Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 3760 - 3784 of 5699
WAITSBURG - The first item under "new business" on the Waitsburg City Council Agenda last week was how to fill the vacant council position left following the resignation of Mayor Walt Gobel earlier this month. A lack of clarity in the city's charter, which dictates such decisions, left the council trying to determine the best way to move forward. After council discussion and public comment, it was decided that Mayor Pro-tem Marty Dunn will fulfill the rest of Gobel's term as mayor, and...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg Elementary School sixth-grade students will be welcomed to the classroom by a new face this year. First-time teacher Garrett Leahy will replace Sarah Reser, who resigned earlier this summer to accept a position as literacy coordinator for ESD 123. Twenty-two-year-old Leahy is a recent graduate of the University of Idaho. He holds a bachelor of science degree in elementary education with endorsements in math and science. Leahy is a Walla Walla Valley native and grew up on t...
WAITSBURG – The people, small town lifestyle, and natural resources were listed repeatedly as community treasures by Waitsburg and area residents at a Community Conversations meeting hosted by the Community Council at Waitsburg Town Hall last week. The responses were gleaned through a brainstorming workshop designed to pinpoint what area residents value and care about and to identify regional needs. The Community Council facilitates the citizen-driven, interactive workshops throughout the B...
FFA Officers traveled to Spokane, then camped overnight on Wolf Fork Creek while engaging in team-building activities and planning for the coming FFA year....
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg coach and physical education teacher Jeff Bartlow described his recent resignation as "the end of an era," after investing 17 years of his career in Waitsburg. Bartlow recently accepted a position as a counselor at Pioneer Middle School – the same position he held before coming to Waitsburg in 1999, where he was WHS head football coach for 16 years. Bartlow said he had been considering a career change for some time, but that the job opening at Pi Hi came at the last min...
DAYTON—Allen Litzenberger, owner of 4-Point Construction in Walla Walla, is building a second building at the Blue Mountain Station, according to Port of Columbia manager Jennie Dickinson, at the port commissioner meeting, last week. “It looks like it will be done quickly,” she told the board. Dickinson said a traffic study and SEPA study are not required, and that the building permit has already been approved. Design meetings with the port planner, engineers from Anderson Perry, and an archi...
DAYTON – The Columbia County Fair is less than a month away, and this year's Fair Board has been hard at work all year planning the many activities for this year's fair: Some traditional and some brand new. The Columbia County Fair runs from Sept. 9 – 11 this year, will feature a new headliner Friday night – a performance by the Wenatchee Youth Circus. The circus starts at 7 p.m. and is sponsored by Columbia REA. The Rascal Rodeo, always a crowd favorite, takes place Saturday morning from 9:30...
Swimmers and paddlers hit the water at the Lyons Ferry State Park on Saturday morning to participate in the Fourth Annual Swim the Snake fundraiser. The annual event is a fundraiser for the Blue Mountain Resource Conservation and Development Council and the Dayton and Pomeroy swim teams. This is the first year that paddlers were included in the event. Participants leave shore from the park and swim or paddle to the Lyons Ferry Marina....
Trials Set: -Steven Ray Long, 29, Dayton; charged with 17 counts including theft, drug charges, malicious mischief and burglary stemming from incidents that took place in Feb. and May, 2013. Trial set for Oct. 20-21. - Curtis A. Jones, 32, Hermiston; charged with illegal possession of a firearm and criminal trespass. Charges stem from an incident with WDFW that occurred in Oct. 2014. Jones is being held in custody on a bench warrant. Trial is set for Aug. 17. -Joseph John Richter, 31, homeless; charged with violation of uniform controlled...
WHS alumnus Nicholas Pearson was named to the Whitworth University Provost’s Honor Roll for spring semester 2016. Pearson qualified by maintaining a GPS of at least 3.75. Waitsburg FFA member and WHS grad Mikala Deruwe has been named as a recipient of the 2016 American FFA Degree. The degree is awarded to FFA members who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to FFA. She will be recognized in Indianapolis at the 89th National FFA Convention & Expo. on Oct. 22....
Board members: Christy House, Marilyn Johnson, and Randy Pearson were present with Ross Hamann and Russ Knopp absent. Elementary Principal’s Report: -Kindercamp began on Thursday, Aug. 11 and will meet each Thursday for the remainder of the month. There are currently 25 children registered for Kindergarten. -The Home and School Association will host coffee from 8:30-9:30 on Sept. 6, the first day of school. They will repeat it on Thurs., Sept. 8 for the Kindergarten parents. -Parents will be enc...
DAYTON—The summer reading program at Dayton Memorial Library came to an end on Aug. 10 with a celebration featuring ice cream sundaes, games, and announcements of winners of the Summer Reading Challenge. Jamie Finch and Sandy Dare each received $75 in Dayton Dollars from the Chamber of Commerce in the Adult category of the Summer Reading Challenge. Quintin Rapoza won in the Young Adult category, Jack Zanger won in the Elementary category, and Mia Paquette was the winner in the Preschool c...
DAYTON—The Dayton City Council authorized ordinance No. 1899, following a Public Hearing at a special meeting held in council chambers on Monday night. The Ordinance will allow for the repeal of the south side local register historic district, and the Washington Street local register historic district, and their zoning overlay restrictions, according to city officials. Between March, 2016 and July, 2016 property owners in the local register historic districts cast two sets of votes in regards to...
WAITSBURG – German bicyclist Ralph Lang said he was surprised to find himself becoming "a bit emotional" as he arrived in Waitsburg last week. Ralph, 46, said he has incredibly warm memories of traveling through Waitsburg with a college pal on a cross country bike trip 25 years ago. That experience was so positive that he wanted to share it with his wife, Imke. On August 1, the couple began a two-year, around-the-world journey together. The self-described "passionate cyclists" have completed m...
Team building activities help members work together better WAITSBURG – Waitsburg Chapter FFA officers spent last weekend at an officer's retreat where they set chapter goals, planned the upcoming year, and practiced working together as a team. On Sat., Aug. 13, officers Emily Adams (president), Devin Newman (vice president), Laramie Mathews (sentinel), Tom House (treasurer), Devon Harshman (reporter), and Sydney Fowble (secretary) traveled to Spokane with FFA advisor Nicole Abel. Abel organized...
Model horse enthusiasts from across the Pacific Northwest gathered at Waitsburg Town Hall last weekend for the Sweet Onion Live model horse show hosted by the North American Model Horse Shows Assoc.iation This is the second year the event has been held in Waitsburg....
Families visited informational booths, watched demonstrations, toured emergency vehicles, ate free food and ice cream, and enjoyed a free night swim at Waitsburg's National Night out at Preston Park on Aug. 2....
WAITSBURG – It was a full house at Waitsburg Town Hall on Aug. 2, as citizens of Waitsburg and surrounding areas made their voices heard at a special city council meeting for the purpose of discussing the possibility of Nestle' Waters North America building a water bottling plant in Waitsburg. Mayor Pro Tem Marty Dunn said the meeting would last just one hour and set a two-minute speaking limit as he warned the crowd against name calling and asked for "polite and interested people" to share t...
DAYTON-Last week several 4-H youth and their helpers were busily creating hand-tied, log cabin-style lap quilts, decorative throw pillows and matching pillow cases, in anticipation of the 2016 Columbia County fair in September. Head instructor Carla Thorson said that each participant was given an instruction sheet, a shopping list, and a paste-up square, per 4-H regulations, before beginning on them. This year everyone is doing the same size and style," she said. "Next year there will be an...
DAYTON--Bill Poolman has been farming and harvesting soft white wheat in Columbia County for the past fifty-two years. But this year will be his last, said his wife Joanne, who posted a heart-felt tribute to him on Facebook last week. "I was not prepared for the impact of watching my husband on his antique MH2 make the final cut, the final dump of wheat into the red Dodge truck, or watch him climb out of said combine, for the very last time. It feels like an era has come to an end," she posted....
COLFAX – Every summer, kids from Dayton and the surrounding areas get the chance to compete against other kids in the Whitman County Swim League. The summer league ends each year with the teams and their members fighting it out for top honors in Colfax, at what is known as the county meet. This year was no different, as the swimmers from Dayton traveled to Colfax on Sunday to showcase their skills one final time for the summer of 2016. Dayton had numerous kids provide strong showings over the w...
WAITSBURG – Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner presented his quarterly sheriff's office update at Waitsburg's July 21 city council meeting. Turner took advantage of the full house – most were in attendance to learn more about Nestle's interest in potentially building a bottling facility in Waitsburg – to address what he says is a strong need for a dedicated county drug and task force. In his update, Turner said he was pleased that the sheriff's office has received 219 calls from Waits...
DAYTON—Senior Vice President of D/A/Davidson and Bond Underwriter Jim Nelson was on hand at the Aug. 8 city council meeting for a bond financing discussion. The city is looking into refinancing two forty-year USDA loans with revenue refunding bonds in order to take advantage of historically low interest rates. Nelson outlined scenarios for the Phase I loan, 4.25% and Phase 2 Loan, 4.50%, which could each be refinanced at approximately 2.70%, and which could yield a potential net savings of 8...
