Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 861 - 885 of 997
DAYTON - When dozens of wellwishers gathered to celebrate Sarah Lyman's birthday at Booker Rest Home in Dayton on Sunday, they came not only to honor this longtime Dayton resident's 100th birthday but to commemorate a century of Columbia County history. "I've seen many times come and go, many changes in Dayton over the years," Lyman said as she took time to visit with every friend, family member and acquaintance who came to touch her shoulder, hold her hand and bless her during the two-hour...
DAYTON - Longtime Touchet Valley resident Steven Long, 23, returned home after dark on Christmas Eve from a trip to visit family in Walla Walla. As he rounded the corner and peered forward into the valley, his eyes locked on an orange glow in the distance. As he drew closer, he saw the farmhouse that's been in his family for more than 60 years fully engulfed in flames. "I was speechless," Long said. "My whole life was in there." He quickly dialed 911 and waited for aid to arrive. Fire crews...
WAITSBURG - In the latest development involving this fall's controversial volleyball coaches' suspension, the Waitsburg School District superintendent has upheld the high school principal's decision to dismiss the three women for the remainder of the 2010 season. Former head coach Jessie Buehler and her sister, assistant coach Katie Buehler, have appealed the superintendent's ruling, insisting they were suspended without cause and were not given a fair hearing before the suspension decision was made. That means the case of the first coaching...
DAYTON - The Columbia County Health System is more than $800,000 behind in its accounts receivable as a result of its recent switch to a voter-approved electronic health records system - a situation that has created a serious cash crunch, hospital directors learned last week. News of a swamped billing staff and unpaid invoices more than 90 days old has prompted directors to authorize CEO Charlie Button to tap into a reserve fund while the district's billing operation is outsourced in part to a Spokane-based company charged with getting caught...
WAITSBURG - The Walla Walla County Sheriff's Department has announced a change of plans for former Waitsburg resident Jason Lujan, a level-three sex offender. In October, detective Cristal Harris reported that Lujan would be released from police custody in November and would be returning to live in Waitsburg. The sher- iff's department organized a community meeting in Waitsburg last month to educate residents about sex offender notifications. However, Lujan's release was put off because of an order for protection placed upon him. Harris said...
DAYTON - Dayton school officials will ask voters to approve a one-year, $250,000 maintenance and operations levy in February. Community response during a public workshop on the levy two weeks ago was mostly supportive, Superintendent Doug Johnson told the school board last Wednesday. Members of the board agreed. "What I heard from people was just that we be as specific as we can about how we're going to spend the money," said board member Marchand Hovrud. Her concern was that the proposed levy not hurt community members already under financial...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council agreed last Wednesday to put back on the agenda the BMX track proposal for a parcel of city-owned land on the edge of town. All but one of the five council members said they did not object to Mayor Walt Gobel's request to discuss the proposal at the council's next meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 19, after track proponents used the public comment session to ask for a full hearing. Orville Branson was the only one who did not want the item back before the...
PRESCOTT - Authorities are on the lookout for an SUV involved in a two-vehicle hit and run accident in Prescott at around noon on Friday. Prescott resident Ruth Clarke, 51, was driving her early '80s model, orange Ford Bronco to Sandy's Market on Highway 124 in downtown Prescott. She was about to make the turn onto C Street, the same route she always takes to access Sandy's parking lot, when a blonde woman, possibly in her 30s and wearing glasses, made a left turn onto Highway 124 off C Street and smashed her bright yellow Ford Excursion ri...
STARBUCK - The Port of Columbia will end its lease of Lyons Ferry Park with the U.S. Corps of Engineers, which means the recreational facility across the river from Lyons Ferry Marina will not reopen unless the Corps can find another tenant. The Corps is now looking for new operators for its Lyons Ferry and Central Ferry parks on the Snake River after the latter's operator too ended its lease with the federal agency. Lyons Ferry Marina, which is operated by P.M. Farmjam LLC, is not affected by the change. Farmjam owners Jim and Angela Mac...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg City Public Works Director Dan Katsel points to a long, vertical gauge painted on the concrete structure under the Main Street bridge across the Touchet. Against a white background, the river's ever- changing water level is indicated in black, one foot at a time. It starts at about the 1 and runs all the way up to the 11, with a red mark at the 8 - flood stage. On Tuesday, the level was below one foot. But last winter, the river reached six feet, and Katsel, who mon...
DAYTON - Lisa Ronnberg, executive director of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce for the past three and a half years, has announced she will leave her position there to become the business manager for the Columbia County Public Works Department. "It's an exciting opportuDirector for me," Ronnberg said about her new job under public works director Drew Wood. "I'm looking forward to it." The change is effective the first of the year. Ronnberg's assistant, Amber Phinney, who joined the Cha...
DAYTON - More than a dozen concerned citizens and civic leaders packed into the Delany Room at the Dayton Memorial Library last Wednesday morning to voice their support of programs aimed at reducing drug and alcohol use in Columbia County. The Columbia County Coalition for Youth and Families is looking in the next three months to apply for a Drug-Free Community Grant, which could bring $1.25 million into the Touchet Valley for programs aimed at preventing substance abuse among youth. "We're looking at about 400 hours investing in ap...
WAITSBURG - Carlos Norris entered his first BMX race when he was 6. It was at the Walla Walla Valley BMX track where the Waitsburg youngster got his first taste of a course sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association, the excitement of competing with other racers and the cheers from his family. "I liked going over the hills and stuff and go after a trophy," said Norris, who is now 8. But Norris hasn't raced in two years. His mom, Lisa, who works in Walla Walla, had to come all the way back...
DAYTON - Officials have less than a week to decide whether voters in the Dayton School District will pass judgment in February on a new school levy. With expenses rising and revenue disappearing at an alarming rate, Superintendent Doug Johnson and the five-member school board are sweating it. "The first question people are going to ask is, 'What are we going to spend the money on?'" Johnson said during a public presentation at the school last week. "The problem is, I don't know. I just know we're going to need it." With cuts proposed at the s...
WAITSBURG - Less than eight months after it was repaired by Haskins Co. of Spokane at a cost of 140,000, the Waitsburg grain bin that split and spilled several thousand bushels of wheat last year failed again in the same spot, Northwest Grain Growers officials said Tuesday. "This should not have happened," said David Gordon, general manager for Walla Walla-based Northwest Grain Growers. "But when these things happen, you correct them." Gordon said about 1,500 bushels spilled from the bin t...
DAYTON - The new owners of Ski Bluewood announced that the mountain will be open for skiers starting Friday, Dec. 3, after more than a foot of new snow covered the slopes on Thursday. quot;We're very excited,quot; general manager Travis Stephenson said about the start of the first season under new ownership. Hours for the resort will be 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. daily except Mondays and Tuesdays when the operation is closed. For more details, visit: www.bluewood.com...
PULLMAN - To say Monday night's 21-14 semifinal loss to Colfax was bittersweet would be an understatement. The narrow defeat to the number one-ranked team in the state was not what the Cardinals had hoped for on the chilly snowbound turf at Martin Field. A first-ever state championship game in Tacoma on Saturday was more what they had in mind after a first-ever undefeated season. But in the wake of the heartbreaking playoff drama at the big Pac 10 stadium, the 2010 Cardinals drew wi...
New Defenses In Place In Time For Flood-prone Seasonbordering WAITSBURG - Like many residents of the Touchet Valley, Phil Monfort has lived through two floods. So he gets worried when the weather patterns start to look like they did in 1964 and 1996. Walla Walla County emergency management officials said last week that the coming winter could be the worst in more than half a century, potentially generating the kind of snowfall, freezes and sudden thaw that contributed to the floods. M...
DAYTON - Last week's arctic-like weather kicked off an early winter in the valley, but it didn't do much to help downtown Dayton merchants with their annual Christmas Kickoff festivities. "Shopping was down significantly from last year, and the number of people was down," said Lisa Ronnberg, executive director of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. "Overall we had a beautiful setting with the snow, but the weather in the region was not favorable to us." Mindy Betzler's "cookie-ometer" confirmed...
Pullman - The Colfax Bulldogs have done what no other team was able to do this season. They beat the hard-fighting WP Cardinals 21-14 in a heart-breaking football game Monday night in Pullman. "We gave Colfax a game, didn't we?" Cardinal Justin Armstrong told his teammates after the game was over, tears streaming down his face and those of others. A crowd of passionate WP fans attended the game despite the cold, snowy conditions. Until the very end, the first half of the semi-final playoff game belonged to the Cardinals, who scored two...
