Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 129
WALLA WALLA—I first learned of “Gross Out” in Seattle. My roommate Jeff, a produce guy to elite Seattle restaurant owners, had sous vide another delectable cut of meat. He was always in the kitchen, cooking up some chef-level deliciousness. I wondered aloud how he was getting these amazing meat deals in a city so expensive, and he described to me a magical place where perishable and nonperishable foods alike, alongside plants and some truly random housewares, were all for sale at reaso...
WALLA WALLA—Did you think this year’s Pond & Garden Tour was canceled? In light of the pandemic and social distancing mandates, Walla Walla Community Hospice considered forgoing the 19th annual event. However, there were still some beautiful gardens to spotlight in the Walla Walla Valley Traditionally the event features ten properties and consists of a self-guided tour, vendors, working artists, live music, Master Gardener presentations, and multiple raffles. It attracts three to four hundred attendees. This year, the event will be, like mos...
WALLA WALLA—Sherwood Trust is convening a group of community-minded leaders of all experience levels for its 2020 Community Leadership program. The program begins in September and culminates in the summer of 2021 with a collaborative project. This year, the program will be online, with 45 people participating. Meet the 2020 Community Leadership program participants below. Alayna Brinton, Ali Rodgers, Alicia Western, Amy Watkins, Ana Aguilar, Anastasia Curtis, Angie Peters, April Martinez, Candi Walmsley, Catalina Garza, Chris Hyland, C...
WALLA WALLA-Kathryn Witherington stepped into her new job as Executive Director of the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation in early February of this year. Previously the Economic Development Director of the Port of Columbia, Witherington, joined the Foundation just in time to help merchants handle the damages of February's flooding. And then in March came the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier efforts this summer to boost businesses downtown included the creation of extra dining space in front of six...
WALLA WALLA-The Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days board of directors discussed the livestock sale, among other items at the last fair board meeting. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days was canceled in early June. Shortly following the cancellation announcement, the board of directors began exploring options for a virtual livestock sale. The board quickly learned that the Fair was unable to host a sale for a multitude of reasons. In years past,...
WALLA WALLA —The Walla Walla City Council’s second Town Hall held to address police policies and other issues in the region took place over Zoom on Thursday, July 23. Fifty-four individuals spoke, having previously signed up in advance for the opportunity. They were each given three minutes to speak, and as Mayor Tom Scribner said, the council “made no attempt to order the comments in any fashion.” The remaining council members were also in attendance at the virtual gathering, as was the City Attorney, Tim Donaldson, and City Manager, Nabiel Sh...
WALLA WALLA-Clearing brush and fallen trees is a task that makes most people shake their heads. For Blues Crew volunteers, though, it's an excuse to head to the mountains and explore the Umatilla National Forest while making the trails enjoyable for all. The Blues Crew came to be in 2018 after an outdoor recreation initiative went through at the Blue Mountain Land Trust (BMLT). Coordinator Greg Brown said he thought about getting a group together to clear already-established trails from winter...
WALLA WALLA—The Walla Walla YWCA is putting forth a challenge to anyone who wants to accept it; spend twenty-one days deepening your understanding of, and willingness to confront, racism. Those who accept the Challenge can sign up on the YWCA’s website to receive curated articles, podcasts, activities, and more, right to their inbox. The Challenge creates dedicated time and space to build more effective social justice habits and bring awareness to issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership. This program was first adapted by YWCA Cle...
WALLA WALLA—The Walla Walla City Council held the first of three Town Halls in response to a large community outcry over-policing policies and the issue of a police officer’s tattoo which incorporates a symbol which is firmly linked to Nazi Germany. City Mayor Tom Scribner welcomed citizens to the Zoom event, noting that “after the first two Town Halls we will consider what we have heard and what you have told us and we will respond and tell you what we aim to do and what we will try to do to...
WALLA WALLA—City of Walla Walla officials have finalized plans for a three-part virtual town hall series to address topics relating to local policing including a local officer’s tattoo, police practices, policies, and funding. The meetings will be conducted online via Zoom, and the schedule will be as follows: Thursday July 9 at 6:30-8:30 p.m. — Presentations by City Manager Nabiel Shawa on City budget and police funding; City Attorney Tim Donaldson on legal issues surrounding Officer Nat Small’s tattoo; and Police Chief Scott Bieber on Wall...
WALLA WALLA-The Walla Walla YMCA is currently open with significant Phase 2 restrictions in place. Only members may visit, locker rooms will have limited access, there is a health screening at entry, and reservations are required for most areas. In order to provide fitness opportunities for a greater number of people, the YMCA is now offering a Virtual Membership for a $25 monthly fee. The Y's online offerings provide a way for people to maintain their physical health from the shelter of their...
WALLA WALLA—Individual business owners in Walla Walla are all managing Governor Inslee's mask wearing proclamation in their own unique ways. Cugini's Italian Import Foods on Wallula in Walla Walla posted a sign noting masks were required, but clothing was optional! At Ellen's Cutting Edge Barbershop, notices on the door required masks, as well as a prior appointment to get a cut. I had been a frequent customer of Saager's since I moved to town nine years ago-as it was where I had my two young s...
WALLA WALLA—Whitman College and Northwest Archives is creating a digital archive of the Walla Walla community’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. As our community begins to reopen, it is important to reflect on our experiences of the pandemic, including our experiences at work and school, our social and family interactions, and the changes to our routines. The college welcomes submissions in all languages from all members of the Walla Walla and regional communities. In partnership with the Walla Walla Mutual Aid Network and the Soci...
WALLA WALLA—At the Walla Walla City Council meeting held on June 24, plans were outlined for three, possibly four, virtual Town Hall meetings. The meetings will be held in July and August to address public concerns over a variety of law enforcement issues. Council members were all in agreement with the need to schedule the meetings “sooner, rather than later,” and opted for the virtual meeting plan due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. The plan came as a response to local protests, rallies, phone calls, and over 1,891 emails received relat...
WALLA WALLA-Two U.S. Army Corps employees at Little Goose Lock and Dam created a device that removed debris blockages within the dam. Mechanical Engineering Technician Jay Haugen and Maintenance Worker Kreg Buryta combined their talents in 2019 to design and fabricate a tool that could be used to remove debris from orifices (openings) within the dam. Logs, trash, and other debris adversely affected the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed salmon and steelhead along the Snake River. Successfully c...
Skills and experience gained along with bonds of friendship WALLA WALLA-A Walla Walla native and WA-HI graduate, Jenna Watts was just finishing up a nine-week traveling nurse stint at Harlem Hospital in New York City when she and I spoke a week ago. "New York has a special place in my heart, my dad lives here, and I spent all of my summer's here growing up," she said. The coronavirus crisis and Governor Cuomo's appeals for doctors and nurses to help, resonated with her. In early April, The New...
WALLA WALLA-The cancellation of the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days was met with both a sigh of relief and a breath of frustration. Youth exhibitors, especially market animal exhibitors, are hopeful an alternative sales opportunity will be found. Raising a market animal is expensive. Hogs, for example, are purchased in early to mid-March as weanlings. From the day the animal arrives, the 4-H or FFA member has to care for and work with their project. FFA and 4-H members must purchase special...
WALLA WALLA-Plans are underway to boost business income in Walla Walla's downtown corridor through active collaboration between the City, local agencies and business owners. The proposals all encourage utilizing outdoor spaces which many believe is a safer alternative to dining indoors, recognizing data that shows the coronavirus is transmittable through prolonged contact in enclosed spaces. The Walla Walla City Council has approved a number of measures to increase outdoor seating, allowing rest...
WALLA WALLA-A grassroots group of people of color from the Walla Walla Valley community organized a second Peace Rally on Sunday, June 7 near Walla Walla's Land Title Plaza. With impassioned speakers and music, the rally gave a platform for people of color to be heard and for non-POC to listen. The gathering attracted a larger crowd than the May 31 rally at the same location. Estimates of crowd size for both events vary from several hundred to over 2,000. There is no disagreement, however, to th...
WALLA WALLA—At a meeting on Monday, June 8, Walla Walla County Commissioners voted to cancel the 154th Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days due to safety concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. Commissioners said that the decision did not come easily. The decision ultimately came down to a safety issue, as coronavirus numbers are slowly beginning to rise in the county again. Meeting attendees expressed that they were uncomfortable hoping that Walla Walla County would be in the proper phase of G...
WALLA WALLA-The amateur baseball team, the Walla Walla Sweets, announced the cancellation of the 2020 season last week due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects felt across the Northwest. Season ticket members with 2020 tickets will be able to roll over their tickets automatically to next year-and they'll receive tickets to two extra games at no additional charge "We are disappointed that there will not be Sweets baseball this summer," Sweets general manager Cody Miller said. "We did...
WALLA WALLA-The news of repeated break-ins and killings of birds at the Pioneer Park Aviary in Walla Walla has prompted an outpouring of support and funding from community members. Walla Walla Police reported that there have been multiple incidents over the past two weeks of someone cutting the netting at the Aviary and killing approximately 12 birds. The City is offering a $1,000 reward for the arrest and convictions of the person(s) responsible for the killing of the birds. The reward money...
WALLA WALLA-The announcement for the protest was seen on a Facebook post, listing the 1 p.m. time, the Land Title Plaza as the place, with the words 'Peaceful Protest' as the title. The post also featured an image of George Floyd's face and the words "I Can't Breathe." George Floyd's death on Memorial Day in Minneapolis, under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, sparked other protests across the country, in Europe, and beyond. The idea for the event came to social media specialist Lindsey...
Walla Walla-The Walla Walla Community College Board of Trustees Chair Tim Burt announced last week that Acting President Dr. Chad Hickox has been named the permanent President of the College effective May 20, 2020. "In this rapidly changing environment, Dr. Hickox has proven he is a trusted leader who is well-qualified and ready to lead through these unprecedented times," said Board Chair Tim Burt. "The Board heard from members of the faculty, staff, and students, as well as members of the...
WALLA WALLA-In less than a week, private citizens, cities, agencies and fire departments in the Walla Walla area stepped up to donate over $174,000 through the Providence St. Mary Foundation to make rapid testing for COVID-19 available in this community. As hospitals across the nation grapple with the economic pressures from the pandemic, it is becoming increasingly difficult to generate the operating revenue needed to invest in technologies and equipment. The hospital's foundation is playing a...
