Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 38 - 62 of 997
WAITSBURG - Most voters in the Touchet Valley received their ballots in the mail on Friday for this year's general election. Campaigning in Walla Walla and Columbia Counties is winding down, as voters prepare to make their decisions. According to the Walla Walla County Auditor's office, there are more than 31,000 registered voters in the county. Columbia County has a little over 2,600 registered voters. Turnout for the primary election in Walla Walla County was just over 43%. In Columbia County, the primary election turnout was almost exactly...
| PRESCOTT - Cool weather and changing colors bring to mind warm sweaters, hot chocolate and football. Swimming is the last thing on most people's minds, unless you're a board member of the Prescott Joint Park and Recreation District (PJPRD), that is. For them, fall means once again lobbying to fund the Prescott Swimming Pool - a resource they'd like to see Prescott residents giving serious attention to as well. In November, voters in Prescott's Parks and Rec. district will be asked to renew the...
DAYTON - Goblins and witches and ghosts will descend on the Touchet Valley in about a week, but valley residents are ready. The following list will help all those costumed tykes (and their parents - costumed or not) plan their Halloween fun: Dayton Fall Harvest Celebration Blue Mountain Station (700 Artisan Way, Dayton) Oct. 25 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Costume judging, pumpkin painting, coloring contest, bean bag toss, mummy wrap, drawings every 30 minutes and more. Downtown Trick-or- Treat Dayton Main Street Oct. 31 3 -5 p.m. Participating businesses...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Lions Club invited the candidates for Walla Walla County Sheriff to a forum that was to be held during the club's regular meeting here Tuesday. It was cancelled, however, after challenger Tom Cooper told the club he was unwilling to take part. The forum would have allowed community members to meet both candidates and ask questions. "We decided not to proceed since we couldn't get both candidates," said club member Tom Baker, who was organizing the forum. In an interview, Cooper said he wanted to avoid a repeat of his...
WAITSBURG - Tom Cooper says he wants to bring a sense of trust back to the Walla Walla Sheriff's office, which he feels has been lost in the last four years. That is why he is challenging Sheriff John Turner in his reelection bid this year. "We need to gain back the trust of staff and gain back the trust of the county commissioners," Cooper said. He said that a series of disagreements between the Sheriff's Office and the commissioners has led to a situation where the commissioners are at odds...
WAITSBURG - During an interview with The Times, Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner cited a long list of reasons he's proud of his first four-year term as Sheriff. He said it began with listening to employees and the end result has been a significant reduction in crime. "When I first took office I did a lot of listening," Turner said. "I met with all of the employees and I asked them what we could do to make their jobs easier." Turner said he started out by implementing a new set of mission,...
DAYTON - For more than 100 years, schools across the nation have been celebrating Homecoming, honoring school alumni who often return to their alma mater to reconnect with people, places and traditions during events all week culminating with the Friday night football game and high school dance on Saturday. This week, Dayton High School continues the tradition with activities, games, parades, and, of course, the Homecoming Dance. The week began with Powder Puff football and a barbecue, followed...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg High School's Homecoming kicked off this week, and the student body is already getting into the spirit. On Monday, nearly the entire school was decked out in faux mustaches for the "Mustache Monday" dress-up event. At an assembly featuring a best-mustache contest and a relay race, ASB officers entertained the students with corny jokes from Laffy-Taffy wrappers, then threw the candies to the crowd. But Monday was a mere warm-up compared to the other fun, offbeat activities p...
DAYTON - On October 7, Columbia County Sheriff's Deputies, along with officers from the Walla Walla SWAT Team, executed a search warrant at the home of Robert Klingenstein in Dayton. Klingenstein, 68, was arrested after officers found large quantities of marijuana plants growing at the home, as well as other drugs and paraphernalia. The Columbia County Prosecutor's Office has charged Klingenstein with manufacture of marijuana; possession of marijuana with intent to deliver; possession of three...
DAYTON - Dwight Richter has been interested in politics all his life. In his role as a local Republican Party leader he has met five presidential candidates, including both presidents Bush. "I believe that government has gotten too big, and tries to do too much," he said. "But the reality is that the county has been given mandates by both the state and federal governments, the commissioners have to find the best way to meet those in a fiscally responsible way." One area where Richter wants to fo...
DAYTON - Merle Jackson wants to help the people in Columbia County work together better. "If elected my top goal is to find a responsible way to get things accomplished," he said. "I want to facilitate open communications, particularly between the city and the county." Jackson cites his five years on the Dayton City Council (2006-2011), which gives him a thorough understanding of issues that affect both entities. He says there are so many issues that affect both the city and county, such as...
WAITSBURG - The communities of Prescott and Waitsburg are rallying to support the family of Jenna Morton who lost her life in a tragic vehicle accident Saturday morning. Morton was returning to Prescott at about 5:30 a.m. when her van crossed the center line of Highway 124 about 12 miles east of Burbank and collided head-on with a semi truck. The 29-year-old mother, who was alone in the vehicle, was killed instantly. Jenna's husband, Jeremy, is left to care for their three children alone. Two...
DAYTON - The Dayton Chamber of Commerce and the Dayton Historical Depot Society are putting on one of Dayton's favorite events Saturday. Residents and visitors are invited to take part in a fun event for the whole family. Downtown Art Crawl - 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. At least thirteen venues will have art on display. A map is available for "crawlers." Most of the artists will have work on display in the upstairs gallery at the Depot. An artists' reception will be held at 4 p.m. Kids' Fall Festival - 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. North First Street will be closed...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Resource Center (WRC) has come a long way from the dark and crowded food bank that once operated in the basement of the Presbyterian Church. The center, a cooperative ministry of the Waitsburg Christian, Presbyterian and Catholic churches moved to its current home, a well-lit, easily accessible space in the AmericanWest Bank building, in early 2011. The center began receiving commodities under the Federal Food Assistance Program, channeled through the Blue Mountain Action Council, in March of that year and has...
DAYTON - Would a hiker need a permit to take photos while walking the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness -- the roughly 176,500 acres located in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon? The obvious answer is'no.' Unfortunately, a soon-to-be-finalized Forest Service measure on the matter makes that less than obvious. In fact, it's so unclear that local landscape photographer Nick Page recalls being informed by a Park Ranger that he would need to purchase a $150 permit to...
DAYTON - A ribbon cutting was held September 17 to officially open the new Booker Sidewalk, which connects the Booker Rest Home to the Touchet River and the dike path that parallels it. Kevin Ball, a Booker resident, used a special set of scissors to cut the ribbon. The sidewalk begins at the parking lot in front of Booker Rest Home and runs on city of Dayton property adjacent to the baseball and soccer fields. Columbia Cares, a coalition of organizations in Dayton promoting a healthy...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg students will be in for a special treat on October 2. Last month, Gov. Jay Inslee proclaimed October 1 as Taste Washington Day, a day where schools partner with farmers to include fresh Washington-grown foods in their cafeteria meals. That date didn't work for Waitsburg, motivating Food Services Supervisor Susan Wildey to take the program one step further and offer an even more locally focused Taste of the Valley day on October 2. Taste of Washington began in 2010 when the...
WAITSBURG - "WHAT??? I'm a what now?" responded The Times' own Emma Philbrook in response to fellow reporter Dena Wood's request for a quote regarding how it felt to be a National Merit Scholarship semif inalist. Philbrook, a WHS senior, did not receive the National Merit Scholarship Corp. semifinalist notification that was supposed to have been mailed the first part of September and assumed she hadn't qualified. She was greatly relieved, and more than a little excited to learn, through a Google...
SCHEDULE 11:00 Community church service on the Bruce House lawn - Bret Moser officiating 12:00 Pioneer of the Year presentation 12:15 - 3:00 Buffalo burgers with the Q Wood-Fired Grill 2:15 Vintage style show Front lawn musicians: 12:15 - 12:40 Grandma & The Boys 12:45 - 1:10 The Turner Clan 1:15 - 1:40 Switchgrass 1:45 - 2:10 Big Font 3:00 - 3:15 Waitsburg Quartet 3:15 - 4:00 Women's Trio Parlor music:...
WAITSBURG - Jim and Geraine Hansen, Waitsburg's 2014 Pioneers of the Year, reside on a picturesque plot near the top of what their daughter Mary calls "the Hansen version of Walton Mountain." Mary lives just a half-mile up the road; daughter Karen Yager is three miles up; and son Norman lives in the original family homestead on top of Coppei Mountain. In addition to the mountain-dwellers, the immediate Hansen clan includes daughters Cheryl in Pullman, Jeanette inWalla Walla, and son John in...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg School Superintendent Carol Clarke announced at the Sept. 10 school board meeting that the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) will recover $38,708 from the district's September apportionment due to the district's "failure to maintain effort in the special education program". Clarke said the unexpected financial ding is "a tough one." Clarke explained that the recovery comes as a result of staff reductions that took place in 2009 and...
DAYTON - Executives of Columbia Pulp say they are accepting resumes from candidates for senior administrative and management positions at the new straw pulp plant that will soon begin construction near Lyons Ferry. The Company's CEO John Begley said that about 30 salaried positions will be filled in the first quarter of 2015. "We have already received at least 30 resumes," he said. Begley said that a human resources consultant, Jennifer Johnson, has been contracted by Columbia Pulp to handle...
