Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 496 - 520 of 997
WAITSBURG - Two very important jobs will be in the hands of elementary-aged children this school year that provide for safety of other stu- dents and honor our country. Last Monday, about 15 children attended safety patrol training for the coming school year where they donned or- ange vests and safely ushered their peers across the street and learned how to fold flags with local veterans at Waitsburg Elementary School. "You have a very important job this year," said Margie Douglas, who will teac...
WAITSBURG - Stryke Alarm says there were company representatives in the Touchet Valley area recently when complaints about the employees' sales tactics spread throughout the community. Dayton residents said the employee sounded as though he was peddling a scam in neighborhoods in Waitsburg and Dayton because he was misrepre- senting who he was and providing false informa- tion. Stryke Alarm representa- tives say it is possible an imposter acting as a Stryke representative was giving false inform...
WAITSBURG - For a Waitsburg City Council- man Scott Nettles to take on a 12-year senator, Nettles knew he was fac- ing uphill battle. Nettles is challenging incumbent Sen. Mike Hewitt for the District 16 seat and after the Primary Election results rolled in last week, Nettles was pretty happy with him- self. Nettles reaped in 4,495 votes in District 16 in the primaries, or 30.31 percent. Hewitt earned 10,333 votes, or 69.69 percent. "I don't think that's too bad," Nettles said two days after...
PRESCOTT - The Prescott City Council is hoping to renegotiate its contract with the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office to add in specifics about maintaining a level of service and a better pres- ence in the small city. Prescott's City Attorney Kris Hedine said the previous contract for service between the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office and the city of Prescott was signed in 2006 and an addendum was signed in 2009. That addendum was only good for one year, and so the contract has lapsed...
Waitsburg Fall Festival O r - ganizers of this year's Pi- oneer Fall Festival are hoping Waitsburg merchants will step up to provide food for the event's nu- merous guests now that the traditional buffalo barbecue has been discontinued. Dayton Business Program Local business improvement, job creation and education are the goals of a several-months long business program that will be coming to Dayton, Pomeroy and Connell at the end of September. Prescott New School Hire With more students...
PRESCOTT - The Wal- la Walla County Rural Library District over the next couple of months will be looking into expanding the Prescott Public Library into the empty lot next door or buying land or a building from the Prescott School District, officials say. Aletha Bonebrake, the interim executive direc- tor, said the library district owns the empty lot next to the current library, but she doesn't know if the library should expand into the space. Bonebrake said South D Street, where the current li...
WAITSBURG - Some farmers in the northern Touchet Valley area are pushing back harvest even further this sum- mer because wheat crops are still too green. Waitsburg wheat farmer Neil Carpenter said his harvest work had been held up four days last week because of unripened wheat. "It doesn't thresh real well," Carpenter said. "It's tough." Carpenter said it's not a happy sight to see green wheat kernels in his tank. He be- lieves he's still got some green wheat because of the wet, cold spring....
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School Board passed a conservative budget for the 2012-13 school year last Monday night reflecting staff cuts made in the spring and officials warned that more cuts will be on the table this year. The school board unanimously approved a $4.1 mil- lion budget for 2012-13. The general fund that pays for everything but debt service, capital projects, transportation and the Associated Stu- dent Body, was approved at $3,574,175 - down $153,261 from school year 2011-12. Board members Dr. Randy Pearson and Marilyn Johnson wer...
DAYTON - Threshers Bar and Grill staff and pa- trons demonstrated strength in community last Friday during a benefit for the Lo- rang family that generated revenue for a family reeling from its recent loss. Owner Sandi Siess said the total donation will be $1134.49 from the benefit. Community members flocked to the Main Street eatery last Friday because 100 percent of the profits from the entire day were donated to the Lorang fam- ily. The proceeds included all profits made during the res-...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg's be- loved Postmaster Caroline Wendt is moving on to a position in Pomeroy after more than eight years working in Touchet Valley post offices. Wendt and her husband, Doug, are moving to Lewis- ton because of his promotion within the McGregor com- pany, she said. Her last day in Waitsburg was July 26. "It's really bittersweet," Wendt said. "You have to start all over and it's new people. And I won't have nearly as good of help as I have here." Wendt, age 49, is known to Wai...
DAYTON - The final three candidates for the Columbia County Health System CEO position were narrowed to one this week when two applicants withdrew for personal and finan- cial reasons. The sole candidate left is Dale Polla of Missoula, Mont. "We didn't anticipate this would happen," Board Member Lisa Naylor said. " No one will be hired for the CEO position until after Polla visits Dayton and the surround- ing area on the week of Aug 20, Naylor said. During Polla's visit he will visit local hospitals and clinics to get a feel for the area. With...
DAYTON - Full-day kin- dergarten will not be an op- tion for the coming school year in the Dayton School District. Superintendent Doug Johnson broke the news at a school board meeting Wednesday, July 11. "It was a difficult deci- sion," Johnson later said. "In the end we felt it was impor- tant to continue investing in retaining all of the programs we have and providing some additional support to best serve students." School Board Chairman Steve Martin said full-day kindergarten is one of the highest priorities for the board. The district's...
DAYTON - The Farmer's Market is back for the summer bringing bright produce and baked goods to Dayton shop- pers. "The farmers market is alive and well yet again this year," Dayton farmers market Coordi- nator Zonia Dedloff said. "We had eight vendors (recently)." The market runs on Satur- days from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. but they tend to close early if atten- dance is low or the weather gets too hot or too rainy, Dedloff said. The vendors set up at the Dayton Historic Depot, she said, primarily on...
WAITSBURG - With the first WP football game just five weeks away, School Board Chairman Ross Hamann said he is confident the new light system and press box will be installed by Aug. 31. "Anything we complete in advance of that is a bonus," he said. Colter Mohney, the fa- cilities, transportation and maintenance supervisor for the district, said last Friday the community will soon see progress. Pacific Power & Light was expected to be hanging the lights on the new poles Tues- day, July 24 at 9 a.m. How- ever, Mohney said Tuesday the power...
WAITSBURG - After five months of weighing different options for how to remove the dilapidated bunk house from city land, three parties interest- ed in the property may come up with a solution that puts money in the city coffers and actually could make everyone happy. The bunk house, formerly an apple-packing plant that collapsed in a storm in late 2011, was previously believed to contain asbestos or lead and removing it could have been costly for the city. In March, the council learned there was little or no toxicity from asbestos or lead and...
WAITSBURG - The Waits- burg School District board members and staff had hoped a large project that tore up the track and field to put in a new light system and press box would be completed before track season began this spring. But the project is not close to being done and the first foot- ball game of the season is just six weeks away. The school board approved the new lighting project in February, hoping to get it done before the beginning of track season so the track team wouldn't have to...
PRESCOTT - Changes to the Walla Walla County Library District could mean facility ex- pansions and improvements at the Prescott and Vista Hermosa public libraries. Aletha Bonebrake, the in- terim executive director for the rural library district, said for years the rural district has had a con- tract for services with the public library in the city of Walla Walla. Because recently the city library and the rural district couldn't agree on a payment amount for the city library's services, the contract will expire in December and the partnership...
For a story on the organizers behind the event, see page 2....
Rick Hamilton, a former WP coach, was appointed by the school board to the athletic director position for the Dayton School District on Wednesday, July 11. Dayton’s former athletic director, Jack Smiley, passed away in early May. Hamilton was the head WP soccer coach in 2010-11 and after the season he transferred to Arizona for a job opportunity. Dayton Superintendent Doug Johnson said Hamilton is notable because he worked closely with Smiley to help form the Waitsburg and Prescott athletic combine. Hamilton begins his new position in A...
WAITSBURG - Wheat har- vest in the Touchet Valley area is expected to be a couple of weeks later than usual again this year, but the wheat looks long and robust and should provide some great returns for local farmers, they say. Last year, the wheat harvest took place at the end of July because of wet, spring weather. The typical start date for harvest is about the middle of July. JE McCaw, the Waitsburg branch manager of the Northwest Grain Growers, said this year our rainy June has pushed the s...
DAYTON -- Harvest Christian Center Pastor Tony Sykes said the 25 cents he spent on a book- mark Hosanna Joy Lorang made last Wednesday, June 20, during their youth session was the best pur- chase he ever made. Sykes led seven-year- old Lorang's memorial service Saturday, June 30, in front of an audience of tearful onlookers at the Harvest Christian Center. On Wednesday, June 27, Lorang fell about 20 feet while climbing a tree at her home in Dayton. Her father, stay-at-home dad Jake Lorang,...
