Your Hometown News Source
Your Hometown News Source
Sorted by date Results 326 - 350 of 452
DAYTON–Columbia County Health System has hired three new providers. Lindsay McLaughlin is a nurse practitioner and has already starting seeing patients at the Columbia Family Clinic earlier this month. Patients are reportedly very pleased with her care, according to the Administrator's Report provided by CEO Shane McGuire. This comes at the time that Andrew Park, M.D. has given his notice for leaving the practice at the end of May. According to Chief of Staff Kyle Terry, M.D., McLaughlin has a...
DAYTON-Columbia County Commissioners (BOCC)approve special meeting in response to proposed County Ordinance for Controlled Substance Possession on April 12. The BOCC made the decision to hold a public hearing after being presented with a draft for a proposed County Ordinance for Controlled Substance Possession by Columbia County Prosecutor Dale Slack at the meeting March 22. As a result of State vs. Blake late last month, the statute making controlled substances possession illegal was deemed unc...
DAYTON-Dayton School District Superintendent Guy Strot invited the two teachers in the Distance Learning program, Hannalee Farrell for K-5 and Jeanne Walter for 6-12 to give an overview on student progress. Farrell currently has 10 students in the program, down from 22 at the start of the year. She reported the struggle for kids to perform well within the model including that one will have to repeat. Some were already doing poorly in the traditional school setting before COVID-19, but she said...
DAYTON-The Port of Columbia Commissioners and Port of Columbia Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson set the date for the public Touchet Valley Trail Design meeting on Monday, April 26 at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is planned to be held by Zoom. The Commissioners have only recently received the design from Anderson Perry, but want to time to review it and provide feedback to Anderson Perry before a public meeting. Dickinson has made progress in pursuing broadband for use in the Port office. She has...
DAYTON-Columbia County Health System’s CEO Shane McGuire reported just over 2,200 vaccines have been administered, and just under half of that are fully vaccinated at the Columbia County Commissioners’ meeting March 3. Receiving vaccinations from the State continues to be an issue. Whitman County has been regularly providing Columbia County with an allocation of its Pfizer vaccines. “There is continued volatility in direction and guidance coming out of the State, especially when it comes to su...
DAYTON-Innovia Foundation brought together about 25 Dayton community members to continue the discussion on the two-year initiative project “Say Yes to Education.” The group met in the first of three public forums held by Zoom on March 11which was hosted by Innovia Foundation as part of a two-year initiative project Say Yes to Education. The goal of the research is to measure the impact of support from community leadership on the educational success of its students including the pursuit of pos...
DAYTON-The long negotiated interlocal agreement between the City of Dayton and Columbia County for law enforcement, dispatch and municipal court services was approved by the majority of the City Council at their regular meeting on March 10. Discussion about the contract was led by Mayor Zac Weatherford who encouraged the Council to vote to approve the contract to be able to move forward. He told them County Prosecutor Dale Slack said in his letter to the City answering their request for...
DAYTON–County Prosecutor Dale Slack discussed with the County Commissioners on March 8 the State of Washington vs. Blake case ruling that deemed statute 69.50.4013 unconstitutional which formerly made the possession of controlled substances illegal. This ruling is based on the premise that some people are found in possession claiming to be without knowledge or consent and are then unjustly charged and prosecuted. The attorney for the nonprofit Washington Appellate Project, Richard Lechich, a...
DAYTON–Dayton School Board of Directors learned that remote learning will be implemented on March 10 due to possible recovery periods for 18 staff for grades 5-12 who will receive COVID-19 vaccinations on March 9. To accommodate recovery from the vaccination, Superintendent Guy Strot said the District cannot plan to have enough substitute staff scheduled for school the following day. Grades 5-12 will go to remote learning for the already scheduled half day of school. Students in preschool t...
DAYTON-Over one-third of Columbia County residents have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Shane McGuire, CEO of Columbia County Health System (CCHS) at the monthly Board meeting on February 21. McGuire indicated the State is overrun by demand. "After two weeks of low- to no-dose delivery, we have received enough vaccine to cover secondary or booster doses," he said. "The State of Washington released a statement on February 7 stating: 'We also had more...
DAYTON–Mayor Zac Weatherford informed the County Commissioners of plans to move forward with obtaining permits to remove of sediment from the river within the city limits and requested any data already collected by the county to provide to FEMA. Once permitted, Weatherford said, the City will either hire a contractor or work with the County for the work on the actual project to be done in two phases. First, to remove top sediment and then completing the project. The permitting has been held u...
DAYTON–The region is in Phase 2 of the Governor’s Road to Recovery Plan, according to Martha Lanman, Columbia County Public Health Administrator, and she encourages the community to remain vigilant so as to remain in Phase 2, Columbia County Commissioners heard this week. The numbers need to stay the same or improve for the region not to get bumped back into Phase 1. The numbers will be reviewed every two weeks, according to the plan. In addition to the move to Phase 2, the community rec...
DAYTON–The School Board approved extending class hours to 2 p.m. beginning March 1 at the February 17 meeting. It has been nearly one year since Secondary students have had a full day of in-person learning and the Board voted unanimously to extend class time from 12:30 p.m. release for distance learning to all in-person learning until 2 p.m. beginning March 1. The elementary students have had this schedule since the beginning of the school year. Now, with COVID cases down in the community and a...
DAYTON–The Port of Columbia Commissioners and Executive Director Jennie Dickinson opened the monthly meeting on February 10 with a public hearing and public comment. Betty Longen, a Columbia County resident who lives on Highway 12 west of town just across from Blue Mountain Station, spoke on behalf of a group of County residents petitioning against the idea of land along the west end of Highway 12 being annexed into the Dayton City limits, as discussed in the 2021 Comprehensive Plan Workshop m...
DAYTON–The City Council’s Public Safety Committee met and reviewed the proposed interlocal agreement with Columbia County for law enforcement, dispatch, and municipal court services, reported Mayor Weatherford at the February 10 Council meeting. After review of the proposed agreement, Weatherford the Council had some recommendations and changes to the contract before signing. “They had some recommendations that I was able to forward on to our attorney, who in turn sent [Columbia County Prose...
DAYTON–Columbia County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) had been investigating a series of residential and commercial burglaries occurring since the beginning of the year. A tip to the CCSO led to the arrest of Dayton resident Isaiah A. McGanty, who was later charged on January 30, 2021. McGanty, 38, of 522 W. Cameron Court, appeared in Columbia County Superior Court on February 4, 2021, and was charged with one count each of Possession of Stolen Property in the second degree, a class C felony, and P...
DAYTON–The Dayton School Board discussed options for extending the Middle and High School schedule to 2 p.m. during the February 2, 2021, work session. A vote on the matter is expected at the next regular Board meeting on February 17. With approval expected, the change would begin on February 22, according to Superintendent Guy Strot. The biggest hurdle to extending the day for the upper grades is accommodating lunch times around the elementary students who have had a daily schedule until two i...
DAYTON–Columbia County Health System (CCHD/CCHS) partnered with Public Health and the Fire Department to offer the first COVID-19 vaccine clinic to the community at the County Fairgrounds Pavilion on January 27-28. Public Health Administrator Martha Lanman offered guidance to CCHS in setting up the clinic. The Public Health Office worked to collect names of individuals aged 65 or older for the B1 phase of the vaccine administration. The Fire Department with EMT staff was present along with an a...
DAYTON–The Columbia County Commissioners (BOCC) were informed the County Flood Control Zone District has not received any reimbursement for flood damages from FEMA as of the February 2, 2021, meeting. Eaton reported assessments may take another six months before funds are made available. Eaton has utilized County employees to help work on the most immediate locations instead of using a contract force, so as not to impact the budget. Presently, the District owes County Roads for repair work w...
DAYTON–Columbia County is opening a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Fairgrounds Pavilion beginning Wednesday, January 27 and Thursday, January 28. According to Public Health Administrator Martha Lanman, individuals aged 65 or older should call the Public Health office at 509-382-2181 to be scheduled for a time slot. The Commissioners approved the use of the Fairgrounds for a vaccine clinic for the week of January 25 at the BOCC January 19 meeting. Lanman announced the news at the Columbia C...
DAYTON–The Dayton School Board’s vote to extend the school day for middle and high school students from 12:30 to 2 p.m., beginning mid–February, was tabled until the next regular meeting on February 3, directors decided at the January 20 meeting. The delay came at the recommendation from Public Health Administrator Martha Lanman as conveyed by Superintendent Guy Strot. He voiced his support for waiting to allow staff to form a plan for the new schedule. Board Chair Katie Leid commented to keep...
DAYTON–The Port of Columbia County Commissioners welcomed new full-time Office Manager Melody Shahan at their monthly Board meeting on January 14. Shahan is a much-needed addition to the Port to the Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson and part-time Kelly Hinds. Chair Earle Marvin welcomed her which was echoed by Commissioner Shawn Brown. Dickinson said that they are “really glad to have her.” Dickinson reported the end of year balance was $22,000 less than anticipated because of default tax c...
DAYTON–Councilman Matt Wiens recently resigned and the Council will move forward through the process of appointing a new Council member, the Dayton City Council considered at the January 13 meeting. Wiens was starting the last of a four-year term and opted to resign "to pursue other things to spend my time on," Wiens told the Dayton Chronicle. "I did it for three years and did not want to pursue another year on the Council." He submitted his resignation at the end of 2020. In other action, c...
DAYTON–A community-wide Town Hall Meeting was hosted by Martha Lanman, Public Health Administrator for Columbia County, with Columbia County Health System’s CEO Shane McGuire and COO Stephanie Carpenter on Tuesday, January 12. Some 70 Zoom meeting participants heard topics including Governor Inslee’s new phases as laid out in his “Healthy Washington-Roadmap to Recovery Plan,” the vaccine phases and a vaccination sign-up. The Governor’s new two-phased approach to easing the current COVID-19 restr...
DAYTON–Columbia County has been placed in a region that includes Yakima, Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties, and Governor Jay Inslee's recently launched recovery plan requires the region to qualify as a whole before all counties can progress to a higher phase, and local officials are not happy with this situation. Inslee's plan separates the State into eight regions, and Columbia County is in the South-Central Region together with other well-populated counties such as Yakima, Benton a...
