Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 428 - 452 of 997
WAITSBURG - Attendance at the recent WHS Harvest Ball was down compared to the Homecoming Dance earlier in the school year, according to Waitsburg School District officials. Only 40 kids showed up for the second of three annual school-facilitated dances. Short of a student body survey, it's hard to know why fewer students attended the event, but school officials are concerned some would-be dancers stayed away because of the controversy over dance rules and parent access to the kids' social activities. "I think it's sad our kids are i...
DAYTON - The Dayton City Council revisited one of about 76 ordinances that should have been part of the city's municipal code but were inadvertently omitted. The ordinance, title five, chapter 12, section 840 of Dayton's Municipal Code, creates an appeal period of 21 days from the date of an administrative decision and/or an interpretation of an administrative code, city Clerk-Treasurer Trina Cole said at the city council meeting Monday night. The ordinance was apparently inadvertently appealed in 2001, Cole said, and was reinstated at the...
DAYTON - Two men were arrested, one for burglary and one for theft, in separate incidents in Columbia County Sunday, but there's no indication in court documents that either one is connected to any of the commercial burglaries or car thefts committed in the area recently. The suspect in the first incident, Andrew Gatz, 34, listed as homeless, appears to have been caught up in a domestic dispute with a woman he dated on Rose Gulch Road. He was charged with one count of residential burglary and one count of malicious mischief for breaking do...
WAITSBURG - The Times of Waitsburg has hired former Blue Mountain News Editor and Publisher Ken Graham as its new editor following the departure of Jillian Beaudry, who left the Times on Dec. 7. Graham will begin at the weekly newspaper on Jan. 2. The Times also announced it has promoted Morgan Smith to Assistant Editor, a position in which she will support Graham in coordinating news coverage and production. That appointment is effective immediately. The new composition of the Times' news t...
The Times will be closed on Dec. 24 and 25, and on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Please submit deadliine materials normally due on Tuesdays at noon by Friday at noon the week before. Please call with questions: 509-337-6631....
WAITSBURG - Waits- burg's American West Bank made a donation that will keep a lot of neighbors fed during the winter months, giving a whopping $1,600 to the Waitsburg Resource Cen- ter, the biggest donation the bank has given to the local resource center to date. American West Bank Branch Manager Andie Holmberg said the bank tries to make a donation to the food bank every year. At the corporate level, the American West Bank allocates funding as part of their community reinvest- ment act,...
PRESCOTT - The Walla Walla County Rural Library District has purchased an $85,000 property from the Prescott School District to build a new home for the Prescott Library as part of an effort to revamp its county wide branch system. Aletha Bonebrake, the district's interim director, said her organization district had been looking for a location in Prescott to build a new 2,600-square foot library, which would be nearly three times the size of the current 900-square-foot facility. The district, wh...
DAYTON - Eight bomb threats were made in the state of Washington on Nov. 15, one of which to the Columbia County Courthouse forced law enforcement to re-evalu- ate its bomb plan. The caller who made the threat on the courthouse said a bomb would go off 25 min- utes after the call was placed, Columbia County Sheriff Walt Hessler said in a city council meeting on Nov. 26. The call was reported in the police log at 3:17 p.m. The threat was ultimately empty, which Hessler said made the whole event a...
DAYTON - While citizens of Dayton were in the dark during a power outage on Monday, Nov. 19, one of the three pumps that provides clean water for the city was failing, despite several safeguards to protect it, city officials say. As to not put too much work on the one pump the city has left, it is asking citizens to conserve as much water as possible. Water pumps in the city pump water from the ground water into a reservoir. The water in the reservoir is then distributed to customers. The pump, referred to as well pump number one by public...
WAITSBURG - When you mix turkey bingo, a dash of Christmas shopping, a visit with Santa Claus and a lighted parade you get Waitsburg's favorite way to ring in the holiday season. The annual Hometown Christmas events begin this Saturday and run through Monday night. "The nice thing about Hometown Christmas is that it's the same every year," said Joy Smith, the president of the Waitsburg Commercial Club. The festive events kick off with turkey bingo in Town Hall at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Doors open...
WAITSBURG - Some par- ents believe their legal rights were violated when they were asked to leave the Homecoming dance last month because of new rules created by the Associated Student Body and staff members. The new rules were a collabo- ration to help end complaints of inappropriate dancing at school functions. However, after the Oct. 20 Homecoming dance for Waits- burg High School students, school board Chairman Ross Hamann said last week parents complained about having limited access to attend the dance. The new rules, dated Sept. 10,...
DAYTON - The annual Christmas Kickoff returns to Dayton with a schedule so massive, even the Grinch would have to smile. Every year, the Dayton community wastes no time af- ter Thanksgiving, opening the event on Friday, Nov. 23, at 10 a.m. with free make-and-take crafts for kids, a Christmas market at the Dayton Historic Depot and local artists, photography, pottery and live mu- sic at the Village Shoppes. As the weekend continues, more events and venues will help get the community in a festive...
WAITSBURG - Robbie and Mari- lyn Johnson hope the person who buys the Plaza Theatre from them will bring it to life for the community. The couple put the mission-style theater on the market recently for $499,000. "We know that there are people out there (who want it)," Robbie Johnson said. "We hope there's somebody who has the vision." The Johnsons purchased the Plaza on April 1, 2004, from the Sickle Family and have spent the last eight years renovating the apartment upstairs, the bathrooms...
DAYTON - After a nar- row margin of votes between candidates for the Columbia County Commissioner District 1 Seat Two in the first count of the General Election, Mike Talbott main- tained the victory over Tom Bensel by 120 votes in the first recount on Friday, Nov. 9. On the first count Tues- day, Nov. 6, Talbott received 1,029 votes, or 52.45 per- cent of the submitted votes. Bensel received 912 votes, or 46.48 percent. On a second count Nov. 9, more ballots were counted and Talbott received...
WAITSBURG - A lifelong dream has come true for Waits- burg High School student Beka Adams. Ever since she was a little girl, Adams said she dreamed of being part of the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days Royalty Court and now, at age 16, she beat out the competition for a spot. Adams, the daughter of Ann and Lanny Adams, said her big- gest influence in being on fair courts was her older cousin who was Miss Pro West in the 1990s. "She was my inspiration," Adams said. Adams, who has been riding...
WAITSBURG - Six residential burglaries have been reported in the Waits- burg area since the end of September and Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office officials say they're con- cerned because in some of the burglaries firearms have been stolen. The first burglary was reported on Sept. 23 on Bolles Road. Since that time, five others have been reported, about one each week, until the most recent burglary on Oct. 27 on Whetstone Road. Undersheriff Edward Freyer with the sheriff's of- fice said a rise in residential burglaries has been occur- ring...
DAYTON - As winter ath- letes prepare for the snowy sea- son, Ski Bluewood is preparing itself for another year in a tough economy by reducing its operat- ing schedule to compensate for a lack of patrons on certain days in prior years. The new schedule for this year's season will be Friday through Sunday, as opposed to Wednesday through Sunday as the schedule had been in the past. The daily operating hours will remain the same, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the resort will open for the Christmas...
Hewitt Tops Nettles For Senate Dozier Beats Blackman For Commissioner Talbott Edges Out Bensel For Commissioner WAITSBURG - Mike Talbott edged out a narrow victory over Tom Bensel for Columbia County Commissioner District 1 Position 1. Talbott came out on top of the General Election last Tuesday by a margin of only 117 votes. One hundred thirty-eight ballots are estimated left to be counted on Nov. 9, which could impact this close race. Talbott came out ahead last Tuesday night with 1,029...
WAITSBURG - The pub- lic works crew for the City of Waitsburg is almost done with a two-year project to remove vegetation from the city's Touchet River levee that would hold back high water and hopefully protect the city from flooding. However, after the veg- etation removal is finally complete, the city still has a laundry list of to-dos ordered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bring the levee up to the current requirements. Waitsburg City Ad- ministrator Randy Hinchliffe said there is no...
DAYTON - In anticipa- tion of tightening regulations and changes in technol- ogy in the health care indus- try, the Columbia County Health System board voted on Thursday, Oct. 25, to purchase a new intravenous (IV) mixing hood and automatic dispensing machines that will be complete with a round-the-clock tele-phar- macist. Sean Thurston, a doctor of pharmacy for Elk Drug in Dayton, presented two new styles of machines that will help expedite and organize the distribution of medica- tion to patients in the hospital district. The first purchase T...
DAYTON - Students and parents in costumes filled the gym at Dayton High School for the annual fall carnival last Saturday. Parent Teacher Student Organization President Ash- ley Kilts said the event was a success and raised about $1,300 to $1,500 for the or- ganization. The organization uses the money to support the staff and students, Dayton Elementary School Secretary Dallas Dickinson said. In the last few years, the organiza- tion has donated money for accelerated reader awards, helped provid...
