Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 2670 - 2694 of 5688
DAYTON--There are some timely reminders coming from the WSU Dayton Extension Office regarding noxious weed control, 4-H and local crop tours. The county's Noxious Weed Control Coordinator, Rachel Hutchens, said the Weed Control Board is funded by county assessment, and there is some cost sharing available, for chemical costs, application costs, or both, to control of some of the county's worst noxious weeds. They include yellow star thistle, Japanese and Bohemian knotweed, leafy spurge and...
DAYTON-Audrey Bensel joined the Dayton Chamber of Commerce staff last month as assistant manager. She will share duties running the office in Downtown Dayton with newly hired director Melissa Bryan. Bensel was circulations manager at the Dayton Chronicle for about a year, before accepting the Chamber position. "This is right up my alley," she said. "I like to host parties." Bensel grew up in Dayton and graduated from Dayton High. She went on to WSU and graduated with a BA in Theater Arts in...
WAITSBURG – It takes a lot to keep a schoolkid's attention on a sunny Friday, but Allison Bond managed that minor miracle last week at Waitsburg Elementary. In the school cafeteria, 150 five-inch saplings sat in boxes on the tiled floor as Bond showed them off to an awestruck crowd of students. They'd each get to take one home, she explained, and plant it in celebration of Arbor Day. Soon, the tiny trees would grow as tall as the one by the school's front door. They'd clean the air and p...
DAYTON-When the 2018 election is over, there will be several new faces in key positions in Columbia County government, and Chuck Amerein hopes to be one of them. Amerein is running to represent District 3 on the Board of County Commissioners, to replace Merle Jackson, who is retiring at the end of the year. Amerein said he has been attending the BOCC meetings for the past several months in order to develop an understanding of the issues, and he has been shadowing Commissioner Jackson, to...
WAITSBURG – In spite of a strong public response in favor of tearing down the Waitsburg Fairgrounds grandstands on an advisory ballot item vote last month, the Waitsburg City Council is still torn on how to move forward. The recurring action item was once again tabled on the April 18 council agenda in order to take a closer look at the possibility of reinstituting a Parks & Recreation District to raise funds for the fairgrounds. Of the 211 citizens voting on the April advisory ballot item, posed to gauge community opinion on whether to demolish...
Thanks to the entertainment industry, which in the last 100 years has shaped societal perspective on reality, many people think of someone in a paint-spattered smock and beret, grasping a palette, and acting in a less than rational manner. “Oh don’t mind him, he’s an artist, you know,” somebody sniffs. But artists, like art itself, are unique and individual, and textile artist Catherine Little, of White Bird, ID, who creates home décor gift and wall hangings depicting wildlife and country scenes, looks and acts like a likable, normal person w...
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...
