Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 3406 - 3430 of 5688
DAYTON—Last week, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5023, the “levy cliff” measure, into law. The bill extends the safety net for local levy collections an additional year. According to local school officials, this was needed because the State Legislature has reduced the amount of money local school districts can collect from voter-approved M&O levies, in anticipation of full funding for basic education, as ordered by the State Supreme Court, in the McCleary ruling. “The bill is a plus,” said Dayton School Superintendent Doug Jo...
WAITSBURG – Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office calls for service in 2016 were up over the previous four years in Waitsburg. But Sheriff John Turner told Waitsburg's city council that is a good thing, during his quarterly update at the March 15 city council meeting. The WWCSO received 532 calls for service in Waitsburg in 2016, more than double the 247 calls received in 2015, and more than any of the three years prior to that. The number of Suspicious Circumstances calls jumped from 22 in 2015 t...
Arraignments: -Raymond Joe Cate, 55, Walla Walla; charged with one count of delivery, manufacture, or possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and one count of use of drug paraphernalia not used for marijuana. Cate was taken to the Col. Co. Sheriff’s Office on a failure to appear warrant. When he was unable to obtain the $600 bail he was booked into jail. While being booked, police reports allege that methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia was found in his possession. Cate entered a plea of not guilty and was released on a $5,000 u...
ARLINGTON, Wash. – The Waitsburg Knowledge Bowl team brought home a third-place trophy at the state 1B level and Dayton placed seventh out of 18 2B schools at the State Knowledge Bowl competition at Arlington High School on Saturday. "The first and second-place schools were high-priced private schools from the west side, so WHS was actually the first place public school. It was the best finish in WHS Knowledge Bowl history," said Waitsburg KB coach Brad Green. "You would have been proud to s...
The Dayton Chamber of Commerce's annual Brix & Brew Festival was held Friday evening at the Columbia County Fairgrounds Pavillion. The event, which included dinner, and live and silent auctions, is the main fundraiser for the chamber, and was a big success again this year, according Chamber Manager Andrew Holt. Holt said that approximately 180 people attended the event, and "everyone had a great time."...
About 60 Dayton and Waitsburg high school students turned out for the March 15 All-Area Younglife meeting in Waitsburg. YoungLife and Wyldlife members held an Italian Delights fundraiser on Sun., March 19 to raise funds for summer camps....
DAYTON-Since September, a group of stakeholders has been meeting to develop a plan for improving the facilities at the Columbia County fairgrounds. Last week, a draft of the plan was presented to the committee for comment by Meagan Bailey, Columbia County Planning Assistant, who has been coordinating the effort. Her department has been tasked with the job by the Columbia County Commisioners. The purpose of the project, which is broken down into three phases, is: To provide a safe, healthy,...
DAYTON—The Dayton School Board met last week and received updates on a wide range of topics. Kristine Warren, who is the graduation counselor for Dayton High School, talked to the board about the work she is doing to prepare students for graduation. She said student graduation requirements are being met, and that she has been busy helping with scholarship applications, test applications, career counseling, and keeping track of community services reporting. “The kids are on track for gra...
DAYTON—The General Manager of Columbia County Public Transportation, Stephanie Guettinger, is on paid leave, pending an investigation of issues relating to performance of her duties and responsibilities. “We’re looking into the internal management of the organization,” said City of Dayton Mayor Craig George, who is the president of the CCPT board. George said that an end-of-year report from Diversified HR of Wenatchee, and some “whistleblower” complaints, lead to the decision by the CCPT board...
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...
