Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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DAYTON – When teachers at Dayton High School ask their students to write an essay on what they did over their summer vacation, more than two dozen will have a ready answer: Teen Scene. Teen Scene is managed by leaders and volunteers with Blue Mountain Counseling, who also run the Summer Youth Program for younger children in the community. Both programs this year took place from the last part of June through July 31. This isn't the first year of this summer recreation program for older youth, b...
WAITSBURG – During the months of July and August, the Touchet Valley is buzzing with activity as farmers harvest their crops, reaping the rewards of the year's labor. Even those not actively involved in the process take part as witnesses. Drivers respectfully give heed as combines crawl along highways, making their way between fields, and children pump their arms in the air, begging truck drivers to blow the horn on their way through Main Street. And while it doesn't require grain elevators or b...
Board members: Ross Hamann, Greg Zuger, Marilyn Johnson, Randy Pearson and Christy House with Zuger absent. *Superintendent Carol Clarke read a letter from OSPI congratulating the district’s transportation department for receiving “exceptional results” in the Washington State Patrol bus inspections, for the second year in a row. *Late legislative action dropped the end-of-course proficiency exam requirement in biology for the Class of 2016.The class of 2017 will be held to meeting that standard. *Thirty new computers will be ordered for the hig...
WAITSBURG – During the July 29 public budget hearing, the Waitsburg School Board unanimously approved the proposed $4.1 million budget for the 2015-16 school year. The 2015-16 budget is based on a total K-12 projected enrollment of 281.75 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students. For the 2014-15 school year, the district budgeted for 269.4 FTE and ended the year at 292.48. Total expected revenues for 2015-16, based on projected enrollment and anticipated grant funds, is $3.9 million. Total p...
When Arrah Lee Wilson and Benjamin Moser arrived to clean the Waitsburg Presbyterian Church on the morning of Thursday, July 30, they entered to find the sanctuary "covered with hundreds of tiny shards of glass," according to pastor Bret Moser. Vandals threw rocks and broke three of the antique glass panels in the sanctuary window that faces Main Street. Church members were hopeful that they had enough glass to replace the broken panels. The antique glass is filled with tiny bubbles and tinted...
More than 1,000 people attend Dayton's National Night Out, which celebrated its eighth year on Tuesday night, to learn more about health and safety in the community, play games and enjoy free hotdogs and soda....
Waitsburg's first-ever National Night Out, held at the school district's athletic complex, was a well-attended success....
DAYTON – Fires are on just about everyone's mind right now. In Columbia County, investigators are struggling to reach conclusions regarding five fires in the last four weeks. "We're just swamped with this," County Fire Marshal Kim Lyonnais said. Many of these officials also have their hands full giving aid to firefighters battling the Blue Creek Fire, which has consumed over 6,000 acres of land and one home in Walla Walla County (see story on Page 10). The series of local fires began on the l...
WAITSBURG – At their July 27 meeting, Walla Walla County Commisisoners agreed to let voters decide whether or not the City of Waitsburg Fire Department will be annexed into Walla Walla County Fire Protection District No. 2 (WW Fire 2). Commissioners Jim Duncan, Jim Johnson and Perry Dozier voted unanimously to pass a resolution calling for the special election proposal that will go before voters in November. Both the City of Waitsburg and WW Fire 2 are in agreement that the annexation, as well as the annexation of the Waitsburg Ambulance Servic...
DAYTON - Clara Dickinson-McQuary graduated from Dayton High School in 2004. She left the Touchet Valley at age 18 and traveled the world. A year ago, she returned to Dayton. "I thought I was just passing through," she said. But that wasn't the case at all. For the first time in her life, she fell in love with her birth place. "It's taken me a long time to appreciate this area," she said. Now she is employed full time by Washington State Parks to share that love with the world and bring visitors...
*A press release Monday stated that the cause of fire on the night of June 29, that destroyed homes at 203 and 205 E. Washington Ave., is unknown and suspicious in nature. *The fire that seriously damaged a home at 119 E. Commercial St. on July 15, at 1 a.m., does not appear, upon initial investigation, to be an act of intentional arson and “possible causes are known.” *A brush fire on the Touchet River dike west of the city of Dayton, behind the wastewater treatment plant, later in the afternoon on July 15, doesn’t appear to be arson. The c...
WAITSBURG – There's no need to worry about what's for dinner on Tuesday. Just head out to the Waitsburg athletic field and enjoy the free goodies provided as part of the country's National Night Out Celebration. Waitsburg will join in the festivities for the first time this year, and the athletic field will be alive with food and fun from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., that evening. Kids can learn how to make a proper 911 call and the Walla Walla County Sheriff's Department will be on hand with a patrol b...
DAYTON – It's that time of year again. National Night Out, the annual anti-crime and anti-drug family event that takes place across the country, is next Tuesday. The Dayton City Park will be filled with exhibits, activities and free food from 5-8 p.m. Last year nearly 1,000 people attended this annual event here, sponsored by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office and many local partners. The event is designed to: (1) Heighten crime- and drug-prevention awareness; (2) generate support for, and par...
First Appearance/Arraignment: Christina L. Johnson, 45, Starbuck; entered not-guilty plea on all charges for behavior reportedly taking place on July 8 including: second-degree assault for the alleged strangulation of her husband, a class B felony; driving under the influence (DUI), a gross misdemeanor; disorderly conduct for abusive language; and contempt of court for disobeying the judge’s orders of release after leaving the county jail. Trials Set: *Marshall Hernandez, 54, Dayton; charged in January with arson, reckless burning, and p...
DAYTON – Three out-of-state, professional archeologists were charged last week in Columbia County Superior Court with theft of prehistoric artifacts from the Umatilla National Forest and Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness in 2013. Richard Lee Lyman, 64, is a professor and chair of the department of anthropology at the University of Missouri and holds a doctorate of anthropology from the University of Washington. Lyman was arraigned on Wednesday, July 22, on charges of second-degree theft and s...
WAITSBURG – Whiskey Creek Sports Bar & Grill was thrown a curve ball when their general manager was benched due to health problems just as the restaurant opened. But the restaurant's owners think they've hit a home run with new general manager, Sara Cunnington. Cunnington lives in Walla Walla and was formerly employed at Applebee's where she says she began as a server, moved to the bar and then into management. "When I heard about this position, I went for it. I'm really excited about it," s...
PRESCOTT – Prescott school board members wrapped up their July 23 board meeting with a walk outside to inspect some of the many improvements that have been made to the school grounds and facilities over the summer, including the renovation of what will soon become the new ag building. The district is looking forward to a year of growth, with the addition of a new agriculture economics program, the school's first FFA chapter, and an ECEAP preschool program. Superintendent Brett Cox said that h...
Board members: Karen Tonne (chair), Sara Fletcher, Mark Hauck, Eva Madrigal, and Erik Young with Hauck absent. Also present: Superintendent Brett Cox, Principal Jodi Thew and Business Manager Patti Johnson. Informational: *Thirteen students completed elementary summer school and 34 completed the jr. high program. *Nine girls participated in volleyball camp. *District is working on a career and technical education competitive grant which would be used to purchase tools and equipment for the new agricultural economics program. *New sidewalk and...
WALLA WALLA – Residents of the back country in Columbia County and elsewhere in the Touchet Valley watched the spread of the Blue Creek Fire east of here with unease over the last week. It has been several years since a fire of this magnitude threatened the valley. At press time on Tuesday, the wildland fire on Blue Mountain Road and Klicker Mountain Road east of Walla Walla was 73-percent contained. At its largest, the fire was reported to have burned 6,225 acres. The blaze, which ignited on J...
DAYTON – Columbia County Commissioners are considering a request by the Starbuck Town Council to assist with renovations to Starbuck City Hall, following a letter received earlier this month requesting aid. Candice Harrison, Starbuck’s city clerk and treasurer, wrote the letter dated June 30 to county commissioners. The letter was brief and to the point: “This letter is to inquire if there is any funding available for our city hall renovation. At this time, we are restoring our city hall windo...
The Dayton High School class of 1980 made sure the crowd at this year's annual Alumni Parade in downtown Dayton knew who they were. . ....
WAITSBURG – In response to a delayed pool opening, followed by a quick closure and re-opening, Waitsburg's city council agreed to allow free swimming for the remainder of the summer, at their July 16 meeting. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said that, typically, the first month of the pool being open is busiest and that's also when family passes are sold. With the late opening, missed rentals, and pass refunds, Hinchliffe said the city has probably already missed out on well over half the t...
DAYTON – Columbia County Commissioners declared an emergency Friday afternoon following an early morning fire at the county transfer station on South Cottonwood Street that destroyed most of the necessary operational equipment and seriously damaged the integrity of the main building. "Basically we [declared the emergency] because otherwise we'd have to go through the official bidding process to get the cleanup and repairs done," Commissioner Dwight Robanske said. "We're dealing with the h...
DAYTON – Investigators from Walla Walla were on scene last week trying to determine the cause of a fire that seriously damaged a home here early last Wednesday. The house at 119 E. Commercial Ave., owned by longtime Dayton resident George "Bill" Waltermire, was reported ablaze by passers-by just after 1 a.m. on July 15, according to local officials. Waltermire has said he was out at a convenience store when he heard the news, Columbia County Sheriff Rocky Miller said. The fire, though p...
WAITSBURG – The proposed annexation of the City of Waitsburg Fire Department into Walla Walla County Fire Protection District No. 2 is just one step away from making it to the voters. Walla Walla County Commissioners are slated to take action on the proposal Monday morning and will determine whether or not it makes the ballot. The City of Waitsburg initiated the official annexation process when the council approved Ordinance 2015-1031, on June 17, which stated the city’s intent to annex. The ord...
