Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 155 - 179 of 997
DAYTON - The Dayton Chamber of Commerce has named Andrew Holt as its new Executive Director. Holt started on April 7th. He replaces Brad McMasters, who resigned in January. Holt previously served as tourism services manager for Tourism Walla Walla from 2010 to 2012. There, he oversaw social media, the visitor's center, and worked on several projects, including the performing arts comm ittee and the regional signage project. Last year he worked as sports information director for Whitman College....
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg Celebration Days Weekend - May 17-18 -- is still in the planning stages, but one young lady has been hard at work, actively representing Waitsburg and Celebration Days for months. Queen Candidate Megan Morrison was selected to the Celebration Days Royalty Court in November and will be crowned Queen in a May 6 coronation ceremony. Morrison tried out for court in November and began her royalty duties in December by appearing in the Dayton and Waitsburg Christmas Parades and...
DAYTON - The Dayton Development Task Force is holding their second annual Community Spring Clean-up Day next Saturday, April 12 from 9 am to noon. Columbia County residents are invited to help the Task Force spruce up the town in preparation of summer event and tourist season. Bring your family and your gloves, rakes, shovels, clippers, garbage bags, brooms, and other clean-up tools and meet at Caboose Park at 9 a.m. Teams will be assigned to work in specific locations, such as public landscaped areas near the Caboose, along Commercial Street,...
ASOTIN - Judge William D. Acey announced his retirement as Superior Court Judge for Washington's Hells Canyon Circuit on March 31. His retirement will take effect April 30. Judge Acey has served in that position, which covers Asotin, Columbia and Garfield Counties, for 13 years. In his Letter of Resignation to Governor Jay Inslee, Acey said, "I appreciate the confidence the citizens of the Hells Canyon Circuit have reposed in me the last 31 years." Prior to being elected to his current position in 2000, Acey served as Asotin County District...
DAYTON - Carl Robanske has a love of travel, a desire to serve God and compassion for people less fortunate than himself. He has put those passions to work as founder and chairman of the Walla Walla-based nonprofit organization Embracing Orphans. Over the past five years, Robanske and Embracing Orphans have made a real difference in the lives of many young people in the Caribbean Island nation of Jamaica. The organization has bought new cribs and built two playgrounds for a government owned...
DAYTON - Voters in the Dayton School District will decide this month whether to approve a bond levy to provide funding to complete a major renovation of the school facilities here. The bond of $19.955 million would fund the majority of the project, which is projected to cost $24.254 million. The project would be the first major renovation at Dayton Schools in 30 years. The Dayton School Board created a facilities committee more than a year ago, made up of teachers, school administrators, sc...
WAITSBURG -Both the City of Waitsburg and Walla Walla County show significant drops in crime across the board in 2013. Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner gave an update at the March 17 Waitsburg City Council Meeting, and said he is proud of a department that is "doing a good job." Turner presented the Sheriff's Office year-end report, noting drops in assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle thefts in Waitsburg in 2013. "This is a good trend and we'll do everything we can to keep that...
WAITSBURG - After listing former Citizen of the Year recipients, Tom Baker asked attendees at the March 18 Commercial Club meeting to rise. "If your name doesn't start with 'J', sit down . . . If you've already won the award, sit down . . . Look who's left!" Enthusiastic applause erupted and the audience laughed as still-standing Larry and Deanne Johnson eyed one another in surprise. "We were under the pretense that we knew who was receiving the award, and it wasn't us!" said Larry later. The...
DAYTON - A Dayton man who has been charged with first degree rape of a child appeared in court last week. According to the Columbia County Prosecutor's Office, Walter Hartwell is scheduled to go to trial April 22 and 23. Hartwell was arrested last month and charged with initiating sexual contact with an 11-year-old child. He is being held in the Columbia County jail, with bond set at $100,000. A hearing to set a trial date for Levi Helgerson, who is charged with first degree assault of a child, is scheduled for April 3. Helgerson was arrested...
DAYTON - Residents of Columbia County will soon have several safe and secure places to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs. Blue Mountain Counseling, working with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, is preparing to install prescription drug drop boxes in three locations in Dayton. According to Laura Tolman, who is prevention coordinator at Blue Mountain Counseling in Dayton, the county has received a grant of $16,000 to help reduce substance abuse in the county. The money is bein...
PRESCOTT - In a swift six minutes, Prescott's School Board discussed and passed a motion to continue, status quo, in the WP Athletic Combine agreement through the 2014-15 school year. The vote took place during a March 19 Special Meeting. During the meeting, members expressed a desire to communicate and work cooperatively with Waitsburg, using the coming year to address issues that have been raised before reassessing the combine. Earlier this month, Prescott had presented Waitsburg's Sc...
WAITSBURG - In what Ken Cole Jr. described as "a weird offshoot of community service" a group of locals are forging ahead with plans to bring casual family dining back to Waitsburg. The demolition of the long- vacant White Stallion restaurant was slated to begin Wednesday. Investors hope to have the tentatively named Whiskey Creek Sports Bar & Grill up and running in its place as early as October. Dan Cole, Ken Cole, Jr., Guy McCaw and Byron Seney, along with wives Trina, Elizabeth, Lynn and...
DAYTON - On the morning of February 19, 1945, Owen Agenbroad was one of the Marines in the fifth wave of landing craft that hit the beaches on the island of Iwo Jima in the South Pacific. He was 21. The battle of Iwo Jima lasted 36 days and was one of the deadliest of World War II. More than 10,000 American and Japanese servicemen died and hundreds of thousands were wounded. This week, Agenbroad, now 90 and a long-time Dayton resident, is returning to Iwo Jima for the first time since the battle...
WAITSBURG - It was standing-room-only in the Preston Hall science room March 12, as parents and school staff waited to offer input during a School Board work session preceding the regular board meeting. Thirty minutes had been allotted to discuss the current 4th - 6th grade class configuration, which is presenting "instructional and scheduling challenges," according to Superintendent Carol Clarke. The session ran well over an hour and still didn't allow time for everyone to comment. Due to...
WALLA WALLA - Walla Walla County Commissioner Greg Tompkins announced Monday that he will not seek re-election this year to a fourth term. He will finish out his current term, which ends Dec. 31. "I am proud of what we have accomplished in the past 11 years," Tompkins said in a letter to his fellow commissioners. "I also believe we have laid the framework for continued progress in both the near and distance future with the work we have done." Tompkins was first elected to his District 3 seat in 2002. Earlier this month,, former Walla Walla C...
PRESCOTT - Slovenian artist Milenko Matanovic has exhibited his work all over the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Unlikely as it may seem, Prescott area residents will soon work directly with Matanovic in designing a community gathering place in the heart of Prescott. Pomegranate Center - a nonprofit founded by Matanovic - is coming to Prescott for a community-building project; bringing talented designers and a grant of $25,000 to fund the process. From 1902 to 1913 t...
WAITSBURG - A specially formed committee of the Waitsburg Commercial Club will spend the next few months meeting with a Whitman student and a retired business person to develop a strategic one-year plan for the club. The consultation/ facilitation service is provided through 501 Commons, a Seattle-based organization that helps non- profit groups throughout Washington. It is funded by Sherwood Trust. The goal is to wrap up the process in June with a fully-executable one-year strategic plan i...
WALLA WALLA - Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner announced last week that he will seek a second term as Sherrif this year. Two candidates - Barry Blackman and Tom Cooper - have already announced they will challenge Turner in this fall's election. In a press release issued March 5, Turner said, "I feel blessed every day as the elected Sheriff of Walla Walla County and I appreciate our community's on- going support for strong and consistent law enforcement." Turner is a Southern California...
DAYTON - Columbia County Fire District 3 and Columbia REA announced last week that REA has sold its shop, warehouse and property at 115 Patit Road to the district. The deal closed on February 7. According to the Columbia County Assessor's Office, the building and just over four acres sold for $850,000. In a press release, District 3 Fire Chief Rick Turner said, "The REA building is better designed to meet the current and future needs of our Fire Department and its responsibilities." The release...
WAITSBURG - Overwhelming, fun and incredibly worthwhile. Those three sentiments were echoed repeatedly by last year's Evergreen Boy's and Girl's State representatives as they addressed guests in an honorary desert banquet Monday night. EJ Meserve (Waitsburg), Erik Sandoval (Prescott), Emily Wilson (Prescott), Meara Baker (Waitsburg) and Yesenia Escalante (Prescott) were sponsored by Waitsburg's American Legion Post #35 and Auxiliary to the 2013 State events in June. Boy's and Girl's State...
DAYTON - During a special meeting Wednesday, the Dayton School Board approved placing a $19.955 million bond before voters in April. The vote was 4-0, with one board member absent. Voting on the measure will conclude on April 22. A yes vote above 60% will be required to approve the measure. Bond funds would go toward a major renovation of school district facilities. The total estimated project is cost $24.25 million. The remaining funds (approximately $4.3 million) would be provided by Washing...
