Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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WAITSBURG - Waitsburg students will see three new faces when they start school on September 8. Abby Seney, Christopher Kinnaird and Haden Wegner are starting their careers with the Cardinal staff. Seney will be greeting students at the elementary school as the District/Elementary Administrative Assistant. Before joining the Cardinal staff, Seney worked as a certified medical assistant at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla. Seney was born and raised in Walla Walla with a love for...
WALLA WALLA - The 2026 Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days, held from September 2 through 6, offered five days of live music, a parade, racing, livestock competitions, and awards. The annual event also honored cancer survivors, veterans, and retirees. Students garnered awards and numerous blue ribbons competing in FFA, Grange and 4-H youth livestock competitions. The fair kicked off on September 2 with a concert by headliner Cheap Trick, on tour since 1974. Thursday was a sold-out demolition...
WAITSBURG - While the end of the school year offers him a chance to relax, Superintendent Monty Sabin recently reflected on how he begins to miss the students and staff as the summer drives on. He was excited to welcome new and returning staff to the school, as they prepare classrooms and programs for the new year. "It's a happy place for me. I look forward to the first day of school and seeing the students excited with their energy and smiles," said Sabin. Sabin is also excited about the new...
Dearest Readers, As you read this, you might have noticed that this week’s paper has landed in your hands a little later than usual. It’s not your imagination. Rather than hitting newsstands and the post office a day early like normal, this week we have arrived exactly on our official Thursday publication date. We don’t take a day’s delay lightly. Particularly when we are so honored to be a part of a proud journalistic lineage. Since 1878, The Times has been produced by an esteemed line of tirel...
OLYMPIA — A divided Supreme Court on Monday, August 24, 2026, allowed the Trump administration to move forward with plans to restrict mail-in voting before the midterm elections. The emergency order stayed one of two injunctions issued by a lower court that prevented the federal government from implementing the new regulations. Two lawsuits, one brought by the League of Women Voters and the second filed by states, challenged the president’s executive order. The Supreme Court ruling only addressed the states’ lawsuit The Court did not rule...
DAYTON - The Dayton School Board met in the High School Library at 6:32 p.m. on August 19, 2026. Superintendent Jeremy Wheatley, Board Chair Jeffrey McCowen, and Board members Ryan Paulson, Pat Davidson, Aneesha Dieu, and Grant Griffin were present. As its first order of business, the board approved the consent agenda, which included the approval of the last meeting's minutes, accounts payable and payroll, the personnel report, the Perkins Grant Assurances for the next school year, and approval...
WAITSBURG - Rural Youth Enrichment Services supports a wide variety of enriching activities for youth in the Touchet Valley. Eight RYES projects are run by volunteers from the areas the community serves. It was founded in 2009 by Leroy Cunningham, Kathy Carpenter, Sarah Groffman, Ane Walsh, and Mickey Richards to provide activities for youth who weren't finding their place in their schools or community. Due to reduced funding to Waitsburg Schools, RYES has brought in several new projects once ru...
DAYTON-Dayton Books and Gifts at 232 East Main Street is now open for business. Owners Rose and Clay Johnson, along with their two daughters, Lily, 18, and Addison, 12, recently moved to Dayton from Albuquerque, New Mexico, seeking a change from the hustle and bustle of city life. Rose said she is excited to be in Dayton and that the girls are adjusting well to life in a small town. "Here, the girls can walk around unattended and experience the freedom and independence that was not available to...
DAYTON – The Port of Columbia Board of Commissioners held its regular meeting at 5 p.m. on August 12, 2026, at the Port’s conference room. Commissioners Mike Spring and Johnny Watts were present in person; Scott Hudson joined on Zoom. Executive Director Jennie Dickinson and Economic Development Coordinator Shane Laib were also present. The commissioners approved the previous meeting’s minutes, the monthly budget report, leases, and a letter to local governments and planning commissions. The letter addressed the difficulty in offering entic...
OLYMPIA — President Trump signed Executive Order 14420, titled “Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans,” on August 10, 2026. The order aims to change the federal childhood vaccine policy. It revises the recommendations for the childhood vaccination schedule and directs health care providers to administer individual shots for measles, mumps, and rubella, splitting the MMR vaccine. Separate vaccines have not been manufactured in the U.S since 2008, and could take a decade before they are available. The order...
DAYTON — Mayor Michael Smith called the Dayton City Council to order at 6 p.m. on August 11, 2026. Council members present in the conference room were Shannon McMillen, James Su’euga, Glenn Hagfeldt, Joann Patras, Jeff Keating, and Dave Harvey. Kyle Anderson was not present. During public comment, Deanna Peterson said she moved to Dayton last year with her husband. They chose to invest in the community because it’s a small town and they liked its character. The sense of neighborliness and peaceful environment make Dayton such a special place...
WAITSBURG - This year, a visit to Waitsburg was a sought-after auction item at the Artist Trust 40th Anniversary Benefit Art. The Waitsburg Sojourn package offered an art, food, and wine weekend for two couples. On Friday, August 14, the couples who won the trip checked into The Royal Block for their 2-night stay. The winners, Judith Rinehart, John Taylor, Joel Reiter, and Polly Meyer, were welcomed with refreshing cocktails and unique Walla Walla wines. RB owners Joe Roberts and Tiina Jaatinen...
WAITSBURG - Retired Waitsburg School District teachers Jim Davison, Liv Leid, Roseann Groom, and retired Prescott teacher Susan DeRuwe attended the 2026 Washington State School Retirees' Association State Convention on June 8-10. At the convention, Davison was honored with the Ester Wilfong Award. He was nominated by the Walla Walla-Columbia School and the Benton Franklin School Retirees' Associations. The Ester Wilfong Legislative Advocacy Award is presented to a WSSRA member who has...
WALLA WALLA – Blue Mountain Community Foundation is pleased to announce that applications are open for its Community Grants Programs for Walla Walla County, and a separate program for Milton-Freewater, Athena, and Weston, Oregon (MFAW), for nonprofit organizations, public agencies, churches, and fiscally sponsored projects serving these areas. Blue Mountain Community Foundation (BMCF) is launching a new, county-based approach to community grantmaking designed to better align charitable resources with the communities that support them. B...
SPOKANE — Aaron F. Farinacci, of Spokane, Washington, was arrested Monday, August 3, 2026. He has been charged with first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails fire, the largest of three wildfires in the region, and held on a $1 million bond, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said a witness driving near the area where the Old Trail Fire is believed to have started, reported seeing a man “bending down” near the grass and standing up, looking “very nervous.” The witness had contacted p...
OLYMPIA —The Imagination Library of Washington (ILWA) has been awarded two grants to help restore Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The library provides free, high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to children from birth to age five in Washington. The financial commitments from the Roots & Wings Foundation and the John and Tami Marick Family Foundation will stabilize ILWA’s 50% book-cost match, which supports local program partners, and restore service in paused communities as quickly as possible. Together, these commitments provi...
WAITSBURG — The Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers will overlap between July 28 and 31, 2026. The two showers will peak this week, occurring back-to-back between July 28 and 31. The Southern Delta Aquariids shower will arrive first, with the highest activity between July 28 and 30. At its strongest, there should be about 15 meteors an hour. They are not particularly bright, and appear to radiate from the area of Alpha Capricorni, a double star visible to the naked eye. The meteors are the result of debris left b...
DAYTON — Columbia County Health System and Dayton General Hospital have earned accreditation from Det Norske Veritas (DNV) through its National Integrated Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations (NIAHO) Critical Access Hospital Accreditation Program. The accreditation verifies that Dayton General Hospital has satisfied the patient safety standards, known as the Conditions of Participation, set forth by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. DNV’s accreditation program also integrates the ISO 9001 standard for quality man...
WAITSBURG - With regional wildfires producing smoke in Eastern Washington, it has been hard to ignore the health issues associated with it. The National Weather Service and local agencies have issued air quality alerts for conditions forecasted to continue through next week. The air quality index (AQI) in Waitsburg, Walla Walla, and College Place has reached moderate to unhealthy levels. On Tuesday, Waitsburg's AQI registered 159, with a forecast for Wednesday and Friday rising to 166. College...
DAYTON — The Dayton School Board met in the high school library on July 15, 2026. Superintendent Jeremy Wheatley, Board Chair Jeffrey McCowen, and Board members Ryan Paulson, Pat Davidson, and Grant Griffin participated in person in the school library. Aneesha Dieu was not present. The board passed the consent agenda, which included an announcement that Tawnya Johnson, a College Place resident, had been hired as a teacher at the elementary school. Wheatley said Johnson was one of nine applicants for the position. Wheatley said the school’s comp...
DAYTON — City of Dayton Mayor Michael Smith called the Dayton City Council to order at 6 p.m. on July 14, 2026. Council members Shannon McMillen, James Su’euga, Kyle Anderson, Joann Patras, and Dave Harvey were present; Glenn Hagfeldt was not in attendance. In public comment, a resident said he and his neighbor thought the new road striping on Main Street was great. Belinda Larsen, the Chamber of Commerce Director, said that the success of All Wheels Weekend was due to community involvement, and gave a shout-out to the Columbia County Fai...
Walla Walla — Cirque Italia is bringing the wicked world of the Paranormal Cirque Voodoo to Walla Walla on July 24, 25, and 26. This unique event combines theatre, circus, and European-style cabaret for a mature audience. The Paranormal Cirque Voodoo is an innovative horror story that producers say blurs the divide between reality and illusion. It is definitely not the traditional circus of clowns, animal tricks, and peanuts. The show also follows a strict animal-free policy. Dare to get wicked for one night under the big black and white t...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Commercial Club has moved to quarterly general membership meetings. The meetings are the second Tuesdays of July, October, and January at noon. The meeting in April will be on the third Tuesday and is the annual meeting and Community Service Awards. The first quarterly meeting was held on Tuesday, July 14, at Waitsburg’s Town Hall. The Commercial Club President Brittany Crane, 1st Vice-President Karen Huwe, 2nd Vice-President Paul Mantz-Powers, Secretary Tiffany Baxter, Treasurer Joy Smith, and a dozen members were in...
WALLA WALLA & WAITSBURG - Common Roots Housing Trust has begun work on Fern Avenue Cottage Homes, the trust's inaugural project in Walla Walla. The seven-home plan is projected to be occupied by the end of 2026 or early 2027. Looking forward, CRHT Board Member Joy Smith said that the work on the Fern Avenue project is giving the trust valuable on-the-job experience to bring to the Waitsburg endeavor. In 2025, the land trust purchased two parcels across from the corner of E. 2nd and Garden Ave. W...
WAITSBURG - The safety of the Waitsburg community, residents, and agriculture rests in the hands of the volunteers of the Columbia Walla Walla Fire District #2 (CWWFD#2). The Waitsburg-based fire department is looking for new team members for firefighting and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Volunteers are encouraged to focus on their interests and not feel the need to do it all. The station responds to both fire and medical calls. "In 2024, we ran 188 medical and 59 fire calls," said CWWFD#2...
