Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 561 - 585 of 997
DAYTON - The trial date is set for Daniel Baxter, a transient man charged with eight counts of burglary who had eluded police for many months in Columbia County. Baxter, a 34-year-old drifter with ties to Montana, California and Pennsylvania, will appear in front of a judge for his bench trial May 30, 31 and June 1. Baxter is facing 28 different charges from the Columbia County Prosecutor's Office. Those charges are eight counts of residential burglary, six counts of possession of stolen...
STARBUCK - The Starbuck community received some good news last week that its post office, which was in danger of being closed, will stay open. But, this good news is mixed with bad news because the post offices in Prescott, Dixie and Starbuck will see their operating hours reduced. Verna Foley, a Starbuck community member who runs Darver Tackle with Darcy Linklater, said she was thrilled to hear the news last Thursday that the small town's post office would stay open. "I do everything through the post office," Foley said. "I don't trust the...
DAYTON - One could find Rep. Terry Nealey on the court shooting hoops, talking about job creation at the Economic Development Steering Committee meeting, painting a wall to help a Dayton teen with his senior project or taking a ride around Dayton in his restored 1931 Hupmobile. Nealey, who has served on the state legislature since 2009, has announced he will be running again for his position in the 16th District. Nealey said he has worked hard on the state's budget and is focused on improving...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School District enacted a new policy relating to how and how close students can dance together at school events that has caused some tension between students and staff, and even between parents with different opinions, in the community. Secondary Principal Stephanie Wooderchak said last fall some parents of students at the high school and the middle school were complaining about the style of dancing taking place at school functions after hours. The dances had occurred in the fall and some parents said they had found th...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night in a special meeting to make several cuts across the spectrum that will impact personnel, elective courses, counseling for students and other areas and will hopefully save the district $330,000 in 2012-13. "Everybody (will) feel the reduction," said Board Member Christy House. "It's not just teachers." The budget was recently re-evaluated because the district received new budget projections that showed a drop in student enrollment from more than 300 this year to 279....
WAITSBURG - A youth choir that has brought many Touchet Valley teens together for a positive purpose is embarking on its last tour after 15 years. Pastor Mike and his wife Melissa Ferrians of the Waitsburg Christian Church have turned 15 groups of local teens into a singing sensation. The final tour of the Salt & Light Music Ministry embarks June 15 and ends with a home performance on June 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Christian Church. "There's something about kids and music and getting them up there...
DAYTON - A Dayton man was taken into custody early Monday morning on suspicion of fatally shooting his wife at the couple's 3rd St. home on Sunday night, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's office. Joseph Vernon Shuba, 58, who had moved to Dayton from Northern California several years ago, was booked into Columbia County jail on suspision of second-degree murder after deputies found the body of his wife, Suzanne Shuba, 59, in the home's kitchen. According to law enforcement officials and neighbors, the shooting took place at around 9...
DAYTON - The owners of the remodeled Woody's Bar & Grill, now called Threshers, said they have zero-tolerance for troublemakers and have banned four local individuals from the premises after a fight broke out on opening night Friday, April 13. "We've said time and again that we'll close the place down before we become a dive bar," co-owner Curtis Seiss said. "We don't want this sort of thing to happen." The otherwise successful re-opening of the bar following 10 days of remodeling ended an hour early when Columbia County Sheriff's deputies...
DAYTON - A group of Dayton students spent a day of their spring break to paint murals advocating for respect and the end of bullying. Amer icorps member Brittney Jacobs was assigned to complete a service learning project during her time working at Dayton Middle School and she had the idea to address a problem she has seen at the school - bullying. "It's something I personally see that needs help in the community," Jacobs said. Peggy Gutierrez, a prevention specialist with Blue Mountain Counselin...
WAITSBURG - It's Wednesday night. All is quiet throughout the tree-lined streets near Waitsburg's historic Bruce Mansion, except on the corner of Fourth and Orchard. You have to strain to hear it, but when you get closer to the home of Brian and Wendy Richards, the muffled thumps of the steady beat and bass notes emerge from somewhere underground. The weekly practice of the Frog Hollow Band, arguably the most popular country rock group in the Walla Walla Valley, is well underway. Down in the...
Dear Times Readers, Your April 19, 2012, edition of the Times will be one day late. The company that provides our printing services had a technical issue that caused the delay. For more information, please call us at 509-337-6631. Thank you for your continued readership of The Times. Jillian and Imbert...
DAYTON - Blue Mountain Station will soon be a flurry of activity. Blue Mountain Station, a proposed organic and natural foods processing facility and foodie attraction, has just been approved for $750,000 from the state legislature. And the Port of Columbia, which is behind the project, has a big to-do list. The ground was broken at the station's site in Dayton about this time last year. The site will hopefully one day have many buildings full of organic and natural food companies. And now,...
WAITSBURG - The state legislature recently approved $10.35 million to build the Southeast Area Skills Center at Walla Walla Community College that will hopefully allow its doors to open for Dayton, Prescott, Waitsburg, Touchet and Walla Walla students in the summer of 2014. The goal of the skills center is to enroll students in technical education to make them employable upon graduation. It will not cost families extra for students to attend. "This is to provide opportunities for kids who wanted to be ready after graduation," said Doug...
WAITSBURG - With more and more students pulling out of the Waitsburg School District, the school board will be making tough budget choices that may include staff cuts for the next school year. Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke said this school year the district had 305 students enrolled in K-12 education, online learning and Running Start. With a small kindergarten class currently registered at only 12 kids, high gas prices and families moving out of town, the district is projecting enrollment will decrease to 280 students, Clarke said. The schoo...
DAYTON - For the first time last weekend, Dayton High School teacher Steve McLean took four of his students to a regional robotics competition and came home with a trophy. "It's something like I've never seen before in my life," McLean said. McLean and his students, Alex Eaton, Demitri Tziouvaras, Lincoln Riley and James Costello, traveled to Central Washington University with their robot last weekend to go up against teams from Boise, California and even Seattle. Local cities Rosalia and...
WALLA WALLA - A Walla Walla mother of two and educator has always known she was going to run for public office and has set her sights on current County Commissioner Perry Dozier's seat. Chris Blackman, 42, is ready to bring new ideas and perspectives to the table. She filed with the county to run against Dozier for the District 2 seat in the August primary. Dozier is also running to maintain his seat. "She's very driven," said Blackman's campaign committee chairwoman, Tracy Custoldi. "She hasn't...
WAITSBURG - For the second year in a row, there won't be any horse racing in the Touchet Valley. In February, the Washington State Racing Commission asked our local tracks to submit the dates they would like to hold races, but neither Dayton nor Waitsburg put their names in, sources say. The board that organizes Dayton Days and the board that organizes Days of Real Sport cannot afford to host racing events this year because insurance costs have more than doubled from two years ago, said Terry...
PRESCOTT - Two Prescott High School students spent their class time in Home Economics to sew dresses for needy children in Africa. Their teacher Susan De- Ruwe is part of the educational sorority Alpha Gamma, which provided $50 for materials and fabric if students spent their time on creating the dresses. DeRuwe said the dresses are very simple, made of fabric she purchased at St. Vincent De Paul or even pillow cases. Her two students Adriana Benito, 18, and Eva Esquivel, 16, made 10 dresses...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council has a new council member, KC Kuykendall, after Monday's annual election. Results from the election were posted at Waitsburg City Hall and show that of the 320 ballots turned in, the council members didn't change much but for the spot vacated by former councilman Orville Branson. In the results, the most votes went to Kevin House, with 262, followed by Karl Newell, 245, Kuykendall, 243, Marty Dunn, 226 and Scott Nettles, 216. "I'm just really pleased to have...
DAYTON - The Columbia County Health System board meeting last Thursday was a call to staff and board members to communicate positivity about the hospital district and to leave the past in the past as it hunts for a new CEO. Current CEO Charlie Button announced his resignation earlier this month to take on a high-level position at a larger hospital. The board members of the district spent four hours March 22 in a retreat to talk about the search for a new CEO. At the general board meeting later...
STARBUCK - Recent burglaries in Starbuck and Dayton are creating a feeling of insecurity in Columbia County. According to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, it has taken 13 reports of residential burglary and 13 reports of commercial burglary in 2012 as of March 15. Two of these commercial burglaries occurred in Starbuck. This number is high so early in the year compared to the annual numbers of burglaries reported in 2011 and 2010. In 2011, the sheriff's office received a total of 34 reports of residential burglary and 13 reports of...
DAYTON - Community members reacted with mixed emotions to the announcement that Columbia County Health System CEO Charlie Button has resigned from his position for greener pastures in May. The district released a statement Monday saying Button, whose contract was up for renewal in early April, is moving on to take a top job at a larger and undisclosed critical access hospital in another state. Button, whose tenure as CEO has been controversial, has held the position for the past four years...
