Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1154 - 1178 of 5679
Along with the new mandate in Washington state to wear a cloth face covering, fraudulent flyers and wallet cards have been circulating citing exemptions for individuals from the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Washington State Emergency Management Division notes that although there are exemptions these efforts are being used by people as a reason to walk into any business they choose without a mask. The governor’s mask mandate does have exemptions, including people with certain disabil...
DAYTON—The Touchet Valley Trail Steering Committee has released a detailed concept plan for the trail which is in the planning stages between Dayton and Waitsburg. The committee conducted a weekend of workshops, a semester of design work, and several virtual review sessions in the process of developing the plan, which currently has no funding attached. The plan incorporates all public comments received during last year’s survey, and from numerous public and private meetings about the trail. Aft...
WALLA WALLA-Two U.S. Army Corps employees at Little Goose Lock and Dam created a device that removed debris blockages within the dam. Mechanical Engineering Technician Jay Haugen and Maintenance Worker Kreg Buryta combined their talents in 2019 to design and fabricate a tool that could be used to remove debris from orifices (openings) within the dam. Logs, trash, and other debris adversely affected the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed salmon and steelhead along the Snake River. Successfully c...
DAYTON—This is year two of the Dayton Country Club’s five-year strategic plan to achieve financial independence and sustainability for the Touchet Valley Golf Course, said Sean Thurston who has led the charge for securing grants for Club projects. The primary goal in year two is the installation of an underground irrigation system, which will reduce labor expenses and decrease electrical expenses for the County while increasing the quality of the golf course and fairgrounds. Saving water for...
MILTON-FREEWATER, Ore.-Lampson's U-Pick Blueberries adjusted capably for the coronavirus by instituting an appointment system to manage the number of people picking in the fields at one time. Eight cars are let in at 15-minute intervals and owner Clark Lampson assigns people to a row of bushes distanced from other pickers. Pickers of all ages wore masks while they chatted and picked Duke blueberries, a variety known for its large, slightly tart berries, as I visited on a recent weekday. The...
DAYTON—The Board of County Commissioners on Monday announced the discontinuation of non-contracted services to the City of Dayton in the areas of Emergency Management and Dispatch and Law Enforcement for non-criminal and non-emergency calls. Non-contracted services include calls such as dog bites, abandoned vehicles, and city code violations. The reason the County gives for the discontinuance is due to unresolved contract negotiations with the City. The County claims fees to the city have not b...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County’s application for entry into Phase 3 appears to be in jeopardy (see story, page 5) due to Monday’s announcement from health officials that twelve additional COVID-19 cases were reported since Friday, June 19th’s total. As of Tuesday, June 23, the county has 29 active cases all of whom are under home isolation. The county has had three deaths from the virus to date. City of Walla Walla Development Services Director Elizabeth Chamberlain speaking as Liaison for Unified Command, remarked in a video shared to Faceboo...
DAYTON—The Columbia County Public Health Department has reported nine positive cases of COVID-19, stemming from the same household. None of the nine people are over 60 years of age, but one of them has been hospitalized. Of the nine cases, two live in Benton County, where they are being managed by the Benton Franklin Public Health Department, according to Martha Lanman, the County Public Health Director. There was an increase of testing by Columbia County Public Health staff after a man v...
PRESCOTT-Prescott Pool Manager Kyra Hartley is a highly experienced lifeguard and swimming instructor and she recently stepped into the role of Pool Manager at the Prescott Pool. A double major in business administration and psychology at the University of Puget Sound, she may need skills in both areas to manage the changeable situation for outdoor recreation this summer. Hartley took steps this spring to get her lifeguards Red Cross re-certified by working with Walla Walla YMCA's Director of...
DAYTON—The Board of Columbia County Commissioners has agreed to ask voters for help with funding the Flood Control Zone District (FCZD), again, this year. Proposition 1, asking voters to approve a permanent general excess levy of $0.10 per $1,000 of assessed value to help fund the Flood Control Zone District, will go before voters again in the November General Election. If passed, the levy will generate an estimated $100,000 each year to be used by the FCZD for grant matches and a program that will include a sandbag program for public use. Floo...
Pat Largent joins the ranks of the nonagenarian, a fancy word for 90, this month. Where the chronological age of 65 is in our culture is considered a senior citizen and 70 plus is considered by some accounts elderly, I am supposing Pat would be considered 'elderly.' As I recently watched Pat, with her cane, stepping down the sidewalk in Waitsburg I began to recall times with Pat over the years. This amazing woman is someone for whom the word elderly just doesn't seem appropriate. Although...
WALLA WALLA— Walla Walla County Commissioners decided at a special meeting on Thursday, June 18 to apply for a modified Phase 3 of Governor Inslee’s Safe Start plan. Phase 3 of the state’s plan allows outdoor recreational gatherings to be limited to 50 or fewer people, the county’s application modifies that to 25 or fewer people. Travel in Phase 3 would allow all non-essential travel to resume, Walla Walla County is requesting a modification to allow essential travel and limited non-essential travel for Phase 1, 2, or 3 permissible activit...
Skills and experience gained along with bonds of friendship WALLA WALLA-A Walla Walla native and WA-HI graduate, Jenna Watts was just finishing up a nine-week traveling nurse stint at Harlem Hospital in New York City when she and I spoke a week ago. "New York has a special place in my heart, my dad lives here, and I spent all of my summer's here growing up," she said. The coronavirus crisis and Governor Cuomo's appeals for doctors and nurses to help, resonated with her. In early April, The New...
WALLA WALLA-The cancellation of the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days was met with both a sigh of relief and a breath of frustration. Youth exhibitors, especially market animal exhibitors, are hopeful an alternative sales opportunity will be found. Raising a market animal is expensive. Hogs, for example, are purchased in early to mid-March as weanlings. From the day the animal arrives, the 4-H or FFA member has to care for and work with their project. FFA and 4-H members must purchase special...
DAYTON—Kim and Tracy Clark are shown with their 1960 Ford truck at the Dayton Sports Complex on South Cottonwood Street just before last Friday’s All Wheels Cruise. Dayton Chamber Manager Molly Weatherill-Tate said the idea for the cruise came from Jeff Jenkins and had the full support of the All Wheels Committee.The All Wheels Cruise was meant to be a local celebration marking the 26th annual All Wheels Weekend. That event had to be cancelled this year because of safety concerns due to the COV...
DAYTON—It could be the middle of August before a solid plan for reopening Dayton schools can be presented to the community. At last week’s school board meeting Superintendent, Doug Johnson said he and incoming school superintendent Guy Strot have been participating in many online meetings, including a meeting with neighboring school district superintendents about that topic. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has released instructions for reopening schools throughout the sta...
"I love this 'eyebrow', especially when the sky is filled with dramatic clouds. I noticed it a year ago, after having driven past it at least once a week for the past four years and have photographed it many times since then" – Bill Rodgers, June 2020...
DAYTON—Both city parks and the Dayton City Hall are now open to the public since the county has moved to Phase 3 of the governor’s plan to reopen Washington State. Mayor Zac Weatherford said social distancing regulations are still in place. “We are still practicing social distancing and protecting ourselves as best we can,” he told the Dayton City Council at their regular meeting last week. Weatherford ‘s report included an update from the public works department. He said the City crew has...
OLYMPIA—Washington State Department of Health (DOH) released the latest statewide situation report on Saturday, June 13, which shows COVID-19 transmission continued to increase in eastern Washington as of the end of May, with a possible uptick in western Washington as well. There are still significant differences in transmission from county to county. The situation in eastern Washington is of greatest concern, particularly in Benton, Franklin, Spokane and Yakima counties. The report estimates cases and deaths in these counties will soon i...
OLYMPIA—Washington State education officials released a guide to reopening schools for Fall 2020 on Thursday, June 11. The document lays a framework for schools to begin planning what their return to school in the fall looks like. The guidance was developed in partnership with the state Department of Health (DOH); the Governor’s Office; the Department of Labor and Industries; and a broad stakeholder group of more than 120 educators, practitioners, parents, community-based organizations, legislators, and students. State School Sup...
DAYTON-People shopping at the Blue Mountain Station Co-op market have been able to find some of the items they couldn't find at retail grocery stores, because of hoarding by panic-stricken shoppers reacting to the coronavirus pandemic. Market Manager Valerie Mudry said there were no impacts or disruption to their supply chain, largely because all products at the market are locally sourced. People are now consistently buying their meat, produce, dairy, and eggs from the Co-op, she said. Business...
DAYTON—Tom Dingus, owner of Dingus/Zarecor & Associates, Certified Public Accountants, presented the 2019 Basic Financial Statements, and Independent Auditor’s Reports to the Hospital District Board of Commissioners at a special meeting last week. 2019 Financial audit Dingus said the 2019 financial audit went smoothly. “Half the hospitals in your group are doing better and half are doing worse,” he pointed out. He said the Hospital District has the resources to pay its obligations, as they be...
STARBUCK/DIXIE-A unique partnership between two rural school districts was cut short this school year when Governor Inlsee issued his Stay Safe, Stay home proclamation, and schools closed in-person instruction due to COVID-19. Starbuck School Superintendent Kevin Graffis has worked with Starbuck Elementary School teacher Lynette Palmer-France and Dixie Elementary School teacher Bill Clancy to offer the "Salmon in the Schools" program to their students. This informative and hands-on program is...
Within a week of my move to Waitsburg, construction started on my house. My ears were bombarded with drills, hammers, compressors, nail guns, saws and lots of cursing. About two weeks ago, construction slowed down for a short time. The silence was deafening, much appreciated, albeit too short. The first few nights I spent in Waitsburg the silence was so eerie I had to keep the TV on to fall asleep. It was winter and I swear I could hear the snow falling, and icicles forming. It was culture shock...
Had the Curse of the Lost Security Deposit not loomed in the temporal distance, our intrepid adventurer might well have ceased her quest for the Lost Treasure of Apartment 1B rather than brave the belly of the Ford Fusion. Marked as sacred by the Ground Transportation Gods, it was taboo to cause it any injury. But the Fusion shared no such concern for the welfare of its riders, and the labyrinthine streets of South Bend, Indiana, were no willing ally to our adventurer and her mother. "Turn the...
