Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 225 - 249 of 997
WAITSBURG - Waits- burg's City Council replaced the city's one-year morato- rium on recreational marijuana sale and production - which expires this month - with a marijuana zoning ordinance during Monday night's City Council meet- ing. The ordinance was ap- proved as presented, with an amendment providing for collective gardens. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe presented a draft ordinance limiting the processing, production and sale of recreational marijuana to the city's industrial zones....
WAITSBURG - A high speed car chase through Waitsburg's city streets cul- minated with a wreck in a wheat field and the K-9 unit capture of a hiding offender. The driver, Skyler Glasby, 25, and passenger Phillip Fetner, 29, were both ar- rested at the scene. On Dec. 14, according to a Columbia County Probable Cause report, a Columbia County Deputy was return- ing from the transport of a prisoner to Walla Walla County when he spotted a 1997 Mercury heading in the opposite direction. The officer re...
WAITSBURG - On Jan- uary 12, 1970 "hellip; a small group of Waitsburg people, after recognizing a need, met together to see if an ambulance service could be started in Waitsburg. It could, it was, and it still con- tinues to be a vital part of our community, serving Waits- burg and surrounding areas. We are very proud of the Waitsburg Ambulance Ser- vice and the volunteers that keep it going." Those words are taken from a president's letter written by Waitsburg Ambulance Service (WAS) Board...
DAYTON - The Dayton Schools and the Columbia County Sheriff's office will hold a joint public forum next week to provide information about school safety and law enforcement, and to invite public input on those issues. The forum will be held De- cember 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Dayton High School. Columbia County Sheriff Rocky Miller said the forum is part of his effort to encour- age public input on how the Sheriff's office is doing and what improvements are needed. " I ' ve been walk...
WAITSBURG - Volunteers from the Waitsburg Fire Department spent a good chunk of Thanksgiving weekend cutting down the com- munity Christmas Tree and setting it in its place of honor in front of the Plaza Theater on Main Street. They also decorated the Main Street light posts in preparation for Waitsburg's 28th annual Hometown Christmas event. A tradition, by its very defini- tion, is born of sameness. And while Hometown Christmas always maintains the familiar comfort of a well-loved tradition,...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School District is conducting an online survey to gain public input prior to a potential ballot measure for a replacement Maintenance and Operations levy next year. The survey is available on the Waitsburg Schools' web- site at www.waitsburgsd.org. Participants can also get a printed copy of the survey at the district office at 184 Academy St. The district is requesting that surveys be completed by December 11. Next year, the Waitsburg School District is planning to ask taxpayers in the district to approve a new levy...
DAYTON - The Dayton School District is inviting citizens in the district to attend one of three public "facility forums" to learn more about proposed major upgrades to school facilities and to provide feedback. The forums will be held in the high school audito- rium at 6 p.m. and last about 90 minutes. They will be held on the following dates: - Wednesday December 11 - Thursday December 19 - Wednesday January 15 The meeting agendas will include: - Review of the Study and Survey completed by BLRB Architect/Engineer- ing - Potential renovation...
DAYTON - The Columbia County Sheriff's Office re- ported late Tuesday that deputies have arrested a juvenile male they believe is connected with the threatening note that delayed Dayton schools last week. The subject was arrested Monday and formal charges are still pending. No further information was available at press time, and the case is still under active investigation. Dayton schools opened two hours late on November 25, after a school custodian found a threatening note on the high school entrance early that morning. Deputies and fire...
WAITSBURG - Last week's public information meeting regarding a pro- posed water rate increase was pushed back a month, but the City doesn't have the luxury of waiting to address current water system needs. Letters inviting the com- munity to attend the Novem- ber City Council meeting and offer input or ask ques- tions regarding a potential water bill increase were included with Waitsburg residents' most recent utility statements. While a handful of individuals did show up to that meeting, the...
DAYTON - According to the Columbia County Sher- iff's Office, a female student at Dayton High School re- ported last week that a man she didn't know attempted to entice her into his vehicle. She said the man had a white beard and was driving a white sedan. She reported that he asked three times and she declined all three times. Sheriff's Office spokesperson Dian Ver Valen stressed that anyone witnessing a similar incident should report it immediately, so that deputies can attempt to locate the offender. The Dayton School District has reported t...
DAYTON - Schools here started two hours late Mon- day morning after a threatening note was discovered on the entrance to the high school by a custodian at about 6:30 a.m. The hand- written note is reported to have threatened harm to the schools and its students if the schools held classes this week. According to Columbia County Sheriff's Of- fice spokesperson Dian Ver Valen, sheriff's deputies, local fire fighters and other responders secured district buildings by 10 a.m. All streets with...
DAYTON - Imagine a teacher taking his students on a field trip and leaving one or two behind. Inconceivable, some might say. Yet this is just how former President George W. Bush described the country's dysfunctional education system in 2001 when he proposed the No Child Left Behind Act. No Child Left Behind introduced federal standards to our nation's schools. Though Bush's ideas for education reform were both well-received and strongly criticized, they drew attention to a new way to look at...
DAYTON - One of the lead stories on Tri-Cities TV station KEPR's eve- ning news broadcast on November 13 was about two potentially racist incidents that occurred in Dayton reently. The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported on the same stories on its front page that day. On the night November 6, firefighters from Colum- bia County Fire District 3 responded to a small fire that was set in the lawn near Day- ton Elementary School. The fire had been burned into the grass in the shape of a swas- tika,...
WAITSBURG - At the Waitsburg School Board's October meeting, Super- intendent Carol Clarke re- ported the district had 13.1 students over the 270 enroll- ment the district budgeted for 2013/14. At November's meeting Clarke reported that number had taken a significant drop, with 8.5 full time equiva- lent students having left the district. Clarke is also aware of another family that is planning to leave before Christmas. Clarke noted that afford- able housing and employ- ment opportunities were...
WAITSBURG - Last week's Commu- nity Food Drive - sponsored by the local Leo and Lions clubs - brought in a total of 1,267 pounds of food, which filled the shelves of the Waitsburg Resource Center. That is 110 pounds more than what was collected in the 2012 drive. At 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Waitsburg High Students met at the school parking lot and divided by class to prepare for the food drive competition. The town was divided into sections and each class was accompanied by a Lion's member who...
DAYTON - Dayton Chamber of Commerce Execu- tive Director Brad McMasters announced his resignation last week. He will leave his position no later than January 15, 2014. In an email to chamber board members, McMasters said he is moving to a new home near College Place, and hopes to re-enter the education field. "Sometimes our lives lead us in directions we didn't necessarily expect," he said. "That has certainly been the case for me in the past few years." Chamber Assistant Linze Purcell, who...
DAYTON - Dayton na- tive and former Seneca ex- ecutive Duane Dunlap was named "Citizen of the Year" by the Dayton Chamber of Commerce last week at its 67th annual awards banquet. The Chamber also awarded courthouse maintenance supervisor Dave Finney as employee of the year, the Weinhard Hotel as Busi- ness of the Year and Dayton High senior Carlos Oribio as Youth Citizen of the Year. Dunlap has been a long- time volunteer as a board member of the Dayton Historic Depot and has led the effort to...
WAITSBURG - Fewer than 20 people attended a community forum Tuesday night at Waitsburg Elementary School - with only four of those not on the district payroll. The gathering was held to solicit input from community members regarding the amount of sup- port the Waitsburg School Board will seek from taxpayers to meet maintenance and operations needs as well as fund future capital expenditures. School Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke opened by sharing some of the issues Waitsburg schools are...
DAYTON - Voters in the Dayton School District will likely be asked in April to approve a major bond levy measure to finance the first comprehensive school reno- vation here in 30 years. The District's facilities review committee last week decided to proceed with a plan that is projected to cost $24.2 million. About $19.5 million of that would be funded by the bond, to be repaid by local property taxes. The remain- der would be covered by state matching funds. Dayton School Superintendent Doug Jo...
