Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1001 - 1025 of 5662
DAYTON-The Columbia County Public Health Administrator shared information about COVID-19 at last week's meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, and it was mostly positive. Martha Lanman said the last time anybody in the community tested positive for COVID-19 was on Sept. 2, and that person has since recovered. The schools are open for in-person learning, Personal Protective Equipment supplies are stable, and a strong collaborative partnership has developed between the Health Department, em...
DAYTON—Shane Laib is leasing the building at 262 East Main Street for use as an indoor marketplace. For the past several months, he has been busy with painting, installing new carpet and lighting, and creating individual spaces for vendors when the marketplace opens in October. Vendors were displaced when VS Mainstreet, a vintage/antique mall at 245 East Main Street, closed its doors earlier this year, and some of them will be moving to the Main Street Marketplace. “All of the vendors still des...
STARBUCK-Zonia Dedloff was appointed mayor at a special city council meeting on Sept. 22. She replaces Richard Ells, who has resigned, in part, for health reasons. City Clerk, Jan Ells, has also turned in her resignation, effective Sept. 30. The Ells are planning on traveling and enjoying their retirement. Zonia Dedloff has lived in Starbuck for fifty years. "I love Starbuck. I always have," she said. Dedloff has served on the city council for the past four years and was the Mayor Pro-tem...
9- year survivor tells her story DAYTON—Eileen McMunn, “Teeny” to those who know her, is an eighteen-year survivor of breast cancer, an amazing feat considering her cancer was identified as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). This type of breast cancer is not fueled by estrogen and progesterone receptors, or by HER2, a type of protein. It accounts for 15-percent of breast cancer in the Caucasian population and 35-percent in the African American population Though TNBC cancer can have the s...
DAYTON-Librarian Kristie Korslund said Dayton Memorial Library staff attended a conference on Space Planning Progress last November. They learned about traffic flow and how to maximize patron enthusiasm for library collections. When patrons are finally allowed back inside the Dayton Memorial Library, they will be pleased to see what has taken place since the building closed in March because of COVID-19. The library board and staff have moved forward with making upgrades on the main floor level...
Things will look different, but Waitsburg students will return to the classroom on Monday WAITSBURG—Starting October 5, the hallways at Waitsburg schools will be full of students again, actually half of them at a time. Students will return to class two days a week, in ‘A’ or ‘B’ groups. On Monday and Tuesday, group A will attend classes at their respective school. Group B is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is reserved for independent work and targeted assistance, as well as deep c...
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg Gun Club has a busy schedule for October. With hunting season just around the corner, the volunteer-run gun range has training, sight-in days, and trap shoots planned. On October 3, at 9 a.m, the Waitsburg Gun Club will be hosting a Range Safety Officer (RSO) training. Range Safety Officer training teaches volunteers the necessary knowledge, skills, and temperament essential for organizing, conducting, and supervising safe shooting events and activities, as well as range...
PRESCOTT-There are more than 20 years of combined early childhood education experience making up the Prescott ECEAP program. Lead teacher Sofia Mercado, Assistant teacher Karlie Mathews, and Family Support Specialist Marina Cortez offer quality early childhood education for their second year in a row. "The Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, or ECEAP, is a whole child, comprehensive, family-focused preschool program, providing free services and support to eligible students," Mercad...
STARBUCK-If you see a traditional dugout canoe paddling down the Snake River over the next couple days, wave and say hi! Willow Bill is completing his second trek to the ocean, but not before stopping to share his love of willow branch art with students at Starbuck School. Since 1998, Nevada resident William Gouldart, best known as Willow Bill, has taught kids how to build reindeer out of willow branches. In 2016, December 2-9 was declared Willow Reindeer Project Week in the state of Nevada....
STARBUCK-The first thing you notice when you meet Starbuck School District Superintendent Kevin Graffis is what a big man he is. Graffis has played professional football, and as he begins to talk, his love of sports comes across. Just two years into his first teaching job in Bridgeport, Wash., he was tapped by the San Francisco 49ers to play professional football. He said he played two preseasons with the 49ers but didn't make the final cut; and ended up playing in the United States Football...
WAITSBURG-Columbia-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 is excited to announce the new fire chief, Michael Moynihan, from San Francisco, California. Chief Moynihan began his position as the first paid fire chief in the history of CWWFD2 on Monday, September 21. Born and raised in San Francisco, Moynihan has more than 30 years of firefighting experience. He began as a firefighter/EMT with a volunteer fire department, very similar to the one that serves Waitsburg and the surrounding area. He took...
WAITSBURG—Waitsburg School District will be returning to in-person instruction on Monday, October 5. The decision to reopen schools for in-person instruction, which many school and health department officials believed would wait until the end of the first quarter, was an ‘unexpected surprise’ to Superintendent Mark Pickel. Superintendent Pickel announced the reopening on September 17, following a school board meeting. In a public notice, he stated the decision was made in collaboration with the faculty, school board, and the Walla Walla Count...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board met September 17, via Zoom meeting. High School Principal Stephanie Wooderchak said that the school year was going smoothly though there have been some issues with the students’ Chromebook laptops. Some computers were equipped with the wrong cords, and some had login issues. Wooderchak noted that the IT provider, NexGen, had installed shortcuts for Zoom and Google Classrooms, which many of the students reported they appreciated. Waitsburg FFA will be att...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg City Council met Tuesday, September 15, via conference call. All members of the Council were present. The Council reviewed an application for the first of a series of payments for work done on the new Taggart Road extension. Sharpe & Preszler Construction Company requested a payment of $345,066.74 to cover the cost of total work completed and materials on hand, to date. The Council approved the Taggart Road extension in 2019; however, construction was paused due to the f...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court and a pioneering advocate for women’s rights, died on Friday at her home in Washington, D.C. She was 87. The cause was complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, the Supreme Court said. “Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said. “We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence, that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsbur...
DAYTON-Kim Clark, General Manager of Bluewood Ski Resort, said the forecast is for a "good, strong snowfall all winter long," and he is keeping his fingers crossed. Clark said the goal for the upcoming ski season is normal operations with as few disruptions as possible. "We know there is a huge pent up demand out there, as shown by our spring season pass sales. We're excited about the season ahead and can't wait to welcome guests back up to their hometown ski area." Bluewood Ski resort is part o...
STARBUCK-The town of Starbuck, nestled between Hwy. 12 and Lyons Ferry Marina, northeast of Dayton, has a small school district serving forty students. All of the District's students, except for three who are distance learning, are being taught in real-time, since school began on Aug. 25. Luann Truesdale, the office administrator, spoke of all the work that has gone into preparing the school to meet COVID-19 requirements for returning students. She said "bubblers" were disconnected from...
A massive smoke cloud covered Washington with heavy smoke over the weekend A supermassive cloud of smoke blanketed parts of the Pacific Northwest over the weekend, leaving many areas in the 'hazardous' air quality range. Fires are still raging across Washington, Oregon, and California, creating a plume that meteorologists expect to hang around for a while. The fire season has been fueled by an unusually dry, hot summer, with the last measurable rain dating back to July, which measured less than...
WAITSBURG-How do you make tired volunteer firefighters smile in the middle of one of the worst fire seasons on record? If you ask the local Girl Scouts, it is as easy as donating a few cases of cookies. Columbia-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 happily accepted a generous donation of twelve cases of Girl Scout cookies last week, as a 'gift of caring through the council.' While donating leftover cookies is a normal thing, according to troop leaders Brandi Hollingsworth and Amber Lambert, the...
OLYMPIA—Today, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) released the latest statewide situation report, which reflects an overall decline in COVID-19 activity as of late August. The report also highlights encouraging signs that keeping our distance, limiting gathering size, and wearing face coverings are working to slow the spread of the disease. Report findings include: The reproductive number (how many new people each COVID-19 patient will infect) was close to one in western Washington and above one in eastern Washington as of A...
OLYMPIA/YAKIMA—The first two cases of West Nile virus (WNV) in Washington this year have been reported by the Yakima County Health District and Benton-Franklin Health District. The Yakima County resident, a man in his 50’s, was hospitalized due to the infection. The Benton County resident, a man in his 60’s, was not hospitalized. WNV can be a serious, even fatal illness. It can affect people, horses, birds, and other animals. WNV is almost always spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected after feedi...
WAITSBURG-Nancy's Dream Garden Center has moved closer to main Main Street. Owner/operators Janet Lawrence and Doug Biolo said the move has been great for business, with a new surprising customer base picking up. At the new address, 124 Warren Street, the brother-sister duo now have room to grow Nancy's Dream bigger than they ever imagined. The former site had just enough room for a single greenhouse and an outdoor display, but limited parking, especially for semi-trucks, was a problem. The new...
DAYTON-Dayton is becoming a magnet for people who are attracted to the rural lifestyle. Dayton Chamber of Commerce Manager Molly Weatherill-Tate said a couple from Colorado recently moved to Dayton, and a man from western Oregon is thinking about moving to Dayton when he retires. Another family moved to Dayton sooner than they had planned to, because of the COVID-19 situation, and she has sent relocation packages as far away as Missouri, California, and Texas. "People generally seem to be...
DAYTON—City Administrator Trina Cole provided the Dayton City Council with an update about the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) project at last week’s council meeting. “We are moving forward with constructed wetlands,” Cole said. She said while it seems like progress is slow, the City and its partners; Anderson/Perry & Associates, the Confederate Indian Tribes of the Umatilla, Washington Water Trust, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Dept. of Ecology continue to work on the project...
DAYTON-Things looked a little different at the Columbia County Fair last weekend. There were no spectators, still-life exhibits or fair food, but that didn't stop the livestock classes or sale. Instead of cancelling, the Columbia County Fair chose to livestream market and fitting and showing classes- and even those looked far different than usual with a limited number of masked participants vying for the purple and white Champion ribbons. The sale, which is typically held on Saturday afternoon,...
