Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 701 - 725 of 794
DAYTON—Senior Vice President of D/A/Davidson and Bond Underwriter Jim Nelson was on hand at the Aug. 8 city council meeting for a bond financing discussion. The city is looking into refinancing two forty-year USDA loans with revenue refunding bonds in order to take advantage of historically low interest rates. Nelson outlined scenarios for the Phase I loan, 4.25% and Phase 2 Loan, 4.50%, which could each be refinanced at approximately 2.70%, and which could yield a potential net savings of 8...
DAYTON- The summer reading program at Dayton Memorial Library is coming to an end on Aug. 10, as preparations begin for the new school year, according to Vicki Zoller at the library. Zoller said a summer reading program ice cream social is planned for 1 pm. on Aug. 10, and winners of the reading challenge will be announced at that time. Two adults and one child each from several age groups will receive gift certificates. There will also be fun with water balloons, she said. On Mondays this...
DAYTON-The next time you are in the mood to elevate your being, visit Rey's Roast Coffee on Main Street in Dayton for conversation, and for coffee. On Friday, Regina Weldert, the proprieter of Rey's Roast Coffee, sat down with me for a little tutorial about the growing requirements for coffee beans, and to talk about her career path, from performing fieldwork in fish biology, to offering grateful customers the very best cup of coffee. Weldert said her interest in the science and chemistry of...
DAYTON—At their regular meeting on July 28 Columbia County Health System commissioners approved a resolution to create a link to Banner Bank on the CCHS website. This will allow a more convenient payment process for patients, and help make collection faster. CCHS Controller Tom Meyers also reported on June’s financial picture to the commissioners. Meyers told the board that June’s gross patient revenue was $93,000 higher than in May. He also said that outpatient revenue was strong and excee...
DAYTON—At a special meeting on Monday the Columbia County Commissioners moved to award P.O.W. Contracting, Inc., from Pasco, the contract to build a new county transfer facility. The new station will replace the temporary facility after a fire destroyed most of the necessary operational equipment, and seriously damaged the integrity of the transfer station main building, in July, 2015. P.O.W. submitted the low bid of $633,633.30, and County Engineer Andrew Woods met with the commissioners at t...
There was something for all when more than 60 volunteers from the New Old Time Chautauqua came to Columbia County last week. From the community potluck at the Lewis and Clark Trail State Park on Monday night, to the parade and the workshops in the Dayton city park on Tuesday, and to the vaudeville-style program in the Dayton High School auditorium on Tuesday night, the community was engaged in a way it has not been since the last Chautauqua came to Dayton in 1929. On Tuesday, during the day, I...
DAYTON-Ten-year-old Kaylee Coleman, of Dayton, is one of nine children, from around the Walla Walla Valley, taking part in the Walla Walla Area Crime Watch Chief for a Day program. All of the children have been matched up with actual police chiefs, sheriffs, fire chiefs and Washington State Patrol chiefs, and will participate in the Walla Walla National Night Out activities on Aug. 2. Kaylee has been matched with Superintendent Don Holbrook from the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla....
DAYTON—On Monday night the Dayton City Council adopted a resolution to revise the 2016 Historic Preservation Policy Code, and Process Update Project schedule, for the purpose of dissolving the Dayton Register South Side Historic District and Dayton Register Washington Street Historic District, as “expeditiously” as possible. A motion to strike the language concerning retaining the historic districts from the resolution was made by council member Delphine Bailey, and seconded by council membe...
On August 25 the National Park Service is celebrating its 100th birthday. To mark the occasion, my traveling partner and I set out from Dayton on June 25 for an eight-day whirlwind tour of some of the Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota National Parks, national historic memorials, and other places of interest for a westerner to see. The first leg of our journey took us 622 miles across the aptly-named "Big Sky Country" of Montana, where there is plenty of "elbow room," to the historic site of the...
DAYTON-The Columbia County Planning Department's problem with being short-staffed hasn't improved in spite of adding a new Planner I/Administrative Assistant to the work force this week. New employee Meagan Bailey began her first day on the job on July 5. Building inspector Jake Davis' last day at the planning department was July 8. Bailey comes to the Columbia County Planning Department newly graduated from the University of Idaho. She has a bachelor of science degree in conservation planning...
DAYTON—At the regular meeting of the Dayton School District Board of Directors on July 6, Superintendent Doug Johnson outlined some goals for the 2016-17 school year for the Board of Directors. Chief among these was increasing the number of families enrolling in the district and decreasing the number of families enrolling out of the district. Also, by the end of 2016-17 Johnson said that a summit consisting of parents, students, employees and community members will be held to develop a f...
DAYTON—June has been a busy month for the Columbia County Health System administrators and commissioners, and it will come to a close with a groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital construction project on Thursday at 9 a.m. Construction for the hospital enhancement and renovation project was a major topic of conversation at two hospital board meetings, held June 16 and 23. CEO Shane McGuire said that construction was to begin Monday. He said that initial construction would not be about ...
DAYTON-The community electronic reader board that many Dayton residents have been hearing about for months is about to become a reality. Martha Lanman, Administrator of Columbia County Public Health Dept., has finalized a deal with Dale Maron, the owner of All Your Building Needs on Main Street in Pomeroy, to purchase the electronic reader board located at his property there. "I was driving through town and saw the sign, and that the building was for sale," Lanman said. On May 2, Lanman called...
DAYTON—Last week the City of Dayton Historic Preservation Commission tallied the final advisory vote from property owners in the South Side and Washington Street Historic Districts. The outcome of that vote will guide the City in its quest to determine outcomes for the future of the districts and related historic preservation code amendments, according to DHPC chairman Mike Smith. The second ballot count for the Washington Street Historic District was nine to dissolve the district and four to r...
DAYTON—The Dayton City Council adopted a six-year Transportation Improvement Program for 2017 through 2022 at last week’s council meeting. Some of the projects slated for the 2017-2022 cycle include; North Front Street bridge replacement, install a pedestrian/bicycle crossing light on North Front Street, create a bicycle lane on South Fourth Street, reconstruct the Touchet River Dike/ Mustard Ditch bridge, reconstruct Commercial Street, Cameron Street, North Willow Street, and improve Syn...
DAYTON—At their meeting last week at the Lyon’s Ferry Marina, Port of Columbia County commissioners Fred Crowe and Earle Marvin signed a three-year lease agreement with rail operator Frontier Rail LLC, to maintain and operate the rails for the newly named Columbia/Walla Walla shortline, between Dayton and Walla Walla. Port Manager Jennie Dickinson said that all the wording issues in the lease had been resolved. “I feel very good. I think I understand the lease very well,” Dickinson told the com...
DAYTON-What is sleek, shiny, compact and quiet? No, it is not a new car. It is the new E9-1-1 phone system and audio logger from Zetron that was recently purchased by the county to replace the old Intrado Lifeline 100 phone system in the emergency dispatch center at the courthouse. The new system comprises three work stations, two with radios for the dispatchers, one for County Emergency Manager Lisa Caldwell to use when back-up is needed, and an audio logger which records all calls and radio tr...
DAYTON—The Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization wants your input in identifying transportation priorities in Columbia County. Do we need a passing lane on Highway 12, between Dayton and Waitsburg? Do we need a sidewalk corridor on Cameron Street and Highway 12? Do we need a bike path between Dayton and Waitsburg? Or do we need to improve Patit Road to Tucannon Road? These are just some of the possible transportation related issues that could be addressed by the Palouse RTPO, a...
DAYTON-Where can you find such delectable sweets as salted caramels, strawberry truffles, and cashew brittle, as well as Rey's Roast truffles? At Mary's Candies, at the Blue Mountain Station, of course. On June 1 Mary's Candies moved out of Suite B and into a larger space at Suite H, where owner, and confectiones, Nathanial Murphy, and his wife, Erin, continue to apply their candy-making skills, to sweeten the tooth of any candy-lover. "We love the new space!" Murphy said. "Business is really...
DAYTON— At last week’s school board meeting the board of directors heard from Superintendent Doug Johnson about the potential for an alternative learning program for Dayton High School students. Johnson said he has been working with high school principal Paul Shaber, and with school board chairman Dan Butler, to explore some options. “This is for students who don’t like the activities of traditional education. It will be challenging to meet the needs of a kid who doesn’t engage, or doesn’t w...
DAYTON - Andrew Holt of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce and Dayton High School Principal Paul Shaber have been working on creating an internship program, pairing high school students with businesses. The idea is to offer students experience in the work world, and provide a little extra help for businesses, Holt said. The internships can be paid or unpaid, and they can be ongoing, into the school year, Shaber said. Students will have to go through the application and interview process with the...
DAYTON—At their regular board meeting last week hospital administrators addressed what CEO Shane McGuire characterized as “a significant care hole” in the local community for patients who do not need long term nursing care, but require some assistance with activities of daily living. McGuire also said there is a need to trim the financial loss at Booker Rest Home, which is about $500,000, annually. “How can we absorb another half-a-million-dollar loss at Booker?” McGuire asked the commissio...
DAYTON—The City of Dayton and Columbia County have entered into talks with Basin Disposal, Inc. to develop a plan for BDI to process refuse at the transfer station in Dayton. The county has also been discussing whether to repair the old facility, or to build a new one, after a fire at the transfer facility in July, 2015 destroyed most of its equipment and seriously damaged the integrity of the main building. Darrick Dietrich, president of BDI, and Dayton Mayor Craig George were on hand at the C...
DAYTON—Last week, Chris Andrews, Lily Reconoco, Josh Hartwell, Kylee Harris, Logan Literal, and Sheanna Brinckens, from the organization Students Helping Each Other, performed a trial-run poetry slam before an audience at the Liberty Theater. With only eight minutes allotted to each, the students had to explain adverse childhood experiences, describe the number of their own individual risk factors, explain the concept of resilience, and describe their participation in all the drug p...
DAYTON—There are two new activities, and one ongoing activity, at the Dayton Memorial Library, specifically for adults, according to Dayton Memorial Library assistant Lorna Barth. “Coffee, Cookies, and Coloring” is a new activity at the library that takes place on Fridays between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. This activity provides an opportunity for adults to de-stress from their busy week, with colored pencils, pens, and printed pages, Barth said. Barth also said that a new writing group is formi...
