Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Dear Editor, The writer of the Burg opinion piece several weeks ago seemed to be "dissing" the local gridiron program. Who wrote this article? A major klutz whose two left feet wouldn't let him do anything more difficultthan run up the stairs with a handrail? One who never had the chance to hear the roar of the crowd when he sank the basket a second before the game bell? Big time wrong! Paul McCaw was Prescott's quarterback, and a good one, pitched a no hitter that made Touchet cry, and was a guard with a great jump shot. He was also a re...
Last Christmas my daughter Merridy and granddaughter Megan talked about their upcoming trip to Ireland. I became interested as Ireland is a country I have wanted to visit. As time went on, I was encouraged to go along. The first item of business was to update my passport. Megan investigated tours and dates, and it was decided to go with C.I.E. International Tours the first week of September. All flight and tour arrangements were made by Megan and Merridy. I went along for the ride, and what a ri...
Pete's, for years a Walla Walla retailer where many bought their winter gear, went out of business a few weeks ago. Most merchants plan months ahead when it comes to stocking up for holiday and winter sales. Owner Hal White said he simply couldn't hang on until there was certainty about the future of Ski Bluewood, which is scheduled to open this week. But there was another reason he couldn't hang on. Aside from the sluggish recovery, he said Main Street retailers like him are a dying breed, circumvented by manufacturers' direct or indirect...
Dear Editor: Last month the Waitsburg Preschool went on a field trip to the Waitsburg fire station where Fire Chief Jim Callahan, First Captain Brian Callahan, and firefighter Greg McVay gave us our tour. What I thought would be just a fun experience for the kids turned out to be a great learning experience. I have always talked about fire safety with my son and was sure I had covered everything. It wasn't until Brian put on his full firefighter gear, mask and oxygen tank, that I realized how scary a firefighter can look to a child. Jim expl...
Representatives Nealy and Haler argue that electricity from coal is necessary and inexpensive. Coal is the worst of fossil fuels and is quite expensive if externalities are added. We in the United States use much more energy per capita than those in northern Europe, with both areas having a high quality of life. When we purchase and use fossil fuels, we are not paying for externalities: air pollution, global climate change, rising sea level, poorer health. The world has warmed 1°C (1.8° F) since the Industrial Revolution. Because of the lon...
Chose Affordability Terry Nealey Larry Haler Most people hardly give it a second thought. Flick on a switch, the light comes on. Plug in a computer, it powers up. We depend on electricity for our day-to-day tasks, our jobs and the quality of life we enjoy in the Pacific Northwest. On rare occasions when a storm knocks out power, we begin to recognize how difficult life would be without electricity. That's why it is wise to plan now to ensure an adequate electrical supply well into the fu...
The week after Thanksgiving, Waitsburg School District Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke has an unenviable task in front of her. She has to sort out whether the three volleyball coaches who were suspended in the aftermath of a contentious team meeting were treated fairly. At a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 1, she will hear from the suspended coaches, Jessie Buehler, Katie Buehler and Tressa Robbins, and from school district officials, most likely athletics director and high school principal Stephanie Wooderchak and possibly others who wer...
I am grateful to Mr. Matthee for his preemptive rebuttal of my remarks on high school football in the Burg on Nov.11, and for taking the idea seriously. Writing something that may be controversial seems like a waste if the presentation is not attacked, so much so that I have often thought of writing my own rebuttal. If I did, I would mention two things. One, it (a decrease in attention paid to school sports) will never happen. At least not for a long, long time. We don't need to worry that anything will impact our high school team sports....
Having just returned via one of our rooter busses this evening from Waitsburg, I wanted to make sure the first thing I did upon returning was to thank Waitsburg High School and community for the warm hospitality they showed us this weekend. Of course the football team roughed us up a bit, but that's not what I wanted to thank you for of course. Between superintendent Carol Clarke, principal/athletics director Stephanie Wooderchak, retired superintendent Robbie Johnson, and I assume some great parents, our visit to your community Saturday ni...
(Editor's Note:) In his Veterans' Day speech to Waitsburg High School on Nov. 10, Ells Bartlow shared with students and the communitysix results produced by wars: casualties, heroes, presidents, songs, character and memorable quotations. Here are the words this local veteran spoke in honor of his comrades. First of all, wars of course bring causalities. The Civil War caused more deaths than all the other wars involved in our history. Over 600,000 died in that war, and over 400,000 were w...
It was a year ago this week when we were introduced to the rhythms and rituals of producing a community weekly in the Touchet Valley after we bought the Times from Loyal and Kathy Baker. We had no idea at the time what a gratifying adventure it would become. In that first week before Thanksgiving 2009, we were totally focused on writing stories and taking pictures for our first issue while stepping onto the steep learning curve with ropes and crampons. Just making it through the first night felt like finals week. But slowly, as the weeks went...
My husband's grandfather, Dr. Rufus Butler, was a "horse and buggy doctor" in Waitsburg for 30 years. According to an article in the Waitsburg Times in 1950 memorializing him, he was one of the last settlers to recall log cabins, Indians, hardships, and pioneer love of the Northwest. In the short time that I had the pleasure of his acquaintance, I realized he played an important role in the history of many people of Waitsburg, and he had many interesting stories to tell. His education and background differed from today's physician as we k...
Visitors to downtown Dayton may have noticed the modern, full-service, handicap accessible crosswalk at the traffic light on 2nd and Main. It beeps loudly, warns pedestrians in a commanding voice not to cross if they press the button at a green light, let's them know when it's okay to go and gives them a countdown for how much time they have left. It's called an accessible pedestrian system, a fully integrated pedestrian station that provides the pedestrian with visual, tactile and au...
Since we arrived in the Touchet Valley, we've had the honor of meeting a number of local veterans or of getting to know them posthumously through their families. In some cases, we've had a chance to report on their lives and express our gratitude for their service. In January, there was the Starbuck funeral of Dick Ferguson, the highly decorated veteran of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. In May, we wrote about Joel Smith, the Vietnam veteran whose ashes were buried at the Waitsburg cemetery on Memorial Day. This summer, we had a p...
Riding a wave of discontent about the state of politics and the economy, Republicans took a majority of seats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday but did not reach a majority in the Senate, where Democrats hung on to a slim margin. Early returns showed that democrats lost 60 seats in the House, leaving them with 183 and Republicans with 238 with an additional 13 races still undecided. Two-hundred and eighteen seats are needed for a majority. In the Senate, Democrats kept 51 seats, compared to the Republicans' 46 with three races to...
The middle aged fat men sit at the table working on their teams. Their game doesn't resemble what they played in high school. There's no suspense gripping the pit of the stomach before the game, no pep rallies, no nubile young cheerleaders focusing their whole attention on them. No long bus rides from Pomeroy, Asotin, or Touchet, basking in the joy of victory. Their muscles- their stamina-have not been tested in years. When they finish drafting their players, their work will largely be done. Then they will sit back and check their st...
In this month's Union Bulletin Lifestyles magazine, Managing Editor Robin Hamilton and photographer Greg Lehman produced a piece about the Times - our changes since taking over, the response to them from readers, our backgrounds and our vision for the newspaper. We are grateful for this coverage and its colorful presentation. The Rockwellian cover art reflects the love and respect we have for the newspaper's 133-year history and the buildings we're currently renovating. The article itself reflects the connection we feel to the Touchet V...
On this week's opinion page, we're running Paul McCaw's "Burg" about football and team sports in general. He has an interesting perspective on these school activities, and though it's not ours, we welcome his candid view on the subject and his thought-provoking style. His writing and that of others in our community help make these pages a forum for healthy debate about local issues that affect us. There are many takes on team sports, and it's true that players, parents and communities can...
Dear Editor, Most residents of Columbia County aren't aware of how much crime occurs around them unless they have the bad fortune to become a victim. And if you become a victim in Columbia County, the odds of catching the perpetrator are not very good now. According to the numbers I've found for 2007 through September of 2010 (Sheriff Hessler's tenure) there have been reported: 145 Assaults, with 13 arrests 93 Residential Burglaries, with 7 arrests 40 Commercial Burglaries, with 4 arrests 451 Thefts, with 9 arrests 113 Car Prowls, with 2 arrest...
Letter to the Editor: There have been a lot of letters to the editor professing their non-support of Prosecuting Attorney Rea Culwell. These people all believe that they have some basis for their opinion, and that for some reason their opinion is something that everyone wants to hear. From my vantage point, most of these detractors are upset because of the prosecution of a family member. If those who had written these letters were the victims in the cases and Rea had not prosecuted, my guess is that their letters would be just as negative, but...
