Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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DAYTON – In June, planning and building employees began the process of updating Columbia County’s ordinances regarding the violation of building codes and the regulation and abatement of public nuisances. County commissioners had asked Planning Director Kim Lyonnais and his team to add “teeth” to the current rules. After a brief look around the county, Lyonnais and his department located more than 40 violations of building codes. Problems include everything from residents running unlicen...
An area of more than 2,250 acres is burning this week in the Grizzly Bear Complex Fire in Columbia County. The fire is burning in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness, about 20 miles southeast of Dayton. Multiple fires in the area were started by lightning strikes on Thursday. As of Monday, about 50 firefighters were battling the fires, which are 0% contained. Numerous forest roads in the area are closed. Dayton resident David Frame took this photo Friday about a mile west of Godman Springs, looking...
DAYTON – Art has been a part of Monica Stobie's life since early childhood, when she was influenced by her grandmother, a watercolorist. Saturday, Aug. 22, Stobie will showcase her art – primitive rock paintings, prints and sculpture – at an Artist's Reception at Dayton's Wenaha Gallery. Stobie followed her childhood passion and earned an art degree from Eastern Washington University, which she put to use for 15 years teaching junior and senior high art in Walla Walla and Milto...
SEASIDE, Ore. – The kids and I spent much of last week lapping up the sunshine (yes, there was sunshine!) and playing on the beach during a much-needed getaway to Seaside, Ore. Since I was on vacation, I wasn't required to submit much writing for this week's issue of The Times, but I did promise to return with a travel piece. Let me start out by being honest – I have avoided Seaside for years. In fact, the last time I visited, my son, who turned 16 during this trip, was in utero. I enjoy the...
Waitsburg 4-H and FFA members have spent the summer prepping their animals for fair. Last week, parents and kids attended a swine and sheep clinic to learn how to properly show their animals....
DAYTON – You probably didn't know that the colorful, hanging baskets of flowers that brighten Dayton's Main Street all summer were nearly 30 years in the making. Dayton Development Task Force members Scott Hudson and Betty Lou Crothers have dreamt of, discussed and planned for flower baskets downtown since the late 1980s, when the founding members of the task force worked to restored this city's Main Street. "It's an idea that floated around for a long time," Hudson said. "But the idea never r...
PRESCOTT – Best known locally as western singer Cimarron Sue, of the traditional cowboy music duo Nevada Slim and Cimarron Sue, Prescott's Susan Matley has been acting, singing, and writing most of her life. With the release of her fiction novella Small-g City later this week, she will add the title of published novelist to her long list of achievements. Matley says her love of creative writing began when her sister taught her the alphabet at three years old, but she began writing with the inten...
DAYTON – Columbia County has a plan for reopening the transfer station (dump) by the end of August, and citizens won’t have to go anywhere new. The temporary facilities will be located at the current site but away from where contractors will be working to repair and rebuild the permanent facilities. The Columbia County Transfer Station at 500 S. Cottonwood St., where citizens could deposit garbage for transport to a landfill outside of the county, was closed after a July 17 fire destroyed muc...
DAYTON – Dayton resident Aidan J. Gemmell, 18, has been charged with five counts of first-degree child rape, a Class A felony. His first court appearance was last week, where he appeared before Columbia County Superior Court Judge Scott Gallina and was appointed a defense attorney. Gemmell has not yet entered a plea. He has also not been arrested on the charges. “We’re trying to work with him and his family, and they have been cooperative,” Columbia County Deputy Prosecutor Dale Slack told The Times last Thursday. “We don’t want to see him imp...
STARBUCK – Columbia Pulp LLC hasn’t broken ground yet on its 449-acre pulp mill near Lyons Ferry, but “exciting movement” continues to happen behind closed doors, according to Columbia County Planning Director Kim Lyonnais. The company began receiving wheat straw for storage on Monday of this week, board member and LLC manager John Begley told The Times. Columbia Pulp has leased space within two miles of the future site of the mill for the storage of 20,000 to 30,000 tons of straw. “This is all...
Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) battled it out at the Wastekeep Sergeantry Trials on the Waitsburg Elementary School playground on Saturday afternoon. Candidates for sergeant, gallant, yeoman, lancer, steward, and artisan had the opportunity to participate in the trials. Candidates were tested on fighting, dancing, history, heraldry, armor, games, service, and courtly behaviors....
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg is no stranger to horse shows, but this weekend may be the first time one has taken place indoors. On Aug. 8 and 9, hundreds of horses – some extremely valuable – lined tabletops in Town Hall to compete in the Sweet Onion Live model horse show. The event, which is hosted by the North American Model Horse Shows Association (NAHMSA), was organized by Shana Bobbitt of Walla Walla. This is the fourth year for the Sweet Onion Live two-day show, and Bobbitt said she broug...
DAYTON – If you had three wishes, wouldn't one of them be to see your child, grandchild, great-grandchild, niece, nephew or the kid next door perform this weekend in the Missoula Children's Theatre production of Aladdin at the Liberty Theater? Forty-five children ages five to 18 from Dayton, Waitsburg and surrounding communities will enliven the stage with this remake of the classic tale from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. MCT is the nation's largest touring children's theater, brought t...
DAYTON – Dayton City Council approved an ordinance Monday night allowing wheeled all-terrain vehicles, or WATVs, on city streets. No members of the public spoke at the final hearing regarding this legislation. The new law goes into effect on Aug. 25. The decision was approved by the majority of city leaders, with Councilor Kathy Berg in opposition. Berg did suggest that the council give the new law a one-year trial, examining the statistics and other data on enforcement and violations at that t...
DAYTON – The school year will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 1, for all students in the Dayton School District. New students as well as returning students are encouraged to attend registration on Wednesday, Aug. 19, in the elementary multi-purpose room from noon until 6 p.m. Kindergarten students who have already registered do not need to attend, unless other children in the family haven’t yet registered. Sports physicals will be available from 2-5 p.m. on Aug. 18 in the district office for just $5....
The Prescott Joint Parks and Recreation Department hosted its fourth annual car and truck show at Field View Park on Saturday. Turnout was light, with seven vehicles and two motorcycles entered, but spectators and participants enjoyed an afternoon visiting in the shade with free hot dogs, chips and soft drinks. Entries included: #1 Rat Rod – Bill Hayes #2 Cream Chrysler – Butch Hayes #3 '53 Blue Chevy Pickup – Bob Hillweg #4 Honda Motorcycle – Bob Hillweg #5 Harley Davidson – Bill Hayes #6...
It's not every day you get to drive a real, live sheriff's patrol boat. Cody Coulston, cheered on by big brother Tyler, took obvious pleasure in the opportunity to play deputy at Waitsburg's very first National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 4. See the Last Page for more photos of Dayton's and Waitsburg's 2015 NNO events....
DAYTON – Arson has been ruled out in four of the five suspicious fires here between June 28 and July 22, according to incident reports released by Columbia County Fire Marshal Kim Lyonnais on Monday. "But all of the cases are going to remain open," Lyonnais said. "We hope that eventually a witness hears some kids bragging or overhears something else that gives us a lead." Each report that discounts arson includes the language "at this time." The marshal's office was not called to investigate o...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg School District's July 29 budget hearing was followed by a brief public discussion "entertaining the idea" of combining Waitsburg and Dayton for middle school football. Those in attendance responded in favor of the suggestion. Superintendent Carol Clarke stated the concerns of Waitsburg middle school football coach Jeff Bartlow, who was unable to be present at the meeting. With only 44 seventh- and eighth-grade students (about 52 percent boys), Bartlow is worried about t...
DAYTON – Leadership changes are in the works for the Columbia County Health System. Board Chair Ted Paterson and interim CEO Jon Smiley will both leave the organization at the end of September. The resignations were announced at the July CCHS board meeting last Thursday after a lengthy meeting discussing the future of the hospital district and planned remodel of Dayton General Hospital. "Jon has done a great job, but it's time to get someone else in here," Paterson told the board. Both s...
DAYTON – Three wanted subjects were arrested in Dayton last Friday after attempting to flee from a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Deputy. The deputy had planned to pull over the gray Chevrolet Lumina in the 100 block of North Front Street, but the driver failed to yield and stopped instead at 101 Klingenstein Drive. The driver then fled on foot. Deputies searched the area and located the driver, 25-year-old Milton-Freewater man Salvador Saucedo, Jr. Saucedo was already wanted on a warrant out of Walla Walla for failure to appear on charges in...
Greg Butler nabbed this shot of recent visitors to his home at Shilo Farm, just west of Lewis & Clark Trail State Park, last month. . ....
Jacob Dunn, an incoming junior at Waitsburg High School, pitched a complete game Thursday to lead the Walla Walla Bruins American Legion baseball team to the Washington State Junior AA state championship in Olympia. The Bruins trailed 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh and final inning against Kennewick, but rallied for the 4-3 win on a walk-off RBI single by Carter Davis. Dunn gave up all three Kennewick runs in the sixth inning, but was otherwise almost flawless, giving up only six hits...
Temperatures topping 100 degrees did nothing to melt the enthusiasm of fans of Elsa from the movie "Frozen." Youngsters flocked to Whiskey Creek Sports Bar & Grill on Sunday afternoon to join Elsa for ice cream sundaes on the patio. Many of the young ladies arrived wearing blue dresses and braids, just like Elsa. The children enjoyed ice cream and karoake while Elsa signed autographs and served up hugs and smiles....
DAYTON – Columbia County Health System leaders have selected an architect team for the planned $5.5 million Dayton General Hospital upgrade, they announced last week. Two architects responded to the hospital district’s request for letters of interest last month, according to Chief Operations Officer Shane McGuire. Both were invited to the bidding process with RFQ (request for quotation). Rather than respond individually, the two architects decided on their own to come back to the table as par...
