Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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Grocery stores and their employees have become front-line services in these stay-at-home times. The Waitsburg Grocery Store on Main Street has been busy during the quarantine. Supply-chain challenges, stocking products customers are used to, and increased delivery and curbside service has required long work weeks from owner Jamie McMillen-Smit. One of her first supply issues involved the price of eggs, which at one point reached three dollars a dozen while McMillen-Smit's cost was $3.21 a dozen....
OLYMPIA-Gov. Jay Inslee announced on Monday, April 27, a partial re-opening of some outdoor recreation activities. Scheduled for Tuesday, May 5, with approriate safety precautions in place, the public can enjoy: fishing; hunting; playing golf; and day use at state parks, state public lands managed by the Department of Natural Resources and at state Fish and Wildlife areas. Boat launches will also re-open. The public is cautioned that it may take several days for gates to be unlocked and sites...
As of Tuesday, April 28 at 10 a.m. Walla Walla County had 61 positive cases for COVID-19, with five individuals currently hospitalized. Columbia County has one positive case, Benton and Franklin Counties have 853 confirmed cases with 43 deaths. Walla Walla County is linking nine positive cases to Tyson Fresh Meats, five to FirstFruits, Inc. and seven cases to long term care facilities (employee or resident). Benton-Franklin Counties link 130 cases to long term care/senior living residents, 101 cases to long term care/senior living staff, 114...
DAYTON-Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Port of Columbia and Dayton Chamber officials have been working to gather, distill, and impart information that will help the business community as well as sidelined workers weather the COVID-19 storm. Part of this information gathering includes trying to decipher the programs they are looking into so they can help answer questions, reaching out to local foundations that have emergency funds, and then getting that money into the community....
PRESCOTT-The Prescott Joint Park and Recreation District has maintained a park and pool that is well known around our valley for being clean, family friendly, and just plain fun. After more than a decade of volunteering as a commissioner for the district, Patsy Welch Adams Warnock is hanging up her sunhat and retiring from the job. A former school teacher, Patsy has a deep love for helping others. Her family has been in the area for more than a decade where she says volunteering has become a...
OLYMPIA—Gov. Jay Inslee, in consultation with the state’s construction industry, announced a plan on April 24 that would allow current construction projects to be completed. The recommendations were informed by workers, contractors, health and safety experts, and local government officials, for safe construction standards. “I thank all those involved in the construction work group in helping us get to this decision in a responsible way that supports workers, businesses, and communities in a way that protects the health of all of their famil...
Tyson Fresh Meats closed its Wallula plant on Friday, April 24 to begin working with the Walla Walla Department of Community Health (DCH) to test all 1,400 employees for the COVID-19 virus. Over 110 workers have tested positive for the virus as of April 24. Nine employees who reside in Walla Walla County are among those who have tested positive. The Walla Walla Department of Community Health (DCH) obtained test kits from the State of Washington Department of Health (DOH). It will take about three days for test results to come back. Results will...
OLYMPA-Gov. Jay Inslee announced on April 27 that Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak are joining Washington, Oregon and California in the Western States Pact -- a working group of Western state governors with a shared vision for modifying stay at home orders and fighting COVID-19. "In Washington state, our decisions are guided by public health data and science and this is a principle we share up and down the West Coast. Governor Polis and Governor Sisolak are taking...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County Sheriff Mark Crider released a letter on April 23 stating that “the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office is primarily funded from sales tax, so is imperative that we get Walla Walla County businesses back up and running.” Crider stated that the five percent budget cuts his department are being asked to make by Walla Walla County Commissioners would slice $232,595 out of a $4,651905 total budget. Crider asserts that these budget cuts “can only mean one thing, we are going to have to cut manpower by reducing...
Springtime in Waitsburg is official when there is a sighting of the miniature horse and cart making its way to the grocery for treats....
We planted trees today, three apple and one Chinese persimmon. More flora and fauna to impatiently watch and wait, along with my vegetables and herbs. As I mentioned last week, I am my father’s daughter, no patience! From my mother, I inherited her stellar sense of direction, her need to have a fully stocked pantry with backups for everything and unfortunately, her “black thumb.” So, not only am I impatient, I am not very optimistic about a large bounty. About two weeks ago we started plant...
(On The Road Part One) Mrs. G and I would be the first to admit that we are not RV people. But we do like long road trips. Just during the six year long process of moving out of a 2,400 square foot home in Seattle and into our 1,000 square foot Waitsburg cottage, we made literally hundreds of trips back and forth. That is when we perfected the fine art of packing our SUV with vast amounts of stuff. This all happened in the pre-Cookie days. If Cookie got to cast a vote on road trip...
Your new hobby-writing! Finals are very nearly upon me, and I find it increasingly hard to talk or think about anything else. But given that you folks have enough stress in your lives at the moment, I figured I'd expand last week's unsolicited-gardening-advice column into a three-part series of unsolicited-advice pieces for those looking to try something new during quarantine. Did anybody ask for it? No. That's the whole point. This week's topic is writing. I think it's fair to say that most of...
DAYTON-Communities around the nation are coming up with creative ideas to honor their high school's Class of 2020 in the midst of a pandemic. In Dayton, Scott Kirk and Bette Lou Crothers teamed up to raise money for banners to display on Main Street. While Bette Lou handled the fundraising efforts, Kirk, owner of Scott Kirk Photography, donated his time to design the banners and ensure each student had a senior portrait for the project. The banner idea came from a few Facebook posts that Scott...
PENDLETON, Ore. – The Umatilla National Forest will begin invasive plant treatments in late April using an integrated approach of prevention, manual, mechanical, herbicide, biological control and cultural treatments to reduce the risk of invasive species expanding on the forest. Treatments are expected to continue through October. Invasive species have been shown to reduce biodiversity including wildlife habitat, wildlife and domestic livestock forage and streamside vegetation. Invasive p...
COLLEGE PLACE-Career plans have a way of changing quickly, and for one local firefighter, his career plan took a rewarding turn from engineering to firefighting. In 2019, Logan Bartlett joined the College Place Fire Department as a volunteer with no training. By the end of the year, his dedication and commitment earned him the Rookie Firefighter of the Year award. Logan, who attended Waitsburg High School before transferring to Walla Walla Community College his junior year, said he had no plans...
Gracie here! In case you didn't know, being two is tough. Being two AND being stuck at home with Mom all day? Oh boy! Mom says we are 'isolating,' and even though I don't really know what that means, it's been pretty fun! Our mornings start early around here. 6:30 a.m. at the very latest, and I'm always the one getting Mom out of bed. She says she is not a morning person: I say too bad. While I sit down and eat breakfast, Mom cleans up the kitchen and eventually comes over with a cup of coffee,...
Publisher Lane Gwinn wanted to know how things were going for some of our community's front-line workers, the folks at Waitsburg's Post Office. Mike Reed, Waitsburg's postmaster, was kind enough to email the Times with his thoughts and suggestions on how to keep yourself and others safe while getting the mail. "First, almost everyone is doing the social distancing very well and we appreciate it, we hope we can get back to normal soon, please thank everyone for their patience. "The way the floor...
Good things are happening on a Main Street near you....
WAITSBURG- Homemade red velvet doughnuts, build-your-own sandwiches and themed dinners will soon be served at 206 Main Street, as the Callahan family wraps up the last few preparations for a soft opening of Millstone Cafe and Bakery. "I have always wanted to own a restaurant," owner Deb Callahan said. "I have been cooking all of my life, I've catered a good portion of my life." Deb said that her husband, Jim, is getting ready to retire and they are looking forward to having a business that, with...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County Department of Community Health (DCH). has confirmed that Sunday, April 19th, 2020 had the largest spike in daily cases for COVID-19 in the county. Over the weekend, they reported six additional cases of COVID-19, five of which resulted on Sunday. A total of seventeen additional cases have been confirmed since Friday, April 10th , 2020 increasing Walla Walla County’s case count to thirty-seven. It is important to note that the local daily case count for COVID-19 is not at its peak. According to the April 21, 202...
DAYTON—Learning has taken a curious shape in the Dayton School District since brick and mortar schools were shut down on March 17. The school closures have provided opportunities for teachers and staff who are working from home to provide continuous learning in different and creative ways, and not just distance learning, said Superintendent Doug Johnson, at last week’s board meeting. “We’re trying to continue educating the students in any manner, shape or form we can between now and when we can...
According to Associated Press reports, thousands of people gathered in Olympia, WA on Sunday, April 19 to protest Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Protesters could be seen holding signs that read “End the Shutdown” and “Give Me Liberty or Give me Covid 19”. In nearby Richland, WA, the Tri-Cities Herald and YakTriNews.com reported that hundreds of protestors of all ages lined George Washington Way in front of John Dam Plaza with signs, American flags, and bullhorns. Hundreds of protestor...
"I am using a combination of methods-old and new-to communicate with my students and their parents. During the first week I sent a letter home to seniors and their parents, encouraging them during this strange time and reminding them about some things they could be doing during our six weeks apart. The second and third week I used Skyward (our online platform for grading and communication) to send individual classes messages. I've also sent some messages and pictures through the Waitsburg High S...
WAITSBURG— The Waitsburg City Council met on Wednesday, April 15 via conference call. Mayor Marty Dunn, Councilmembers Jim Romine, Kevin House, Kate Hockersmith, KC Kuykendall, and Terry Jacoy were present. Incoming council members David Paxton, Karen Gregutt and Karl Newell were present, as well as city administrator Randy Hinchliffe. The council reviewed and certified the 2020 Election results. Hockersmith, Kuykendall and Jacoy stepped down and voters filled the empty positions with Gregutt, Newell and Paxton. Marty Dunn was re-elected as m...
