Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 877 - 901 of 997
DAYTON - Lisa Ronnberg, executive director of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce for the past three and a half years, has announced she will leave her position there to become the business manager for the Columbia County Public Works Department. "It's an exciting opportuDirector for me," Ronnberg said about her new job under public works director Drew Wood. "I'm looking forward to it." The change is effective the first of the year. Ronnberg's assistant, Amber Phinney, who joined the Cha...
DAYTON - More than a dozen concerned citizens and civic leaders packed into the Delany Room at the Dayton Memorial Library last Wednesday morning to voice their support of programs aimed at reducing drug and alcohol use in Columbia County. The Columbia County Coalition for Youth and Families is looking in the next three months to apply for a Drug-Free Community Grant, which could bring $1.25 million into the Touchet Valley for programs aimed at preventing substance abuse among youth. "We're looking at about 400 hours investing in ap...
WAITSBURG - Carlos Norris entered his first BMX race when he was 6. It was at the Walla Walla Valley BMX track where the Waitsburg youngster got his first taste of a course sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association, the excitement of competing with other racers and the cheers from his family. "I liked going over the hills and stuff and go after a trophy," said Norris, who is now 8. But Norris hasn't raced in two years. His mom, Lisa, who works in Walla Walla, had to come all the way back...
DAYTON - Officials have less than a week to decide whether voters in the Dayton School District will pass judgment in February on a new school levy. With expenses rising and revenue disappearing at an alarming rate, Superintendent Doug Johnson and the five-member school board are sweating it. "The first question people are going to ask is, 'What are we going to spend the money on?'" Johnson said during a public presentation at the school last week. "The problem is, I don't know. I just know we're going to need it." With cuts proposed at the s...
WAITSBURG - Less than eight months after it was repaired by Haskins Co. of Spokane at a cost of 140,000, the Waitsburg grain bin that split and spilled several thousand bushels of wheat last year failed again in the same spot, Northwest Grain Growers officials said Tuesday. "This should not have happened," said David Gordon, general manager for Walla Walla-based Northwest Grain Growers. "But when these things happen, you correct them." Gordon said about 1,500 bushels spilled from the bin t...
New Defenses In Place In Time For Flood-prone Seasonbordering WAITSBURG - Like many residents of the Touchet Valley, Phil Monfort has lived through two floods. So he gets worried when the weather patterns start to look like they did in 1964 and 1996. Walla Walla County emergency management officials said last week that the coming winter could be the worst in more than half a century, potentially generating the kind of snowfall, freezes and sudden thaw that contributed to the floods. M...
DAYTON - Last week's arctic-like weather kicked off an early winter in the valley, but it didn't do much to help downtown Dayton merchants with their annual Christmas Kickoff festivities. "Shopping was down significantly from last year, and the number of people was down," said Lisa Ronnberg, executive director of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. "Overall we had a beautiful setting with the snow, but the weather in the region was not favorable to us." Mindy Betzler's "cookie-ometer" confirmed...
Pullman - The Colfax Bulldogs have done what no other team was able to do this season. They beat the hard-fighting WP Cardinals 21-14 in a heart-breaking football game Monday night in Pullman. "We gave Colfax a game, didn't we?" Cardinal Justin Armstrong told his teammates after the game was over, tears streaming down his face and those of others. A crowd of passionate WP fans attended the game despite the cold, snowy conditions. Until the very end, the first half of the semi-final playoff game belonged to the Cardinals, who scored two...
Pre-winter Snow & Ice Just TheBeginning Of A La Nina Year That Could See Flooding In The Touchet ValleyWAITSBURG - What has kids and skiers so excited worries local authorities and area residents who recall the infamous winter of 1996. This week's early snow indicates the beginning of a cold season that could be a great year for Ski Bluewood but disastrous for a Touchet Valley vulnerable to flooding from the Touchet and Coppei rivers. Almost a foot of snow fell earlier this week in Walla Walla and Columbia counties, thwarting drivers, closing...
WAITSBURG - In the first major reversal of one of their predecessors' decisions, members of the Waitsburg City Council last week voted unanimously to deny the use of a 23-acre city-owned parcel at the northeast corner of town for the development of a regional BMX track. The track's proponents, led by Greg and Tawnya McVey, are still hopeful they can change the current council members' minds with help from Mayor Walt Gobel. The McVeys did not attend the meeting, saying they were not aware the item was on the agenda, but will use the public com...
State Supreme Court Denies Review Of Huwe's Case; 39-year Sentence Stands DAYTON - Daniel Huwe has just about exhausted his options. The 31-year-old man was found guilty of second-degree murder and first-degree assault by jury trial in Dayton in 2007. He was sentenced to 468 months, or 39 years, in prison. For years, Huwe has fought that sentence, beginning with his first conviction in 2005, which he was successful in having overturned. The State retried his case in Columbia County in 2007, this time bussing in a jury from Walla Walla Co...
PASCO - The Cardinals came out like a house on fire in their quarter final game against DeSales, beating the Irish 54-13. WP had 36 unanswered points by halftime, taking the Walla Walla crowd out of the game and knocking the wind out of the DeSales offense. The as-of-yet undefeated Waitsburg-Prescott team will face Colfax in next week's semi final at Martin Field in Pullman. day and time to be announced....
DAYTON -In February 2005, a young Dayton man was sitting in an airport in Kuwait passing the time while waiting to fly home on a two-week break. He was in his second tour of duty in Iraq. That's when he overheard two young soldiers behind him talking about the coolest thing that had happened to them at Christmas time. Some tiny town in Washington state had made and filled Christmas stockings and mailed them to soldiers in Iraq, they said. There were newspapers from the town, goodies, handmade...
WAITSBURG - She's nine, barely 2.5 feet high and weighs a "petite" 150 pounds. He's three, as tall as an NBA star and still growing, and weighs just 200 pounds shy of half a ton. Oh yeah, and he has a hump that's the envy of quasimodo. If this were a pair of humans, they'd be considered a pretty odd couple. But as Waitsburg's celebrity camel and his new sidekick, they're perfect together. At least so believes the owner of Izzy the camel and Whinnie, a miniature Sicilian donkey. "With his size, I...
DAYTON - All's well that ends well. The participants in Thursday's move of the historic Smith Hollow school house can say that with some relief now that the various parts of the building are safely at their destination on Front Street behind Skyline Fluid Power and Sunnyhill Gardens. After nearly two decades since the idea of relocating and restoring the one-room school house came about, the main structure, roof and cupola have arrived at their new location on Dayton's historic pathway. "I t 's...
PRESCOTT -- Saturday's loss to Shoreline Christian left the WP Tigers deflated following a tough, loser-out quarterfinals game in Prescott. The final score was 2-1. The Tigers, an undefeated first-year team, progressed toward the championship rounds with confidence but met a rock-hard defense in the determined Shoreline Christian team, a seasoned group of players primarily in their third and fourth years of high school. A majority of players on the WP team are in 9th and 10th grades. Nevertheless, the Tigers played an unparalleled season,...
WAITSBURG - The WP Cardinals became the last Touchet Valley sports team still standing in the playoffs after beating the Oroville Hornets handily 49-13. The undefeated Cardinals will play DeSales on neutral ground in the Tri Cities next Friday after the Irish beat Brewster 33-7 in that loser-out game. The time has not yet been determined. The Dayton Bulldogs volleyball lost its Saturday match against Bear Creek in four after winning one match and losing a second in the state playoffs in Yakima Friday. The Lady Bulldogs won against Wakiakum in...
PASCO - WP cross country runners went to state this week, setting high scores among over a dozen other schools from all over Washington competing at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday. Sophomore Seth Deal placed fourth in the state in the men's varsity 5,000 meter race, with a time of 16: 46.7. Although runners from Lacey, St. George and Republic took the top three spots, Deal beat his own 2009 record for the same race by more than a minute. As a freshman, Deal finished the race in 18:04. Other WP varsity runners were senior Nick...
DAYTON - With a stunning five-game come-from-behind victory against Liberty Christian Saturday night, the Lady Bulldogs swept into state before a jubilant home town crowd. It's the first time in five years since the Bulldogs have gone to state. Their first game is on Friday morning at the Sundome in Yakima. Last time, Dayton went to state, they placed third. quot;I knew we could do it,quot; team captain and senior Kayla Turner said. quot;I told the team to play calm and composed and we could go to state. We just had to take a deep breath and...
WAITSBURG - Right out of the gate, barely 13 seconds into their first playoff game at home, the Cardinals found the end zone with their first kickoff return touchdown of the season Friday night and never looked back. Running back Kris Cady, who marked an impressive season-total 1,000 yards rushing during the game, received the Reardan kickoff and ran it back for an 85-yard touchdown that ignited the Cardinals offense. The Cardinals scored six touchdowns, while allowing only one and without the extra point to end the game 42-6. Fearing...
DAYTON - With only 510 votes remaining uncounted in Columbia County by Tuesday night, showing a high 80 percent voter turn out, some candidates could declare sure wins while others were hopeful but reserved. In the heated races for county prosecutor and county sheriff, only the bid for sheriff produced definitive results by Election Night. Incumbent Walt Hessler, with 63.57 percent of votes, defeated Mark Franklin by 562 votes, a victory that cannot be denied. Waiting inside the Columbia County...
WALLA WALLA - With 60 percent of the vote counted Tuesday evening, Walla Walla County Sheriff's candidate John Turner was well on his way to victory over Bill White. Turner, who was applauded by supporters for what they said was one of the "cleanest" campaigns in recent history, was ahead 53.5 percent compared to White's 45.9 percent. In other contested county races, Richard Greenwood beat Virginia Romine for County Coroner, while Kris Hedine won as part-time District Court Judge against Bridie...
DAYTON - In one of it's strongest performances of the season, the Bulldogs volleyball team beat Liberty Christian in four games Wednesday night 25-18, 14-25, 25-20 and 25-17. Only in the second game of the match did the girls let up the pace and appear vulnerable. Most of the night, the Bulldogs' defense responded well to the Patriots' spikes and serves with digs and kills of their own. No matter what LC throw at the Bulldogs, the dawns fetched it and returned it over the net, forcing errors or laying it down awkward corners of the court....
SPOKANE - The WP Tigers won their second playoff game Friday, beating Northwest Christian 2-0. The first-year soccer team is now ranked first in the state for 1B/2B schools. They will play Shoreline Christian in a quarter-finals game in the Tri-Cities next Saturday. The latest win came just a day after the Tigers won a nail-biter loser-out game against St. George of Spokane 3-2. quot;The kids were not quite expecting this hard a play,quot; WP head coach Rickie Hamilton said after the St. George game in Prescott. quot;This was do or die: win...
