Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 959 - 983 of 997
One winter's day earlier this One year, when Ally Chapman and One her mom Brenda were on their way to piano lessons in Waitsburg, the 11-year-old got an idea. Inspired by her grandfather, Brian Black, who orchestrated the creation of the Veterans' Memorial in the Chapman's hometown of Dayton, she had been wanting to do something good for her community, something big. So she decided to write to the comHeart that make some of her favorite products to see if they might be interested in helping brin...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg City Council last week passed a law that may have appeared limited in its applicability to Mayor Walt Gobel who enjoys getting around town using a different mode of transportation. But there are others who say they'll take advantage of a new ordinance allowing the use of golf carts on city streets. WP football coach and PE teacher Jeff Bartlow, for one, is a big fan. "I'll use mine for a lot of things now that I can," said Bartlow, who bought a used golf cart - read: a...
PRESCOTT - If you were one of the applicants for the position of superintendent of the Prescott School District, the Times is interested in hearing from you. After an executive session last week, Prescott School Board Chair Karen Tonne issued a short statement saying the district is chosing not to interview a single one of the seven candidates for the superintendent's position, reportedly because the board wants to have a larger pool of recruits to consider. Instead, the board will consider appointing an interim superintendent while seeking mor...
DAYTON - This year's fire season in the Touchet Valley brings back some memories of the Columbia Complex fire that raged four years ago and became the nation's top firefightingpriority that summer. They're memories that most who lived through the 100,000-acre fire would just as soon forget. But starting at the Columbia Court House on Monday, some people whose lives were affected by the devastating blazes will relive the experience in front of a jury. Ironically for one of them, former...
DAYTON - The consultant who has been hired to conduct a work environment assessment reportof Columbia County Hospital District #1 will be presenting her findings during the district board's regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Unlike previous meetings, a different venue has been set aside for the meeting on Aug. 26. It will be held at the Catholic Church Fellowship Hall, 112 South First Street in Dayton. The presentation by Susan Newton of Development Strategies Plus in Walla Walla is scheduled for 30 minutes about 20 minutes into the...
WAITSBURG - In another step to reach its readers in cyberspace and to become the Touchet Valley's predominant news source, the Times has launched its own website: www.waitsburgtimes. com. Earlier this year, the Times established its first online presence with a Facebook page which now has nearly 750 fans. On www.facebook.com/waitsburgtimes, fans get updates, discussions and photos from the Times. They can also share comments, but there is no full access to the newspaper's content. The new website, www.waitsburgtimes.com, gives the newspaper,...
DAYTON - When it comes to envisioning a more attractive, more prosperous downtown Dayton, the ideas flowfrom far and wide. Focus on the Green Giant and the history of the cannery, some say. Develop along the Touchet River, our most valuable asset, say others. Concentrate on children - have an All Children's Weekend, they continue. But members of the Dayton Development Task Force, which has been around for over 25 years, say the town already has a theme - "Historic Downtown Dayton." Now...
UMATILLA NATIONAL FOREST - A wilderness raid in the upper Tucannon watershed Tuesday morning earned Columbia County Sheriff's deputies the largest marijuana seizure since 2008. Deputies pulled 4,562 pot plants from a steep slope inside the Umatilla National Forest about fivemiles from a site where 11,000 marijuana plants were seized in 2008. No arrests were made in either case. "We're speculating that it may be the same group that set up this new grow site," said Jeff Jenkins, narcotics deputy...
WAITSBURG - Cardinals T-shirts, Touchet Valley farm truck decals, Kison Court sports banners, Dayton shop signs, Waitsburg High Letterman jackets. The list of items produced by Blue Crystal Screenprinting Signs on Willard could go on and on. Chances are they all look familiar. They're icons of our everyday lives and our every-weekend sports. In the 16 years since it was founded, Waitsburg entrepreneur Elizabeth Cole has supplied the Touchet Valley and many clients in Walla Walla with at...
WAITSBURG - Citizens of Waitsburg could get an opportunity to save on gas and enjoy certain new liberties if Mayor Walt Gobel has anything to say about it. Gobel has encouraged city councilors to take a look at an ordinance that would allow golf carts on streets inside Waitsburg city limits. The proposed ordinance will be discussed at the next city council meeting, on Aug. 18. "Well, it's a bit personal," Gobel said Monday. "My wife has one and we have, in the past, run it around town staying pretty much on the sidewalks." But state...
Volunteer fire fighters in the Touchet Valley spent a weary weekend battling blaze upon blaze as foul weather, careless drivers and faulty machinery conspired to keep emergency personnel on their toes from one end of the valley to the other. Times correspondent Laverne Mayberry, of Prescott, reported that close to 200 firefighters from across the state, 40 engines and a helicopter were called in to help contain a fire that raged over 23,000 acres near Eureka over the weekend. More than half a...
DAYTON - It's Monday afternoon. Auditions are over, and the roles have been cast. Now 48 children in the Touchet Valley have just four days to rehearse for a live, musical performance they'll stage in front of friends, family members and total strangers this coming Friday and Saturday nights at the Liberty Theater. For most of the children, who range in grade level from first through 12th, the annual summer play in Dayton is their only shot at experiencing theater arts - and they welcome the...
PRESCOTT - When Prescott School District Superintendent Dr. Carolyn Marsh announced in June that she wanted to retire in the hopes of being rehired, she knew she was taking a risk. After all, there is no guarantee she'll get her old job back by the time school starts again. Her goal was to resume receiving her pension benefits, which she forfeited after taking the superintendent's job in Prescott three years ago, then be rehired as superintendent and receive the position's salary as well. Such "retire-rehire" scenarios are not unco...
DAYTON - Construction of Puget Sound Energy's Lower Snake River Wind Energy Project in Garfield County started about four months after the company obtained approval for its conditional use permit this year. Don't expect the same for the Columbia County portion of the wind turbine project, a company official said earlier this week. The weak economy in the utility company's Washington state market appears to have taken the wind out of the project's blades. "PSE has no firm plans for the start of construction at this time" said Anne Walsh,...
DAYTON - More than two dozen Dayton residents looked on in interest as friends, relatives and neighbors argued for and against a proposed city law that would allow off-road vehicle users to access mountain roads via city streets. The ORV ordinance was slated for its first reading during Monday night's city council meeting, which took place across the street from city hall at St. Joseph's Catholic Church to accommodate the crowd. But after more than half an hour of testimony and complaints from constituents, Dayton city officials agreed to postp...
WALLA WALLA - Last year, 2.2 million tons of products were shipped through the Little Goose navigation lock near Starbuck - and much of these commodities moving downriver came from farms like those in the Touchet Valley. Wheat, barley, petroleum products (like fuel), fertilizer, hay cubes, peas, lentils, milk carton stock, containers full of merchandise, even wind turbines - 10 million tons of cargo - all travel the Columbia Snake River system each year. Now these companies are making plans t...
DAYTON - Columbia REA has donated $50,000 to the Dayton Development Task Force as part of a local tax incen- tive program that was recently approved by the state. The money will be used in the Task Force's efforts to im- prove the economic health of downtown Dayton. In return, Columbia REA will receive a 75% credit on their Public Utilities Taxes paid to the state in 2014. Columbia REA CEO Les Teal said he felt that the tax in- centive program was an excellent way for the co-op to make a difference in Dayton. "We're part of this community, and...
DAYTON - Cody Snider, 17, of Dayton, was found dead Saturday morning by a Columbia County employee near the Rock Hill Transfer Station here. The discovery was made shortly before 10 a.m., when the employee ar- rived to open the station. According to a press release from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, Snider had apparently fallen approximately 150 feet from the top of the cliff above the transfer station. It was unknown when he fell, since the transfer station had been closed since...
WAITSBURG - One of Waitsburg's elementary school teachers got an extra- special early Christmas gift this year. In a press release issued by President Barak Obama on December 20, Kindergarten teacher Pa- mela Nolan-Beasley was named as one of two teach- ers in Washington State to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Beasley won the award for science while Nancy Pfaff of Redmond, Wash. won the math award. Win- ners of the honor receive a $10,000...
