Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 106
WALLA WALLA-Kathryn Witherington stepped into her new job as Executive Director of the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation in early February of this year. Previously the Economic Development Director of the Port of Columbia, Witherington, joined the Foundation just in time to help merchants handle the damages of February's flooding. And then in March came the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier efforts this summer to boost businesses downtown included the creation of extra dining space in front of six...
WALLA WALLA —The Walla Walla City Council’s second Town Hall held to address police policies and other issues in the region took place over Zoom on Thursday, July 23. Fifty-four individuals spoke, having previously signed up in advance for the opportunity. They were each given three minutes to speak, and as Mayor Tom Scribner said, the council “made no attempt to order the comments in any fashion.” The remaining council members were also in attendance at the virtual gathering, as was the City Attorney, Tim Donaldson, and City Manager, Nabiel Sh...
Justin Bradford is excited to get underway as the new Superintendent of Prescott School District. Most recently, he was the Director of College Place School District's Special Education Department, and before that, he was Superintendent/Principal in Harrington, WA. As of Friday, July 24, Bradford has plans to open on-site when school begins August 31. Bradford has received survey responses from approximately 20 parents to date, who are supportive of in-person learning. He is working to encourage...
WALLA WALLA—The Blue Mountain Land Trust is introducing their new Botany in the Blues series, co-sponsored by the Washington Native Plant Society. The conservation organization will facilitate a “close-up” look at the plant diversity of our local Blue Mountains. Two options available: Join in on Wednesday, August 5th, at 7 p.m. for an online introduction to the local plant life found in our Blue Mountains accompanied by Emil’s Botany Booklet. Take this online session by itself and hit the tra...
WALLA WALLA—The Walla Walla YWCA is putting forth a challenge to anyone who wants to accept it; spend twenty-one days deepening your understanding of, and willingness to confront, racism. Those who accept the Challenge can sign up on the YWCA’s website to receive curated articles, podcasts, activities, and more, right to their inbox. The Challenge creates dedicated time and space to build more effective social justice habits and bring awareness to issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership. This program was first adapted by YWCA Cle...
My vegetable epiphany happened after I purchased a bag of Hayshaker Farms Wild & Fancy salad mix from The Market by Andy's in Walla Walla. I have been trying to eat a mostly vegetable-based diet for a year now, and these veggies exploded my tastebuds. Wild & Fancy is a veritable festival of green, each bite tastes unique, with some surprising, zesty flavors. Maybe some fennel, certainly some spicier greens, some kale, and spinach, too? The bright flavors shamed those supermarket salad mixes I ha...
Seth Small of Small's Family Farm took some time during a busy harvest season to talk about his family's approach to farming, and his marketing efforts to bring his single variety flour to restaurants and bakeries throughout the Northwest. The restaurants and bakeries in the Walla Walla area have also embraced the local flour, and Small says "we work with almost all the restaurants locally in Walla Walla." Although for a time, savvy grocery shoppers could find bags of Small's flour on the...
When Mark Brucks and Susan Monahan were getting ready to retire after living and working in Austin, TX for twenty years, they carefully developed a list of criteria for their new home town. The list included walkability, a place with a college or university, and room to garden. For years they spent summer and Christmas vacations on the road, visiting towns "Colorado and west, "looking for just the right spot. A friend in Centralia asked, "Have you ever heard of Walla Walla?" So of course, they...
WALLA WALLA—The Walla Walla City Council held the first of three Town Halls in response to a large community outcry over-policing policies and the issue of a police officer’s tattoo which incorporates a symbol which is firmly linked to Nazi Germany. City Mayor Tom Scribner welcomed citizens to the Zoom event, noting that “after the first two Town Halls we will consider what we have heard and what you have told us and we will respond and tell you what we aim to do and what we will try to do to...
WALLA WALLA—Individual business owners in Walla Walla are all managing Governor Inslee's mask wearing proclamation in their own unique ways. Cugini's Italian Import Foods on Wallula in Walla Walla posted a sign noting masks were required, but clothing was optional! At Ellen's Cutting Edge Barbershop, notices on the door required masks, as well as a prior appointment to get a cut. I had been a frequent customer of Saager's since I moved to town nine years ago-as it was where I had my two young s...
WALLA WALLA—At the Walla Walla City Council meeting held on June 24, plans were outlined for three, possibly four, virtual Town Hall meetings. The meetings will be held in July and August to address public concerns over a variety of law enforcement issues. Council members were all in agreement with the need to schedule the meetings “sooner, rather than later,” and opted for the virtual meeting plan due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. The plan came as a response to local protests, rallies, phone calls, and over 1,891 emails received relat...
MILTON-FREEWATER, Ore.-Lampson's U-Pick Blueberries adjusted capably for the coronavirus by instituting an appointment system to manage the number of people picking in the fields at one time. Eight cars are let in at 15-minute intervals and owner Clark Lampson assigns people to a row of bushes distanced from other pickers. Pickers of all ages wore masks while they chatted and picked Duke blueberries, a variety known for its large, slightly tart berries, as I visited on a recent weekday. The...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County’s application for entry into Phase 3 appears to be in jeopardy (see story, page 5) due to Monday’s announcement from health officials that twelve additional COVID-19 cases were reported since Friday, June 19th’s total. As of Tuesday, June 23, the county has 29 active cases all of whom are under home isolation. The county has had three deaths from the virus to date. City of Walla Walla Development Services Director Elizabeth Chamberlain speaking as Liaison for Unified Command, remarked in a video shared to Faceboo...
PRESCOTT-Prescott Pool Manager Kyra Hartley is a highly experienced lifeguard and swimming instructor and she recently stepped into the role of Pool Manager at the Prescott Pool. A double major in business administration and psychology at the University of Puget Sound, she may need skills in both areas to manage the changeable situation for outdoor recreation this summer. Hartley took steps this spring to get her lifeguards Red Cross re-certified by working with Walla Walla YMCA's Director of...
Sixteen weeks into this pandemic and I’ll admit, I’ve grown a little weary of the mask debate. Excuse me, cloth face-covering discussion. It seems endless, and redundant, and far too enmeshed in emotions and political parties. It’s exhausting! Do I choose to go to the trouble of sewing my own, having someone else make one for me, or buy some to wear when I go out and about these days? Do I always remember to have it on my person when I stop into a grocery store or pick up some takeout? Do I wear one at the home of friends? While seated at an...
WALLA WALLA— Walla Walla County Commissioners decided at a special meeting on Thursday, June 18 to apply for a modified Phase 3 of Governor Inslee’s Safe Start plan. Phase 3 of the state’s plan allows outdoor recreational gatherings to be limited to 50 or fewer people, the county’s application modifies that to 25 or fewer people. Travel in Phase 3 would allow all non-essential travel to resume, Walla Walla County is requesting a modification to allow essential travel and limited non-essential travel for Phase 1, 2, or 3 permissible activit...
Skills and experience gained along with bonds of friendship WALLA WALLA-A Walla Walla native and WA-HI graduate, Jenna Watts was just finishing up a nine-week traveling nurse stint at Harlem Hospital in New York City when she and I spoke a week ago. "New York has a special place in my heart, my dad lives here, and I spent all of my summer's here growing up," she said. The coronavirus crisis and Governor Cuomo's appeals for doctors and nurses to help, resonated with her. In early April, The New...
OLYMPIA—Washington State education officials released a guide to reopening schools for Fall 2020 on Thursday, June 11. The document lays a framework for schools to begin planning what their return to school in the fall looks like. The guidance was developed in partnership with the state Department of Health (DOH); the Governor’s Office; the Department of Labor and Industries; and a broad stakeholder group of more than 120 educators, practitioners, parents, community-based organizations, legislators, and students. State School Sup...
WALLA WALLA-Plans are underway to boost business income in Walla Walla's downtown corridor through active collaboration between the City, local agencies and business owners. The proposals all encourage utilizing outdoor spaces which many believe is a safer alternative to dining indoors, recognizing data that shows the coronavirus is transmittable through prolonged contact in enclosed spaces. The Walla Walla City Council has approved a number of measures to increase outdoor seating, allowing rest...
WALLA WALLA-A grassroots group of people of color from the Walla Walla Valley community organized a second Peace Rally on Sunday, June 7 near Walla Walla's Land Title Plaza. With impassioned speakers and music, the rally gave a platform for people of color to be heard and for non-POC to listen. The gathering attracted a larger crowd than the May 31 rally at the same location. Estimates of crowd size for both events vary from several hundred to over 2,000. There is no disagreement, however, to th...
WALLA WALLA-The news of repeated break-ins and killings of birds at the Pioneer Park Aviary in Walla Walla has prompted an outpouring of support and funding from community members. Walla Walla Police reported that there have been multiple incidents over the past two weeks of someone cutting the netting at the Aviary and killing approximately 12 birds. The City is offering a $1,000 reward for the arrest and convictions of the person(s) responsible for the killing of the birds. The reward money...
WALLA WALLA-The announcement for the protest was seen on a Facebook post, listing the 1 p.m. time, the Land Title Plaza as the place, with the words 'Peaceful Protest' as the title. The post also featured an image of George Floyd's face and the words "I Can't Breathe." George Floyd's death on Memorial Day in Minneapolis, under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, sparked other protests across the country, in Europe, and beyond. The idea for the event came to social media specialist Lindsey...
WAITSBURG-Early morning on Monday, June 1, glass from one of the front doors as well as glass from a side door were broken in a possible attempt to gain entry at the Waitsburg Grocery on Main Street. Video from the store shows the same vehicle passing in front of the store early Monday morning nine different times, with two suspects rattling the front door at 1:45 a.m. Owner Jaime Smit-McMillen said that the glass on a side door was broken and the security bar was removed. The end caps from the...
East Coast born and raised, Liz Fraser of Walla Walla is known for her candor. Two weeks ago, she openly let her Facebook friends know that she had tested positive for the Coronavirus. In the post, she joked that she'd "never had a cavity until I needed a root canal...and never had the flu until I got covid (sic)..." Since then, she's kept her Facebook friends updated with the progress of the virus and was even willing to take some time to talk with me on the phone. Her journey from becoming...
Is your dog looking rough these days? For many breeds, a regular grooming schedule is a must. My dog Rocco is a miniature schnauzer, which is a double-coated breed that has a wiry topcoat and a soft undercoat. If he were being groomed as a show dog, his soft undercoat would be stripped by hand or with a special stripping knife, leaving his wiry topcoat in place. A pet grooming style using clippers removes the wiry topcoat, leaving the dog with a soft fur coat that resembles hair. This hair is...
