Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1261 - 1285 of 1805
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg’s current mayor and city council members ran unopposed in the 2015 elections this month and were sworn in by City Admininstrator Randy Hinchliffe at the April 15 City Council meeting. Mayor Walt Gobel said he was disappointed to see that Izzy the Camel failed to receive his traditional write-in vote this year. Hinchliffe said 157 voters cast ballots which is 30 shy of the year prior. Gobel was re-elected mayor, for his third one-year term, with 117 votes. The following ind...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Historical Society is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the burglar(s) who made three separate break-ins to Waitsburg museum properties last week. The first break-in, to the Bruce House Memorial Museum, was discovered on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning, it was discovered that the adjoining Wilson-Phillips House had also been burglarized. On Friday, board members discovered the thief had made a second entry into the B...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg Touchet Valley Acoustic Music Program (TVAMP) Director Kate Hockersmith joined the ranks of more than 50 deserving individuals – the first being Ernest Kison in 1962 – to receive Waitsburg's Community Service Award. The award was previously known as the Citizen of the Year Award. Hockersmith, who thought she was simply directing her bluegrass band, Switchgrass, in providing the evening's entertainment, was taken by complete surprise when her name was called as the 2014...
WAITSBURG – Shoppers at Waitsburg Grocery are practically guaranteed a first-name welcome if owner Dan Cole, who has operated the community hub for nearly 30 years, is anywhere nearby. It's that kind of personal attention and genuine interest that helped earn Waitsburg Grocery the first-ever, Waitsburg Commercial Club's Business of the Year Award. Cole and his wife Trina were presented with the award at the April 7 Commercial Club award ceremony, where Master of Ceremonies Tom Baker read r...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Lions Club is taking a step of faith in offering a $1,000 Waitsburg Lions Club Scholarship, to be awarded to a WHS graduate, for the first time in 2015. The club hopes to be able to offer similar awards in future years. Scholarship fund chairman Todd Wood said the Lions has considered funding scholarships many times over the life of the club and has strongly considered it for the last several years. “The club has not always had the financial wherewithal to fund sch...
Pacific Power Regional Community Manager Bill Clemens (l) presented a $1,500 check to Waitsburg Mayor Walt Gobel . . ....
WAITSBURG – Local historians are probably aware that the village of Delta (later founded as Waitsburg) grew up around a flour mill, built by Sylvester Wait, which began operations in 1865. But did you know that Wait's Mill set a truly impressive world record in 1908? Or that, on the way here, Sylvester Wait lost the saddlebags containing his life savings – the money he was going to use to start operations at Wait's Mill? To learn more about that world record and to find out what happened to tho...
Waitsburg Easter Bunny (aka Rick Ferguson). . ....
WAITSBURG – Gabriel F. Hofer, 36, of Waitsburg was sentenced to 240 hours of community service by Walla Walla Superior Court Judge John Lohrmann on March 30 for one count of harassment, a Class C felony. Hofer was originally charged with1st degree assault for allegedly beating Richard W. Perez, who he believed supplied drugs to his sister, Mariah Hofer, who died of an overdose in January of 2014. Hofer pleaded guilty to an amended charge of harassment on March 17, for threatening to kill Perez and placing him in reasonable fear that the t...
WALLA WALLA – Several Waitsburg and Prescott locals have shared World War II memorabilia that is part of the new Walla Walla Goes to War display at the Kirkman House Museum here. Walla Walla Goes to War runs from March 18 through Sept. 8 and looks at World War II from a local perspective. Bob Hulce, Jack McCaw, Joan Helm and Pam Conover, all of Waitsburg, and Jerry Hall, of Prescott, have loaned items to the display, which includes everything from a Japanese battlefield flag to wartime r...
WAITSBURG – The countdown is on! With less than six weeks until the big event, Waitsburg Celebration Days is shaping up to be a fun-filled weekend. Waitsburg’s 150th anniversary celebration, on May 15-17, is sure to have something for everyone. Local legislators, including Senator Mike Hewitt, Representative Terry Nealey and Representative Maureen Walsh, along with Lt. Governor Brad Owen, will join in the festivities. The weekend gets an early start with a Classic Car Cruise down Main Str...
WAITSBURG – According to Wikipedia, mortgage burning parties – once a popular rite of passage – are now considered a "gauche" form of bragging, since such payoffs are so rare these days. That said, the Waitsburg Ambulance Service is happy to "brag" that, with the help of the Waitsburg Lions Club, they now own their building on Preston Avenue free and clear. The Waitsburg Ambulance Service (WAS) – a nonprofit 501c3 dependent largely on volunteer effort – was organized in 1970 and just celebrate...
Waitsburg High School 2015 Prom Court ......
WAITSBURG – Substitute teacher Gene Wilkes completed his student teaching at Waitsburg High School and jumped at the chance to cover for Ag Teacher Nicole Abel while she was on maternity leave. Wilkes, who covered for Abel from the first of the year until last Friday, March 27, made the most of his time working with students in the shop. Wilkes designed several projects that will continue to be used and appreciated by the students of WHS in the years to come. Wilkes is trained as a social s...
PRESCOTT – A $5,000 donation from the Yancey P. Winans Testamentary Trust to the Prescott Joint Parks and Recreation District (PJPRD) will help provide much-needed playground equipment in the Prescott Park. PJPRD co-manager and administrative assistant Yvonne Jackson said the district applied for the grant last year and received $1,000 to upgrade its park and play equipment. She said those funds were used to purchase pool noodles, water pogo sticks and to put a new water basketball backstop a...
WAITSBURG – After more than a year spent researching the best and most affordable solution, the leaking liner on the Waitsburg City Pool will finally be replaced. At its March 26 meeting, Waitsburg's City Council voted to replace the current liner with a special, high-build epoxy pool paint that will save tens of thousands over installing a new vinyl liner. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said that there has been a slow leak in the shallow end of the pool for about two years. He said the l...
WAITSBURG – At their regular meeting last week, the Waitsburg School District approved an agreement to combine high school baseball and softball programs with Prescott High School for the 2016 spring season. Both Waitsburg and Prescott school districts are nailing down their plans for sports offerings, now that the WP sports combine has been dissolved for the 2015-16 school year. Waitsburg Superintendent Carol Clarke, filling in for Athletic Advisor Stephanie Wooderchak, provided the board w...
PRESCOTT – The Walla Walla Rural Library District (WWRLD), the Prescott Joint Park and Recreation District (PJPRD) and the Prescott Lions Club recently signed agreements detailing responsibilities for the maintenance of the Prescott Plaza. The three groups joined together in building the Plaza last June and will now ensure that it is well maintained for the public's enjoyment. The Prescott Plaza was built during a four-day community build through what was formerly referred to as the Vacant L...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg's Home and School Association (HASA) has increased its efforts to support Waitsburg's schools and build community this school year. Last week's annual school carnival is just one example of how HASA is working to ease parents' burdens. Proceeds from the event will be used to purchase school supplies for students for the 2015-16 school year. HASA secretary and second-grade teacher Deanna Coulston is pleased with the changes HASA has made this year. She said the group has a...
WAITSBURG – Former Waitsburg resident Matthew Wyatt shared his heartfelt testimony before a full house of friends and family at the Christian Church in Waitsburg on March 22. Wyatt, joined by wife Krystal and daughter Mikaila, traveled from Lincoln, Calif. where he now pastors part-time at The Ridge Church, specifically to share his story of struggle and redemption. Wyatt, a '98 Waitsburg High School graduate, grew up in a devoted Mormon family and said his childhood was "the best anyone c...
WAITSBURG – A half-dozen community members showed up to ask questions and hear updates from Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner and Deputy Gerrod Martin at the March 19 Sheriff’s Round Table, in the Waitsburg Elementary School library. Turner presented updates on contract hours and crime rates and touched on the topics of drugs, gangs, burglary tips and traffic safety. Turner said the city of Waitsburg has contracted with the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Department for a minimum of 4.2 hours...
WAITSBURG – "Even though I knew it wasn't real, my heart sank to my stomach when I heard the knock at my door," said Susan Wildey as she addressed an auditorium full of Waitsburg High School students and parents. The knock Wildey described was that of the Walla Walla County coroner arriving to let her know that her daughter, WHS senior Analise Salazar, had been "killed" in a drunk driving accident. The mock death notification was part of "Every 15 Minutes," an emotional and moving two-day a...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg is mourning the loss of Karen (Huwe) Mohney, who died Sunday night, March 15, at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Mohney was transported to Harborview after experiencing a massive stroke in Heppner, Ore. the evening prior. Mohney, appropriately referred to as an "unsung hero" by fellow community members, had a true servant's heart and worked tirelessly for the community she so deeply cared for. "Karen's passing is a great loss, not just to those of us that loved her b...
Both Waitsburg and Dayton high schools inducted sophomores into National Honor Society last week. . ....
The Waitsburg High School Knowledge Bowl team took 5th place, for the third time, at the 2B State Meet in Arlington, Wash. on March 14. This trip was the fourth and final trip to state competition for senior Emma Philbrook. WHS placed 9th at the state knowledge bowl competition in 2014 and 3rd in 2012, 2013 and this year. "The team is already looking to next year's competitions with junior Stuart Walsh heading up the team," said Coach Brad Green....
