Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Dear Editor, This is what I think of the Waitsburg-Prescott Combine splitting up. Prescott may not be able to play some of the sports due to not having many players. Waitsburg will also face the same struggle. Gyms may not be available with all the different age groups in sports. Each school will need new sport uniforms and gear. It will be difficult to supply the money for the sports and transportation. The teams may not do as well as before because of the loss of good players. I think the two schools should stay together for sports. Brayden...
1. According to a fan poll by the web site Reddit.com, the Seattle Seahawks are the most hated NFL team in the state of California. We’ll take that as a compliment. (The most hated team in the Pacific Northwest is the San Francisco 49ers.) 9. The Seahawks’ all-time regular season record against the 49ers is 16-15. 8. In high school, Seahawk cornerback Richard Sherman scored 1,400 on his SAT test (that’s very good). He graduated high school with a 4.2 GPA and graduated from Stanford Unive...
“So, Mom,” I said. “Yeah?” “So here we are. We’re strolling down the street in Leavenworth, in America, looking at German buildings. We’re eating gelato, the Italian equivalent of ice cream. I’m carrying the set of Russian dolls that I just bought, plus a hair clip and some candles from an Asian boutique. You’ve got a sack of stuff from a fair-trade shop that carries products from Africa and South America, and you’re thinking about whether to let Chris buy that sword from the Australian impo...
OLYMPIA—Farmers, private businesses and neighboring communities could have more access to water if legislators succeed in requiring state agencies to lease surplus water rights on public land. In prior sessions, some lawmakers have tried to push through legislation allowing local communities to tap into state-held water rights. Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, prime sponsor of House Bill 1000, said his proposal is an effort to have a conversation with the agencies about potential revenue from leasing unused water rights managed by the state D...
Dear Editor, When you get off the two or three most traveled streets of Dayton, there is no question we have some of the worst streets to be found in a city of our size. The side streets are covered with pot holes, deteriorating pavement, and in some cases, just plain gravel. We deserve better than what we are getting. The City’s proposed ballot issue coming up on February 10 to increase the sales tax from 8.1% to 8.3% is a drop in the bucket. It will produce a whopping $69,000 a year if approved, which will be dedicated to street repair and r...
In the 23 trading sessions following Dec. 18, 2014, the Chicago March wheat futures contract dropped $1.22 per bushel. The average bid for Pacific Northwest white wheat in Portland also declined by about 90 cents (approximately 73% of the Chicago move). The primary drivers for this move down were simple; a large crop of wheat in the northern hemisphere last fall, and a very powerful upward move in the cost of U.S. Dollars to foreign buyers. A jump from near 89 to more than 95 in the Dollar Index represents as much as a 6.7% increase in the...
The City of Dayton is asking the city’s voters next month to approve a sales tax increase within the city of 0.2%. The funds will be used to help improve the city’s streets and sidewalks. If the February 10 measure is approved by at least 50% of voters, Dayton will set up a new “Transportation Benefit District” (TBD – get it?) which will collect the new funds and can use them only for transportation improvements. So the future of potential projects to improve the city’s ailing streets is...
Inspiration for this column is a bit like wind power. When the wind blows, you get power. When the wind blows too hard, you can’t use all the power. And when the wind isn’t blowing, you’re in a considerable pickle, as there’s no way to save the surplus power from the days the wind blows too hard. On relatively uneventful weeks (like this one), you’re sometimes reduced to blowing really, really hard in the general direction of your metaphorical wind turbines, and possibly enlisting a few frien...
Dear Editor, The City of Dayton decision to seek a sales tax rate increase and to create a Transportation Benefit District is one that is of utmost importance to our community. You only need to drive the streets of Dayton to realize that there is a need to capture dollars that will only be used for street maintenance. A yes vote will insure that dollars will be set aside to repair, maintain and reconstruct the streets as necessary. Current city tax dollars and existing budget requirements do not allow sufficient funds or reserve to accomplish...
OLYMPIA — Lawmakers are considering legislation to allow university students between ages 18 and 21 to taste alcohol in the classroom. But don’t plan a celebratory high-five unless you’re an aspiring winemaker. “It’s imperative that someone learning to make wine has the requisite palate to recognize the nuances that are inherent in the product that they are making,” said Rep. Larry Springer, D-Kirkland, wine merchant and co-sponsor of House Bill 1004. “This is a product that you don’t just talk about: you smell it and you taste it. It would be...
OLYMPIA - Would your legislator ever consider decriminalizing heroin possession? Or maybe turning the Supreme Court justices’ elections partisan? What about allowing teenagers to taste alcohol? The 2015 legislative session is just getting started, but already some proposed bills are likely to turn a few heads. Sixteen Republicans and three Democrats have sponsored House Bill 1051, which would require Supreme Court justices — but no other judicial officer in the state — to declare a partisan affiliation when running for election. One spons...
Every once in a while some adult in my family will tell a hilarious joke about my being able to pay my way through college. I laugh. They look confused. And I find out that it wasn’t supposed to be a joke in the first place. As far as I can tell, paying one’s own way through college is all but impossible nowadays. Depending on which way you lean politically, this is either the inevitable result of Socialist-style financial aid distribution or a conspiracy of the wealthy establishment to rem...
OLYMPIA--Two years after Washington voters ended pot prohibition lawmakers are wading through a thicket of proposed reforms that aim to stabilize an industry struggling to get off the ground. “Right now I call it the wild, wild west,” Senate Democratic Leader Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, said during Thursday’s annual Associated Press Legislative Preview. “We’ve got incongruities in this law that we need to solve.” With seven new cannabis-related bills pre-filed so far come seven new opportunities to shape Washington’s unprecedented...
Dear Editor, A few drivers are putting themselves and our school bus riders at risk by choosing to violate laws. School busses are required to stop at railroad crossings and yes, they accelerate slower than your car which may inconvenience you. That does not mean it is safe or legal for you to pass them across the double yellow line to get in front of them. School busses follow the speed laws for trucks, not cars, meaning they may be going 60 mph when your limit may be 65 mph. County roads, such as the Middle and Lower Waitsburg Roads, are...
The Times invites readers to share their thoughts on our Opinion Page. Letters to the Editor can be emailed to us at editor@waitsburgtimes.com, or mailed to The Times at P.O. Box 97, Waitsburg, WA 99361. Letters can also be hand-delivered to our office. Letters should be no more than 400 words long. All letters must be signed by the writer(s) using their actual name, and complete contact information for each writer, including address and phone number must be included. We reserve the right to decline to publish any letter that we deem...
About four years ago, when I was publisher of the Blue Mountain News, I interviewed State Representative Terry Nealey as he was preparing to start the 2011 legislative session. The economy was in the dumps then, and the state government was facing a reduction of more than $1 billion in tax revenues compared to the year before, along with a huge budget deficit. Here’s what Nealey had to say about that in December 2010: “In 2007 the state had a $2 billion surplus, and the Democrats passed a bun...
It’s been one of those days. After wasting two cups of good pecans on a batch of gritty pralines, I discovered that one of my college applications is missing some components – in other words, that it is still bound and determined to kill me with a stress-induced apoplexy. It’s days like these, remarkably, when I make the most progress on my recreational writing projects. Anyone who has ever had more than two undertakings go sour within forty-five minutes of each other can appreciate the appea...
DAYTON – Republicans are in a stronger position in the Washington state legislature this year, and the state's economy is stronger as well. Those are two factors that State Representative Terry Nealey, Republican from Dayton, will look forward to as he heads to Olympia this month for his sixth legislative session. The 2015 session of the Washington State legislature opens Monday. This year's regular 105-day session will last until early May. The state house and senate must agree on a two-year bu...
This issue of The Times marks, for me, the completion of two years as the paper’s editor and one year as its owner and publisher. For once, the new year brings no big change in my role here. It has been a great pleasure to help bring news and information to our readers in Walla Walla and Columbia Counties the past two years. (And let me not forget the many readers around the country who read The Times to keep up with what we’re doing here.) It’s a privilege to be able to provide a voice for w...
I sat in the living room thumbing through a seed catalog. I contemplated ripping out the order form and sending for a few choice varieties of tomato when I remembered that I would be heading off for college right before they were in season. The floor was littered with shreds of wrapping paper. A brother and a couple assorted cousins were sprawled on the floor and furniture. A paused frame from the credits of a Christmas movie flickered on a TV screen. It was getting warm, and I was getting...
Dear Editor, I’m in full agreement with Joyce Anderson’s letter (“Stricter requirements needed for pot processing” / Union-Bulletin / December 26, 2014). In addition to the 1965 Walla Walla Avenue location (mentioned in her letter), here are two more examples of unacceptable locations for pot retail shops: 927 West Main Street. Tangletown Holdings (Seattle) plans to open in March 2015. This address is in a residential and small business neighborhood. A church is across the street. And The Salvation Army and St. Francis Catholic Church are abo...
