regard to building number two at the Blue Mountain Station, reported Port Manager Jennie Dickinson, during the Port of Columbia Commissioners’ meeting last week. Work on the building by Litzenberg’s family-owned construction company had stalled over a dispute with the Port about whose responsibility it was to provide electricity to the building. At a meeting with Port officials in February, Litzenberger’s father, Allen Litzenberger said he believe...
DAYTON—During last week’s meeting of the Port of Columbia Commissioners, Port Manager Jennie Dickinson reported that she has met with Adam Schmidtgall, Principal Engineer for Anderson Perry & Associates, to discuss an engineering design application for a $3.5 million bicycle trail between Dayton and Waitsburg. Dickinson said an application for funding of the design will be submitted to the Washington State Dept. of Transportation, Local Programs, in early May. “We’re excited to get started on seeking funding for the Dayton to Waitsburg bike tr...
It takes coordination and engagement on many levels when addressing behavioral health issues, and more so when delivering mental health services to persons who have the potential for violence. A recent example was when an Alzheimer patient “headbutted” Columbia County Sheriff Rocky Miller after he responded to a call for help at the patient’s home in February. An interesting conversation took place last week in the Columbia County Commissioners’ chambers between Sheriff Miller, Deputy Prosecutin...
