Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 805 - 829 of 997
DAYTON - While the wind and early spring rains still descend on the Touchet Valley more than the rays of the sun, Erin Horan is already busy planting this year's garden at the Monteillet dairy farm. The heartier items - peas, radishes, Lima beans, fava beans, spinach and potatoes - are in the ground, with beats and carrots soon to follow. It's one of the lessons the manager of the Monteillet farm's CSA (communitysupported agriculture) has learned from last year, when she first planted the...
DAYTON - When Washington state instituted a fee several years ago for documents filed at the county auditor's office to help offset the cost of fight homelessness, Columbia County Commissioners were sure it would take a long time to raise enough money to address the issue here. Although the state-mandated fees were set up to help counties build a reserve of cash intended to help the homeless, the roughly $12,000 per year leaders expected to raise wouldn't amount to much for years to come - or so they assumed. But in just a few years, that fund...
DAYTON - Amidst the excitement of announcing the court and program for the Columbia County Fair this weekend was the anxiety country fairs across the state share these days: funding from Olympia. With horse racing already nixed this year for Dayton Days, fair organizers fear another blow to a local cultural tradition if lawmakers cut $2 million in state subsidies for fairs across Washington and, of this, $31,000, or almost half the budget, for the Columbia County Fair. "With the loss of the fund...
DAYTON - During the past several years, all has been relatively quiet on the meth front. But in recent months, it appears that local production and consumption of the drug are back on the rise, according to law enforcement officials in Walla Walla and Columbia counties. "It's coming back," said Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Jeff Jenkins, who functions as narcotics specialist for the county and is part of a task force for Columbia, Walla Walla and Garfield counties. "We're all concerned about...
WAITSBURG - A Walla Walla judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of Adam Hermanns, who is charged with the theft of automotive components and a fire arm. "We are actively seeking Mr. Hermanns," said Eddie Freyer, Undersheriff for Walla Walla County. "Any calls and tips related to his whereabouts will be pursued vigorously." In addition, the sheriff's office is interested in talking to Hermanns about the Jan. 25, 2011, garage fire at the residence of his parents, Pam and Andy Hermanns. That...
POMEROY - It was like a scene from Sherwood Forest. Men, women and children tromped through the woods carrying bows and quivers filled with arrows. But this wasn't Robin Hood and his band, nor was it Merry Auld England in the 12th century. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of modernday archers, with compound bows priced between $15- $1,200, wearing synthetic, camouflage fleece and hiking boots, swarmed the forested hills at Tucannon Campground. "It's is a great way to get the family...
WAITSBURG - Remember what Preston Park looked like during Cycle Oregon? There were vendors selling everything from veggies to T-shirts. There was a beer garden and live music. There were cyclers getting their picture taken with Izzy the camel. It was a fun, festive sight that made you want to stop and pull over on your way through town on Highway 12 or 124. Now a small group of local organizers wants to create such an attraction at the park every Friday evening and may get some help from the city for its goal to create a permanent seasonal farm...
WAITSBURG - Charles Smith's idea for the former American Legion hall on Waitsburg's Main Street is simple: turn it back into the kind of bar the town needs. Expected to be called the "Anchor," the planned new drinking establishment in the building just south of the Whoop Em Up Hollow Cafe will serve light beer, "comfort" snacks, standard cocktails, have a big-screen TV, a country music jukebox, and feature games like pinball and fuss ball. In other words, it will be everything the jimgermanbar...
WAITSBURG - What began with instruments, plenty of talent and a dream has developed into so much more for six Waitsburg kids. "We wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Troublemakers," said 12-year-old Emily Adams of Waitsburg. And without hesitation, that's what they are doing. The Blue Mountain Troublemakers started in January 2003 with a group of Waitsburg Elementary kids who wanted to play bluegrass like they'd seen in the hit movie, "O, Brother Where Art Thou?" These young musicians...
WAITSBURG - For the second year in a row, Waitsburg residents will have a choice of mayoral candidates in their annual elections for city government next month. Waitsburg carpenter, soccer coach and former council member Bart Baxter told the Times earlier this week he is running for the position now held by first-term Mayor Walt Gobel. During a caucus meeting at Deanne and Larry Johnson's house on Monday night, Gobel and all current city council members were nominated again as "Truth & Trust"...
DAYTON - Bob McCauley wasn't a master gardener but just a community-minded retiree living next door to a piece of city land. He happened to be paying attention one day as citizens discussed community development in Dayton. "They were talking about things we could do, or needed to do," McCauley said. "One thing that came up was a community garden." McCauley nominated himself to head the push for an all-access gardening spot. He had just the place in mind. His father had farmed the land adjoining...
WAITSBURG - It may not have brought quite as many people to town as Cycle Oregon did last year. But in the world of youth wrestling, Waitsburg hit the big time this weekend as host of a 17-team tournament that attracted close to 2,000 visitors on Saturday. "It was exciting," said Kari Newman, co-founder of Waitsburg's Matbirds club, which is affiliated with the larger Washington State Little Guy Wrestling Association, an organization that has 70 clubs statewide. For five weeks starting in early...
SPOKANE - The Cardinals lost narrowly against the Bear Creek Grizzlies Thursday afternoon, pushing the game into overtime before being edged out by the Redmond team. The Cardinals lost 58-49 after leading by four points before the buzzer saw the game tied at 47-47. The Team plays Lake Roosevelt Friday at 10:30 am....
WAITSBURG - They may not perform their "sport" in front of a hometown crowd. They may not generate "edge-of-your-seat" excitement just before the clock runs out. They may not get a rousing sendoff when they leave town as would-be champions later this month. They may not even leave in a yellow bus. But all that aside, this team from Waitsburg High School is also going to the state "playoffs" in Spokane to test their academic knowhow against other competitors from around the state. The 2011 Knowle...
DAYTON - In the predawn hours on a Thursday morning two weeks ago, Derek Katsel woke to the sound of his dog barking. "I got up and went outside to see what was going on," he said. "When I came around the corner, there was a cougar five feet from my porch, looking at my Jack Russell at the door." Katsel went back into the house to dress and get his pistol. When he came back out, the puma took off running toward his shop with three of his dogs in hot pursuit. They quickly had the lion treed a sto...
WALLA WALLA - How did they do it? One word: Belief. Belief in themselves, belief in their teammates, belief in their coaches, belief in their community, belief in victory. Belief was a recurring theme in comments from everyone interviewed about the 2011 Cardinals basketball teams' success in the past two weeks. That belief, combined with a hunger to win and a depth of physical talent, lined up for something that has never happened before in history. Both Cardinals teams - the women still...
SPOKANE - The WP men beat Brewster 63-50 in their first state playoff round and are in the final eight, returning to Spokane to play at the Arena on Thursday. The WP women made it to the final 12 before getting knocked out by White Swan on Friday and Lake Roosevelt on Saturday. They lost 75-53 against a rough Cougars team, then succumbed 43-34 to the Lake Roosevelt Raiders....
DAYTON - Dayton Days will not "go dark" this year, thanks in part to the Columbia County Fair Board, but it will not likely offer any horse racing. The Washington State Horseracing Commission decided earlier this month to give only six days of racing to the four-track Class C "Bush" circuit, with all of those days going to Sun Downs in Kennewick. This news hit the Touchet Valley hard, with its tradition of horse racing every spring at Dayton Days and Days of Real Sport in Waitsburg. Last week Waitsburg's Days of Real Sport board decided not to...
WAI T SBURG - Trenton Kitselman started wrestling when he was 12. He was still living in Forks at the time. Then his family moved to Waitsburg about three years ago and he joined the Matbirds. For several years, he immersed himself in the sport, attending practices three days a week and going to winter tournaments. It quickly turned into his favorite pass time. But after the 2010 season, his competition in the sport came to an abrupt end. The problem? He is too old . Matbirds, which gratefully...
DAYTON - With the Cardinals and Bulldogs heading for the district tournament and NCAA playoffs just around the corner, why not add a little February Madness? It will be coming to town in the form of a visit from a basketball giant. The Reign Man of the Seattle Supersonics, sixtime NBA All Star Shawn Kemp, is expected to come to Ski Bluewood next week to promote a new kind of fast-action basketball game among youths. The sport is called 3BA, a 3-on-3 full-court game co-founded by Walla...
WALLA WALLA - For the first time in history, two WP teams have won the trophy for being the first in the district. Both teams won their tournament at Whitman College to decide who goes on to state. In a rollercoaster cliffhanger game against the tough Irish, the Lady Cardinals barely prevailed 40-36, while the WP men's team beat the very tenacious Dayton Bulldogs team 69-56 after seeing their lead shrink to 3 points not long before the final buzzer. The Cardinals go on to Spokane in a week and may face Brewster in the state tournament on...
DAYTON - Dayton farmers now have more options for their agronomy needs. The Walla Walla Farmers Co-Op has opened an office at 509 Cameron Street, right next door to Columbia County Transportation, on Port of Columbia property. It is its third satellite outside Walla Walla. The business hosted a luncheon tour for members Tuesday afternoon. The new location will have just one office employee, but field men will come to farmers out of Walla Walla like they already do, said Co- Op General Manager Mike Potter. "We already have some growers in the...
WAITSBURG - There will be no pari mutual horseracing this year in Waitsburg, Dayton and Walla Walla. The Washington State Horseracing Commission decided Thursday to give only six days of racing to the Class C "Bush" circuit and they all went to Sun Downs in Kennewick. The decision, which came as a disappointment to many in the region's horseracing community, does not necessarily spell the end of nearly a century of racing in the Touchet Valley. But changes will have to be made in state law and in the way racing is funded to pave the way for...
A group of about a dozen businesses based in Waitsburg and Dayton are creating a new organization to help promote tourism in the Touchet Valley. Named the Touchet Valley Tourism Alliance, the diverse group that includes the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, Ski Bluewood and a number of hospitality and retail businesses in both communities, plans to launch a number of initiatives to strengthen the area as a travel destination in the coming years. Waitsburg's Commercial Club has been invited to participate as well. "This is the first time a...
