Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 628 - 652 of 997
DAYTON - Dayton School District's after-school program is losing its grant funding at the end of the school year and may be at risk for not being continued by the district because there's no way to fund it, Superintendent Doug Johnson said. For the past five years, Washington State University has funded Dayton's afterschool program through a 21st Century grant. The grant ends with the last day of school this year, Johnson said. The district wasn't in charge of the finances for the program, but Johnson estimates it cost about $75,000 a year to...
DAYTON - The Touchet Valley Arts Council will have crowds roaring with laughter in its newest musical theater comedy "Nunsense." The show, about five nuns who must raise money to bury fellow nuns who accidentally died of food poisoning, sing and dance and crack jokes the whole way to prove that nuns really can be funny. The show runs Friday, Jan. 27, through Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Liberty Theater. The show is not recommended for children under age 10. Bev Startin directs the show, her first...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council last week unanimously voted to deny its support of the revitalization of a flood control district that would use taxing powers to help prevent flooding in the Touchet and Coppei rivers. "If our people don't like raising out water bill $3.50, they're sure not going to like this," said Councilman Orville Branson. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said the city had previously two flood control districts, but both went defunct because of a lack of volunteers. Recently, a group of citizens, Allison Bond,...
DAYTON -- One year after Shawn Kemp became the first former NBA star to visit Ski Bluewood, another basketball celebrity is destined for the mountain this season. A.C. Green, who started his career at the L.A. Lakers and retired from the Miami Heat with detours through Dallas and Phoenix, is expected to spend the day at the resort on Saturday, Feb. 4. "He's not really into the cold," said Brenda Ford, the Walla Walla-based co-founder of the 3BA International basketball league for which Kemp and...
DAYTON - This journey seemed simple enough. I found an interesting piece of information on the Columbia County website about its jail. Not only is it in the longest-operating courthouse in the state and turning 125-years-old in 2012, but the jail cells in the basement are from the brig of a ship. This is the way many great newspaper feature stories begin. We take a tidbit of interesting or weird information and we expand on it. And as journalists work, we ask for help all the time. We need help...
WAITSBURG -- As clear as day, Craig Funabashi remembers the first time he saw his grandmother's Story & Clark Victorian pump organ. He was six and visiting the Seattle area with his parents from Long Beach. As they would for many years to come, he and his family traveled up to Whidbey Island for his grandmother's Sept. 5 birthday and family reunion. They would meet at the cabin where Vangee Johnston kept the ornate wooden instrument and played many old- time Ragtime favorites for her grand kids...
PRESCOTT - Th e Krutsch Family came to Prescott last month to call the Prescott Community Church their new home. And even though they've never lived in a town as small as Prescott, they're adjusting just fine. "We're excited about pastoring and getting to know this community," said Mike Krutsch, the church's new pastor. Mike moved here with his family on Dec. 29 from Denver, Colo. Mike is 41 and his wife Kim is 39. They have two children, Kyle, 5, and Callie, 3. Steve Hoffman, the chairman of...
DAYTON - One break-in and one attempted break-in to rescue dogs at the Dayton dog pound near the city's water treatment plant recently, said city staff. On Christmas Eve, a member of the city's Public Works Department noticed the gate at the pound had been pulled back enough to free one of the dogs, said Sal Benavides, the assistant superintendent of the department. On Jan. 3, another breakin at the pound was attempted. Benavides said someone tried to use bolt cutters to release a dog, but it looked as though the bolt cutters weren't large...
DAYTON - A recent break-in and possible sighting of the elusive squatter who has been breaking into vacant homes in Dayton has spurred the Columbia County Sheriff's Office to step up patrols in the area, Sheriff Walt Hessler said. The sheriff's department believes at least one transient has been breaking into vacant homes and staying overnight and stealing valuables. The department released a general description of the man last month, who has been sighted by several witnesses, but not closes enough for a police sketch. Authorities describe him...
DAYTON - State funding for the Drug Task Force that helped bust last summer's big marijuana grows and helped reduce the availability of drugs in the Touchet Valley was eliminated last month. The drug task force ceased operations Dec. 31. It began in 2005. Walla Walla and Columbia counties were part of the South Eastern Narcotics Team that also included Asotin and Garfield counties. The state provided $1.5 million per year to different agencies through a grant for the task force. About $ 5 7 , 4...
DAYTON - Columbia County's 2012 budget is slightly higher than in 2011, but because of state funding cuts, a few integral departments will be losing a substantial amount of money from the previous year. "We're trying to maintain our level of service, even though we're in (a tough) economic situation," Auditor Sharon Richter said. The 2012 budget, passed Dec. 28 by the county commissioners, has an amount of $3,587,498. This increased just slightly from the 2011 county budget that had an amount of $3,516,682. There will not be any layoffs at the...
WALLA WALLA - For nearly 50 years, horse-loving women in the Walla Walla Valley have had a place to call their own. In 1962, the Valley Girls Barrel Racing Association was created to bring together the best barrel racers of all ages in the area. Many of them hail from the Touchet Valley, including Kelli Currin and her daughter Shayla, who have been active in the barrel racing and rodeo scenes. The Currins live in Dayton. Kelli has been racing since she was young and brought up her daughter in...
WAITSBURG - The Baby Jesus figure from Waitsburg's Presbyterian Church was found hanged by a tree near the church Monday morning. Pastor Bret Moser of the church said the recent incident is a violent crime and is asking the community to help find the suspects. Moser said a neighbor saw spectators in front of the church on Main and Fifth streets taking photos Monday morning about 8 a.m. and upon realizing the hanged figure, alerted Moser and removed it. Deputy Brian Bush with the Walla Walla...
WAITSBURG -- A group of Waitsburg residents wants to resurrect the town's defunct flood control district, a prospect city officials say they welcome. "We want to keep Waitsburg safe and beautiful," said Allison Bond, who spearheaded a recruiting effort that has yielded the required number of volunteers to serve on the district next year. "There are a lot of people willing to put the time in," she said. "And they have great ideas." Citing concerns about the stability of the levees along the local rivers, the ongoing risk of decertification by...
The year of 2011 brought sports victories, a bumper harvest, hospital district changes and other newsworthy stories to the Touchet Valley. For a full roundup of all the best news and sports, see pages 7&8....
DAYTON - On the eve of the year-end holiday season, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office is warning homeowners that an elusive burglar is still at large in the Dayton area. The sheriff has also released a general description of the man, who has been sighted by several witnesses, but not close enough for a police sketch. Authorities describe him as a "tall, white male, between the ages of 25-50." The suspect has been targeting vacant homes inside the city limits for the past several months, forcibly entering them, stealing personal property and...
DAYTON - Last Wednesday evening, community members gathered in the library's Delany building to see the final suggestions from an architect company as to what the city's Historic Commercial Avenue could look like in the next 10 to 20 years. Dougherty Landscape Architects, from Eugene, Ore., was the company hired to redesign the street to enhance its connection to Main Street and link the county courthouse, Blue Mountain schoolhouse and all of the "jewels" in between. "It was (David Dougherty's)...
WAITSBURG - Citizens of Waitsburg should be ready to be recounted. City Manager Randy Hinchliffe said the recent federal census count was lower than the city believes it is, at 1,217 people. With a lower count, the city will receive less money from the state each year, he said. The state currently dishes out funding through liquor tax, gas tax and other revenues based on the city's current population. With a low count, Hinchliffe is worried that until the next census, the city could miss out on a good amount of state money. "If you leave it...
DAYTON - Dayton High School Student Carlos Oribio asked the Dayton City Council Monday night to take a tough stand and prevent youth access to alcohol amid the changes to state liquor laws since the passage of Measure 1183. Orobio spoke on behalf of the school's Students Helping Each Other club, which has about seven core members to encourage their peers to stay away from alcohol. Oribio said he and his club members are concerned that Measure 1183 will make it easier for teens to obtain alcohol because liquor will no longer be sold and...
WALLA WALLA - About 160 positions were eliminated at the Washington State Penitentiary recently, affecting many valley residents. Chad Lewis, spokesman for the Washington Department of Corrections, said the cuts made two weeks ago are the result of an analysis earlier this year that showed the state could reduce the budget for corrections as well as the custody levels at different prisons. As of last Monday, there are 32 prison employees residing in Dayton, 14 in Prescott and 49 in Waitsburg, according to Shari Hall, a public information...
DAYTON - After 25 years as a commissioner for the Port of Columbia, Lawrence Turner has decided it's finally time to hang up his hat. "I thought it was time to go home and farm for a while," Turner said with a laugh. Turner, now 83, was asked by the manager of the port in the mid-1980s if he would be interested in filling a vacancy on the board of commissioners. Turner had public service experience. He had served Columbia County as a commissioner from 1972 to 1980. He has lived in Dayton all of...
WAITSBURG - Thi s Wednesday night, the Waitsburg School Board will be deciding whether to place a levy on the Feb. 14, 2012, ballot asking voters to pay $882,000 over two years to maintain school programs and facility operations. Last Wednesday, the board directed Dr. Carol Clarke, district superintendent, to prepare a levy resolution for the board to vote on this week. The levy is a maintenance and operations levy that would run for two years if approved, and would replace a current maintenance and operations levy. If approved, the district...
TACOMA -- The WP Cardinals claimed the 2B 11-man football state title with a 33-7 victory over the Morton/White Pass Timberwolves last Saturday night in the Tacoma Dome. The undefeated Cardinals became the second WP team to win a state title this fall after the Tigers won it for soccer. Only two other teams in the state - Odessa and Davenport - accomplished this before in football and volleyball, according to sports historians. The road to the dome is a journey that began long before the...
TACOMA - The 2011 WP Cardinals became the first football team in history to win the 2B State Championship trophy for their communities on Saturday. The 14-0 team beat Morton/White Pass 33-7 in the state title game at the Tacoma dome in the same convincing fashion as it defeated most previous opponents the past several seasons. The Cardinals were the first to score and never looked back. They were up 14-0 at halftime. Morton/White Pass scored early in the second half and for a few moments, it...
