Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1301 - 1325 of 5674
Rey's Roast is now offering Ten Ton Roast beans. This is the same medium light northern Italian style espresso roast used at Waitsburg's Ten Ton Coffee. Jazz and Utie Ahler of the Whoopemup Hollow Ahlers hosted a party for their fellow canine friends Charlie Dimak, Cierra Cole and Parker McCaw....
Waitsburg School District honored the Waitsburg High School Class of 2020 with a 'Be The Light' display at the school football field on Friday, April 10 at 8:20 p.m. for 20 minutes. The scoreboard display read 20:20 and students parked alongside the field while community members stopped their cars and honked in support....
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County health officials confirmed on April 12 that the local case count for COVID-19 has more than doubled in the past week. Twelve additional residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since Friday, April 3rd. This brings Walla Walla Counties case count to 21. Columbia County, as of April 12, still has one positive test-case for the coronavirus. Six of the Walla Walla County cases are from the Burbank/Wallula area and are related to a workplace exposure (see Tyson Fresh Meats). Five of Walla Walla County cases are f...
WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County health officials confirmed on Monday, April 13 that six positive cases of COVID-19 in Walla Walla County are linked to employment at Tyson Fresh Meats in Wallula. In addition, the Benton- Franklin Health District is reporting 28 lab-confirmed cases in Benton and Franklin Counties, with two additional probable cases, bringing the total number of cases to 30. This is considered a multi-county outbreak. Tyson is taking the situation very seriously and conversations with local and corporate leadership began early l...
DAYTON—The Columbia County Board of Commissioners (CCBC) has rescinded a nine-year-old agreement with the Columbia County Rural Library District Board of Trustees, regarding how appointments to the CCRLD board of trustees are made. In the past, interviews have been conducted by the CCRLD board of trustees, and their recommendations have been brought before the CCBC for tacit approval. Commissioner Ryan Rundell said he didn’t believe the agreement was adequate in the first place. He said it rem...
Waitsburg Garden Club President Susan Donegan sent an invitation to her members recently announcing that "It's time for our annual beautification project for downtown Waitsburg – planting out the pots that line our Main Street." The plants have been selected and were ordered through Nancy's Dream Garden Center. Karen Gregutt will set out the plants for each individual cement container early on Saturday morning (April 18th). Those who would like to help get the new plants into their new home, i...
DAYTON—The staff at Blue Mountain Counseling of Columbia County have been discussing ways to maintain good emotional health during this time of required social distancing, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinic Director Chrisann Christensen said she has some ideas to share. First of all, check in with friends and family routinely through phone calls, FaceTime, through text messages or by snail mail. Limit media coverage. “Information can be good, but there is so much information being pus...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020. This over $2 trillion economic relief package is intended to protect the American people from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19. Information about the $1,200 economic impact payments as part of the CARES Act, is detailed below. No action is needed by most Americans to receive a payment. However, the IRS recommends that everyone file...
WALLA WALLA—In 2019, 326 women and 174 children spent a total of 8,268 nights of rest in Walla Walla YWCA Domestic Violence shelters. Additional support this organization provides individuals in Walla Walla and Columbia County include sexual assault counseling, legal assistance in completing protection orders and support for victims during legal proceedings. With Governor Inslee’s 'Stay Safe, Stay Home' declaration in place, area residents are finding themselves in their homes 24/7, and that has some serious implications for providers of dom...
The National Domestic Violence Hotline's website provides a list of ways that the virus could uniquely affect intimate partner violence survivors: Abusive partners may withhold necessary items, such as hand sanitizer or disinfectants. Abusive partners may share misinformation about the pandemic to control or frighten survivors, or to prevent them from seeking appropriate medical attention if they have symptoms. Abusive partners may withhold insurance cards, threaten to cancel insurance, or...
DAYTON—A revenue shortfall associated with the costs for mitigating damage to county infrastructure due to the recent flood, and from economic impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the Columbia County Board of Commissioners to take an early look at cutting department budgets. County Treasurer Carla Rowe said she is anticipating a possible 15 to 20-percent loss of sales tax revenue which could impact distributions for May, June, July, and possibly August. The revenue from sales taxes...
DAYTON—Fred Crowe, Port of Columbia Commissioner representing District 3, has resigned from the Port Commission effective Thursday, April 9. “It has been a pleasure and honor to serve with the current and past staff and commissioners of the Port over several years,” Crowe said in his resignation letter. “We together have accomplished many worthy projects in support of economic development in Columbia County.” “I am supportive of projects currently in development and am confident the Port will c...
DAYTON—Columbia County Health System officials have been concerned about the financial health of Dayton General Hospital, the Waitsburg Clinic, Columbia Family Clinic and the Booker Rest Home, because of the high costs associated with preparing for a possible surge in patient care due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their concerns were reported in the Times on Apr 2. A special emergency meeting of the Health System Board of Directors took place on Wednesday, April 8. The purpose of the meeting was t...
Last July 4th holiday was the first time Daniel visited Waitsburg since we originally bought the house around 15 years ago. But, like the movie The Moneypit, the work and financial outgo is still ongoing and outgoing. During that first visit, even in the heat of the summer, he took it upon himself to build bookshelves for my 25 boxes of books. Floor to ceiling shelving against every wall in the upstairs bedroom and it is now our upstairs "library." His vacation was spent at Home Depot, behind a...
Chapter Three – Mr. B N'est Pas Une Boule! Mr. B is the name we gave to Cookie's ball in a failed effort to keep her from going ballistic every time we said the word ball. But more importantly, we've come to discover that the name represents something much more significant than any one particular object. In fact it's a transferable title, like Your Majesty. It is only given to one ball at a time, but once that ball has been lost or destroyed, the next one is now Mr. B, and Cookie seems not to m...
I've been home for just over a month now-and I mean that quite literally. Our family picked a "designated extrovert" to do all the errands fairly early on, and those of you who know me know that my extrovert qualifications come up short. So with the exception of one trip to get coffee back when Ten Ton could still offer sit-down service, my house is the only building I've been in since I got back from Seattle. I'm still adjusting-not so much to being stuck at home as to being home in the first...
There is not much one can control during a pandemic. Many people have lost something 'normal' during these times, but the Class of 2020 has lost the last few months of their senior year. Community members around the nation are banding together and thinking of creative ways to honor students in their final year of high school. Social media has served as a great rallying platform for Class of 2020 parents from all over. A little over a week ago, a 'Be the Light' movement emerged on Facebook. Last...
WALLA WALLA-Walla Walla High School seniors found a surprise waiting for them on their front lawns last week. Bright blue signs were posted in the yards of every senior in the Class of 2020. The yard sign idea came from the school's Associated Student Body Leadership students, under the guidance of Adviser Arch McHie. The class leaders wanted to let seniors know they were appreciated and missed as schools will remain closed for the remainder of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 400...
The Q Wood-fired Grill Do you know someone who could use a little help with a fast, nourishing meal? Chef Jeff from the Q Grill in Waitsburg is offering gourmet soups with free delivery. Hearty and simple. Order by Wednesdays at noon for Friday delivery. Make that FREE delivery. Each week Chef Jeff prepares several soups, including a vegan option. Check out 'The Q Wood-fired Grill' on Facebook to get the week's selection and ordering information. Here is an example from last week's menu: Sweet...
Project Timothy (509) 382-2943: Financial assistance for rent, utilities, and food can be provided to those of you that have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis. At our request, the Blue Mountain Community Foundation has awarded a special grant to Project Timothy just for this purpose—to serve the members of our community who don’t usually ask for help. Project Timothy has “phone” hours Tuesday - Friday from noon to 2 p.m. You can call for assistance and then a volunteer will ar...
WALLA WALLA—An anonymous Advisory Committee comprised of representatives from twenty-three Blue Mountain region organizations have recently awarded grants of $99,000 to Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC); $14,460 to Providence St. Mary Foundation, and $25,000 to Project Timothy (Dayton). In disbursing resources from the Walla Walla Valley COVID-19 Response Fund, the committee prioritized local needs including food insecurity and hunger, homelessness, health and mental health. The BMAC food bank program, which includes Columbia and Garfield c...
WAITSBURG—Waitsburg School Superintendent Mark Pickel and Secondary principal Stephanie Wooderchak met with their staffs on Monday, April 13 to discuss plans for a continuous learning model now that the schools will remain closed through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Grade 6-12 students will be moving to a remote, or digital learning model on April 27. Teachers at those grade levels will be presenting instruction via such platforms as Google Classroom and email. Until that time, the teachers have been connecting with their students t...
Columbia County's second largest employer and third-highest taxpayer began an orderly shutdown of its wheat-straw pulp mill on Sunday, March 29, and completed the suspension of operations on Tuesday, March 31. Although classified as a critical manufacturing facility according to Gov. Inslee's Stay Safe, Stay Home declaration, the Board of Managers decided to layoff 93 salaried and hourly workers, retaining only eight employees. "This action was taken to protect employees and their families and...
"This year's Celebration Days weekend of 'family friendly' fun events are cancelled due to Washington State health concerns about COVID-19," said Lisa Naylor, President of the Waitsburg Celebration Days Committee. The board met last Wednesday, April 1st, utilizing Zoom and phone conference calls. During the meeting, board members discussed the impact of COVID-19 in Walla Walla and surrounding counties, with some members of the board weighing in with their personal concerns about potentially...
WAITSBURG—Preliminary election results for Waitsburg’s mayor and city councilmembers were tallied Monday. With a total of 318 votes cast, voters will return Kevin House and Jim Romine to the council and adds Karen Gregutt, Karl Newell and David Paxton as new councilmembers. The election will be certified on April 15 at the next Waitsburg City Council meeting. The meeting will be conducted remotely via conference call. Interested community members who would like to listen in on the meeting should contact Waitsburg City hall for call inf...
