Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 526 - 550 of 638
Dear Editor, The Waitsburg Times account of publisher Ken Graham’s interview with County Commissioner Todd Kimball was accurate as far as it went. It gave more than adequate coverage to the Commissioners’ perspectives on the Dozier’s request to start a water bottling business on their land. What was missing was any acknowledgment whatsoever of the well-reasoned legal, zoning and resource-savvy positions that oppose this misuse of the county’s valuable and limited water supply. The Times repeated the claim that since wineries and distilleries ar...
Dear Editor, I am dismayed that “one of us,” the Doziers, would request permission to ship raw water out of our semi-arid area. Further, I am even more disappointed in our county commissioners for entertaining such a request. Our water should only be removed from our area in an added value state, such as farm or garden produce, not in tankers or bottles. Those of us who continually have to negotiate with state agencies to maintain our rights for irrigation water should find this bottled water request completely out of line and not be con...
Dear Editor, There are a bunch of wonderful people working hard to bring our annual celebration to our great, One-of-a-Kind, little city. That event is Waitsburg Celebration Days and it is being planned for the weekend of May 18, 19 and 20. So far, our community has responded very well to helping make this weekend really special. The Parade will once again be held on Armed Forces Day, and so the theme will be “Celebrate Waitsburg, the American Way”. As Waitsburg citizens are wonderful volunteers, we (The Parade Committee) are seeking nom...
Dear Editor, Several groups have offered input concerning the fairgrounds. The latest, the Grandstand Advisory Committee, was created by council. It was created to exist for a limited time which, I believe, has expired. Due to busy lives this committee met no more than a half-dozen times and never had all members present. There were varying opinions by Committee members at the last meeting regarding public interest. That led to the request for an advisory vote on the city election ballot. Currently the grandstands are a potential liability. Som...
Dear Editor, I received my property tax bill last week. It was really high. But then again, I knew it would be, because the Washington State Legislature in 2017 imposed new taxes upon the citizenry in order to “fully fund our schools.” Just how much that translated into as additional taxes, I did not know for sure until the tax statement arrived in the mail, three days after the election date for the Dayton Schools $800,000 Capital Levy. Carolyn Henderson Dayton...
To the Editor: Isn’t it funny how, within the mass propaganda campaign to “Vote Yes for Our Kids,” so little is mentioned about how the taxes we are encouraged to regularly, every two years, levy upon ourselves are not predominantly spent on school maintenance and repairs? Four years ago, the Dayton School District floated a (failed) 20-year, $19.9 million construction bond to fix a school they lamented was simply falling apart. In an April 5, 2014 Union Bulletin article by Rachel Alexander, superintendent Doug Johnson brought out, reluc...
Dear Editor, Washington State’s governor appears not to have understood when voters expressed their opinion of a carbon tax at the polls. Governor Inslee continues to press that issue in an interesting manner. Staffer Chris Davis has been working from Africa on that issue for the governor. Working remotely takes on a new meaning. Is Davis still being paid by state taxpayers for working from afar on one of the governor’s pet projects which voters turned down? Also according to the Seattle Times, another Inslee advisor, Reed Schuler, is bei...
Dear Editor, We are writing in support of the upcoming Dayton School District capital projects levy. This levy will replace the current 2017-2018 levy. The primary purpose for this levy is to upgrade the boiler systems for the School District. The boilers for the Elementary and High School buildings are 33 years old and have reached the end of their estimated lifespans. The Ag - Wood Shop boiler is the oldest at 52 years old. The large hot water heater unit is also over 30 years old. The aging equipment continues to have breakdowns and is not...
Dear Editor: It is once again time to for Columbia County residents to give serious thought to Dayton’s school and its infrastructure. A school is just like our own homes; it has buildings and systems that need constant care and do not last forever. Heating equipment gets old, fails, and requires expensive repairs. Water heaters fail and must be replaced. Dayton School District is facing issues like these right now. A large water heater/heat exchanger unit is over 30 years old and its reliability is a concern. Three heating boilers need to be r...
Thanks to Terry Jacoy for his vote against entering into an agreement with the Corps of Engineers to fund a study of Waitsburg’s flooding by the Touchet River and Coppei Creek. Councilman Jacoy’s dissent of this study shows someone is thinking with open eyes that such knowledge is at the exclusion of wisdom. Waitsburg’s $225,000.00 share in a $550,000.00 package would go a long ways in lessening this city’s flood damage in order to clean out and deepen the river bottom in and beyond city boundaries. Doing what is needed, not “studyi...
Dear Editor, The Friends of the Library would like to thank the following businesses for their donation for our fundraiser basket to purchase books for the Weller Library: Blue Crystal, Dumas Station, Midway Food Mart, Clarence Stearns, Gary Thomas Lawn Service, Whiskey Canyon, Laht Neppur, Waitsburg Grocery, Blush Salon & Spa. The basket raffle raised $710 to buy books for all ages! Veronica Sandau’s ticket was drawn to win the basket. We also had a recent donation from Jim Walsh of $100 to buy books. Karen Huwe President - Friends of the L...
Dear Editor, On Saturday, December 2, with the Columbia County-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 volunteers and community members, the Waitsburg Resource Center was able to deliver 260 Christmas stockings to children in the City of Waitsburg. The leftover stockings were donated to Santa to deliver at 10 Ton. What a fun day for the children, and for us. But we could not have completed this project without the help of the volunteers, and especially the volunteers at the fire district who were willing to donate their time on a Saturday. Where...
Dear Editor, Maybe you have been reading in our local paper about the plans being made for our Columbia County Fairgrounds, which includes tearing down one of the large historic buildings, The East GrandStand.This could be just the beginning of removing, piece by piece, our historic fairgrounds.We now have someone working in the area,who has closely inspected the grandstand, and knows what needs to be done to preserve its special significance. He is willing to work with us to do this. There are many other areas of our Fairgrounds that also...
Dear Editor, It’s only common sense that the bottom of the Touchet River needs to be cleaned out along with unclogging two of the three bays of the Preston Street Bridge east of town. It creates a potential dam site that will direct the next high water (flood) through the middle of town and west down Highway 124. The new bridge downstream at the north end of Main Street will be of little use. Built on a delta created by the Touchet River and Coppei Creek, Waitsburg has experienced these raging waters before. We deceive ourselves in relying o...
Dear Editor, President Jimmy Carter stated April 17, 1980; “{4-H} represents unchanging American values in a changing world – values like learning from doing… caring for a community, leadership, integrity. Those things don’t change. And they’re kept alive by young people who are not burdened down with doubt, but have a fresh hope for the future.” I am disappointed in the funding Washington State University has in place to run the 4-H program. A proposed $25-a-year fee for each child is unbelievable in my community of 250 youth, 35 of whom are...
Dear Editor, Recent variations may change the opinion of Ms. Miller (9/28/17 letter) concerning grandstands, as it did mine. At the 9/12/17 Waitsburg Fairgrounds Committee meeting Mr. Nicely stated the grandstands could be made usable for about $40,000. I asked if that was just labor. Mr. Nicely responded that was the total: parts, labor, permits. As a result, it seemed worth a few more months to explore. I was later told Mr. Nicely said the same thing at the September 20 Waitsburg City Council meeting, except he added “for the first p...
Dear Editor, The start of October once again starts a new 4-H year! To promote 4-H in the window competition, two groups came together to display what 4-H is in our community, Home Grown Go Wild 4-H and Swine Swaggers. Check it out and let the 4-H office know if you like it or not! We are competing versus Walla Walla Clubs! Thanks for checking out the display at Ten Ton Press! Timothy Daves, Waitsburg President, Home Grown Go Wild 4-H...
Dear Editor, Seven years ago my wife, my dog and I retired to Dayton to escape the increasing chaos in the Tri-cities. I had seen the Salmon Bake posters in years past but never bothered to even read the fine print. (I can’t explain why.) This year a good friend convinced us (as in sold us tickets) to attend. For the unknowing this event occurs annually as a fundraiser for the Waitsburg Lion’s Club. The proceeds go to help people in need in the local community. If you’ve never been, you don’t know what you missed. The food is all excelle...
Dear Editor, After reading the Fairgrounds Committee article on page 1 and 5 followed by the letter on page 4 in The Times dated September 21 regarding the Waitsburg fairgrounds grandstands, I thought about the imminent demolition of Dayton’s East grandstands. It is my understanding that the demo is scheduled to begin in October. However, I hope our commissioners will decide to postpone this action. I believe Mr. Nicely should be asked to evaluate our grandstands for repair and restoration before it is too late. It seems there is conflicting i...
Dear Editor, Previously I wondered how much more time and money should be invested in determining the fate of the Waitsburg Grandstands. The city has taken about a year so far and Randy had to request progress reports several times from the Spokane engineer who, it seemed, wanted more money to expand the scope of the study. Interesting that when informed it was unlikely the city would go for the expensive options it only took the engineer a couple of hours to state “…So tearing it down may be the best solution…” After attending the Fairgro...
Dear Editor, At the risk of having a council member refer to another suggestion as “ugly” let me put forth other possible ideas regarding the fairgrounds & grandstands: What options are there to raise money to save the grandstand? Does the grandstand qualify for some sort of historical help? -If grandstand is demolished could folks bring lawn chairs for the mentioned concerts/events? -If grandstand is demolished create a tiered mound of dirt in its place for those lawn chairs. -If tiered mound is created possibly provide folding chairs for eve...
Dear Editor, When the issue of problems with the Waitsburg Fairgrounds grandstand first came up more than a year ago, it was supposed to be easy and inexpensive to determine whether to fix the problems and keep the structure or tear it down. After this much time and thousands of dollars spent on expert opinions, the decision has still not been made to repair or demolish. Are there other options? Portable grandstands were mentioned. Should their cost be added to the cost of demolition to be comparable with rebuilding? What about a pole-building...
Dear Editor, A few years ago Waitsburg was torn up one summer to make Main Street look pretty. Why wasn’t the infrastructure taken care of then? A couple of years later we had a leak on Main Street. Now a bridge needs to be replaced without the necessary funds to do it. How much of the plans are just “bells and whistles?” Heaven forbid it should be practical. I hope we won’t be stuck with more foolishness. Donna Murray Waitsburg...
Thank you to all of the fire departments, neighbors, and friends who helped fight and put out our fire. Risking your lives and equipment for us does not go unnoticed. Columbia-Walla Walla Fire. No. 2 did a great job at command. We appreciate all of you. Thanks again. Jack, Guy and Jesse McCaw...
Howard P Smith Farms would like to thank the six fire departments that responded to help put out the fire that consumed 200 acres of wheat on our property on July 25. We greatly appreciate your help and are grateful that the loss was not more. Sincerely, Howard P. Smith...
