Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg Celebration Days (WCD) board of directors met Monday, October 26 at 7 p.m via Zoom call. The board met to elect a new president, vice president, and an advertising director. Directors had to postpone the election until the November meeting, as they had not yet had any volunteers step up with interest. Waitsburg Celebration Days is a volunteer-led non-profit, formed in 2013 to continue community celebrations originally hosted for over 100 years by Days of Real Sport. WCD...
Well, that escalated quickly. Our weather has gone from a pleasant and mild fall to a midwinter's frozen tundra practically overnight. It took the better part of a day to get above freezing. And so it goes, another turning of the wheel-toes in socks, socks in boots. The parkas are out, and before you know it, we'll be back inside, once again relegated to the confines of the indoors, daydreaming about spring. All-season gardeners know better. Winter gardening using container pots keeps the...
In September, wildfires that tortured the Pacific Northwest did a number on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area (Swanson Lakes), located about 10 miles south of the town of Creston. Swanson Lakes is a 21,000-acre tract of native grasslands nestled among the channeled scablands of the Columbia Plateau. Shrub-steppe and riparian/wetlands comprise the dominant habitats, and much of the area is rangeland, with some old Conservation Reserve Program...
Calling all goblins, ghouls, and ghosts! Halloween is still happening in the Touchet Valley, with some minor adjustments. Social distancing will be enforced at all events listed below for the safety of all the spooky participants. Per state guidelines, face masks will be required in addition to a costume mask. Halloween costume masks are not accepted forms of face coverings. Downtown Waitsburg plans on getting spooky on Saturday, starting at 4 p.m. with David Long, Walla Walla DJ, providing music at the Fire Station on Main. Does anyone know th...
WAITSBURG-The coronavirus has highlighted some unexpected heroes over the past ten months. The Waitsburg School District has had a handful of heroes step up and go far above and beyond their typical duties this school year. "Our para-eds and our kitchen staff... they have been working their tails off this year," Superintendent Mark Pickel. "Last week alone, they put together 1,700 meals to go." During a 'normal' school year, paraeducators can be found assisting in the classroom, often offering...
DAYTON-Since he was hired in Dec. 2018 as the Columbia County Engineer and Public Works Director, Charles Eaton finds himself wearing more hats than ever. His responsibilities include multiple departments within the Public Works Department. Operations is responsible for county road maintenance. Engineering is responsible for designing or improving projects, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services responsible for mapping, and Equipment Replacement and Rental (ER&R) responsible for...
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg School Board met Thursday, October 15, for a regularly scheduled meeting. The Board is still meeting via Zoom video call. Secondary Principal Stephanie Wooderchak reported that school has been going well overall, given the circumstances. She said that the parents had been a huge help troubleshooting the technology problems that sprung from the Chromebook distribution and remote learning. "People are having honest conversations and are making adjustments when we experience...
DAYTON—County Treasurer Carla Rowe presented the third-quarter financial statement to the Board of Columbia County Commissioners last week. She provided them with the following predictions based on various sources, including the Dept. of Revenue, the Municipal Research and Services Center, and webinars regarding banking environments, investment bond market, and government publications. Financial recovery from the COVID-19 impact to counties is not expected to occur until the latter part of n...
WASHINGTON—The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) released a set of guidelines to help keep communities healthy with Halloween just a few weeks away. When planning your Halloween celebration, it is important to bear in mind that Governor Inslee’s Safe Start plan limitations are still in effect. Walla Walla County remains in Phase 2 of the reopening plan. As a general reminder, folks must limit gatherings to less than five people who do not live in your household, and group members must...
Halloween hopefuls have been dreading this since March when memes began to surface on the internet message boards regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea was determined: put the mask on now to save Halloween. Skeptics were present in the comment sections of SubReddit pages, insisting that there would be no Halloween without a safe and efficient vaccine. Well, here we are six months later. #QuarantineHalloween approaches as Walla Walla County rests in Phase 2 of Gov. Inslee's Safe Start Plan....
OLYMPIA—Washington State Parks today announced its 2020-21 winter schedule, with more than 100 parks remaining open for camping or day-use activities. The winter schedule is available online at https://tinyurl.com/y2u6mkbd. More than 100 parks will remain open during the winter, while about 22 parks are closed until dates in March, April or May. State parks offer ample opportunities for those who enjoy camping in the winter months. Campgrounds that remain open are less crowded, and more campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basi...
DAYTON-Trina Cole, Administrator for the City of Dayton, told attendees at the city council meeting last week about plans for city and county representatives to enter into mediation over the terms of the Interlocal Agreement for Law Enforcement, Dispatch Services, and Court Services, the County provides to the City. County Commissioner Ryan Rundell, who was at the meeting, said a location had been identified and the date is set for Nov. 5. During the council meeting concerning an application to...
STARBUCK-Gerry Grubbs has been hired by the Starbuck School District as the next superintendent to take over for retiring superintendent Kevin Graffis. What does he think of Starbuck? "It is a beautiful little town and school," he said. Grubbs said the Starbuck school feels like school must have been one hundred years ago. He likes the multi-age classrooms. He said what the school lacks in supplemental resources; it makes up for with a smaller number of students and more personalized teaching....
DAYTON—Dayton School District Superintendent Guy Strot talked about some loosening of school sports restrictions by the state when the Dayton School District Board of Directors met in a work session last week. The state has decided to allow summer athletic conditioning from Sept. 27 to Nov. 27, he said. A typical summer season is for a team to have 20 organized practices in the months of June and July. With that in mind, he and Mark Pickel, Waitsburg School District Superintendent, and Martha La...
If you drive down Main Street Waitsburg, you'll see a cute pink house with white trim. That little house is one of many that Jason Gillen, owner of JLG Painting, has finished in the area. While 'professional painter' sits at the top of Gillen's resume, 'powerlifter/strongman' follows in a close second. Gillen has been into weight lifting since a young age, saying that it is a hobby as it is a lifestyle. "I got my first pair of barbells from my dad. I was, oh, seven or eight years old," Gillen...
WALLA WALLA-The Walla Walla Association of Realtors and the Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC) are kicking off the season with a hunger for helping. The Care and Share Food Drive looks a little different this year, but the cause remains the same. For more than three decades, the Care and Share Food Drive, which takes place in October, has sent more than 100 volunteers out into the community to drop off orange donation bags on doorsteps. The Association of Realtors and BMAC decided that the bags...
Those of us who may be familiar with one Becky Wilson in Waitsburg will be tickled to learn that there is now a second Becky Wilson in town. Recently, this Becky Wilson purchased the old Hofer farm property on Highway 12, about a mile south of Waitsburg. The four-acre property includes the house, a massive barn, garage, a large shop building, and two towering Locust trees. Wilson closed on the place in June, parked her Airstream trailer next to the house, and went right to work on restoration....
With eight grandsons and nine great-grandkids, Norma Jo Shay has more than earned the title of Great Grandma. For many years she's been the mandolin strumming frontwoman of the band Grandma & the Boys and is affectionately known in all the local bluegrass jams. Grandma Jo is a friend to many Waitsburgers. She shares old songs and fresh fish, the winningest combination. She's been a tournament toxophilite, a skilled hunter with bow and arrow, rifle, or fishing rod in her illustrious past. The...
WAITSBURG-Last Friday, the Washington State Penitentiary Employee Association (WSPEA) presented the Waitsburg Resource Center with a $500 donation. "Originally, the money was intended for the flood relief efforts," said President Lanny Adams. "By the time we were able to meet with the correct organizations, they had a surplus of donations. We decided it would be best to hold onto the money and get it into the community through another entity." The WSPEA is an organization within the Washington S...
Funding Proposal on the November Ballot DAYTON—In cooperation with the City of Dayton and the Town of Starbuck, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) formed the Columbia County Flood Control Zone District on June 17, 2019, with resolution 2019-34, pursuant to RCW 86.15. Per RCW 86.15.020, the district may be formed in two ways: 1) A resolution by the BOCC; or 2) A petition by the citizens. Columbia County’s Flood Control Zone District (FCZD) was created to establish a county-wide response to the growing threat of flooding. The mission is...
WAITSBURG–Waitsburg's fire hydrants are getting a much-needed flushing. It is important that all hydrants receive semi-annual maintenance by the city water utilities or local fire departments. Hydrants need to be checked for leaks, debris build-up, damage from accidents and any other issue that would be the difference between a home saved or destroyed. This month the District #2 fire department has taken on the job and there is discussion that a more robust type of flush will also be needed t...
WAITSBURG—Schulke Family Pumpkins have made their way back to Waitsburg for another year of fundraising for the Ronald McDonald House. The by-donation fundraiser is the Schulke family’s way of honoring their son, Cooper, who passed away in 2002 after a valiant fight against a brain tumor. Cooper was just seven and a half years old. In 2007, Cooper’s siblings, Emerson and Campbell, came up with the idea of selling pumpkins to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House, a place that became a ‘home...
DAYTON—Columbia County Hospital System (CCHS) CEO Shane McGuire is concerned about how the Flood of 2020, COVID-19, wildfires, and the smoke from them, is impacting the emotional health of CCHS employees and people throughout the local community. He shared those concerns with the Hospital District board of commissioners at their meeting in September. “We are experiencing a mental health crisis in our community and state,” he said. “In our own community, we have seen an uptick in suicide attempt...
Landowner participation is crucial COLUMBIA COUNTY-Columbia County is in the beginning stages of gathering the data required to determine if the Voluntary Stewardship Program has met its initial goals and benchmarks. With the five-year report due January 2020, the Columbia County VSP hopes the county deems the program a success. The VSP is an optional, non-regulatory alternative that allows area stakeholders to develop and implement work plans to protect critical areas while promoting agricultur...
DAYTON—Despite economic challenges, building activity in Columbia County and neighboring jurisdictions is going strong, according to Columbia County Planning Manager Dena Martin. In her department update to the Board of County Commissioners at the end of September, Martin reported that despite a temporary spring construction shut-down due to COVID 19, all jurisdictions served by the County have already met 2020 projected annual permit revenues. “This is especially encouraging because there hav...
