Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 5009 - 5033 of 5770
DAYTON - State Representative Terry Nealey, Republican of Dayton, will face an opponent for his seat representing the 16th legislative district on the November general election ballot. Frank Blair, of Kennewick, received enough votes as a write-in candidate to qualify. According to the Washington State Secretary of State's Office, Blair received 283 writein votes compared to nearly 19,000 votes for Nealey. State law requires that a write-in candidate receive at least one percent of the total votes cast in a primary race - and also be one of...
WAITSBURG - To the average person, the spinning wheel is an obscure relic, relegated to glass-fronted museum cabinets and renditions of "Sleeping Beauty". To Waitsburg native Ronda Bell, however, it's much more than that. Bell has been spinning wool for nearly 18 years now. "Until you do it, you don't understand," she said as she described the "peaceful feeling" of pressing a spinning wheels treadle and listening to the mechanism make a gentle thunk noise as the wooden wheel rotates. Her first...
WAITSBURG - Picture a tent city of 10,000 inhabitants. People from all walks of life set up camp en masse, eating and showering in hastily erected temporary facilities, crowding into huge evening concerts that shake the ground long into the night. This isn't Woodstock. This is the Creation Festival. And eight young members of Waitsburg's Christian Youth Group were there. The event, which took place at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick, began July 30 and ended August 2. "Creation...
DAYTON - Dayton High School has a new Principal for the 2014-15 school year. Kate Wenzl comes to Dayton from Port Angeles, where she has been a school administrator for eight years. Dayton Schools Superintendent Doug Johnson said that Wenzl was hired on an interim basis for the upcoming school year. She replaces Andy Maheras, who resigned in July. Wenzl grew up in Davenport, Wash. She is a Washington State University graduate. After teaching for several years in Port Angeles, she worked as an...
DAYTON - About five minutes into her interview with a reporter on a recent morning, Carolyn Suffield, owner and operator of Carolyn's Café, had to excuse herself to help another customer. That customer was looking to buy a dryer. Such is the life of a café owner whose family is longtime owner of Suffield's Furniture and Appliance Store. Early this year, Suffield, and her husband, Al, decided to convert the west side of Suffield's furniture store, one of Dayton's oldest businesses, into a s...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Arts Commission heard presentations from four artists last week, each of whom shared his vision for one of two public art pieces the city is commissioning for downtown. The projects are being funded by a $125,000 grant the city received from the Sherwood Trust, in Walla Walla. The presentations, on August 13, were made at jimgermanbar. Jeffrey Hill and Squire Broel, both well-known Walla Walla artists, presented their concepts for a piece honoring three of Waitsburg's...
WAITSBURG - The Washington State Penitentiary Employee Association has announced its 2014-15 scholarship winners. Applicants were ranked on goals, achievements, com- munity involvement, recommendation, leadership, financial statements and neatness. Kimmie Hamann, daughter of Ross and Vickie Hamann, received a $1000 scholarship. Hamann will major in Elementary Education at WWCC. Beka Adams, daughter of Ann and Lanny Adams, Chelsey Brannock, daughter of Tad and Kitzi Brannock, and Tre Brannock, son of Tad and Kitzi Brannock, all received $500...
WAITSBURG - Jack McCaw let The Times know of a rather rare event last week - there are currently four generations of McCaws working the harvest. Jack said he's worked his way down to low man on the totem pole and spends his days running parts for the seven combines and associated vehicles in this year's operation. When The Times spoke to Jack around noon on Aug. 6, he said he'd been home all morning but that he had put 120 miles on his truck the day before. Son Guy, grandsons Jesse and John and great grandson Caden round out the other three...
Last week, as I prepared to make dinner, I handed my daughter a five dollar bill and had her run down the street for some candy sweet, freshpicked corn from Ed and Cathy Lambert's garden. As she left, I reflected on just how good we have it. Small town living at its finest! What's a normal part of everyday life to us would be seen as an exciting novelty to many. Believe it or not, we used to have it even better. In years past, the young Lambert boys would drive right to our door, pulling a...
DAYTON - Dozens of children auditioned last week for parts in Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) production of Rapunzel. Each summer MCT interns visit Dayton complete with scenery, props, costumes and makeup. The interns spend the week rehearsing with local children, ages 6-18, to prepare a live musical production. Performances of Rapunzel will take place Friday and Saturday night, August 15-16, at 7 p.m. at the Liberty Theater. The week-long summer camp helps young actors develop skills in...
DAYTON - Tamara Fritze comes to the Dayton historic Depot after a long career as a college instructor and professor. She hopes to put her passion for studying history to good use in her new job as Depot manager. "I can't wait to start spending time with the archives," said Fritze, who started her job in mid-July. "I have to make sure I get the bookkeeping down too, though." Fritze was hired to replace former manager Mary Byrd, who left the Depot in June. As manager, Fritze is responsible for...
DAYTON - Melody Reeves likes spiders and skulls, and she has incorporated them into the quilt she made for this year's Columbia County Fair. Against her grandmother's wishes. Reeves took part in the Columbia County 4-H quilt camp last week, along with her grandmother, Questa Bratton. This is her second year participating, which was one reason she held out for the pattern she wanted. When The Times visited on Friday, all of the campers were just finishing up their quilts, which they will show at...
WAITSBURG - A mandatory sports meeting will take place for all fall athletes and their parents at 7 p.m. on Monday, August 11 at the Waitsburg High School auditorium. Athletes and parents will meet with fall coaching staff, receive practice and event schedules and go over required paperwork. A training meeting for all high school and junior high coaches (head, assistant and volunteer) will take place at 8 p.m. at the Waitsburg High School auditorium. Coach- es will to go over first aid/CPR requirements, review coaches handbooks and discuss any...
WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg School Board unanimously approved Resolution 073014 to accept a $4.37 million budget for the 2014- 15 school year at a July 30 special budgeting meeting. The budget was approved as follows: General Fund $3,780,540 ASB Fund $94,200 Debt Service Fund $316,323 Capital Projects $35,000 Transportation Vehicle Fund $140,000 The difference between anticipated revenue and expenditures shows the budget $114,644 in the red, which would be taken from the Reserve Fund balance, if necessary. The budget was based on an enrollment of...
WAITSBURG - Waitsburg fifth grade students will be seeing more of a familiar face than usual this year. Long-time substitute Wenda Parr has been hired as the full-time fifth grade teacher for the 2014-15 school year. Parr replaces Jennifer Fischer, who has taken a special education position in College Place, closer to her home. Parr, who is no stranger to challenges, looks forward to tackling this new chapter in her life. Parr grew up in LaGrande, Ore., then lived with her husband in California...
WAITSBURG - They say "what goes around comes around," and in the case of Gabe Kiefel's association with Waitsburg schools that sentiment certainly rings true. This year, Kiefel will begin the first job of his teaching career in not only the same building, but the very same classroom where he attended preschool as a four-year-old. Kiefel has been hired to fill the part-time sixth grade language arts and math position at Preston Hall. Kiefel moved to Waitsburg when his dad, Michael, accepted a...
DAYTON - Columbia County residents are invited to join Sheriff Rocky Miller and his staff at National Night Out in the Dayton City Park on Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. Free hot dogs, chips and drinks will be served, and more than 30 displays and informational exhibits will be presented in the park. Some of the featured attractions this year include Lifeflight and Medstar helicopters flying in for display and tours. The WSP bomb robot will be conducting demonstrations. Dayton General Hospital will have their decontamination tent up and running cool...
Public Comment -Keith Parkins, owner of the former Waitsbur Inn, requested a utility rate cap on his property, which has been converted to apartments. Council will hear proposal discussion next meeting. -Cindy Hofer approached the Council about revising a recently amended ordinance stating that only licensed monument companies may lay markers in City cemeteries. Hofer would like individuals to be able to hire licensed and bonded workers to place monuments. New Business -The Waitsburg Art Commission chose four semi-finalists to submit proposals...
WAITSBURG -- The Waitsburg School District is making several changes this year, largely in response to parent and teacher input received at a number of work sessions held by the school board during the past school year. A new ¾-time teacher was added to the staff, which will allow the district to do away with split classrooms this year. Instead, there will be one class per grade level in grades kindergarten through sixth grade. Additionally, the sixth grade will move from the grade school building, to Preston Hall Middle School. Gabe Kiefel...
