Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 471 - 495 of 997
WAITSBURG - After nearly 20 years of little to no activity at the 10 acres of property the Port of Walla Walla owns in Waitsburg, the piece of farmland will soon become a light indus- trial park. Jim Kuntz, the execu- tive director of the Port of Walla Walla, said the port obtained about 16 acres of land east of the city through donation from the city of Waitsburg and through a land sale in 1993 and 1994. He said the land was always planned for a future light industrial park. Small...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council de- cided to level the city's BMX bike track at the north end of town because of lack of use in a 3-1 decision last Wednes- day night. About one year ago, the council discussed leveling the track because it seemed as though the local children weren't using it. Former Councilman Orville Branson provided vocal support for the track that the Lions Club installed years ago. Branson monitored the use of the track for one year and the Lions Club provided $300 to spray the track for puncture vine on the track....
DAYTON - Gerardo Agu- irre-Hernandez and Ramon Estrada-Gonzalez pleaded not guilty last Thursday in Columbia County to charges of growing marijuana and to being illegal aliens in posses- sion of firearms. Both men are expected to appear in court for a two-day trial on Nov. 8 and 9 in Day- ton. Agu- irre- Her- nandez, 41, and Estrada- Gonzalez, 61, were arrested on Sept. 4 in a forested area east of Dayton after the Wash- ington S t ate Patrol's Cannabis Eradica- tion and Reclamation Team...
WAITSBURG - School staff members and administrators are worried students are not getting enough food to fuel their brains because of new fed- eral nutritional guidelines enacted this school year. Susan Wildey, the food services supervisor for the Waitsburg School District, said the amount of food offered for breakfast and lunch by the district's caf- eterias has been reduced this school year. The change in nutritional guidelines for all school districts across the country is because of the...
DAYTON - For one hour every year, Dayton's football field goes dark during the Re- lay for Life ceremony in honor of those who have faced cancer. The only glow on the field during the fifth annual Blue Mountain Relay for Life on Saturday, Sept. 15, came from candles inside hundreds of paper-sack luminaries along the inside of the track. The stage set up in the cen- ter of the field was a congrega- tion point in the darkness, as relay speaker and coordinator Gerry Richter used a small flashlight...
PRESCOTT - Could Prescott and Waitsburg share a full-time deputy to keep the communities more safe? Both the city of Prescott and the city of Waitsburg are working on new contracts for service with the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Of- fice. Prescott Councilman Doug Venn said he would like to explore a coopera- tive venture with Waitsburg to establish the presence of a deputy in their area of the county. The Prescott City Council discussed the Prescott's con- tract with the sheriff's office at...
DAYTON - Contract negotiations will likely come to a close at the end of the month for the new CEO of the Columbia County Health System. CEO candidate Dale Polla, of Missoula, Mont., said he has been in the Dayton area looking for a house to buy after sending a counter offer back to the hospital board negotiation committee last week. The board will likely ac- cept the offer and proceed with the hiring process at the next board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 27, Hospital Board Chairman Ted Pater- son said. The CEO position has been vacant since...
WAITSBURG – Erma Lee Smith will be honored this Sunday as Pioneer of The Year because her family history in Waitsburg is extensive – she hails from the Hales who date back to 1890 in the Waitsburg area. “I’m Pioneer of the Year and turning 80,” Smith said last week. “I’m flying high.” She learned last spring via a letter from the Waitsburg Historical Society that she would be receiving the award this year at the Pioneer Fall Festival. Smith will be honored on Sunday following the 11 a.m. community church service at the Bruce House Museum on...
DAYTON - Two men were arrested on Sept. 4 for growing marijuana and il- legally possessing firearms in a forested area east of Dayton. The two Hispanic men, 41-year-old Gerardo Aguirre-Hernandez and 61-year-old Ramon Es- trada-Gonzalez , were ar- raigned Sept. 6 and will next appear in the Colum- bia County Courthouse on Sept. 20. Both men were charged with one count of manufacturing a controlled sub- stance, a class C felony, and one count of being an alien in possession of a firearm, also a class C felony. The Washington State Patrol...
DAYTON - The Dayton City Council decided the city skate park will remain closed. The council agreed last Monday to keep the park pad- locked until the next council meeting on Monday, Sept. 24, when discussion on the park is expected to continue. The council is asking to hear from more of those in the community who actually use the park before making a final decision on whether to close it permanently. Several concerned citizens spoke out against the students and young adults who have been using the park inappropriately and breaking park rules...
DAYTON – The Columbia County Fair last week- end brought out families, farmers, animals for show and cowboys riding bucking horses. Last Saturday, Phinehas Kerr, age 6, was showing off his 4-H Cloverbuds display in the youth building at the fairgrounds. The Cloverbuds had spent months working on craft projects and he was proud to show off the photos to his mom, Valerie, and allowed her to even take his photo in front of the display. Kerr said with the Clo- verbuds he had made can- dles and e...
DAYTON - Recent van- dalism at the Dayton city skate park was the final tip- ping point for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office after at least three reports of van- dalism, theft and inappropriate behavior in the park recently. The sheriff's office closed the park with a padlock, pending a city council meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 10 at City Hall. It has been almost three years since the park opened after fundraising efforts by a group of 4-H students who call themselves the Colum- bia County Curb Stompers brought in $37,000 to remodel...
WAITSBURG - State testing scores released last Wednesday from school year 2011-12 show some improvement in Touchet Valley schools in math, reading writing and science and some areas that need more work. According to a press release from State Super- intendent Randy Dorn, scores on statewide testing continue to show improve- ment. The scores released were for the Measurements of Student Progress, High School Proficiency exams and high school End-Of- Course Exams. Third through tenth graders were...
WALLA WAL- LA - Waitsburg held its own in the animal exhibitions last Thursday at the Walla Walla County Fair. Even through the sea of posters, animals and kids and parents bustling about the animal barns at the fairgrounds, the Waits- burg students were easy to spot. Ten-year-old Amy Far- ley from Waitsburg was busy brushing down her large, black steer in the barn preparing for judging Thursday morning. Farley said she'd had the Angus steer for eight months. This was her third time showing...
DAYTON - The Columbia County Health System Board of Commissioners moved to begin contract negotiations with CEO candidate Dale Polla of Missoula, Mont., af- ter a months-long search and a week of events planned to introduce Polla to the community. The board broke for execu- tive session during a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 23, to discuss Polla's candidacy and options for moving forward, Board President Ted Paterson said. The session began at 7:10 p.m. and the meeting reopened to the public at 8:05...
DAYTON - The Colum- bia County Coalition for Youth and Families is one of 60 organizations nation- wide to receive a Drug Free Communities grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The grant money will bring $ 125,000 a year for five years, a total of $625,000, into the Dayton community to help reduce the use of drugs and alcohol by minors. The coalition applied for this grant last year as well, but missed being chosen by one point on the scale. Grant applications are scored by peers and the 60 top-scoring grants receive funding...
WAITSBURG - The city of Waitsburg would like to annex into Fire District 2, but the fire commissioners aren't ready to let that happen any- time soon. "The city is just looking for ways to cut the budget," said Commissioner Jim Leid. "We are already paying the fire chief." The fire district was created by the county tax payers in April 1945, according to the Walla Walla County Assessor's Office. Since that time, the taxpayers' money has funded the district with help from the city of Waitsburg through a mutual aid agreement, said Waitsburg City...
DAYTON – Scott Watkins, a 33-year-old Dayton resident, was arrested by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant last Tuesday, and faces 12 charges for burglary and theft of firearms, knives and video equipment, according to the Columbia County Prosecutor’s Office. Watkins will appear in front of a judge Thursday, Aug. 23 at 1:30 p.m. in Columbia County. He faces charges of burglary in the second degree, three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree, three counts of theft of a firearm, three counts of posse...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council last Tuesday chose to sell about 25 acres of land to The Mc- Gregor Company to expand its Waitsburg operations and add four to 10 more jobs in the city. The approval this week ends the months-long saga of what Waitsburg was going to do with a city-owned bunk house that had collapsed. The bunk house, formerly an apple-packing plant that came down in a storm in late 2011, was previously believed to contain asbestos or lead and removing it could have been costly for the city. Last March, the council learned...
DAYTON - Monday night the Dayton City Council field- ed complaints from concerned citizens and voted to uphold the revocation of the solicitor's license for Stryke Alarm Inc. The alarm company's so- licitor's license was revoked for the Dayton area last week because of the complaints and calls city hall received. Citizen complaints includ- ed Stryke Alarm employees giving false or misleading statements or withholding information about the com- pany. Residents also reported the employees giving...
WAITSBURG - A nar- row race in the Primary Election on Tuesday kept three Columbia County commissioner District 2 candidates on their toes with a margin of just 64 votes between the leading and eliminated candidates. With 171 votes Tuesday night, Mike Talbott led the commissioner candidates for that seat, advancing to the General Election on Nov. 6 with 40.62 percent. A total of 1,132 votes were cast in Columbia County with 421 votes for the commissioner candidates. "It looks like it's going to...
SPORTS CLEARANCE NIGHT 7-12 Sports Clearance Night will be at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 14 in the High School Auditorium for grades 7th through 12th. Dayton School District's first day of school is Aug. 28 Call the district for more information at: 509- 382-2543. DAYTON NIGHT AT THE SWEETS GAME DAYTON - Teen Scene of Columbia County, a summer recreation program for local teens, is hosting Dayton Night at the Sweets Game. There are 50 tickets for the game on Aug. 2, on a first come, first serve basis, available to anyone in the community. Ti...
