Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1096 - 1120 of 1805
In early September, The Times shared the story of Waitsburg Middle School teacher and high school football coach Gabe Kiefel and his experience as a potential bone marrow donor. After a fairly grueling screening process, Gabe was scheduled to donate, but the donation was postponed when the recipient, a 14-year-old boy with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), failed to meet the criteria for starting the procedure. As our Sept. 3 story ended, Gabe was unsure if he would actually donate, after all....
Waitsburg "givers" had just as much fun as trick-or-treaters this year as demonstrated by Jan Cronkhite on the front page and the folks shown here....
WAITSBURG – Employee compensation was a hot topic as it related to city budget planning at the Oct. 29 city council meeting. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe sought council input on employee salaries, longevity compensation and insurance as he prepares to draft the city’s 2016 budget. Hinchliffe provided the council with summary information and job descriptions on the city’s current employment positions consisting of two staff positions and four public works positions. Council members also...
WAITSBURG – The City of Waitsburg has a new tool to help with future planning related to the city’s water system. Anderson-Perry Technical Manager Howard Boggs introduced the city’s newly developed water model at the Oct. 29 city council meeting. The city requested the water model earlier this year, initiated partly by the proposed Whoopemup Meadows housing development and also to help the city identify weaknesses in the current water system. “We always had a good idea of what the city’s...
Mayor Walt Gobel and council members Kevin House, Karl Newell, and Debra Callahan were present with Marty Dunn and K. C. Kuykendall absent. Howard Boggs from Anderson-Perry gave a review of the city’s recently completed water model. See story on page 5. Approved Main Street Bridge agreement with Anderson-Perry. Approved motion to give notice to terminate agreement with Waitsburg Ambulance Service. This will allow EMS funds that currently pass through the city, to go directly to Fire District #2. Approved WWVMPO amendment to include a...
WAITSBURG – From pumpkin producers to pool plungers, Rural Youth Enrichment Services (RYES) is intent on giving local kids a helping hand. RYES is a nonprofit organization, founded in 2009, with the goal of providing a wide variety of activities to youth of all ages, with a primary emphasis on entrepreneurial activities, self-sustaining gardening, green technologies, and bringing arts and music into the community. "The original view was that we would provide the programs ourselves, but that h...
WAITSBURG – Nearly 250 student musicians, from eleven area schools, joined together to perform at a mass band and choir concert held at the Waitsburg High School gymnasium on Wed., Oct. 21. The mass choir was directed by Kraig Scott, who teaches organ and directs the choral studies program at Walla Walla University. Scott has played organist recitals throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East. His most recent travels as a choral conductor took him to a choir festival in Kiev, Ukraine, w...
WAITSBURG – Preston Hall students in Lynn Martin's seventh and eighth-grade science classes have been studying the impact of humans on ecosystems. Those studies have focused largely on negative impacts, but last Tuesday the students visited the Pasco wastewater treatment plant and The REACH natural history museum in Richland, and learned that humans can have a positive impact as well. Martin said that former middle school teacher Russ Knopp arranged, and helped chaperone, the field trip, w...
WAITSBURG – In our Oct. 1 issue, The Times reported that Waitsburg artist Suze Wood had created a GoFundMe account to raise funds for surgery for her horse, Duke. Since then, Duke has been able to receive necessary medical care and is recovering nicely. Wood and Duke were struck from behind by a speeding pickup truck, while taking a leisurely ride down Gallaher Road in late August. Duke's only long-term physical injury was some bone chips that required surgical removal. However, Duke's t...
WAITSBURG – Fifteen years ago, Waitsburg teacher Sandy McCaw initiated the 'Leave Your Mark' fundraiser to raise money for the Waitsburg High School Alumni Association. Today, the alumni association is once again selling personalized brick plaques and making a push to send in a large order that will complete the project. For $50, graduates can have a bronze plaque placed on a brick, alongside original bricks, outside the east entry to the high school, in the area known as the link. There are c...
PRESCOTT – Due to a lack of qualified applicants Prescott will not be able to offer a preschool program after all. Prescott schools superintendent Brett Cox reported at the district’s Oct. 22 school board meeting, that the anticipated ECEAP program had been cut. “Unfortunately, the ESD was unable to follow through with the preschool program due to a lack of qualified applicants. They had four who qualified and they needed 20 to run the program,” Cox said. He explained that the initial predictions indicated 39 students in the district qualifi...
Tabled a decision on Policy #2255 Alternative Experience Courses until better information on cost is available to help determine a compensation package and make sure the program can be funded properly. Approved supplemental contract for hire of Denice Garrow at .2 FTE. Approved contract for flooring to finish remodel of district cottage capital improvement project which will then be completed under budget. Approved collective bargaining agreement for 2015-2018. Approved Eureka Match Curriculum for Vista Hermosa. Preliminary discussion of 2016...
Waitsburg first graders enjoyed the fall sunshine during the annual visit to pick pumpkins at their teacher, Dinah Lindsey's, pumpkin patch. Lindsey isn't sure just how long she's been taking students to pick pumpkins, but thinks it must be over 30 years....
WAITSBURG – Folding chairs replaced fire trucks in the bays of the Waitsburg City Fire Station during a well-attended open house on Wed., Oct. 14. Community members, fire officials, and city and county representatives discussed three issues: the annexation of the City of Waitsburg into Walla Walla Fire District No. 2, the EMS levy on the Columbia County portion of Fire District No. 2, and upcoming changes for ambulance service in Waitsburg. Annexation of Waitsburg into Walla Walla County Fire D...
WAITSBURG - After serving 24 years on the Waitsburg School Board, Greg Zuger will step down in November. Two candidates, Russ Knopp and Margaret Terry, are running for the School Director Position 5, being vacated by Zuger. Former Waitsburg Elementary principal and teacher, Russ Knopp, says his four decades as a teacher, principal, and school board member, along with his commitment to putting students first, make him a well-qualified as board member. Knopp attended Seattle Pacific University...
WAITSBURG - They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and Waitsburg hair salon owner Teresa Hinchliffe will soon discover if that holds true for the other side of the street as well. Last week, Hinchliffe opened her hair salon, Tricho Cuts, in the building next to The Times on Waitsburg's Main Street. She had previously operated a salon by the same name, for many years, on the west side of Main next to the former Farmer's Café (Ginny's Grill, before that)....
WHS student, Kyle Martin, serves apples to a seemingly skeptical first grader at Waitsburg's second annual Taste of Washington event. Food Services Manager Susan Wildey said approximately 250 students and community members enjoyed the meal made from ingredients sourced from within 30 miles of Waitsburg....
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg community members are determined to make sure that no one goes without, or is left alone, this Thanksgiving holiday. In addition to the Thanksgiving baskets provided to needy families by parents and children who participate in the successful Kid's Big Give program, Gleason's Galley will open its doors to serve a hot Thanksgiving meal to anyone who doesn't want to be alone for the holiday. Jamie Gleason has coordinated the Kids' Big Give for the last several years, as a way...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg resident, Tysen R. Beckner, 26, was sentenced to serve three years and five months in prison for severely beating his girlfriend’s four-year-old son, last June. On Mon., Oct. 12, Walla Walla County Superior Court Judge John Lohrmann imposed the high end of the standard 31-to 41-month range for Beckner’s charge of second-degree assault. Beckner was originally charged with first-degree assault of a child – domestic violence when his girlfriend’s son was found to have been severely beaten while in his care. Beckner fled from...
WAITSBURG – For several months the Waitsburg School Board has been actively seeking taxpayer prioritization input on district facilities upgrades through a series of planning sessions and two recent community forums. The board now hopes to reach a broader spectrum of district voters by using an online survey to solicit opinions. The district will be asking voters for a new capital improvements bond in January to replace the 1999 $1.62 million bond that is nearly paid off. The online survey w...
WAITSBURG – The Farmer's Café, formerly located at 216 Main Street, was once a favorite gathering spot for locals; the perfect place to grab a cup of coffee and catch up on the news about town. Over the next couple of months, new building owner Lane Hill hopes to transform the space into a new community gathering spot, though one of an entirely different kind. Lane and her husband, Dr. Charles Hill, live in Seattle, where Dr. Hill is a professor at the University of Washington business sc...
PRESCOTT – Unlike city pools in the neighboring towns of Waitsburg and Dayton, which are funded by tax dollars and maintained by the cities, the Prescott pool is funded through an annual levy and maintained by the Prescott Parks and Recreation District (PJPRD). Each November the PJPRD must seek community support to pass a maintenance and operations levy that will keep the pool, and Field View Park, operating for another year. "Funds from our yearly tax levy run the pool and the park," said p...
Photo by Dena Wood Members of the Corral Wranglers decorated the front window of the Waitsburg Hardware store in honor of 4-H Awareness week. Any children interested in joining the Corral Wranglers or one of the other local 4-H club are encouraged to contact a leader. The clubs kick off their new year this month. (l to r) Caleb Barron, Makenna Barron, Hunter Pope....
WAITSBURG – The Columbia County Health System introduced one of its candidates for the open CEO position this week. Tom Tomasino attended meet-and-greet sessions in Dayton Monday evening and in Waitsburg Tuesday morning. According to CCHS Human Resources Director Steve Stahl, Tomasino is one of three final candidates for the position, which became open when former CEO Jon Smiley left at the end of September. Tomasino spent seven years as CEO at Whidbey General Hospital and Clinics, in C...
WAITSBURG – Leadership comes in all shapes and sizes, and this year's WHS Associated Student Body (ASB) team is decidedly different from last year's. But that doesn't mean they don't have big plans for the school and students. Last year's outgoing and energetic ASB team, led by President Owen Lanning, focused on getting students to participate in school spirit with the theme "Be True to Your School." This year's more reflective representatives include President Stuart Walsh (senior), V...
