The Children's Home Society in Walla Walla is upgrading online services as well as creating new avenues for families needing assistance amid a pandemic.

Karlene Ponti
- Bio
Karlene Ponti began as Special Publications Writer in 1999, work includes Lifestyles, The Weekly and Business Monthly. After Wa-Hi, Ponti attended Whitman and is a UW graduate. Later she was ordained a Christian minister at CDM Spiritual Teaching Center.
There have been floods, fires and pandemics in the past and lessons learned can help deal with current difficulties — even if only to reassure people that great hardships can be overcome.
Jan. 1, 1970: Prisoners at the penitentiary ended a 10-day strike, and refusal to shave, with a promise to start shaving again. Also the Boise Cascade mill in Wallula is scheduled to reopen. It was shut down due to a lack of orders.
The dark days of winter call for brightly colored lights. Walla Walla care centers are answering the call with their holiday decorations.
COLUMN: With area libraries facing limitations during the pandemic, local groups are helping with support services — as they do year-round.
COLUMN: Living in the mostly rural Stateline area of Milton-Freewater, Debbie Miller has seen many wandering, apparently homeless cats. “We have a lot of feral cats,” Miller said. “Someone out here has cats that are not being taken care of.”
Blue Mountain Therapeutic Riding, which offers horse riding classes for people with disabilities, has mounted challenges over the years and succeeded with a cavalry of volunteers.
Concern about the spread of the COVID-19 virus this year has put a crimp in the Salvation Army's Red Kettle volunteer recruiting and fundraising efforts.
COLUMN: The Junior Club of Walla Walla helps out in the community, with a current focus on providing Care Crates for parents of newborns.
Fifty years ago, in 1970: On Dec. 28, the 1% retail sales tax returned more than $272,000 to the county through October.