Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 251 - 275 of 307
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...
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-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...
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-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...
WAITSBURG-Give a kid a paintbrush, or in this case, a cup full of acrylic paint, and they can change the world! In cooperation with the Waitsburg Resource Center, the Cardinal's Nest put on a Spring Break art program for Waitsburg students, April 5-7. The program included both art and STEM activities, led by Kathy Schirm, a paraeducator at Waitsburg School District, and the Cardinal's Nest after-school program's art instructor. The program has been unavailable this year due to pandemic-related r...
DAYTON-On Thursday, April 8, the Dayton Kiwanis Club heard from Dick Muri, City Captain for National Drive Electric Week Steilacoom. Muri has been a member of the Kiwanis Club in Steilacoom since 1993 when he helped start the local club. Steilacoom is a town in Pierce County Washington, on the south end of Puget Sound. "The joke around Steilacoom is 'don't talk to Dick Muri, or you'll become a Kiwanian," he joked before his presentation. Muri is the program and membership chair for his club and...
DAYTON—Columbia County Treasurer Carla Rowe believes the duty of the treasurer’s office is to collect taxes, not to make judgments on who is, or who is not, qualified for delinquent tax deferrals. That is what she says she will be required to do if one of two pieces of Washington state legislation, dealing with the state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus, pass into law. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1332 suspends interest and penalties during a state of emergency declared under RCW...
DAYTON-Work to remove sediment from the Touchet River, in the area of the Hwy. 12 and railroad bridges and the confluence of the Patit Creek, is on hold until the Columbia County Flood Control Zone District receives a cultural resource review permit from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Flood Control Zone District (FCZD) Administrator Charles Eaton told the FCZD board of supervisors that he hopes to have the permit in hand this week so work can begin in the next few...
DAYTON--Kelley Wolther, of Wolther Family Farm, has leased the garden at the Blue Mountain Station from the Port of Columbia. The Wolther family has been selling produce from the farm garden, on the South Touchet River, for the past few years, and they were looking to expand. "This was a good opportunity," she said. Wolther plans to sell fruit and vegetables, and she will have eggs for sale at the Co-op in about a month. She is also planning to offer $20 farm to fridge produce baskets with...
DAYTON—The Port of Columbia has been planning a Public Information Meeting for the Touchet Valley Trail (TVT) 30% design review for several months. Because all three Port commissioners will be in attendance at the meeting, it is considered an official public meeting and must follow the laws of the state of Washington, particularly the Open Public Meetings Act. At each point in the decision-making process, current guidance from the state regarding holding public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic has been reviewed. Organizing the me...
DAYTON-At a special meeting last week, the Dayton City Council appointed Fred Crowe to fill the remainder of Matt Wien's term on the council. Wiens resigned from the Dayton City Council in January, but his term was to end on Dec. 31, 2021. Crowe will begin his service on the Transportation, Planning and Community Development, and Parks and Recreation committees, according to Mayor Pro-tem Dain Nysoe. Crowe and his wife Genie have lived in Columbia County since 2010. They were drawn to Dayton...
DAYTON-The Dayton Kiwanis Club met Thursday, March 25, at noon, for a regular meeting. Attendees heard from Dayton High School Alumni Keith Nealey, Director of Engineering at KIRO TV and esports enthusiast. Nealy has more than 30 years of experience creating graphics and integrating statistics for traditional sports broadcasts. He has worked with companies including CBS, ABC, and ESPN. He has worked closely with Seattle-based professional sports teams, the Sonics, Seahawks, and Sounders FC....
DAYTON—At the Dayton School District (DSD) board meeting last week, Superintendent Guy Strot provided a COVID-19 update, impact to the athletic program, how federal COVID relief funds will be spent, discussed an alternative learning program for fall, and changes to graduation requirements. He also spoke about an Innovia Foundation grant to help students achieve post-secondary education and training. Strot said under the statewide move to Phase 3 of the recovery plan, attendance at athletic e...
High-speed satellite internet may be the future for Columbia County residents, and a former Dayton resident is an early adopter and advocate. DAYTON-Self-proclaimed techie Phillip McKeen, of Walla Walla, may have a solution for rural households who may not have access to reliable internet connection. "Growing up in Dayton, with very limited internet options, I saw the value of Starlink when it came available," said McKeen. "When they opened it up for sign up, I signed up with my parents...
DAYTON—The Flood Control Zone District (FCZD) board of supervisors and the manager, Charles Eaton, are meeting before the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on the first Monday of the month. City of Dayton Mayor Zac Weatherford came before the FCZD administrators on Mar. 1 to let them know about the City’s desire to take over the permitting process from the county for sediment removal from the Touchet River. Weatherford’s reasons were twofold; to exped...
DAYTON—It was a reluctant city council that agreed to sign a five-year contract with the county for Law Enforcement, Dispatch, and Municipal Court services last week during their regular monthly meeting. Dain Nysoe objected to “strong-arm tactics” contained in a letter from the county’s prosecuting attorney dated Feb. 22, urging the contract to be signed within two weeks of the date of the letter or face arbitration. As the Public Safety Committee Chairman during mediation, Nysoe said the con...
DAYTON—Fundraising efforts are paying off for the Friends of the Touchet Valley Golf Course, as they look forward to construction of an underground sprinkler system at the golf course. A fiscal sponsorship agreement was made with the Blue Mountain Community Foundation (BMCF), Walla Walla, last year. According to Sean Thurston from the Friends of the Touchet Valley Golf Course, the agreement created a fund specifically for an irrigation reservoir allowing tax-deductible donations for the project....
Visit Fiesta en Jalisco at 400 West Main Street for the best Mexican food in town. Manager Oscar Guitron and his crew have spent time during the downturn to refresh the inside of the restaurant with new paint, brickwork, and tile. Guitron will display replicas of historic livestock brands in the restaurant bar in the next couple of weeks. Fiesta en Jalisco is open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. every day, with daily lunch, dinner, and drink specials. Call for carryout orders at (509) 382-0606. Do...
DAYTON-The Dayton Chamber of Commerce announced the selection of the 2020 Community Choice Awards on March 3rd. Each year, nominations are taken for exceptional citizen, employee, business and youth, and a committee made up of a cross-section of the community makes the selections. Although the awards couldn't be presented at the annual banquet, the Chamber felt it was especially important to pay tribute to these outstanding individuals. Citizen of the Year: Denise Hoon Denise is a dedicated...
