Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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DAYTON-Kids from The Club in Dayton will participate in community gardening this summer at Onyx Farms at Blue Mountain Station. Last fall, the Port of Columbia leased the 1/2 acre plot next to the BMS nursery to Andreas Castellanos to create a community garden. Castellanos described the Onyx Farms on FaceBook as "a community effort to connect people to the soil and each other by growing various crops. A learning process for all involved." In May, he invited the public to participate in farm...
DAYTON-Women with Edwardian hairstyles, men in waistcoats, and trained horses were seen waiting patiently outside Dayton's Depot Museum last week. They were not waiting for an arriving train but to film their scenes for a short film produced by Walla Walla University. As the actors waited, the producers, Walla Walla University film students, and production staff, including director Richard Ramsey, were busy preparing for location filming. I met with one of the producers, Matt Webster, on the...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met at 6 p.m. on June 14, 2023, in the High School library. Members of the school board present included Chair Jeffrey McCowen, Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, and Zac Fabian. Superintendent Rich Stewart was also present. Korinda Wallace resigned from the School Board before the meeting. Jamie Trump, who spearheaded the sixth-grade camp at Camp Wootan, reported on this year’s camp. Sixty-seven sixth graders participated, supervised by 13-15 adult helpers and 16 day-instructors. Trump discussed camp activities, inc...
DAYTON-Numerous cars dragged the "gut" Friday night as car enthusiasts walked the streets to watch the cars zoom by. Vendors were available for food and drinks, and Main Street businesses welcomed patrons throughout the evening. The band Cruz Control played on the courthouse lawn as people danced and little kids practiced their hula hoop skills. Saturday was the Show 'n Shine where vehicles of all types and years lined Main Street. Visitors and car enthusiasts were able to see everything up...
DAYTON – The Port of Columbia Commissioners held their regular meeting at 5 p.m. on June 14, 2023, at the Lyons Ferry Marina restaurant and on Zoom. The commissioners typically hold the June meeting at the marina, which is leased from the port. Commissioners present were Genie Crowe, Seth Bryan, Johnny Watts, and the Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson. Dickinson reminded the commissioners that they had budgeted for a new staff position, an Economic Development Coordinator. At the time of the m...
DAYTON- The Dayton City Council held its regular meeting on the evening of June 13, 2023 at Dayton City Hall. Mayor Zac Weatherford and council members Teeny McMunn, James Su’euga, Laura Aukerman, Kyle Anderson, Dain Nysoe, and Shannon McMillen were present; Tiger Dieu resigned on May 16, 2023, and his post remains vacant. Sheriff Joe Helm gave his report in which he covered call statistics and mentioned some past and planned activities, but summarized his report by saying, “no major changes.” Director of Emergency Management Tina Bobbi...
DAYTON—Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney C. Dale Slack requested and received an informal opinion from the Washington State Office of the Attorney General clarifying the voter eligibility to petition and vote on the issues concerning the Columbia County Rural District Library. A group of residents dissatisfied with the library’s Request for a Reconsideration of Materials policy, are circulating a petition to place a proposition on the ballot to dissolve the library district. Should voters decide in favor of dissolution, all of the books and...
MidSchoolMath addresses a critical time for students in relation to math education. DAYTON—The Dayton School Board held a work session meeting in the high school library at 6 p.m. on June 7, 2023. School board members present were Jeffrey McCowen, Zac Fabian, and Aneesha Dieu. Superintendent Rich Stewart and Business Manager Jana Eaton also attended. Korinda Wallace attended using Zoom. Grant Griffen was absent. The only action item on the meeting’s agenda was to approve the adoption of MidSchoolMath (MSM) for the 6-8 grades math cur...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met on May 17, 2023, in the High School library: School Board Chair Jeffrey McCowen, and members Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, and Zac Fabian, and Superintendent Rich Stewart were present. Board member Korinda Wallace was not present. Several student and teacher groups gave presentations at the beginning of the meeting. Cole Kenney, a Title 1 Para, gave a presentation on Title Small Groups which offers individualized instruction in reading and math in grades K-5. The program uses “Read Well” to track the stude...
DAYTON – The Columbia Port Commissioners held their regular meeting at 5 p.m. on May 10, 2023, in the Port of Columbia conference room and on Zoom. Commissioners Genie Crowe, Seth Bryan, and the Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson, were present. Johnny Watts was absent. During public comment, Joann Patras from All Saints Thrift Store thanked Dickinson for her help in the thrift store’s successful grant application to Sherwood Trust. Patras addressed Dickinson, saying, “What a blessing you were to me. You were so kind and so helpful.” She sai...
DAYTON- The Dayton City Council held its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on May 10, 2023. Mayor Zac Weatherford and Council Members Teeny McMunn, James Su’euga, Laura Aukerman, Kyle Anderson, Dain Nysoe, Shannon McMillen, and Tiger Dieu were present at Dayton City Hall. Belinda Larsen from the Chamber of Commerce gave an update on chamber activities. She reminded the council that Dayton Days is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend and All Wheels Weekend will be in June. Sheriff Helm reported that two deputies graduated from the state’s police aca...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met for a work session at 6 p.m., on May 3, 2023, in the High School library. School board members present were Grant Griffen, Zac Fabian, and Aneesha Dieu; Korinda Wallace did not attend. Superintendent Rich Stewart and Business Manager Jana Eaton were present. Included in the Consent Agenda, the board approved hiring Clayton Strong as HS Boys Head Basketball Coach and Owen Lanning as HS Boys Assistant Basketball Coach. The board also approved Kelly Steinhoff as a volunteer MS Track Coach and approved a GEAR U...
DAYTON-On April 28th, Christian Gonzalez and 11 other students from middle schools around the region competed in the GEAR UP 8th Grade Career Showcase Competition in Tri-Cities, Wash. He and the other participants from Walla Walla and Tri-Cities schools presented their career plans to a panel of three judges. The students were judged on content and delivery. Gonzalez impressed the judges with his determination, knowledge of his chosen career in neurosurgery, and his ability to connect with his...
DAYTON—A group of Columbia County residents is circulating a petition to dissolve the Dayton Rural Library District. Jessica Rufficorn posted a photo of the petition on Facebook in March. She and other community members who wish to dissolve the library district have posted their dissatisfaction with the library’s collection, the Library Board of Trustees, and Library Director Todd Vandenbark on the Facebook pages, including Dayton Speak freely(sic). The dissolution efforts follow the group’s dispute over 11 books on gender identity, sexual iden...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board held a regular meeting at 6 p.m., on April 15, 2023, in the high school library. School board chair Jeffrey McCowen, board members Korinda Wallace, Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, Zac Fabian, and Superintendent Rich Stewart was also present. The board approved the consent agenda. Seven students in Angela Kenney’s fourth-grade class gave a presentation on raising salmon, which they will release in the Touchet River in May. The students spoke about the entire salmon life cycle. Middle school teacher Jeff McCann int...
DAYTON- The Dayton City Council meeting was held at 6 p.m., April 11, 2023. Mayor Zac Weatherford and council members Teeny McMunn, James Su’euga, Laura Aukerman, Kyle Anderson, Dain Nysoe, Shannon McMillen, and Tiger Dieu were present at Dayton City Hall. Sheriff Joe Helm attended on Zoom and said the department’s two deputies are set to graduate from the state-required Basic Law Enforcement Academy on April 24, 2023. The sheriff’s office and the Coalition for Youth and Families are conducting a “drug take-back” event in the Bank of Idaho par...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board held a work session meeting at 6 p.m., on April 5, 2023, in the high school library. School board members Grant Griffen, Zac Fabin, Superintendent Rich Stewart, and Business Manager Jana Eaton attended in person. Chair Jeffrey McCowen, Aneesha Dieu, and Korinda Wallace attended using Zoom. The Board approved the recommendation to hire Ajay McNarland as the middle school (MS) Assistant Baseball Coach, approved Jeremy Trump as a volunteer MS Softball Coach, and accepted the resignation of a bus driver. The s...
DAYTON – Local residents active in their community have been meeting with Blue Mountain Community Foundation (BMCF) and Innovia Foundation to plan the Raise the Blues Endowment Campaign, which will contribute to a brighter future for Columbia County. The campaign invites residents of Columbia County to join with their neighbors to give back to the place they call home. Donors will have an opportunity to make an impact that lasts. BMCF has set two goals for The Raise the Blues Campaign; both will improve the future of our county. One goal is t...
DAYTON—Mayor Zac Weatherford called the Dayton City Council regular meeting to order at 6 p.m. on March 14, 2023. Council members Teeny McMunn, James Su’euga, Laura Aukerman, Kyle Anderson, Dain Nysoe, Shannon McMillen, and Tiger Dieu were present. Sheriff Joe Helm attended via Zoom and reported the number of traffic and other incidents from last month. He said two new deputies are doing well at the academy and are set to graduate on April 24, 2023, and will return to Columbia County to complete a fourteen-week Field Training Officer (FTO) pro...
DAYTON—After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian -- a fighter who has nothing to lose. Rotten Tomatoes critics rated this movie with 88% f...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board held its regular meeting in the high school library on March 15, 2023. School board members Chair Jefferey McCowen, Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, and Zac Fabian were present. Korinda Wallace was absent. Superintendent Rich Stewart was also present. The board approved the consent agenda, which in addition to administrative items, included a Gear Up field trip to visit college campuses, donations, the resignation of an elementary para-professional, and the resignation and hiring of coaches. Approval of June 3, 2...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board held a regular meeting at 6 p.m. on March 1, 2023, in the high school library. All school board members were present in person or by Zoom. Chair Jeffrey McCowen, Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, Zac Fabian, Superintendent Rich Stewart, and Business Manager Jana Eaton attended in person. Korinda Wallace attended using Zoom. Scott Underwood, CEO of NexGen Technology Services, the district's technology provider, and Dave Phillips, a teacher at Dayton High School who spe...
DAYTON—Applications are now being accepted for 2023 grant funds to help pay for the repair and restoration of building fronts in downtown Dayton. The grants are available through the Dayton Development Task Force’s Façade Improvement Grant program, which has been in place for several years and has already helped fund improvements to more than a dozen buildings. The application deadline is March 31, and projects must be completed by Nov. 30, 2023. Information about the program and the application form are available on the Dayton Chamber of Comm...
DAYTON—One of Dayton’s early pioneers and generous benefactors was an immigrant from Poland. Dr. Marcel M. Pietrzycki (Pit-rus-kee) settled in Columbia County, Washington, in the 1880s. The year after arriving in Dayton to start his medical practice, he helped fight the smallpox epidemic of 1881. Pietrzyski was familiar with the disease and, after diagnosing a patient, warned the community of the dangers. Other doctors had misdiagnosed the patient as having chickenpox. It took weeks before other physicians confirmed the smallpox outbreak. The...
DAYTON – The Dayton School Board held its regular meeting at 6 p.m., on February 15, 2023, in the high school library. All members of the school board were present; Chair Jeffrey McCowen, Grant Griffen, Aneesha Dieu, Zac Fabian, and Korinda Wallace attended using Zoom. Also present were Superintendent Rich Stewart and Business Manager Jana Eaton. Dawn McGhan, Kristen Ramirez, and several of their students gave a presentation to the board. The students displayed work they created based on Inca a...
