Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 4007 - 4031 of 5677
WAITSBURG – The ballots are out for Waitsburg’s annual city government elections, which take place Monday, Apr. 4. As the only city in Washington still operating under its territorial charter, Waitsburg has the honor of bringing its mayor and city council members before the voters each April. This year, all of the incumbents are running, along with several new challengers. Current council member Debra Callahan is hoping to trade her council seat for that of mayor. Delores Nettles has also put...
The first of four brand-new Little League fields was finished just in time for the Majors' first practice of the season on Monday afternoon. The other fields are nearing completion as well. The new complex will allow for all Little League games to be held in one spot, and can accommodate multiple games at one time. The city hopes the new sports complex will be used to host Little League tournaments in the near future....
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg’s City Council weighed in on the replacement Main Street Bridge design, watershed hunting, and gave a brief update on the fairgrounds grandstands at a well attended March 17 council meeting. Public Comment Days of Real Sport Treasurer Terry Jacoy requested that the council reconsider the removal of the metal rail that runs along the existing horse race track. Plans had previously been made to remove the rail and grass in the track to provide an open area for a new spo...
DAYTON—Last week four students in Mrs. McGhan’s multiage, grades 2-3, classroom came to the Dayton School Board meeting to share with board members a recent writing activity they did in the classroom. “Safari Guides” is the first of many “show and tell” type programs that will be presented by students and teachers at future board meetings, according to Superintendent Doug Johnson. The assignment for Mrs. McGhan’s students was to pick an animal to research and write about. The students pres...
DAYTON - Join the businesses at Blue Mountain Station, on Sat., March 26, for an Easter Egg Hunt at noon with multiple categories and over 300 prizes. There will also be craft and food vendors and special Easter promotions in the Co-op Artisan Market, including home-made goodies and Girl Scout cookies....
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg High School Leo's Club President Timber Frohreich and Vice President Jacob Dunn, along with fellow club members, are spearheading a "Cash for Cody" Drive to help their friend Cody Washburn, an Athena/Weston High School junior. Cody attended Waitsburg High School in the past and this is where his family calls home. Months ago, Cody was in a tragic car accident where he was life flighted to Seattle with broken bones and had to have pins placed into his hips. He was in the h...
DAYTON-You've likely seen these chocolate Easter eggs at various venues around town over the years. You have probably indulged in them a time or two. Have you wondered who makes them, how they are made, or why? The fudge Easter eggs are a fundraising project sponsored by the sixteen members of the Skyline Juniors, a local women's fraternal organization. "The Skyline Juniors are a community service club," said member Joy Brown. "We do projects and give back to the community." Brown said the club...
DAYTON-Brad Barton, a certified drug prevention specialist and a card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, appeared at the Liberty Theater on Thursday to delight the crowd with a number of what he called "cheap, cheesy magic tricks." This included levitating cards, turning bubbles into marbles, and performing "the torn and restored newspaper" illusion. Barton also offered some sobering statistics about alcoholism. According to the Utah Department of Substance Abuse Prev...
Incumbent Mayor Walt Gobel is vying for his sixth term since taking office in 2010. "I'm concerned about the community. I think everybody has a responsibility to support the community as much as they can. Serving as mayor is my way of doing that," Gobel said. Gobel has worked as Supervisor of Transportation for Pasco School District, Loss Control/Safety Specialist for ESD #123, and served 26 years as a Washington State Patrol officer, where he retired as a detachment sergeant. "My whole career...
Three-term city council member, Debra Callahan is running for mayor and says she hopes to have the opportunity to take Waitsburg's many great resources and make them even better. The 36-year Waitsburg resident raised her children, grandchildren, and foster children here while working actively in the community. Callahan belongs to Commercial Club and the Historical Society, served on the Waitsburg School Board and the Touchet Valley Arts Council, and is a volunteer administrative assistant for...
Lifelong Waitsburg resident Delores Nettles says her history here, along with a strong concern to make sure the voices of Waitsburg citizens are heard, caused her to throw her hat into the ring for mayor. Nettles said her parents moved here when she was one and, aside from time away while attending college, she has lived here ever since. She taught school in Dayton and has run a successful hair salon in Dayton for 45 years. “I’m very concerned about the city. I’ve been on the council befor...
Incumbent council member Marty Dunn is no stranger to city politics. Dunn has served two terms as mayor and has been on the city council since the early 2000s. "I left the council for a couple of years but returned due to my desire to ensure the City of Waitsburg is able to respond to the increasing economic and organizational challenges which it faces. I will bring a fiscally conservative and responsive perspective to the operations of the city," he said. Dunn moved to Waitsburg in 1995 and...
Karen Gregutt is vying for a first-time seat on the council, eager to contribute her professional expertise and fresh ideas to promote and enhance Waitsburg. Gregutt's career includes 30 years as managing partner at Kaye-Smith Productions in Seattle, producing and directing commercials and documentaries for national companies and brands. Gregutt and her husband, Paul, purchased their first home in Waitsburg in 2005. After extensive renovations, they moved here full time in 2011. The couple has...
Longtime Waitsburg resident and current Community Service Award (formerly called Citizen of the Year) recipient Kate Hockersmith, will make her first-time bid for a council seat this year. Hockersmith moved to Waitsburg with her husband, Eric, in 1992, and the couple raised their two sons here. "I have fundraising, marketing, organizational skills, and work well with others, seeking collaboration rather than confrontation," Hockersmith said, when asked what she brings to the council table. Hocke...
If there was a "People's Choice" award it would go to incumbent Kevin House who has consistently garnered the highest community vote since he was first elected to council in 2010 under the "Truth & Trust" slate. House moved to Walla Walla and began working for The McGregor Company in Waitsburg in 1996. By 2003 he and wife, Christy House, decided that Waitsburg was where they wanted to live long term and raise their two sons. "Some of my background that has been helpful as a council member is my...
Incumbent Karl Newell was elected to the city council under the 2010 Truth & Trust slate and is running for his seventh term. Newell moved to Waitsburg from Boardman, Ore. in 2005. He began his career working as a journeyman electrician in 1962 and spent 1966-68 in the army doing “a little bit of everything.” He said his extensive work experience provides him with an understanding of zoning, covenants, layout, and building and housing requirements, which has come in helpful at council mee...
Incumbent council member KC Kuykendall moved to Waitsburg from Colorado in 2010 and quickly became active in the community. He first ran and was elected to council in 2013. "I come from a blue-collar family of loggers, truck drivers, and construction workers, while my wife's family has been farming and ranching around Pendleton and Athena for many generations. We love this land and the rural communities of Eastern Washington," Kuykendall said. "My career in engineering and business management...
WAITSBURG – Anderson Perry & Associates engineer Eric Zitterkopf was on hand at a March 10 community meeting in Waitsburg to answer questions surrounding design plans for the Main Street Bridge that is scheduled to be replaced in the summer of 2017. The meeting was initiated after the city council was asked to choose railing designs at their February meeting. Council members wanted to know why detailed design decisions are required so early in the process, and requested more time to seek p...
Dog walkers crossed Waitsburg's Main Street under a stormy sky on Tuesday afternoon....
DAYTON – At their meeting on March 9, Port of Columbia Commissioners heard from port manager Jennie Dickinson that progress is being made to turn rail operations for the Palouse and Coulee City short rail over to Frontier Rail, LLC. Dickinson said the current rail operator, Watco, is completely willing to turn rail operations over to Frontier, but that the process is still in legal review. Dickinson said there are 39 miles of rail, with eight bridges and their approaches, for the new railroad o...
Preston Hall Student Spotlight Students of the Month for February were (l to r): Violet Beckman, 6th grade; Riley Hubbard, 7th grade; McKellyn Bradham, 8th grade....
Courtesy Photos Waitsburg and Prescott school district's inducted new members into the National Honor Society at a ceremony at DeSales High School on March 9....
DAYTON - "Fresh-picked," "sour," "leafy," "crunchy," "spherical" and "spikey" are just a few of the adjectives students in Ms. Wamble's Kindergarten/first grade classroom used to describe the smell, appearance, taste, and sound of a variety of salad greens and oranges they sampled at last week's presentation by Vickie Hodgson, a health educator with the Columbia County Health Department. Since the fall of 2015, Hodgson has been making interactive presentations every six weeks, in all four K-1 cl...
DAYTON--A book chat for people who like to read, reading with a dog for children, and a contest to help design new library cards, are in the works at the Dayton Memorial Library. "Sit, Stay, Read" is an activity that will help children improve their reading skills and reading confidence, according to the children's librarian Carolyn Laib. Laib said that on Fridays at 3:30 p. m., beginning on March 18, children can cuddle up and read with Tex, Laib's three-year-old Australian shepherd. Tex has...
DAYTON-At the regular school board meeting on March 2, Superintendent Doug Johnson administered the oath of office to its newest school board director, Justin Jaech, Sr. The directors also presented outgoing director Steve Martin with a plaque in appreciation of his many years of service on the board. "If anybody deserves recognition, you do," said board chairman Dan Butler. Martin told the directors that his availability to meet the requirements of serving on the school board had been getting...
