Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 2626 - 2650 of 5638
DAYTON--Safety is at the top of the list for students and staff in the Dayton School District. And now staff and administrators are better prepared to keep a situation like the ones at Columbine, Colo. and Parkland, Fla. from happening. Jon Ladines, owner of Force Dynamics, led GAP training workshop in how to use T-ball bats for classroom defense last week in the Dayton High School auditorium. Why T-ball bats? T-ball bats are considered by the FBI to be lethal weapons, said Ladines. "With the...
Council members: KC Kuykendall, Terry Jacoy, Kevin House, Jim Romine, Kate Hockersmith; Mayor Marty Dunn; Student Representative Leena Baker were all present. New Business: -WWCSO Update: Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner presented statistics for 2017 calls for service and crime reports. A total of 576 calls for service (a call generated by dispatch and responded to by deputies) were placed in 2017 in Waitsburg. A total of 119 crime reports were submitted. The highest number of reported inc...
DAYTON – Dayton Country Club Board President Roger Trump has been on a mission this year in search of funds for the much-needed irrigation system at Touchet Valley Golf Course. Trump reported last week that he is looking into a grant with the state Recreation Conservation Office, which could yield up to $500,000 for that project. The RCO’s $3 million Land and Water Conservation Fund provides money for projects that preserve and develop outdoor recreation resources, but it carries certain stipulations, including a 20% soft match. Matching con...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Commercial Club presented B.A. Keve with its 2018 Citizen of the Year service award on April 18, during the annual meeting and awards presentation at Waitsburg Town Hall. Emcee Larry Johnson described Keve as a "Waitsburg promoter" who is "passionate about our community." She is "extremely easy to like," and "would never intentionally offend anyone," he added. Keve was nominated by Cindy Standring, who described Keve as "the 'communicator' of Waitsburg." In her nominati...
WAITSBURG – “I love the idea of kids starting the day well-fed, and I love the idea of older students eating alongside younger students. The more I think about this, the more excited I get!” Those were the words of Waitsburg junior high and high school principal Stephanie Wooderchak during a discussion on food service at the April 19 school board meeting. Food Services Manager Susan Wildey approached school board members at their March 15 meeting requesting that they consider participating in the Provision 2 food program. The program provi...
DAYTON – For 11 years, Joe Helm has been Chief Deputy for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, and he is now running for sheriff in the 2018 election. If elected, Helm said he would like to restore the fundamental functions of law enforcement which are to enforce, educate, prevent crime. And he wants to make sure deputies are more than mere community guardians, but are also active community members. As Sheriff, Helm said he will strengthen community-oriented policing programs and collaborate w...
DAYTON – Jeff Jenkins says he has many ideas about how to address an understaffed and underfunded Columbia County Sheriff's Department, an inadequate jail facility, illicit drug use in the community, community trust and participation, working with other agencies to solve crimes, and restructuring the department to better serve the community. "I ride around in a patrol car all day, and what else is there to do but think?" he said. Jenkins will be on the 2018 election ballot this fall to r...
DAYTON – Dayton School Superintendent Doug Johnson’s report to the school board at last week’s meeting included an update on capital projects. Johnson said three entry doors have been replaced, one into the kitchen and two on the back side of the high school. He is working on cost estimates for surveillance cameras, which will be placed in the main entryways during the summer. Seventy-five phones have been installed throughout the school system, and the roofing and boiler replacement projects are in the preparatory state. Johnson said he is wo...
Board members present: Christy House, Russ Knopp, Ross Hamann. Marilyn Johnson and Randy Pearson were absent. Secondary Principal’s Report: -Prom will be held April 28 at the Preston Hall gym. Dayton and Waitsburg will hold a joint prom. The prom will be held in Waitsburg with the theme “A Night in Paris,” chosen by Dayton. -The junior high band traveled to Dayton for a junior high mass band on April 19. -WHS students participated in the “Every 15 Minutes” program April 19-20. -Youth and Government students will travel to Olympia for the YMCA...
DAYTON-Citing public health, safety and liability issues, the Dayton City Council voted last week to close the city pool for the 2018 summer season. The vote was unanimous. "The staff was heart-broken," said City Manager Trina Cole about the council's decision. The pool, which was built in 1982, is developing cracks on top and below the deck and in the crawl space, and is heaving in places. Cole said the entire pool needs to be sandblasted and repainted, and that work cannot be done before a...
WAITSBURG – Two years ago, Waitsburg School District staff, administration and community members participated in a visioning process coordinated by Educational Service District 123, which oversees schools in southeast Washington. A top priority identified through that process, was that the Waitsburg district should not only educate and engage students, but also the community at large. In recent months, the district has made great strides in meeting that goal. In his first year as Waitsburg School District superintendent, Dr. Jon Mishra has o...
DAYTON – Columbia County’s recycling program will be up and ready to begin receiving mixed paper/newspaper, aluminum, and cardboard as soon as Basin Disposal, Inc. places bins at the county’s new recycling station. The station is located in a fenced in area slightly north and east of the entrance to the transfer facility on S. Cottonwood St. BDI will place three bins there to receive corrugated cardboard, mixed paper/newspaper, and aluminum, and the site will be monitored by camera. That’s the good news. The bad news is the market for recycla...
Stop. Look. Think. While these three actions aren't necessarily the best way to cross a busy road, they constitute excellent advice for life itself, especially when it comes to viewing art. Many people, however, are nervous about looking at art, because their major "teaching" in how to do so comes from clips in movies, in which actors playing characters we're supposed to accept as believable stand around and concentrate on perplexing images of irrationality. Given that most normal people...
DAYTON—Colby Litzenberger, of Tucannon Development, LLC, has stepped up to the plate with regard to building number two at the Blue Mountain Station, reported Port Manager Jennie Dickinson, during the Port of Columbia Commissioners’ meeting last week. Work on the building by Litzenberg’s family-owned construction company had stalled over a dispute with the Port about whose responsibility it was to provide electricity to the building. At a meeting with Port officials in February, Litzenberger’s father, Allen Litzenberger said he believe...
DAYTON—During last week’s meeting of the Port of Columbia Commissioners, Port Manager Jennie Dickinson reported that she has met with Adam Schmidtgall, Principal Engineer for Anderson Perry & Associates, to discuss an engineering design application for a $3.5 million bicycle trail between Dayton and Waitsburg. Dickinson said an application for funding of the design will be submitted to the Washington State Dept. of Transportation, Local Programs, in early May. “We’re excited to get started on seeking funding for the Dayton to Waitsburg bike tr...
WAITSBURG – This year's annual Waitsburg city ballot included an advisory item, with the city council seeking community input on whether to demolish, repair or replace the unsafe grandstands at the Waitsburg Fairgrounds. One hundred twenty-four citizens, 59% of the total, voted to tear down the grandstands, 81 voted to repair the facility, and six voted for complete replacement. "Though it was an advisory vote and the City Council has the final decision, I would like to think that since it w...
DAYTON – Juan Castaneda, of Pasco, has pleaded guilty to multiple counts relating to a home invasion and shooting in Dayton last September, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to Columbia County Deputy Prosecutor Dale Slack, on April 4, Castaneda entered guilty pleas to counts of first-degree burglary and first-degree assault, both with firearm enhancements, and also to unlawful imprisonment. The charges stemmed from an incident at Cameron Court trailer park in Dayton on Sept. 20. Law enforcement reports said that Castaneda a...
DAYTON – The brilliance of the four large historic stained glass windows at the Dayton First Christian Church has been restored and preserved thanks to a grant from the Warren Community Action Fund. The church applied for and received the grant last year. Associated Crafts, of Winona, Minn., a company specializing in stained glass restoration, agreed to discount the cost of the restoration project to the amount of the grant. The work was completed in March. The stained-glass windows were p...
