Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Autumn red leaves hang on as winter snows take over. An aging barn stands strong, ready to take on another year of agriculture in Waitsburg....
WALLA WALLA—The Jonathan M. Wainwright Medical Center in Walla Walla received a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines just before Christmas, on December 22, and is currently in the process of vaccinating all Walla Walla VA essential health care staff. “The Walla Walla VA is pleased to be offering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to its health care personnel,” said Chris Bjornberg, Medical Center Director. “Receiving the vaccine is like having hope delivered. As vaccine supplies increase, our ultimate goal is to offer COVID-19 vaccination to all Veteran...
DAYTON—The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Columbia County. The Columbia County Health System (CCHS) has received 300 doses. At this time, CCHS has started giving immunizations to healthcare workers and first-responders, and will advance to Phase 1B when given guidance to do so by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). Columbia County Public Health will be organizing a list of interested individuals who would like the vaccination and fit into Phase 1B, which is currently d...
In a “normal” year, a candlelit Christmas Eve service would have been held indoors. This year, Pastor Matthew Wyatt and Pastor Stan Hughes shared their Christmas message from a makeshift pulpit at the Waits Mill site. They were joined, in person, by a handful of community members while many more tuned in to the live stream from their homes. Immediately following the pastors’ messages, those in attendance gathered with their families to release sky lanterns, some with messages written on them....
WASHINGTON—The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is accepting grant applications for volunteer projects that benefit the state’s fish and wildlife resources and the public’s enjoyment of them. WDFW estimates having approximately $867,000 available for grants, funded through the state’s Aquatic Land Enhancement Account (ALEA), for projects occurring between July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2023. (Applicants should note that the ALEA program may see its funding impacted by budget reductions due to decreased state revenues resulti...
Season’s Greetings! I hope this winter is keeping you and yours healthy and happy, and that you are still getting out to enjoy Washington’s outdoors. 2020 has been a year like no other. Here at WDFW, we’re trying to focus on our mission to preserve, protect, and perpetuate the state’s fish, wildlife and ecosystems and provide sustainable opportunities despite the destabilizing influence of a global pandemic. We’ve appreciated your support as we collectively navigate this hopefully once-in-a-century crisis. This year we set a long-term...
Three white-tailed deer enjoyed a winter nap in a field along the Coppei River. A great blue heron, who has been frequenting the field, didn’t seem to mind sharing his grounds....
OLYMPIA—Washington State remains in a highly precarious situation, even as COVID-19 transmission begins to flatten. A report released on December 24, 2020, showed that there has been a substantial decrease in transmission, however, it is not enough to reverse the skyrocketed rates that followed the Thanksgiving holiday. The report indicates, based on the timing of this trend, the case count plateau may be due, in part, to the current restrictions on gatherings and certain businesses. The report finds include: • COVID-19 transmission is pla...
The season for the Bluewood Ski Resort opened strong, and is still holding, according to Kim Clark, General Manager. It was partly cloudy and 30 degrees on Sunday afternoon with 5 inches of new snow and 36 inches at the base....
Daily case numbers in Walla Walla County 12/29, Tuesday – 44 12/28, Monday –73 12/24-26, Thursday-Saturday – 92 12/27, Sunday – 20 Hospitalized as of 12/29 – 16 Cumulative Confirmed Cases by Community of Residence: Dixie: 15 Prescott: 63 Waitsburg: 54 Walla Walla: 2679 Current Cases Columbia County Active cases: 8 Pending Tests: 2 Recovered Cases 76 Deaths 4 Total Tests 1812...
To the Editor: Obedience is not a virtue. Exacted from slaves, dogs, and very young children, obedience is an essential component to a well-run society, but not necessarily a free one. For the tyrant, the despot, the emperor, a well-run citizenry results when its people are taught to do what they are told. This is more easily achieved when the people implicitly and unquestioningly trust their political, religious/scientific, financial, and medical leaders. These leaders generally communicate with the citizenry via mass media, oratory crafted...
Dear Sirs, With all our challenges these past nine months, my “self” returns to Waitsburg, my favorite place of choice. My name is Dorothy Mock Shepherd. Onset of 1947, my family traveled to Waitsburg to live with my grandparents, Alex and Lilliam Mock, my dad’s parents, for the summer months. He worked the three months for the Parks & Recreation program to supplement his income as a teacher in Kirkland Wash. Established in the early 1900s, my grandparents’ farm was located on a gravel road close to what was then the cannery. My dad, Hunter,...
December 16 Brake lines on two vehicles cut and the hood of one vehicle damaged. Walla Walla CO. December 23 A residential burglary and theft were reported in the county. Burbank On-going verbal domestic. Nothing physical today. Waitsburg An employee was injured in a workplace accident and transported to the hospital. Wallula Locks cut to six individual units at the storage yard. Waitsburg Vehicle was damaged while it was parked on the owner’s property- sometime around Halloween of 2020. Walla Walla CO December 24 Assist with WSP DUI arrest. W...
In the December 17 Christmas issue, we erroneously switched a couple of kids. Imagine mom's surprise! Below is the correct information and photo with the exception of Rylan Struckmeier who did not provide one....
DAYTON—The Columbia County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) met on Dec. 21 to adopt various budgets, sign the ILA with the City of Dayton for Law and Justice, Dispatch, and Court services, and hire an attorney for the Indigent Defense contract. During the meeting, the BOCC adopted a 24 million budget for 2021, including a 2-percent cost of living adjustment for county employees. The BOCC also signed the five-year contract agreement with the City of Dayton for Law and Justice, Dispatch, and Court s...
DAYTON-The Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has announced that Cindy L. Horowitz will be joining the office as Deputy Prosecuting Attorney on January 1, 2021. Horowitz has served as an Assistant District Prosecuting Attorney from the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office in New York. Since 2017, she has served in the Domestic Violence and Appeals divisions of that office. Before working as an ADA in Brooklyn, Horowitz was a securities regulations attorney and an attorney for the...
WAITSBURG-Keeping with the 'chaos' theme of the year, 2020 offered some extreme weather events. On Tuesday, February 4, the National Weather Service reported 3.8" of snowfall in the area. On February 5, the snow was washed away by .69" of rainfall, setting a short-lived record. On Friday, February 6, the rainfall record was surpassed once again, with the area receiving .91" in less than 24 hours. The frozen ground, paired with heavy precipitation and sudden, warm weather, created the perfect...
If it seems like I’ve been writing a lot of articles about Baseball Hall of Famers that we’ve lost this year, it’s because I have. Phil Niekro makes number seven; he passed this week at age 81. He got a late start on his baseball career. He couldn’t manage to stay at the major league level until he was 21 years old; however, he would go on to pitch 20 more years until the age of 48. He bounced between the majors and minors for so long due to control problems with the pitch that would eventua...
With last week’s win over the Rams, the Seahawks have won the NFC West and are guaranteed the #3 seed for the NFL playoffs. They can move up to the #2 seed with either a Saints or Packers loss this week or to the #1 seed if both teams lose their games this week. The NFL smartly groups the last games of the season into time-slots so teams won’t know the outcome of other games critical to their playoff chances. The Saints, Packers, and Seahawk games all start at the same time on Sunday. The Green Bay Packers game against the Chicago Bears wil...
WAITSBURG - "Two weeks to flatten the curve." In March, Washington State enacted a "Stay Home, Stay Safe" mandate as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the globe. Now, as 2021 knocks loudly, we are still staying home, and Waitsburg has done what Waitsburg always does in a challenging situation: Rolled with the punches It became apparent early that two weeks might have kept the local hospitals from being overwhelmed and kept cases low in our little town, but it wasn't going to stop this virus. Our...
It’s hard to believe; this is the third Christmas I have celebrated in Waitsburg. The first was exactly seven days after I moved here. Christmas week, I was a guest at a birthday party and invited to a New Year’s Day brunch/open house. I knew I had arrived, and Waitsburg was perfect. And that winter, I proudly survived what new neighbors proclaimed to be the snowiest and coldest winter in 15 years. Last year, my second December here was also memorable, although not for the snow. Daniel vis...
4 isn't necessarily a year we want to look back at too closely just yet. There was no shortage of bleak headlines, it's true, but this year also proved how well the Touchet Valley bands together in adversity. Most viewed stories on Waitsburgtimes.com by month ❏ January 1884 Local racer signs deal with racing company ❏ February 4266 Waitsburg homes and farms underwater ❏ March 3486 Inslee announces statewide social gathering restrictions ❏ April 1477 Walla Walla County COVID-19 cases doubled i...
DAYTON-2020 has been a year like no other in Dayton's collective memory. In February, the county experienced severe flooding on the North and South Touchet rivers and Patit Creek. The flood, which caused $7.2 million in damage to county infrastructure, was followed close on its heels by the COVID-19 pandemic which sent health and safety personnel scrambling to prepare the county. People were told to wear masks and limit social contact with others. Some did, and some did not. Government offices w...
As January 1st looms ahead on our calendars, some are finalizing plans for New Year’s Resolutions. I saw a TikTok video where they went back to last year’s resolutions and just adjusted them for the current times. Last year: Put myself out there more This year: Go outside Others are finding that after 2020, just surviving 2021 will be a tall enough order. They’re both right. Though The Times is a weekly paper, we resolve to bring more news as it unfolds. We’ll achieve this goal by leaning...
Ten Years Ago December 30, 2010 Walla Walla County passed its annual audit with no complications, according to a report released from the State Auditor’s office Monday. New library manager Su Alexander has plenty of new ideas in store for the Weller Public Library in downtown Waitsburg. Alexander, who took over as manager after Jan Cronkhite retired in October, has plans to make the library new and improved while retaining its historical aspects. Duane and Brenda Lowe will close shop on Brenda’s Discount and Antiques on the corner of 4th and Ma...
