The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Patti Jo Amerein lives a relatively quiet life in rural Columbia County. She rides dressage, keeps chickens, and teaches Pilates. But in the 1980s and 90s she lived another life as a Las Vegas show da...

Before visiting Greg Petersen at his Dayton home, I'd not heard the term "Antiquarian Horologist." But that's what's on his calling card. Horology - from the Greek "hora," meaning time - is the study...

Twelve miles up and out of the Touchet Valley, I sat down with friends Robert and Janet Phinney to discover we have more in common than I might have thought. I'm a musician; the Phinney's are...

Jon Rampey: Wand Maker 2020 has taught us how to make lemonade out of lemons. Jon Rampey, a newcomer to Dayton, makes art using this philosophy of resourcefulness. "Creating something is better than...

Like many Christmas trees, ours is a time-measuring tree. We have so many ornaments now, there are too many for one tree to hold! We have a couple of small table trees that help out, but when you...

I've known Waitsburgian Erin Murphy and her husband Nathanial for many years. It occurred to me recently: these people are always in school, always taking classes, always working toward another...

When Juniper Kerr was in middle school, her basketball coach kept saying, "Every shot not taken is a shot missed." It stuck with her. But it's not just about basketball now; it's about life and her...

DAYTON-You can easily estimate the time it takes to machine quilt a piece of functional art, but who counts the hours of piecing it together? Or the love stitched into it? On a recent chat with Wendy...

My recent visit with Starbuck's new Mayor, Zonia Dedloff, was a revelation for me. First thing I learned: she has lived there for 50 years. She and her late husband, Jerry, parked a trailer here in...

Those of us who may be familiar with one Becky Wilson in Waitsburg will be tickled to learn that there is now a second Becky Wilson in town. Recently, this Becky Wilson purchased the old Hofer farm...

Jeromy Phinney, Chief of Columbia County Fire District 3, is a good man to have a conversation with right now. He's cool as a cucumber, with a large framed photo of John Wayne on the wall beside his d...

Recently the Liberty Theater in Dayton received a message from a woman in Walla Walla: "My friend told me she was getting rid of some old puppets that belonged to her parents. She said she was going...

A conversation with Julia Mead When Julia Mead graduated from high school at the age of 17 and started college, she decided her motto would be, "I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way." She...

David Ocampo, General Manager at Columbia County Public Transportation (CCPT), is proud of what the agency has done over the years, but even prouder of the way it has found its niche during COVID-19....

Dayton-­Licensed Massage Therapist Kahla Harrington describes herself as an introvert. She can appear shy, but she's acted on stage before. She's apprehensive about being in front of crowds, but her...

DAYTON–When Levi David Sowerby was 17 years old, a physician told him that a spinal injury he suffered during a gymnastics competition, was so severe it would result in paralysis. He would never...

DAYTON-Regina Weldert, of Dayton, has been many things in her life, including a goat farmer, sheepherder, and factory worker. She went back to school later in life and became a fish biologist. I've...

Waitsburg–My long-time friend Maria Garcia and I were recently sitting (six feet apart) in her back acre, talking about how the pandemic has affected us personally. We hadn't planned it. I had...

When the Times last wrote about the Liberty Theater in Dayton, we described the efforts and planning that went into the staging of their celebratory 20th anniversary variety show. Set to open on...

DAYTON-Closing the doors of the Liberty Theater, clearing the marquee, wiping everything down with sanitizer, cancelling all our film bookings for the time being and issuing notices of postponement fo...

Over the last few years I have not only learned an appreciation for short films, but I have come to love them. I am now a fan of Vimeo, a short film presentation venue (look it up!). I am constantly...

A column by Liberty Theater Manager Mike Ferrians In a February edition of the Times, the Americanism of the week was a quote from Annie Proulx, author of The Shipping News: “One of the tragedies...

I confess, I would rather have seen the Seattle Seahawks lose the Super Bowl last week by one point, than to have won it the way they did. From the begin­ning, I heard nothing except how strong Seatt...