Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 762 - 786 of 5667
5 Candidate filing begins at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, May 17th and closes at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 21st. Candidates may electronically submit declarations of candidacy through the county website at: https://voter.votewa.gov/candidatefiling/candidatelogin.aspx In addition, candidates may file in-person at the Walla Walla County Elections Office, 315 W. Main St., Room 203, or by mail. Office hours are Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The submitted information must be legible, timely and...
DAYTON-Unique jewelry, beautifully crocheted afghans, and specialty chocolates are just a few of the items that the vendors at Main Street Marketplace have to offer. Now nestled in the former Bluewood Office building, 262 E Main Street in Dayton, the business opened briefly before the holiday season at the former Village Shoppes, just across the street at 245 E Main in Dayton. Main Street Marketplace closed after for moving and remodel purposes in early January. Owner Shane Laib said that the...
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg City Council set a May 19 public hearing date to discuss the future of 212 Main Street, the 1905 Exchange Bank building, which currently houses the Weller Public Library. At the April City Council meeting, council members discussed the potential of selling the historic property in a city surplus sale. Discussions with the city council have included updating the building, which houses the Weller Library, for American Disability Act (ADA) compliance and the need for extensi...
When I took over The Times in 2019, I was an avid newspaper reader, not a newspaper journalist. Just because you've eaten in a restaurant doesn't mean you can run one. Michele was one of the constants as I began my new endeavor. She covered Dayton and Columbia county in a comprehensive way, as a citizen, friend, and civic member who cared about her community and journalism. You couldn't read her articles and say you weren't well informed about the issues. Michele joined the paper in October...
DAYTON—The Hospital District’s board of commissioners have authorized a request from Columbia County Health System (CCHS) CEO Shane McGuire to spend $250,000 from CARES Act funds allocated to the District. The requested funds are for the Construction Review Services application, electrical service relocation, and construction-ready documents for the proposed hallway construction project. The hallway to be constructed will join the Acute Care wing of the hospital with Hall One at the Booker Res...
WAITSBURG—The Walla Walla County General Election is slated for November this year, with a May 17-21 filing period. This election will include the Waitsburg City Council and Mayor positions. Historically, the city’s elections were held annually according to the city’s Territorial Charter. In February of 2020, the Waitsburg City Council voted to change the election process following a public hearing, transferring the process to the County Auditor’s office. Under the new process, electio...
OLYMPIA-Governor Jay Inslee Tuesday announced a two-week pause on movement in the Healthy Washington: Roadmap to Recovery reopening plan. Under the pause, every Washington State county will remain in its current phase, and will be reevaluated at the end of the two-week pause. The decision was made in consultation with the Department of Health, and reflects current data suggesting that the state's fourth COVID-19 wave has hit a plateau. "We are at the intersection of progress and failure, and we...
DAYTON-The Dayton Kiwanis Club heard from yet another successful Dayton High School (DHS) alumna at their April 22 meeting. Attendees enjoyed a presentation from Karen Doherty, a Senior Vice President at WSP USA. Doherty graduated from DHS in 1990, before attending Gonzaga University, graduating magna cum laude in Engineering. Doherty went on to start Doherty & Associates, which she operated for ten years. The business was purchased by HDR, an employee-owned design firm specializing in...
DAYTON-Perhaps you have noticed the Free Little Libraries located at Steve's Grocery and the Dayton Historic Depot. There is another one in Starbuck, which is soon to be relocated to the Starbuck Post Office. And two more are being planned for other locations in Dayton. You may have wondered how to use them and who is behind them. The concept is for people to borrow, or take, a book and replace it with one they have already read or are willing to share. According to Pam Russel, the idea for the...
P.E.O. Chapter BJ proudly nominated and now introduces SADIE SENEY, a recipient of this year’s STAR Scholarship. Sadie graduates from Dayton High School this year. She will be attending Washington State University to study Agricultural and Food Business Economics, with a long-term goal of returning to Dayton to co-manage her family’s farm, Seney Land & Livestock J.V. She is fascinated with how government works at all levels becoming an officer in the Associated Student Body in elementary, mid...
DAYTON-Chef Daniel Rossi thought that moving to a small, rural town like Waitsburg meant he could live out retirement peacefully, picking away at his banjo and sharing his musical knowledge. In 2020, he hit the road just moments before the global shutdown was announced, escaping the bustling cityscape of Los Angeles and driving north. He spent the pandemic with his partner, Vicki Sternfield Rossi, doing exactly what he set out to do in the first place, for roughly a year. The kitchen kept...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg City Council met Wednesday, April 21, at the Lions Club Building. During the meeting, the council answered questions from concerned community members and set a date for a public hearing to discuss potential options for the library building, 212 Main Street. Mayor Marty Dunn and Councilmember Paxton were unable to attend the meeting. Councilmember Paxton submitted a letter of resignation stating he and his family will be moving out of the area. Councilmember Karl Newell j...
DAYTON—June 5, at 1 p.m., has been tentatively selected for this year’s senior class graduation ceremony, according to DSD Supt. Guy Strot, at last week’s school board meeting. Strot was short on details but said more information would follow after Governor Jay Inslee’s May 7 COVID-19 update. Sam Korslund, the Gear Up Academic Specialist, has been chosen for the position of Athletic Director for the remainder of the school year. Strot told the board there is one internal candidate and one extern...
DAYTON-On Monday, as many as 101 people attended the Port of Columbia Touchet Valley Trail (TVT) information meeting and to ask questions of the presenters. Brian Hansen, Principal Engineer for Anderson/Perry & Associates, Inc., shared the 30-percent design documents for the trail. He talked about the results of the surveying and ownership research through titles and deeds. Ken Voorhis, a Principal Architect with SPVV Landscape Architects, presented the 30-percent landscape design drawings and...
DAYTON-The Port of Columbia hosted a more than two-hour-long presentation on April 26, hearing from trail designers, various trail advocates, and agriculture representatives. Before the meeting, a group of nearly 20 community members gathered in front of the Port's driveway, holding signs that signaled they were against the trail. The group assembled in part due to the feeling that the meeting would not let them speak or be heard. Though outside, the group did connect to the meeting through...
WAITSBURG—Volunteers stepped up to begin the process for selecting a new fire chief at the Columbia-Walla Walla County Fire District 2 meeting on Wednesday, April 14. Commissioner Deb Fortner gave a brief update on the ongoing repairs at the fire station. Projects to complete include updating exterior doors and installing handrails along the stairs. Commissioner Jake Long said that he stopped by the station prior to the meeting and thought the kitchen looked close to completion, however, a f...
DAYTON—The Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson reminded those in attendance at the Port Commissioners meeting last week about the Touchet Valley Bike Trail informational meeting, which will take place on Monday, April 26, at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom. Dickinson said most of the marketing for the meeting is in place. Ads have been placed in all the local newspapers and a digital ad campaign in the Union-Bulletin. Information about the meeting is posted on the Port’s Facebook page, as...
DAYTON—Vicki Zoller from the Friends of the Dayton Community Center was a special guest at the Dayton City Council meeting last week. Zoller said fundraising efforts for the feasibility study for the pool/community center have slowed due to the COVID-19 situation. She has written two grants which were both rejected. “There is a lot of need out there right now, and there are not a lot of dollars,” she said. The group is still willing to be the fundraising arm for the $50-60,000.00 feasibility stu...
DAYTON—Only one COVID-19 vaccine clinic was scheduled this week. That clinic took place at the county fairgrounds on Tuesday, when 91-second doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered. Sixty-five, second doses of the Moderna vaccine have been scheduled for May 4, and 57-second doses are planned for May 11, according to Stephanie Carpenter, Columbia County Health System CCHS CFO, who is in charge of organizing the vaccination clinics. She said the fairgrounds Pavilion would no longer be l...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board had a full agenda for the April 15 meeting, including approval of a comprehensive sexual health curriculum and discussing athletic combine matters. During the secondary principal’s report, Principal Stephanie Wooderchak shared that the senior class has been planning for graduation. Currently, the 2021 graduation is on the school’s calendar for June 4. Superintendent Mark Pickel reported that there would be a meeting with the DW Administration team on April...
WAITSBURG—A committee consisting of parents and teachers has spent the past few months exploring comprehensive health education after Washington voters passed Senate Bill 5395 in 2020. The bill, which went into effect on December 3, 2020, requires that Washington public schools provide comprehensive sexual health education (CSHE) by the 2022-2023 school year. Early requirements, including consultations with parents and guardians, local communities, and the Washington State School Directors A...
OLYMPIA—Governor Jay Inslee Monday announced that three Washington State counties would roll back to Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington reopening plan after failing to meet the necessary metrics. The three counties returning to Phase 2 are Cowlitz County, Pierce County, and Whitman County. “These metric trends are driven by the virus, and we must continue to do everything we can to sharpen our focus and keep COVID-19 activity down. We are so close to the end of the tunnel here — we have made...
DAYTON-There will be a licensed daycare vacuum in Dayton, when the only current licensed provider drops out of the business at the end of June, said Paul Ihle, a Community Health Worker for the Columbia County Health System. "To the best of my knowledge, we are down to one licensed daycare provider, Susan Schlenz, and she has announced her retirement this June. . . I believe that Sylvia Demaris is currently not open for home daycare, and Haley Puckett dropped out of the business at the s...
DAYTON-If you find you love the food prepared by Sid Highsmith and Nathanial Steen at Blazin Burgers, you should let them know so they will be encouraged to stay. Steen said when the golf course restaurant closes this winter, they will take a three-month hiatus to explore the possibility of opening a restaurant in Indonesia. But, if they do well here, they will stay. Blazin Burgers has been open since Saturday and, so far, there have been "huge" compliments and lots of buzz on Facebook,...
WAITSBURG-Late in the night on Friday, April 9, multiple properties were vandalized in Waitsburg, including the baseball fields, the football field, and the horse track. With the first home baseball game scheduled in less than a week, athletes, parents, and friends rallied on Sunday to repair the field to a playable state. The damage included deep ruts caused by a vehicle spinning 'brodies' on the grass and infield, with deep tire marks which appeared to be caused by spinning tires. Witnesses...
