Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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The choice is clear -- Mike Fredrickson is the best and most qualified candidate for Walla Walla port commissioner. Mike is a wellinformed leader who is honest and straightforward. He has a proven track record of leadership with the port and in private business. He takes an active role in promoting new business development and protecting jobs in Walla Walla County. Mike was the only elected official to participate at a town hall meeting regarding the Department of Corrections' plans to eliminate jobs at the penitentiary. He spoke about the...
I can't believe what I'm hearing and reading about turning off water service for "nuisance violations" and water bill outstanding balances. The two issues are unrelated and the business about unpaid bills seems to have appeared as an afterthought to justify the water shut off threats. First of all, denying water is a health and safety violation to the surrounding neighbors. No water means no toilet to flush. Second, when a bill isn't paid and no token money is received for 90 days, the city can place a lien on the property for monies owed....
Leadership changes are badly needed at the Port of Walla Walla to protect the integrity and financial interests of the organization. In every interview and debate in this race, Barlow Corkrum has demonstrated the knowledge and leadership needed to steer the port back on track to government transparency and accountability. It's time to return control and oversight of port business to the citizens of Walla Walla County. Join me in voting for Barlow Corkrum for port commissioner. Darin Christen Walla Walla...
The rich are getting richer. The top 400 earners in this country own about half of America's wealth. The top 20 percent own 84 percent of America's wealth. Meanwhile, the poor are getting poorer. Millions of Americans are out of work with dwindling prospects of being employed again anytime soon. Seventy-five percent of Americans earn less than $42,000, with 40 percent earning less than $20,000. Of industrialized countries, only Singapore and Hong Kong have a more pronounced income gap between the rich and the poor. Corporate profits are up....
In recent years the Port of Walla Walla has done a good job maintaining a balance of the different types of properties to have available for local and outside parties to utilize for creating new and expanding businesses, which creates jobs. Much of this is due to the six years Mike Fredrickson has served as a member of the commission and his current presidency of the board. Much of the maintaining of an inventory of diverse properties is something private investors cannot and do not do. Examples of this are having a site available for Columbia...
As a contender for Dayton General Hospital board commissioner in the recent primary, I was very impressed with the answers given by my fellow challenger Colleen Sproul to the questions posed by the Dayton Chronicle. Your readers might easily have assumed that she, rather than the incumbent, was the one with six years of DGH board experience. Prior to the election I didn't know Ms. Sproul. Since then I have met with her several times and have found her to be very concerned with the direction of DGH, very knowledgeable, caring and forthcoming...
I n this week's edition, we're carrying an update on the prosecution of three suspected marijuana growers who were arrested in or near the Umatilla National Forest during several raids this summer. The case of the first suspect, Santiago Orozco Contreras, has since been turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is seeking an indictment against the Mexican national that could lead to a prison sentence of up to five years. Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell had also forwarded case information on the two other suspects, Jose Meraz Faria...
I am voting for Barlow Corkrum for Port Commissioner for a number of reasons, but most of all because we need new leadership that better represents our common interests. The incumbent Commissioner Fredrickson supported a coal-fired power plant in Wallula. Barlow was the first person raising serious concerns about that misguided project. There are three port commissioners that provide oversight for the staff of the Port of Walla Walla. In my opinion, that oversight should include a person who I can trust to represent what's best for our...
There have been several attempts to defend the Port of Walla Walla's so-called transparency. The simple fact is that the Port of Walla Walla does not audio tape their meetings, choosing instead to take handwritten notes for their scheduled "regular" public meetings. By comparison, the Walla Walla County Commission, Walla Walla City Council, College Place City Council and Waitsburg City Council all choose to audio tape their meetings. The Port Commission has chosen to ignore an easy, inexpensive step toward greater transparency. Having spoken...
As the former Port of Walla Walla Commissioner for District 2, I would like to endorse Mike Fredrickson for re-election. The Port's record of accomplishments during Commissioner Fredrickson's term is impressive. It includes the award winning Railex Produce Distribution Center that transports Pacific Northwest Produce to New York in less than five days. In addition, five wine incubator buildings have been constructed and another phase of the four laning of US Highway 12 has been completed. Equally impressive is the Port's tax levy rate has...
About Needs & Good Deeds WAITSBURG - With plenty of fanfare on Friday night on Waitsburg High School's football field, students from Dayton High School and students from Waitsburg stretched paperlink chains across the field. Each link in those chains represented one dollar raised for the American Cancer Society. The society fundraiser was the first Dayton versus Waitsburg money-raising battle in recent memory, said Denise Winnett, an administrative assistant at Waitsburg High School. Winnett...
I t's fitting that I should be writing this editorial on my iPad since this week's column is about the passing of Steve Jobs. We don't comment very often on events outside our community, but the loss of an entrepreneur like Jobs is something that touches people everywhere for many different reasons. If you're roughly Jobs' age (mid 50s), it's sad to note the death of a contemporary and it makes you appreciate being healthy and alive. If you were born in the 1950s like I was, you would have been in your 20s when Apple made its debut and you woul...
Dear Editor: Obama's Jobs Act is NOT Class Warfare If the Republicans claim that the American Jobs Act is class warfare on the very wealthy, then the Democrats can say that failing to pass it is class warfare on the millions of jobless people who are suffering. These neighbors, friends and family members can't wait while the aforementioned politicians try to protect the very wealthy who should pay their fair share in taxes. Many very wealthy citizens, some of whom are Washington, D.C. politicians (some are Democrats and some are Republicans),...
Clark's Family Makes It Right C aptain Clark's Des cendants Make Amends To Tribe After completing their journey west and spending a wet and wretched winter at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1806, William Clark and Meriweather Lewis prepared to head home. There was just one problem. They were short a canoe. So, they stole one from the Native Americans who had kept them alive all winter. More than 200 years later, William Clark's descendants are making amends by presenting a 30-foot replica of the stolen canoe to the Chinook Indian Nation....
Heart BEAT About Needs & Good Deeds W AITSBURG - Walking past the schools in Waitsburg last week, I heard squeaking and honking. It wasn't ducks or geese in town, it was the school children. I figured it must have been band day or music class at the middle school. The kids were laughing and blowing their instruments as hard as they could. I smiled ear to ear because I do not find this obnoxious, but wonderful. It reminded me of my first time picking up my flute in fifth grade band and trying to...
On several occasions, this column has focused on the importance of sports to the growth, development and health of our local students. As mentioned on previous occasions, this newspaper believes sports not only instill pride and teamwork in youngsters. They keep them on a track where they may be less inclined to get in trouble. In this week's sports section, we include a follow-up on the Cardinals Booster Club's successful fundraising effort for the new press box to which the Times contributed. Club president Ross Hamann reports that with the...
This letter is on the subject of "there's always the spigot, City considers new law to turn off water to chronic code violators" as written in the Waitsburg Times on Aug. 18. After reading the article, I decided to attend the City Council meeting Sept. 21. The city is using Mr. Rick Smith as an example of a city code violator. Even though City Attorney Chris Hedine says the new proposed law is legal, I feel it is not morally right. It seems to be a long stretch from a city nuisance to shutting a household's water supply off. This new law may no...
WAITSBURG - I was sitting on the bleachers at the first WP home football game chatting with Jan Cronkhite and she and I watched as Billy Brown made an amazing run for the Cardinals. She knew Billy from around town and told me his history and what a great kid he is. It was amazing to her that he has been so successful even though his life has not been easy. I heard how he left Waitsburg and wanted to return, with the community rallying around him and finding him a new home. In working on my...
On the back page of this week's edition of the Times, we're carrying an update on the legal challenges facing Melvin Bohleen, the elderly Dayton man who will be on trial in December for his involvement in a collision that killed Westside cyclist Sara Eustis this spring. Last week, Bohleen was sued by Eustis' surviving family for unspecified damages, adding to his woes as a suspect. It's a very sad story to cover. Losing a loved one in a bicycle accident - or any accident for that matter -- is a personal tragedy beyond words. Eustis was a...
Heart BEAT About Needs & Good Deeds DAYTON - On Saturday at the high school track in Dayton, men and women and boys and girls, pitched tents, laughed with their friends and prepared to spend the whole night walking or running around the track to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Relay For Life was held this weekend for the fifth time in Columbia County, said Cheri Stoker, a staff member and community relations manager lead. Twenty-one teams and about 300 people had raised some...
Here are just some of the many stories Waitsburgers shared with us about Bill Thompson: He and my husband were very good friends. He and his first wife moved to town and lived across the street from me. We got very well acquainted. Bill has been part of the family. He was involved in the Masonic Lodge, First Christian Church, was parade marshal in 2004, was Lions Club president in 1977, Lion of the Year in 2000, Commercial Club president in 1982, won the service award in 1988 and was part of the historical society and ambulance board. He lived...
