Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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"This year's Celebration Days weekend of 'family friendly' fun events are cancelled due to Washington State health concerns about COVID-19," said Lisa Naylor, President of the Waitsburg Celebration Days Committee. The board met last Wednesday, April 1st, utilizing Zoom and phone conference calls. During the meeting, board members discussed the impact of COVID-19 in Walla Walla and surrounding counties, with some members of the board weighing in with their personal concerns about potentially...
WAITSBURG—Preliminary election results for Waitsburg’s mayor and city councilmembers were tallied Monday. With a total of 318 votes cast, voters will return Kevin House and Jim Romine to the council and adds Karen Gregutt, Karl Newell and David Paxton as new councilmembers. The election will be certified on April 15 at the next Waitsburg City Council meeting. The meeting will be conducted remotely via conference call. Interested community members who would like to listen in on the meeting should contact Waitsburg City hall for call inf...
When Governor Jay Inslee delivered his 'Stay Home, Stay Healthy' declaration on March 13 announcing the closure of all public and private K-12 schools in Washington state, school leaders across the state were suddenly confronted with the problem of providing distance education to their varied students. Waitsburg Superintendent, and elementary school principal Mark Pickel reacted quickly, calling a stand-up meeting of all staff that afternoon. His elementary staff spent the upcoming weekend preparing “binders, packets and folders for six w...
WAITSBURG-Electric and hybrid cars continue to grow in popularity. The City of Waitsburg recently embraced this growth, and in early February, City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe oversaw the installation of a public-access electric vehicle (EV) charging station at the city shop. "My goal was to give people traveling through the city another reason to stop," said Hinchliffe. "With more and more electric cars on the road, I thought a charging station between the Tri-Cities and Clarkston was a...
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg City Elections are scheduled to be held on April 6, 2020. The City Council has three seats open, after council members K.C Kuykendall, Kate Hockersmith, and Terry Jacoy decided not to run for re-election this year. Karen Gregutt is on the ballot for a return seat on the City Council. She hopes that by contributing her professional experience, she will bring fresh ideas to Waitsburg and its citizens. Gregutt's career includes 30 years as the managing partner at Kaye-Smith...
Since the statewide directive to shelter-at-home, the streets of Waitsburg have become eerily quiet. The Times has received information that the streets may not be as empty as they seem. Several anonymous sources have sent photos of encounters with what appear to be beasts who walk upright on oversized feet. Could these springtime sightings be proof there are hatchling Sasquatch in our area?...
While continuing to shelter at home, we have tried to be productive; working, unpacking and organizing the homestead. We have been working in the yard, dragging flagstone, bricks and cinderblocks from scattered locations to one area. Now when I look at the Northeast side of our backyard it looks like a mason resides here. We have also been unpacking Daniel’s boxes, mostly cookbooks, (30 boxes to be exact). It’s difficult to unpack the books and not look at the titles since I am a cookbook fan, and it certainly beats looking at my ret...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Waitsburg Resource Center (Food Bank), is working to ensure that their volunteers and neighbors (clients) are all safe. As a result, they are currently open on Thursday afternoon from 2-4 p.m. Items are pre-bagged now, and the Resource Center will not be observing weight restrictions based on the number of people in each family group at this time. Neighbors will not be allowed in the building for self-selecting items. Neighbors are asked to wait outside on the s...
WAITSBURG-Former Waitsburg Mayor Walt Gobel passed away on Wednesday, March 19, 2020. A very active member of the Waitsburg community, Gobel was a well-loved leader in our small town. A retired Washington State Patrol trooper, Gobel was elected as Waitsburg's mayor in 2010. Gobel would go on to serve the community until 2016, tackling well-known issues like the clean- up of the former bunkhouse and passing the beloved golf cart road laws. "Walt was one of Waitsburg's finest," Mayor and fellow...
Ballots are in the mail for Waitsburg’s next City Council and Mayoral election. Although current councilmember Kate Hockersmith is listed as a candidate for Mayor, at the March 18 City Council meeting Hockersmith announced that she was taking herself out of the race and was throwing her support behind current Mayor, Marty Dunn. “Mayor Marty Dunn and I have been working together for four years and I feel very confident with the current city leadership. We are lucky to have a talented group of citizens returning to and running for City Cou...
WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg City Council met Wednesday, March 18 at the Waitsburg Lions Building. All members of the council were present, and all attendees practiced social distancing measures for a safe environment. During public comment, Karen Gregutt spoke on behalf of the Planning Commission. At the February meeting, Gregutt informed the council that the commission would be making recommendations pertaining to the Waitsburg comprehensive plan each month. Gregutt updated the council, letting t...
WAITSBURG—On March 17, Waitsburg School District’s Food Services began delivering breakfast and lunch to children under 18 years of age, in Waitsburg. Hoping to help ease stress for families following the state’s mandated school closures, Food Services Supervisor Susan Wildey and Erin Elsey prepared enough grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches for more than 100 kids. The Waitsburg School District’s meal drop off service has gone better than Wildey had anticipated. More than 200 meals have been served in a single day. “The numbers are climbing...
WAITSBURG—On Thursday, March 19, the Waitsburg School Board met for their regularly scheduled meeting. Superintendent Mark Pickel, Board Chair Ross Hamann, and board members Lisa Morrow and Sarah Boudrieau were present. Members Christy House and Pam Chapman were present via phone call. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the board will be meeting via conference call at the next meeting. All persons attending the meeting practiced social distancing. Superintendent Pickel swore in new school board member S...
I am not complaining about our "new normal;" I believe the doctors and the scientists, I will adhere to social distancing guidelines, I have been washing my hands until they are raw, I will not travel, I will do my best to help mitigate the spread of this virus. But I will not succumb to becoming a couch potato or a hermit. I am luckier than so many; I don't have children in school, no worries about day care, home schooling, aging parents or compromised immune systems. I have a fully stocked...
You're stuck with me for a bit longer, I'm afraid – as of last Wednesday, in-person classes at Notre Dame Law School are cancelled for the rest of the school year. I should probably finish unpacking my suitcase. My mom's birthday was on Sunday. Not being able to leave the house to buy her an expensive present, even on the spurious assumption that I could afford an expensive present in the first place, I did the next best thing and made her a cake shaped like an expensive present. One batch of f...
Self- isolating during a pandemic isn't easy. Throw a very social, extremely busy toddler in the mix, and self-isolating suddenly seems impossible. After spending a couple of years as a full-time stay at home mom with my daughter, Gracie, I've got a few toddler-tested and approved projects up my sleeve. One of our favorite projects is a simple one. Shaving cream 'paint' is super inexpensive and the ingredients are typically already in your home. All you need is shaving cream and food coloring....
Mayor Marty Dunn is once again up for re-election as mayor. Dunn, who has served on council since the early 2000s and served as mayor from 2004-2007 and 2016-present is running against Debra Callahan. When asked about Waitsburg's recent flood event, Dunn credited the City's Flood Response plan, the fact that the Main Street bridge had been replaced, and that the dike at the fairground area had been armored with helping to limit the damage to the town. "We still have more work to do, hopefully we...
I am Debra Callahan. I moved to Waitsburg almost 40 years ago with my husband, Jim. We have two sons and a daughter, and a deceased daughter Missy. Brian lives in Waitsburg and Bill, who lives in Selah, WA. He and his wife have two children, granddaughter, Kyrsten, a junior at Selah High and our grandson Daniel who attends Embry Riddle Aeronautics College in Prescott, AZ. TJ lives in Prescott and Maranda lives in Walla Walla with our granddaughter Arya. Jim and I live on the property that Jim's...
WAITSBURG—Waitsburg Elementary will hold Kindergarten and Preschool registration for the Fall of 2020 on Monday, May 18th through Friday, May 22nd. Registration will be in the Elementary School office from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. All children who turn 5, on or before, August 31 and live within the Waitsburg School District boundaries are eligible to register for Kindergarten for the Fall of 2020. All children who turn 3, on or before, August 31 and live within the Waitsburg School District boundaries are eligible to register for Preschool for the F...
WAITSBURG—Waitsburg Parks and Recreation District is looking to add a new member to its board. This is a great opportunity for an interested person in our community to help direct the various fun activities that support our town. They meet on the first and third Thursday each month. The general activities as board members are organizing, planning, and developing opportunities for community connections and supporting everyone in a unique way. If you are interested, please contact waitsburgparks@gmail.com or mail PO Box 52 Waitsburg, WA, 9...
WAITSBURG—Beginning Tuesday, March 17 through Friday, April 24, Waitsburg School District will be closed as by executive order by Governor Inslee in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This closure will include athletics, activities and clubs. We understand the disruption that this may cause for our families and employees. We will do our very best to provide what we can including updates in this ever-changing environment. Most of the information we will provide will be at the direction of the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of P...
WAITSBURG-Waitsburg School District is making sure that no child goes hungry during the statewide school closure. Director of Nutritional Services, Susan Wildey, announced that starting Tuesday March 17, Waitsburg School District will be delivering meals to Waitsburg neighborhoods. A combined breakfast and lunch will be made available to ALL children 18 or younger, at no charge. No forms are necessary for pick-up, but the child must be present when the meal is distributed. Below are times and...
It didn't take me very long to pack. I hadn't brought that many clothes – a few tops, four pairs of pants, and my prized slate-gray skirtsuit – and I'd more or less been living out of my suitcase anyway. I'd been in Waitsburg for five days catching up with my family and going over my class notes, not really enough time to justify moving anything into my closet. Normally, I wouldn't have gone home at all. Plane tickets from South Bend, Indiana, to Pasco aren't cheap. Perhaps more crucially, I l...
WAITSBURG—The Washington Little Guy Wrestling League announced Friday, March 13, that they will be cancelling the remainder of the season in an effort to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. All league tournaments, including the Jason Crawford Memorial Tournament at the Spokane Arena, have been cancelled. Wayne Terry, the league’s president, said that ‘some decisions are simple, and some require a lot of work’ and the difficult decision was made after league represe...
WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg Commercial Club has been under Joy Smith's leadership for nearly eight years. Last Thursday, Smith handed the reins off to Jamie McMillen-Smit, the owner of the Waitsburg Grocery. Smith joined the Commercial Club in 2010, and she recalled that she accepted a spot with the board of directors within the first nine months of membership. In 2012, Smith was elected as the president, where she has served ever since. She has dedicated the past eight years to promoting the...
