Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1104 - 1128 of 5662
DAYTON—Dayton residents can phone the Dayton City Hall with non-emergency animal control complaints, and leave a message for staff in the city shops, who will be handling those calls said Mayor Zac Weatherford at last week’s meeting of the Dayton City Council, He said staff have been trained in handling those types of calls, and complaints will be investigated the following business day, including calls that come in after hours, or on weekends. The number to call direct is 382-4571. Wea...
Waitsburg School District’s board of directors spent last Tuesday at a three-hour-long retreat and training at the school’s library. The training was facilitated by Dr. William Jordan from Northwest Leadership Associates. Dr. Jordan has more than 50 years of educational experience, including serving as Walla Walla Public Schools superintendent, Prescott School District superintendent, and various educator positions. He is now a consultant at Northwest Leadership Associates. The board mem...
PRESCOTT—Pool Manager Kyra Hartley is happy to announce: “We hope to be open by the 23rd of July, I am very excited!” Due to the Stay Safe proclamation there will be some new rules at the pool: 1) all patrons must wear a mask when they are not in the water, 2) all staff will wear a mask unless they are on a high guard chair with a 6-foot perimeter, and 3) there can be no more than 25 people in the water at a time and no more than 5 in a section of the pool. Open Swim: The pool will be split into...
WALLA WALLA—Becoming a new parent often brings a mix of emotions: among them, joy and stress, in the best of circumstances. Caring for a newborn when you lack basic resources can be particularly challenging and lead to health risks for both babies and parents. A new program called Care Crates aims to bridge this gap by sending new families home with bassinet boxes filled with the basic items needed to care for a newborn at home. The project is being funded through a new partnership between t...
WALLA WALLA—The Walla Walla City Council held the first of three Town Halls in response to a large community outcry over-policing policies and the issue of a police officer’s tattoo which incorporates a symbol which is firmly linked to Nazi Germany. City Mayor Tom Scribner welcomed citizens to the Zoom event, noting that “after the first two Town Halls we will consider what we have heard and what you have told us and we will respond and tell you what we aim to do and what we will try to do to...
WAITSBURG-Summer BBQ menus are going to be a little less sweet in Waitsburg this summer. After 30 years of growing a secret variety of sweet corn, Ed and Cathy Lambert are retiring to focus on family, Ed's lumber milling, and their own family garden. "We started growing corn when we moved here in 1988," Cathy said. "Our kids would load up a wagon with fresh vegetables and walk around the neighborhood, selling the veggies to neighbors. Everyone loved it!" Cathy said it didn't take long for local...
DAYTON—Garry Snyder, owner of Christy’s Realty in Dayton said local home sales remain strong, in spite of the state mandated restrictions on in-person meetings, put in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 . “I’ve had a very good year,” Snyder said. “It has been very busy. We’ve had a lot of sales under contract.” Snyder said there are fewer current listings, but that was true for this time of year even before the COVID-19 restrictions. Snyder has thirteen active listings with home prices...
WALLA WALLA—The Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla is happy to announce that the Cepheid platform for rapid testing has arrived at the hospital. The Cepheid can produce a COVID-19 test result in 45 minutes. The equipment now is undergoing approximately a week of validation testing, then will be put into use. Initially, it will be limited to patients at the hospital due to continuing national shortages of testing supplies. As more test kits become available, they will be able to e...
WALLA WALLA—City of Walla Walla officials have finalized plans for a three-part virtual town hall series to address topics relating to local policing including a local officer’s tattoo, police practices, policies, and funding. The meetings will be conducted online via Zoom, and the schedule will be as follows: Thursday July 9 at 6:30-8:30 p.m. — Presentations by City Manager Nabiel Shawa on City budget and police funding; City Attorney Tim Donaldson on legal issues surrounding Officer Nat Small’s tattoo; and Police Chief Scott Bieber on Wall...
DAYTON—County officials are dealing with projected shortfalls, state required cuts, and are trying to maintain adequate funds to cover expenses. In her second quarter financial report to the Board of County Commissioners on Monday, County Treasurer Carla Rowe offered a dire forecast for state revenue collections over the next few years due to the COVID-19 situation. She said the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council announced an estimated decrease in revenue collection for the 2019-21 budget of around $4.5 billion. “It is rep...
In the wake of February’s flooding event, the Blue Mountain Long-Term Recovery Group (BMLTRG), a multi-state, multi-county organization, has been formed to reflect the structure of similar long-term disaster recovery groups across the nation. The new group will continue the work taken on by multiple community groups in our region including the Waitsburg Flood Mitigation Group. BMLTRG’s Executive Committee is co-chaired by Christy Lieuallen from the United Way of the Blue Mountains and David Reinholz from The Community Action Program of Eas...
DAYTON—The Dayton School Board met July 1 for a regular monthly work session via Zoom. The board reviewed the middle and high school principal contract, and the 2020-2021 budget. This work session was Superintendent Guy Strot’s first regular meeting for the district. The board reviewed the middle and high school principal’s contract. Board member Fred White noted that there was one area with non-inclusive language within the contract, and the board agreed to fix the language to read ‘his/...
OLYMPIA—On Monday, June 6 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Washington state’s “faithless elector” laws. The Office of the Secretary of State won the lower-court rulings in both the state Superior and Supreme courts, and these decisions were supported today by the U.S. Supreme Court. Secretary of State Kim Wyman was confident that Washington state’s laws would be reaffirmed. “I am pleased to see that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld our role to ensure the popular vote of the people is represented in the electoral votes cast,” she said. The...
WAITSBURG—Waitsburg School District held a virtual public hearing on June 30 to discuss the upcoming school year. No more than four families attended the informative hearing to discuss concerns regarding classroom structure, face shields and masks, and other education concerns arising with the longevity of the coronavirus pandemic. Superintendent Mark Pickel started the meeting off by expressing that the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has been revising in-classroom t...
WALLA WALLA—Recent survey results, representing feedback from nearly 2,000 Walla Walla Public Schools parents, provided district staff critical guidance as they begin finalizing Fall 2020 reopening plans. Results from this recent survey, in addition to three prior surveys representing thousands of respondents, a focus group interview with students, and 10 different workgroups consisting of dozens of staff and community partners, have provided a path forward as the district modifies in-person instruction this fall. The strict, 6-foot social d...
As stay at home orders persist, and nearly every aspect of daily life is impacted in some way, it is no surprise that mental health problems are increasing across the country due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Kaiser Family Foundation notes that significantly higher shares of people who were sheltering in place (47 percent) reported negative mental health effects resulting from worry or stress related to coronavirus than among those not sheltering in place (37 percent)....
Take me out to the ballgame In Chronicles #2 and #3 I introduced you to Mr. B, Cookie's lifelong companion, ward and wing man. And I may have mentioned that Mr. B generally hits the sack earlier than the rest of us, the 'sack' being an empty slot in the kitchen spice drawer. Cookie is quite fond of this routine, and though we sometimes forget to put Mr. B to bed right after dinner, she will leave him on the kitchen floor, just below the drawer, as a gentle reminder. And that is where she will...
Mom made yet another quarantine mistake. Actually, Mom and Dad were both in on this one. It didn't involve shaving cream and the Roomba, but a TV show called "Shark Tank." Mom thought she was going to deter little me from the TV by watching a 'big kid' show, but boy was she wrong! I'm hooked, everyone. "Shark Tank" is a show where entrepreneurs pitch an idea, an invention or a business to billionaires like Mark Cuban (Mark is one of my favorites). Sometimes, the presenters have a great plan and...
Last summer, my first in Waitsburg, I planted three tomato plants and harvested enough tomatoes to keep Heinz making ketchup for years. I was so proud, I sent pictures back to everyone in Los Angeles, bragging about my abundant tomato crop. Then came the frost, and all I had were limp dead plants, and planters loaded with green tomatoes. Experienced gardeners advised me " don't be discouraged, pick them, put them in a box in the pantry or laundry room and you will have tomatoes through...
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WALLA WALLA-The Walla Walla YMCA is currently open with significant Phase 2 restrictions in place. Only members may visit, locker rooms will have limited access, there is a health screening at entry, and reservations are required for most areas. In order to provide fitness opportunities for a greater number of people, the YMCA is now offering a Virtual Membership for a $25 monthly fee. The Y's online offerings provide a way for people to maintain their physical health from the shelter of their...
Ten Years Ago July 28, 2011 The Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office is considering bringing a program to Waitsburg that would dispose of residents’ prescription and illegal drugs to keep them out of sewer systems and landfills, but an inability to fund and staff the program could prevent its fruition. Zooming by on Highway 12, it’s easy to miss the unassuming signs that mark the county line. “Entering Columbia County” reads the one going east. “Entering Walla Walla County” greets drivers heading west. For T. J. Hersey, running her father’s...
WALLA WALLA—Individual business owners in Walla Walla are all managing Governor Inslee's mask wearing proclamation in their own unique ways. Cugini's Italian Import Foods on Wallula in Walla Walla posted a sign noting masks were required, but clothing was optional! At Ellen's Cutting Edge Barbershop, notices on the door required masks, as well as a prior appointment to get a cut. I had been a frequent customer of Saager's since I moved to town nine years ago-as it was where I had my two young s...
DAYTON—Finances for the Columbia County Health System continue to be impacted due to the COVID-19 situation, which caused a significant reduction of patient services during the first months of the year, according to CCHS CEO Shane McGuire. An average of 771 patient visits were recorded at the Columbia Family Clinic, during the first three months of the year, but only 542 visits were recorded in May. However, the month of May saw an increase in patient volumes in several areas; including R...
Local horsemen spent their weekend at the Columbia County fairgrounds working with renowned horse trainer Buck Brannaman. The four-day horsemanship clinic was attended by 21 riders but did not allow spectators this year....
