Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 3401 - 3425 of 5674
DAYTON—Accused murderer Benjamin Orozco waived his right to a speedy trial when he appeared before Judge Scott Gallina in Columbia County Superior Court last week. Two weeks have been set aside for Orozco’s trial, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 23. Orozco has been charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of Dayton resident Lance Terry, and with first degree assault in the wounding of Dayton resident David Eaton, in July, 1996. He has entered a plea of “not guilty” to the charges....
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg school board members enjoyed playing with Chromebooks and checking out online accelerated readers at the district's March board meeting. First-grade teacher Dinah Lindsey handed out the laptops as part of a demonstration on how the district is using Chromebooks in the classroom. The elementary school applied for and received a grant for $30,000 in Title 1 Priority School funds last year, the bulk of which was used for professional development. Lindsey said the elementary st...
Emily Adams placed second in Extemporaneous Public Speaking and Loren Negron placed second in Prepared Public Speaking at FFA sub-districts on March 14. They will advance to the District contest on March 28. "The freshman did great and placed in the top 10 in Creed. They presented well and grew from the process," said Waitsburg FFA Advisor Nicole Abel....
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg City Council approved members for the newly-formed Tree Committee at their regular March 15 meeting. Three citizens applied for the two citizen representative positions, including Allison Bond, Ethan Carpenter and Paul Gregutt. Carpenter, and Gregutt were approved for the position following a short discussion by the council. Mayor Marty Dunn asked City Attorney Jared Hawkins if there is any conflict of interest with Gregutt being on the committee, since his wife, K...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Planning Commission is now just one seat shy of being complete. At their regular March meeting, the Waitsburg City Council unanimously approved an application from Bill Rodgers to sit on the commission. Rodgers moved to Waitsburg just over a year ago, when he purchased the home of city council member KC Kuykendall in January 2016. Rodgers is a retired geologist and environmental consultant who spent the bulk of his career working in Mercer Island. Rodgers spent his l...
New Business: -Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner gave a 2016 year-end update on sheriff’s office activity in Waitsburg. -The council unanimously approved resolution 2017-670, which approved the use of city streets for the annual Tour of Walla Walla bicycle race on April 21 and April 23. -The council voted to re-open elections from March 22-24, to accept declarations of candidacy for city council positions, due to a lack of candidate applicants to fill the vacant seats. The voting deadline will be extended to April 17. See story on Page 1...
Transportation/Maint./Facilities: -Board approved the expenditure of approximately $2,500 to $3,000, after a Pacific Power incentive, to upgrade light fixtures in Preston Hall and the high school. The upgrade is expected to save the school approximately $3,000/year in energy savings. -Board approved bringing part-time custodian, Rick Suchodolski, on full-time during spring break to perform deep cleaning. Public Comment: Board approved the purchase of paint for Jacob Elder to paint the football field bleachers as part of an Eagle Scout project,...
Bob Litts, Rail Services Director for Frontier Rail, LLC said that Koppers Railroad Structures, Inc. is repairing some of the eight rail bridges between Dayton and Waitsburg. Workers were busy making repairs to the bridge decking at the Lewis and Clark Trail State Park last week. Litts said the last bridge to be repaired is in Dayton, and then work can be done on the bridge approaches....
WAITSBURG – Having a slate of candidates running unopposed is not unusual for Waitsburg’s annual elections. But having a shortage of candidates filing to fill the council seats is something new – at least in the recent history, according to city staff. The deadline for filing declarations of candidacy for Waitsburg mayor and five council seats was Friday afternoon. Incumbent Marty Dunn and former councilwoman Debra Callahan will run for mayor, but only four candidates filed to fill the five vaca...
Search consultant Dr. Bill Jordan stresses the importance of community feedback WAITSBURG – Following an executive session with members of the Waitsburg School Board, Dr. Bill Jordan, of Northwest Leadership Associates, addressed the public with an update on the timeline and process for Waitsburg School District's superintendent search. Jordan stressed the importance of community involvement in the later stages of the selection process. Jordan said he will meet with the board to review files a...
WALLA WALLA—When she spoke at the Dayton Senior Center in, on March 7, Mary Cleveland who is the Local Program Coordinator for the Southeast Washington Aging and Disability Resource Center, talked about programs available for seniors, and for adults with disabilities, through the local area Aging and Long Term Care offices. Cleveland said the cost of nursing home care is 2.6 times more expensive than care at home. Programs through ALTC help people receive care in the home setting, which is l...
WAITSBURG – Six teams tested their wits at the annual Regional Knowledge Bowl meet held in Waitsburg on Feb. 2. Dayton, Riverside Christian of Sunnyside, and Waitsburg advanced to the State Meet in Arlington, Wash., which will be held this Saturday. DeSales and Dayton competed for the lone 2B state slot. Dayton took a strong victory, with 106 points to DeSales's 83 points. Pomeroy, Prescott, Riverside Christian, and Waitsburg vied for the two 1B slots. Riverside was the strong leader with 105 p...
SEATTLE – Waitsburg High School graduate and Spokane Valley Paramedic Brad Huffman topped his personal best time by two minutes to place 100th out of nearly1800 firefighters participating in the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb at Columbia Center in Seattle on Sunday. Huffman, son of Dena Wood of Waitsburg, climbed 69 flights of stairs (1,311 steps and 788 ft. of vertical elevation), in full firefighter gear, in 15:49 minutes. Huffman said first-time Spokane Valley climb participant, Joseph C...
PRESCOTT – If you want to know what is going on in Prescott, just visit the new community reader board on the south wall of The Plaza park, located between the Tuxedo Bar & Grill and the library. The Lion’s Club, the Community Club of Prescott, the Tuxedo Bar & Grill, and the Prescott Joint Parks & Recreation Department all donated to purchase the reader board, which is enclosed and locked for safety. “We saw a need for the community to be able to post notifications regarding meetings, things for sale, events of interest, and lost and found...
DAYTON--Megan Schmidt, a senior at Dayton High School, has received an "A Legacy of Legends" scholarship to study "natural horsemanship" with people who studied under Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance. Hunt and Dorrance are considered to be the "greatest and most influential horsemen, of all time", according to the "A Legacy of Legends" website. Megan saw a post on Facebook about the scholarship a couple of months ago and, after going back and forth in her mind, decided she would apply, according to...
Staffers from McMorris Rodgers’s office also visited Columbia County last week DAYTON—“A picture is worth a thousand words,” said Commissioner Merle Jackson, at the March 6 meeting of the Columbia County Commissioners. Fairgrounds Facilities Improvement Plan Coordinator Meagan Bailey asked the commissioners to approve using some money from Planning and Building Special Assessments funds to pay for aerial photography of the fairground. The photos would be used to create a visual artistic vision...
WAITSBURG – Thirty-seven kids from the Touchet Valley participated in the Top Chef Contest on Feb. 23-25 and Feb 27-28 held at the Walla Walla County Extension Office and St. Patrick's Church in Walla Walla. Four members of the Waitsburg Homegrown Go Wild 4-H club participated, and all walked away with awards. Timothy Daves received three first-place awards. The first was in "Table Setting" for his "Fourth of July"-themed spread. Next, he won "Food for All Occasions" by serving a marinated Londo...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg High School seniors unanimously agreed they would rather spend two Saturdays in school to make up snow days, than make up the missed days after graduation, District Suprintedent Carol Clarke told the school board at their March meeting. Waitsburg students have missed four days of school and had two late starts due to weather so far this year. Clarke said the district is required to make up at least three school days. Those three days will be made up on June 12-14. Clarke sa...
WAITSBURG – United States Air Force Airman Caitlyn Jones, 2016 Waitsburg High School graduate and daughter of Collette Jones, of Waitsburg, has reached another educational milestone. Jones completed her Basic Military training in November and graduated from the Class 015 Dental Assistant Apprentice Course in March The intensive eight-week basic training included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills. Jones a...
WAITSBURG – A record high number of musicians from the Waitsburg High School band participated in the Southeast Washington Music Educators’ Association High School Honor Band in Colfax on Monday. Eight Waitsburg musicians participated, including Jacob Elder on tuba, Kevin Murphy and Bradley Sandau on tenor saxophone, Anna Miller on baritone saxophone, Kitty Lambert on alto saxophone, Leena Baker on clarinet, and Loren Negron on percussion. The first honor band rehearsal took place March 6 at Clarkston High School, where band members met wit...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg FFA Chapter has four State FFA Degree recipients and eight members who received proficiency awards. Members will receive their degrees and awards at the State FFA convention in May. State Degree recipients are: Tom House, Brandon Boudrieau, Jared Farley, and Devin Newman. The State FFA Degree is given to the top members of a State FFA Association. Recipients must meet a minimum of nine requirements, that include 180 hours of ag instruction, participation in a supervised ag experience program, demonstration of l...
DAYTON—The Washington State Department of Ecology has accepted the tri-county Southeast Washington Shoreline Master Program Update, with “no proposed changes”. “This is a huge deal,” said Columbia County Planning Director Kim Lyonnaise. “It’s really big.” Lyonnaise met with officials in Garfield and Asotin Counties in February 2014, about the possibility of collaborating on updates to their respective regional master shoreline plans. Because of similarities in topography and demographics, a...
Waitsburg Elementary School students enjoyed dressing up, reading Dr. Suess books, and participating in fun, Suess-related activities as part of Dr. Suess Day last week....
WAITSBURG – The City of Waitsburg received an unpleasant surprise when bids for the Main Street Bridge project were opened on Feb. 23. The lowest bid came in nearly $100,000 over the engineer’s estimate, leaving the city to re-evaluate their options. The cost discrepancy wasn’t due to a shortage of bidders. Twelve companies submitted bids for the job, with totals ranging from a low of $1,379,825 from Harry Johnson Plumbing and Excavation, Inc., to a high of $2,591,216 from Wesslen Const...
DAYTON—At their February 27 meeting, the Dayton City Council approved an agreement between the city and Columbia County for the city to provide code compliance services to the county. The City Code Compliance Officer’s weekly hours will increase by eight, and the county will pay the city $11,000 per year. Councilman Dain Nysoe said the city’s approach to code enforcement has been proactive, but the county “only responds to nuisance issues if someone complains.” Nysoe asked the County Planning...
