The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA—The COVID-19 outbreak in our area has risen sharply over the past week, with 92 confirmed cases in Walla Walla County as of May 5 at 11 a.m. This is an increase of 35 cases from April 27. Walla Walla County experienced the first loss of l...

Visits to the emergency rooms have declined in Walla Walla county and across Washington since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “Overall, the number of people coming to the Emergency Department are down significantly. On an average, pre-pandemic day, t...

Tyson Fresh Meats closed its Wallula plant on Friday, April 24 to begin working with the Walla Walla Department of Community Health (DCH) to test all 1,400 employees for the COVID-19 virus. Over 110 workers have tested positive for the virus as of Ap...

According to Associated Press reports, thousands of people gathered in Olympia, WA on Sunday, April 19 to protest Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Protesters could be seen holding signs that r...

While at the time of this writing, there are only 37 cases of COVID-19 in Walla Walla County, I have been keeping pace with the spread of the outbreak by checking in with friends around the country. On my return from my recent trip to the Dominican...

WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County health officials confirmed on April 12 that the local case count for COVID-19 has more than doubled in the past week. Twelve additional residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday, April 3rd. This brings W...

WALLA WALLA—In 2019, 326 women and 174 children spent a total of 8,268 nights of rest in Walla Walla YWCA Domestic Violence shelters. Additional support this organization provides individuals in Walla Walla and Columbia County include sexual a...

WALLA WALLA—An anonymous Advisory Committee comprised of representatives from twenty-three Blue Mountain region organizations have recently awarded grants of $99,000 to Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC); $14,460 to Providence St. Mary F...

WAITSBURG—Waitsburg School Superintendent Mark Pickel and Secondary principal Stephanie Wooderchak met with their staffs on Monday, April 13 to discuss plans for a continuous learning model now that the schools will remain closed through the end o...

The Board of Commissioners (BOC) for Waitsburg’s volunteer fire department, Columbia Walla Walla County Fire District #2, is advertising for the first paid Fire Chief position in the department’s history. The BOC is seeking a part time fire chi...

When Governor Jay Inslee delivered his 'Stay Home, Stay Healthy' declaration on March 13 announcing the closure of all public and private K-12 schools in Washington state, school leaders across the state were suddenly confronted with the problem of...

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Waitsburg Resource Center (Food Bank), is working to ensure that their volunteers and neighbors (clients) are all safe. As a result, they are currently open on Thursday afternoon from 2-4 p.m. Items are pre-bagged no...

Ballots are in the mail for Waitsburg’s next City Council and Mayoral election. Although current councilmember Kate Hockersmith is listed as a candidate for Mayor, at the March 18 City Council meeting Hockersmith announced that she was taking h...