Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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This was actually the title of an "essay" assigned to my sister for Mother's Day when she was in 4th grade. My mother treasured this master literary work, it was the only childhood memento that she saved from any of us. None of our homemade cards, shell art, lariats or wood carvings made at camp were found among her treasures, just this paper. The title aptly suited my mother. She was a superstar; I miss her every day. She was a good sport, had a wicked sense of humor, could hold a grudge...
(On The Road Part Two) Having hunkered down in our peaceful Nye Beach cabin after an exhausting first day on the road, we awoke to a bright winter sunrise and the sound of waves crashing on the shore below. The beach, which had been cloaked in darkness when we arrived, now beckoned irresistibly. We'd already decided to spend an extra night here, so a wide open play day awaited. As soon as we gazed out the living room windows at the unbroken expanse of ocean, sky and sand that spread out from...
Don't do crimes! At the time of this writing, I've finished one three-hour nightmare of a final and have three more such finals in my future. By the time you read this, I'll be done with three and have one left to finish. (And if anybody needs me for anything over the weekend, ask someone else. I'll be asleep.) Seeing as it's getting so close to crunch time, I figured this week's unsolicited advice would do double-duty as a review session. That's right, folks: it's time for some unsolicited...
As high school graduation approaches, Waitsburg's Main Street is getting prepped for a dash of color and a few smiling faces. While the details for a socially-distanced graduation are still being ironed out, the community has been looking for ways to honor the Class of 2020. Last month Senior Advisor, Matthew Wyatt, turned to Facebook to ask the community's help to raise funds for Main Street banners celebrating the seniors. In true Waitsburg fashion, the community rallied together to raise...
I must admit I am my mother's son, and apparently that of her mother as well. Both enjoy collecting beautiful things to display, as well as saving practical materials that may be of use at some unknown (and inexplicable) point in time. I am not a collector, per se, but I am guilty of keeping things like useless wood scraps and old nails and bolts. And I just can't bring myself to discard antlers, handsome game hides or upland bird plumage. Art is a recurring theme among my tales and reflections...
Buying a new car is always exciting. Spending hours at the dealership, negotiating your heart out and signing a tree's worth of papers... not so exciting. There is a way around the showrooms and bargaining that is quickly gaining traction: online car dealerships like Vroom, Carvana, and True Car. As a matter of fact, at least one car recently seen around Waitsburg was delivered earlier this year from the online car dealership Vroom. Albert Diaz and his wife, Brigid, of Waitsburg, recently...
JOHN DAY, PENDLETON, and BAKER CITY, Ore.-Personal-use mushroom picking is free and does not require a permit or payment under the legal limits, which authorizes an individual to harvest, possess, or transport less than a gallon in Oregon and less than five gallons in Washington. No commercial permits are available this year due to coronavirus These free mushrooms are only available for personal consumption and cannot be sold, bartered, or given away. Those seeking to pick more than the free...
Look Ma, no hands!...
PASCO-Carly Coburn of Pasco, WA announced on Thursday, April 30th that she will be running as a Democrat for the 16th Legislative District, position 2, currently held by Representative Skyler Rude. Coburn is a community leader with a history of serving and standing up for marginalized residents of the 16th LD. Coburn first moved to Eastern Washington in 2014 to College Place and moved to Pasco in September of 2015. She has been married for 11 years, and has an adorable chihuahua named Mimi, and...
DAYTON-Employees of the Columbia County Health System are being assisted with their childcare needs thanks to a $12,500 award from Innovia Foundation, according to The Club's manager Jim Pearson. Pearson said The Club, the Columbia County Health System, and the Dayton School District have coordinated the childcare program. Between twelve and fifteen youth, ages two through eleven, are being served by the program, which is located in the Dayton School District facilities. The Club's Program...
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...
