Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 1005 - 1029 of 1805
PRESCOTT – For the first time in over 40 years, Prescott High School is offering agricultural-focused career and technical education (CTE) courses. Dual credit agreements with Walla Walla Community College and a new FFA charter have created even more opportunities for students. Superintendent Brett Cox said his certification as a District Vocational Director played a big role in the district's decision to hire him two years ago. The board wanted to expand elective offerings and start a v...
SPOKANE – "Voice of the Eagles" sportscaster and Waitsburg High School alum Larry Weir was named Washington Sportscaster of the Year . . . again. Weir won the award for the first time last year, and follows in the footsteps of his longtime role model, Bob Robertson, as a repeat recipient. The 1979 WHS graduate is the son of Carol Weir and the late Bob Weir. He has been calling play-by-play football for the Eastern Washington University Eagles since 1991 and began calling basketball in 1993. I...
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WAITSBURG – After a brief consideration of limiting access to the city's watershed, the Waitsburg City Council heeded the advice of local Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) representatives and voted to join the WDFW "Feel Free to Hunt" program which will both keep the watershed open and protect the city from liability. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe explained that he city's watershed – about 800 acres along the north fork of Coppei Creek – has historically been open to hunti...
WAITSBURG – A committee of local active and retired military men has every intention of seeing that a promise made to WWII General Jonathan Wainwright in 1946 – to honor local lives lost in WWII with a memorial – finally becomes a reality. Waitsburg's city council didn't hesitate to join the cause and committed $5,000 to the endeavor. Retired USAF Command Sergeant Don Schack went before Waitsburg's city council last week to share plans for a WWII memorial that would honor the 87 Walla Walla...
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers met with a large group of constituents on Jan. 21 at The Q in Waitsburg. Several people traveled from outside the area to see her. McMorris Rodgers spent an hour answering questions on topics ranging from health care, budget and the deficit, to compensation for members of congress and the President....
WALLA WALLA – The owners of the popular Whoopemup Hollow Café on Waitsburg's Main Street have formally announced that they will be opening a second location at 113 East Main Street in Walla Walla, the space formerly occupied by the Green Spoon restaurant. Partner and dining room manager Ross Stevenson said they plan to open the Walla Walla location, featuring the same southern comfort food that their guests have come to expect, in early 2016. The Walla Walla location will differ from the Waitsbu...
WAITSBURG – Members of the Waitsburg School Board were recognized in honor of School Board Appreciation Month, during the board's Jan. 13 meeting. Superintendent Carol Clarke presented certificates of recognition on behalf of the Washington State School Directors for each board member's service: Ross Hamann (11 years), Christy House (4 years), Randy Pearson (18 years), Marilyn Johnson (6 years), Russ Knopp (1 month). First grade teacher Dinah Lindsey presented a banner and poster from the first...
WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg School District is asking voters to support the renewal of the maintenance and operations levy as well as a capital improvements bond in the upcoming Feb. 9 special election. Maintenance and Operations Levy Voters are being asked to approve replacement of the district’s maintenance and operations levy that was passed in 2014 and expires this year. The levy request is $559,000 for 2017 and $570,000 for 2018. This is estimated to be $3.55 per $1,000 of assessed pro...
PRESCOTT – Voters residing in the Prescott School District will be asked to approve a two-year replacement maintenance operations levy, in the amount of $650,000 each year, in the Feb. 9 special election. The rate per $1,000 for the proposed 2016-17 and 2017-18 levy is estimated to be $1.92, which is down $0.41 from the 2014 rate of $2.33 per $1,000, due to an increase in property valuation. Levy funds support programs not covered under the basic education act as defined by the state l...
WAITSBURG – Newly elected school board member Russ Knopp would like to see students play an active role in board discussions, and possibly even decision-making. At last week’s board meeting Knopp presented information he gleaned from a recent Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) workshop. The board expressed interest and directed Knopp to continue researching the possibility of including student representatives on the board. Knopp listed four reasons to include student represen...
WAITSBURG – A crowd of appreciative community members gathered in the Plaza Theater here on Friday to wish Waitsburg Clinic registered nurse Karla Scott well in her retirement. A tropically decorated cake read, "Good Bye Tension, Hello Pension." Karla started working part-time at Dayton General Hospital in 1976, where she remained until 1985. She worked for Dr. Luce in Dayton from 1985 until 1996 and then moved to Dayton Hospital's Columbia Family Clinic. Scott stayed at Columbia Family C...
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 $...
