Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 276 - 300 of 307
DAYTON—In February, U.S. Congressman Mike Simpson, representing Idaho, District 2, unveiled a $33.5 billion proposal for breaching the four lower hydroelectric dams on the Snake River to address the problem of how to save salmon populations in Idaho, without disrupting the system that provides millions of people with electrical power. His proposal “The Northwest in Transition” calls for removing Lower Granite Dam, Little Goose Dam, Lower Monumental Dam, and Ice Harbor Dam, located in Washi...
DAYTON-CCHS CEO Shane McGuire provided the Hospital District board with a project update at their February meeting. The floor in the Dayton General Hospital Emergency Department was replaced in February. The old flooring was roughly nine years old and was showing significant wear. It was also becoming a risk for infection due to large gaps and cracks in the seams. The hospital's new generator will be delivered in the middle of March, and Nelson Construction of Walla Walla, will pour a pad for...
DAYTON-Although initial COVID-19 vaccination efforts have been uneven, incremental progress is being made, CCHS CEO Shane McGuire told the Hospital District Board of Commissioners at their meeting last week. "A lot of the story still remains about supply," he said. McGuire said inventory of the vaccine was initially managed to cover first and second doses. After the governor issued an edict requiring 95% of the vaccine should be used each week, vaccines reserved for second doses were used as...
DAYTON-Todd Vandenbark is the new Library Director for the Dayton Memorial Library. Vandenbark said he became interested in Library Science when a friend told him that libraries value people who come from diverse backgrounds and have varied work experience. Indeed, Vandenbark has had a variety of jobs. He has worked as a daycare teacher, computer tech support consultant, customer service rep at a major telecom call center, lifeguard and swim instructor, school bus driver, camp counselor,...
DAYTON-Adam Schmidtgall, Principal Engineer, and Brian Hansen, Project Engineer for Anderson/Perry & Associates, provided an update about progress on the Touchet Valley Trail design at the February meeting of the Port of Columbia commissioners. Schmidtgall said the intention is to have 30-percent of the trail design completed by the end of February to submit to the Port commissioners for review. "We believe a month and a half is enough time for a community meeting in mid-April," he said....
DAYTON—At their meeting in February, the Port of Columbia commissioners approved an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) with NoaNet (Northwest Open Access Network) to provide broadband service to the Port office and to Port-owned businesses. Dickinson said the Port office will be used as a hub for a wireless system that will serve the tenants in the Rock Hill Industrial Park, and, possibly other businesses and residences, at that end of town. “According to NoaNet wireless system technologies have imp...
SEQUIM—After years of misdiagnosis, incorrect treatment, and fighting for each breath, former Dayton resident Fred Banks received a bilateral lung transplant in 2020. Now, his family is reaching out for help with the resulting medical costs. Banks was born and raised in Dayton before moving to Prescott and then to Walla Walla, where he and his wife Berniece raised three children. In 2015, he moved to Sequim, Washington, to be closer to a granddaughter battling childhood leukemia. Fortunately, h...
Liberty Theater in Dayton will be streaming a live production of this year's community variety show. The free show is scheduled for Saturday, March 26, and will be available on YouTube. This year's show will be directed by Liberty Theater production veteran Meghan Bromley of Starbuck. For many years, the Liberty Theater has presented delightful and entertaining variety shows produced, directed, and featuring talented Touchet Valley residents. The Spring 2020 show was canceled due to the...
DAYTON—When they met last week, the Dayton School District Board of Directors approved a new dismissal time and bell schedule for Middle School and High School students. After March 1, dismissal will be at 2 p.m. for secondary school students. Superintendent Guy Strot said the District would send emails and letters to parents about the change. Information will also be posted on Facebook and the District website. Strot said lunchtime will be from 11:11 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. The Middle School h...
DAYTON—At the Feb. 10 Port Commission meeting, Port officials discussed a letter and a petition signed by 37 people with concerns about whether there is a proposal to annex Port-owned property to the City of Dayton. The letter was written by Betty Longen, who owns property close to the Port’s Rock Hill Industrial Park, and it was read at the meeting by the Port’s Executive Director Jennie Dickinson. “I am adamantly opposed to annexation. We have circulated a petition showing our opposit...
DAYTON—City of Dayton Mayor Zac Weatherford provided an update about the Interlocal Agreement with the county for Law and Justice, Dispatch, and Municipal Court services at last week’s city council meeting. The Public Safety Committee has reviewed the contract and provided it to the city attorney for review. It has been sent back to the county with a few minor recommendations, he said. Weatherford agreed with County Commissioner Ryan Rundell, who was at the meeting, about the need for cau...
DAYTON—Middle and High School (MS/HS) Principal Kristina Brown has met with her staff to discuss strategies and interventions they can use to help students struggling with failing grades, she told attendees at last week’s school board work session. During the first semester of the school year, there were 34 middle school students with at least one F grade and 16 middle school students with at least one F. In the high school, there were 18 students with at least one F and 25 students with at leas...
DAYTON-The Columbia County Health System's Executive Leadership team participated in a five-day leadership course led by its Semi Bird, Executive Director of Team Concepts Training Services, reported CCHS CEO Shane McGuire at the hospital district commissioners meeting in January. Team Concepts will continue providing training to CCHS staff throughout the year. The goal of the training is to transform workplace culture. Each department-level manager will receive the same training as the...
DAYTON-The Columbia County Public Health Department moves from 270 East Main Street to their new location at 112 North Second Street the week of Feb. 15, with plans for the department to be officially open on Feb. 22. County Public Health Administrator Martha Lanman said there are several benefits to making this move. There is adequate space for all the staff to occupy the new offices while complying with current social distancing guidelines. Lanman said two department staff members are...
DAYTON-When offered a chance to work remotely, more and more people are moving where they choose. If the City of Dayton and the Port of Columbia play their cards right, Dayton, with its beautiful blue skies, friendly people, and green vistas, could become the next little boom, or "Zoom" town. When the question of whether people should consider moving to Dayton was posed to Port of Columbia Executive Director Jennie Dickinson and City of Dayton Planning Director Meagan Hayes last week, the answer...
DAYTON—When it comes to COVID-19, the Times tries its best to deliver up to date, factual information, but it is hard to keep up when the data changes so quickly. Take the information released to the public, over the last couple of weeks, from the Columbia County Public Health Department and officials in charge of the vaccination process here in Columbia County. On Thursday, Jan. 7, the Times reported that COVID-19 vaccinations would be administered through a phased approach from the Centers for...
DAYTON—Mayor Zac Weatherford talked about mitigating damages to the Dayton portion of the levee caused by the 2020 February flood in his report to the Dayton City Council last week. There are three projects which will be done in the spring and summer months, he said. The projects include; the Front Street Bridge Rip Rap Replacement Project and removal of less than 50 cubic yards of sediment from the Touchet River, the North First Street Rip Rap Replacement Project, and repairs to the damaged s...
DAYTON-Elizabeth Jagelski is known for being a vivacious, musically gifted person with a kind heart. She has contributed her directorial expertise to six of the Touchet Valley Art Council (TVAC) theater productions and her acting skills 13 times. She is also a devoted music teacher at Berney Elementary in Walla Walla. To say she has not been herself lately would be putting it mildly. She, her 72-year-old husband, Tom, and her 89-year-old father, Juan Arebalos, have all been infected with,...
DAYTON-2020 has been a year like no other in Dayton's collective memory. In February, the county experienced severe flooding on the North and South Touchet rivers and Patit Creek. The flood, which caused $7.2 million in damage to county infrastructure, was followed close on its heels by the COVID-19 pandemic which sent health and safety personnel scrambling to prepare the county. People were told to wear masks and limit social contact with others. Some did, and some did not. Government offices w...
DAYTON—The Dayton Chamber of Commerce has announced the annual award banquet’s cancellation because of COVID-19 restrictions. However, the Chamber is accepting nominations for the Dayton Chamber of Commerce 2020 Community Choice Awards. “It is especially important that we still pay tribute to the exceptional businesses, organizations, and citizens in our community who have gone above and beyond in 2020.” To make a nomination, fill out the electronic form found on the Dayton Chamber website...
DAYTON-This year has been challenging for us all, especially many of the kids served by The Club. To help spread some joy, The Club's Board of Directors and staff hatched a plan to provide holiday gift bags to our members. What happened next is a shining example of the giving nature of our community. Kiwanis Club of Dayton, due in part to a shared board/club member, came up with an idea to provide a little something to The Club's kids while simultaneously supporting local business. The idea:...
DAYTON—At the Dayton City Council meeting on Dec. 16, 2020, Planning and Community Development Director Meagan Hayes discussed progress by the Affordable Housing Commission. The Commission is reviewing multi-family tax exemptions, which could stimulate the construction of new or existing multi-family housing. The commission is also in the process of developing a marketing campaign. The Dayton Planning Commission is working on docketing items and will be opening the Subdivision Code. Hayes s...
DAYTON—A former long-time Master Gardener for the Boldman House Museum has won the museum committee’s raffle quilt. Instead of keeping the quilt for herself, and without hesitation, Susie Rogers made a gift of it to Susan Richter. Rogers said Susan Richter spent countless hours working on the quilt, along with Diane McKinley, Katie Wamble, Mary Luce, Sylvia Beuhler, and Eulalie Schrek. “Her heart was sewn into that quilt.,” Rogers said. “She loved that quilt so much.” When raffle tickets wen...
DAYTON—The Dayton School District Board of Directors met Wednesday, December 2, for a regularly scheduled board workshop session. During the session, Superintendent Guy Strot gave a brief update on the Dayton-Waitsburg Athletic Combine mascot. After speaking with Superintendent Mark Pickel, Principal Kristina Brown, and Principal Stephanie Wooderchak, Superintendent Strot said that the schools would keep their individual mascots. Dayton School District will still be represented as the Dayton B...
DAYTON—Jennie Dickinson, the Executive Director for the Port of Columbia, is on the board for the Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RTPO). She is asking the community to provide input to a Regionwide Active Transportation Plan being developed by the RTPO. Dickinson said the RPTO is developing a website for the Regional Active Transportation Plan. The site will include maps of city sidewalks, showing gaps to fill to connect walking routes. There will also be maps with r...
