Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1017 - 1041 of 1805
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg resident Tyler P. Judd, 32, plead guilty to rape of a child in the third degree and distribution of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) to a person under the age of 18 in a plea agreement in Walla Walla Superior Court on January 11. Judd, a registered sex offender, was arrested in Walla Walla on Nov. 17 and, according to police documents, admitted to having sex with a 15-year-old girl and supplying her with methamphetamine, beginning in August of last year. The Walla Walla teen allegedly corroborated Judd’s story in...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg High School principal Stephanie Wooderchak said during last week’s school board meeting that the WHS staff has recently developed procedures for both soft and hard lockdowns and has begun practicing those procedures with students. In a soft lockdown, Wooderchak said that all but the front door is locked, with an administrator or police officer monitoring the front door to identify anyone entering the building to make sure they aren’t a threat. The students are contained but may move freely within the building. She expla...
WAITSBURG - The Plaza Theater on Waitsburg’s Main Street was packed last week as parents and children attended a viewing of the original Star Wars movie. The movie viewing – a fundraiser of the Waitsburg Home and School Association – raised $508 for the organization. Last year, the HASA purchased school supplies for all K-8 students. Students were told all they needed to bring to school was “a smile and a backpack.” For the coming school year, HASA would like to provide school supplies for high school students as well. The next HASA fundraise...
WALLA WALLA – The Walla Walla Police Department is now accepting applications for the 2016 Citizen’s Academy classes which will be held on Thursday evenings from 6:30- 9:30 p.m., Feb. 11 – April 29. The Citizen’s Academy provides the community with an understanding of how law enforcement agencies and the judicial system work. Past graduates are citizens from throughout the Walla Walla Valley and includes students, parents, grandparents, and retirees. Registration is free and the deadline is Jan. 29. The class is limited to 30 students age 18...
WAITSBURG – Sixteen-year-old Waitsburg High junior Jared Farley remembers crashing on a trail at Ski Bluewood when he was six or seven years old, and wanting to walk rather than ski back down. Just then, the Bluewood Ski Team passed by and Jared recalled thinking, "Wow! I want to be like them!" His quick-thinking Mom, Sandra, told him if he would ski to the bottom of the run, he could join the team. That wreck was the unlikely nudge that led Farley to his current hobbies of competitive skiing an...
WAITSBURG – More than 35 people attended a Jan. 6 community forum to learn more about the Waitsburg Raceway proposed by Walla Walla resident Brandon Kelly. Kelly hopes to convert the horse race track at the Waitsburg fairgrounds to a compacted dirt car race track. Kelly had received tentative approval from the Waitsburg city council at their Dec. 16 meeting, but the council wanted to run it past the community before signing a lease contract. During the December meeting, council members r...
Preston Hall Student Spotlight students for the month of December...
WALLA WALLA – Waitsburg High School seniors Caitlyn Jones and Zion Branson received the Exchange Club of Walla Walla Youth of the Month Awards for December. DeSales students Cara Hall and Jacob Edstrom also received December recognition. The seniors will be eligible to compete for the Exchange Club's Youth of the Year Award and a $1,000 college scholarship. The 2015-16 Youth of the Year theme is "Responsible Citizenship for a Strong America." The program is coordinated by Mark Higgins. While i...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg Historical Society member Mary Phillips gives Bill Zuger credit for the musical traditions display that will debut at the Wilson-Phillips House Museum during Waitsburg Celebration Days in May. Zuger suggested the idea for a musical display and kicked it off by donating one of three violins made by his grandfather, Edgar Buroker (1876-1950). Buroker is said to have lived on Coppei Avenue, was a building contractor in Waitsburg, and built some of the area's wooden grain e...
WAITSBURG – As of midnight, Dec. 31, the Waitsburg City Fire Department and the Waitsburg Ambulance Service ceased to exist. The services those entities provided are now covered by Columbia-Walla Walla Fire District No. 2. On New Year's Day, The Times sat down with Chief Jim Callahan and his son, Assistant Chief Brian Callahan, to talk about the changes – or lack thereof – to expect in 2016. Background Jim, who has been either assistant fire chief or fire chief for all three fire entities for o...
WALLA WALLA – State Senator Mike Hewitt announced this week that he will not seek re-election this year. The Walla Walla Republican, representing the 16th legislative district, is finishing his fourth four-year term. "I've had 15 good years protecting the interests of my neighbors," Hewitt said in a press release. "It's time to step aside and give someone else a chance to do the same." Hewitt, who has lived his entire life in the Walla Walla Valley was first elected to the state Senate in 2...
WAITSBURG – A nippy nineteen degrees didn't deter a group of Waitsburg residents from welcoming in the new year with a bit of fun and fitness. On the evening of Dec. 29, Dan Nechodom put out a Facebook invite for anyone interested to join him for an informal 5K run/walk/crawl on the morning of Jan. 1. Nechodom dubbed it the FFFF, or Freeze yer Fannie on the First for Five K. And true to the math teacher that he is, quickly nicknamed it the F^4 (four to the fourth) 5K. Nine hardy r...
PRESCOTT – Inmates at Coyote Ridge Correctional Facility know firsthand the importance of positive adult support for at-risk teens. That understanding led them to raise and donate $3,700 to Jubilee Leadership Academy, a program that helps teens in need. Jubilee is in its 20th year of operation and survives solely on community financial support. The academy, located on land donated by Broetje Orchards outside Prescott, provides a safe haven for up to 65 at-risk youth who could not afford its $...
PRESCOTT – The Prescott School District will ask voters to approve a replacement maintenance and operations levy in the amount of $650,000 for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. If passed on the Feb. 9 special elections ballot, the levy will replace the current $615,000 levy. While the total dollar amount is higher than the previous levy, the cost per $1,000 to residents is lower due to a rise in district property values. The proposed levy is estimated at $1.92 per $1,000 of assessed value. The 2014 maintenance levy was $2.33 per $1,000 a...
Twenty-fifteen in Waitsburg has been a year of celebrations and new beginnings. Local dignitaries visited the city during May's Waitsburg Celebration Days to recognize the city's 150th birthday and to dedicate the historic bronze statues that now reside on Main Street. Several new businesses – Whiskey Creek Sports Bar and Grill, Gleason's Galley, Tricho Cuts, and Ameri – hung their shingles; and Kindergarten teacher Pam Nolan-Beasley received national recognition (again!) for her teaching ski...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg residents probably noticed that their utility bills looked a bit different this month. That’s because the city recently upgraded its antiquated software to a more modern program, and is in the process of completing the conversion from old to new. The change will affect residents in a couple of ways. First, the new system assigned all new account numbers. This change only affects residents who use online bill pay, through their banks, to pay their utility bills. “It’s very important that people go into their bank’s...
WAITSBURG – Waitburg's city council expressed support of the proposed Waitsburg Raceway, with Mayor Walt Gobel saying, "It's obvious the council is for you," at the Dec. 17 City Council Meeting. However, official approval was put on hold to allow citizens the opportunity for input at a Jan. 6 public workshop. Walla Walla resident Brandon Kelly was stopped partway through his initial presentation on the proposed raceway at November's city council meeting and asked to return with specific plans r...
WAITSBURG – Waitsburg FFA member Sydney Fowble got an extra-special Christmas present this year: a $1,000 grant from the National FFA Foundation for her Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) goat production project. Now she has the enjoyable task of figuring out how to spend the money. Fowble was selected from hundreds of applicants nationwide for her SAE project. An SAE requires a member to create and operate an agriculture-related business, work at an agriculture-related business, or c...
WAITSBURG – Come January, there will be a new face at the Waitsburg City Council table. New student liaison Stuart Walsh will be sworn in at the Jan. 20 city council meeting. The Waitsburg High School senior, and son of Jim and Anne Walsh, is currently president of both the associated student body and the National Honor Society. He is also Knowledge Bowl captain. Walsh was recently featured in a television spot as O'Brien Chevrolet's Student of the Month for October. Last year he served as N...
WAITSUBRG - Leona May Clarno passed away, at the age of 90, on Nov. 10, but will leave a lasting legacy. The longtime Waitsburg resident donated $20,000 to the City of Waitsburg, earmarked for use by the Weller Library. Clarno was involved in the Sherwood Trust for many years, and served as both an administrator and Secretary of the Board of Trustees. In her passing, she left substantial donations to many organizations. Waitsburg City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said the funds will be used...
WAITSBURG – Following a second public hearing and two workshop sessions, the Waitsburg City Council approved the city’s 2016 final budget at the Dec. 17 meeting. The 2016 budget of $1.75 million shaved more than $1 million off of last year’s $2.8 million budget. Waitsburg City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said the drop in expenditures is mostly because there are no large capital projects slated for 2016. “We’ll replace a few small sections of water line, some storm line, some sidewalks...
