Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1169 - 1193 of 1333
I n reference to the article that appeared in the Waitsburg Times recently, which alluded to the perception that the Columbia County Sheriff's Office is picking on the people going to or returning from Bluewood, it is the policy of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office to be fair and even handed when issuing infractions and citations. Therefore I feel there needs to be a written response from my office. In years past the Sheriff's Office and Emergency Medical Services personnel have spent...
Two weeks ago, we congratulated Waitsburg on its School of Distinction award from the state's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and on the successful Cardinals basketball program. We were remiss. We should have congratulated the Prescott School District along with Waitsburg. Prescott is, of course, an equal partner in the sports combine. Although not as many Prescott students are members of the basketball team, the district deserves as much mention for supporting the program that shaped the teams going to state this year. We'd...
During the 1950s, a group of us in Waitsburg started a group called the Rock Club. Some of the members had been "rock hounds," and we decided to form a group to share our adventures. We split up the party into small family groups, sometimes going to separate areas where we could explore for rocks or arrowheads and other artifacts, such as bowls and pestles or scrapers, for example. We went to Whitman County one of the first times searching for arrowheads. We had permission from the farmer to search as it was in trust with the bank. This is...
This week's cover story is about two recent encounters with cougars, or perhaps more aptly "a cougar," as it's presumed the incidents in Dayton involved the same animal. The first event occurred near the bus barn at the high school in late January. In the predawn hours, a maintenance worker heard something that sounded like an animal being killed in the brush, and Ryan John, enforcement officer from the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife, was called in. He brought local hounds men with him and pursued the mountain lion along the Touchet Ri...
Wai t sburg has always had a "thing" about horses ever since it was first settled in the 1850s. Horses supplied the power, which has made this a successful farming community. The difference now is that the horse power is mechanical. City authorities purchased about 15 acres of land just south of town in 1893 and designated it a city park. A race track was developed in 1901 for the use of the Waitsburg Driving Association, allowing a time for early morning testing of favorite trotting horses. Horse shows were held primarily on Main Street until...
Lindseys Embark On Adventure From The Heart WAITSBURG- Not quite a quarter century on the planet, Cole and Brittany Lindsey found themselves at a crossroads late last year. Cole, now 25, had worked as a Department of Ecology contract biologist doing environmental impact assessments at Hanford for three years, while Brittany, 24, was working as an emergency room nurse at Kadlec in the Tri Cities. The lease on their rental came up, and they needed a change. Plus, they were ready to give in to a...
The Cardinals are going to Spokane, where we wish them the very best of luck. We hope they go far, very far. But even if they don't come back with a single win, their historic double district championship is already a huge victory - not just for the teams, the players' parents and the coaches, but for the Waitsburg and Prescott school districts. And in the case of Waitsburg, it is the second victory in a single week. Before the Cardinals basketball squads even set foot in the Sherwood Athletics Center at Whitman College Friday night, the...
For years, I have wanted to have a place to come with my horse in Dayton, where I grew up, and nearer to my extended family in the Walla Walla, Touchet area. About six years ago, I put up a 17th century style barn there with a small living area and corral and bought a small Ferguson tractor and implements to care for the piece. The tractor proved to be too small for the rough ground, so I prepared it for sale and bought a bigger John Deere 60. In October, when I tried to use the Ferguson, it scarcely would run. It had been vandalized. After...
Two weeks ago, I wrote about our pleasant surprise when we learned that the Times was a business with two buildings. We bought the company because we wanted to run the newspaper, but we also wanted to open a coffee shop on Main Street. At first, I thought the Times building at 139 Main would be the best place for an espresso bar, but the more I considered it, the more I realized we'd be much better off consolidating our news offices in a renovated front office and making the Mock building next...
Horseracing in the Touchet Valley and Walla Walla was dealt a blow last week when the Washington State Horseracing Commission announced it would give only six racing days to the entire Class C circuit of four eastern Washington tracks and that it will give all of them to Sun Downs in Kennewick. However, this setback, which doesn't come as a complete surprise, need not spell the end of a fine tradition here. In fact, we feel it can be a turning point for the sport. The Waitsburg Days of Real Sport board has already decided that their annual...
This is in response to Verna Foley's recent letter to the editor. I have been on city council for the town of Starbuck since 1996. I am also the certifi ed wastewater operator for the town. I do this voluntarily. Foley's letter to the editor was full of false statements. Foley implied that she should not be charged a sewer dump fee at the trailer park she and Mayor Darcy Linklater own because she is already being charged at a rate above what other residents and businesses pay. This is not true. Their overall bill is higher because their usage...
A firefighter's full bunker gear (the boots, pants, coat and helmet), mask and selfcontained breathing apparatus weigh close to 75 pounds. The boots are big, heavy and tough, making you feel as though your feet have been encased in rubber-coated cement blocks. The thick pants are nearly inflexible, like wearing rubber shields. The helmet itself weighs several pounds and is loaded with attachments. And the whole get-up is hotter than an attic in the summertime. A firefighter's duty, however, is...
Far be it for us to suggest how local authorities should enforce the law. But we've had a chance to observe some patterns and activities in Columbia County, intentional or unintentional, which raise questions about fairness. Let's begin with Ski Bluewood. Along Fourth Street in Dayton and the North Touchet Road in the county, an unusually large number of patrols were seen pulling over motorists for speeding violations. According to reports, two sheriff's office deputies were along the route in the mountains and two patrols from the U.S. Forest...
"The Poultry Plungers" in The Times photos two weeks ago were not identified in correct order. Vickie Hamann was the woman jumping into the water holding her nose. Joanna Lanning was third in line next to Patty Hazelwood. The Times apologizes for its error....
I n response to the letter to the editor submitted last week by Darver Tackle owner Verna Foley, I would like to point out a few important facts that she does not appear to fully understand. I am aware the city council approved an RV park built on McNeil Street, but the RV dump on this property is what is in question. It was not approved by city council, and we have found no documentation in the city minutes that it was ever discussed. The dump was put in after the RV Park was built and, to my knowledge, was not inspected by any approved...
The first time we drove into Waitsburg, I knew there was something missing on Main Street. Someone in Walla Walla had recommended the Whoop ' Em Up Hollow Café for dinner, and once downtown, we discovered Waitsburg also had a charming hardware store, a great bar, a friendly pub and even a homegrown brewery. But we could find no place to get espresso. Other than John and Marilyn Stellwagen's table at the Waitsburg Hardware and Mercantile, there was no place to get together during the day, there...
Since we took over the Times in late 2009, we've made a number of changes to your newspaper. We hope you enjoy the new look, content and services we provide. Soon, our offerings will include reproduction services and retail office supplies in our renovated historic office on Main Street in Waitsburg. As a newspaper team, we truly enjoy putting together the Times every week because we get lots of encouragement from you, our readers. This is one of the reasons why it saddens us to bring you some bad news with regards to the long-term future of th...
Dear Editor: Starbuck City Council members Ruth Shearer and Fred White have decided that I should have sewer rates raised on the three-space McNeil RV Park and Dump. Ruth leads you to believe that Darver put this RV park and dump in secretly or underhandedly. The facts are that former Mayor Dianne Lusk was working for Darver Tackle and was very much aware and informed on the progress of the McNeil Park, as was the council. Darver asked Clark Posey, Columbia County planner, to lead me through this step by step just so I wouldn't be doing...
A lthough the recent article appearing in the Times, "Eager Beavers Worry Hofers," was written with obvious journalistic skill, I take exception to the headline and leading sentence: "Although Cindy Hofer loves the beavers who visit the family farm on the banks of Coppei Creek, she gets nervous when they settle in." It would be more accurate to say that the beavers cause little or no uneasiness. In fact I enjoy their antics and feel honored to live so close to their chosen habitat. My actual...
