News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 896
Thomas (Tom) M. Nieberding of Westlake, OH passed away on Friday, March 7, 2025 at the age of 78. He was born on August 26, 1946 in Cleveland, OH. He grew up on West 187th Street in Cleveland, OH and Usher Road in Olmsted Falls, OH. In his adult life he lived in Texas, Wisconsin, Washington and Ohio. Tom was and always will be a proud Marine who served as a Corporal in Vietnam. He graduated from Cleveland State University in 1977 with a degree in Engineering. He worked for the Bureau of... Full story
Bureau of Reclamation employees at Grand Coulee Dam who had accepted the “fork in the road” offer of deferred retirement, expecting to stop working on March 7, instead got a memo Monday morning telling them to clear out by the end of the day, March 3. No reason was given for the rush, but the emailed instructions from Boise, the Columbia Pacific Northwest Region headquarters, had an air of resignation about it: “Big change in the DRP rules as of 10:37am this morning,” the email began, explaining that all Deferred Resignation Program participant...
Everyone can agree that the country should reign in the debt. But then why is the Trump Administration pushing a budget that extends tax cuts for the extremely wealthy and raises the debt ceiling to four trillion dollars? Lost in all the nonsense circulating about supposed “waste, fraud and abuse” is the fact that the Trump Administration fired many of the Inspectors General (the people responsible for investigating actual waste, fraud, and abuse). All of these seemingly random cuts potentially have disastrous consequences for our com...
Coulee Dam Police 2/24-2/26 - Numerous reports were filed without further information describing the situations including: a traffic offense on Camas Street; a “suspicious death” in Electric City; a “suspicious or wanted” case at or near the movie theater; a citizen assist on Jackson Avenue in Electric City; a citizen assist on Tulip Street; a disturbance on Mead Way; a family fight on Center Street in Grand Coulee; and a family fight at the Grand Coulee Dam. 2/26 - An 18-year-old man reported that he fell for a trick on social media app Sna...
An ice fisher plies his pastime Friday evening on Banks Lake ice near the feeder canal through which the Bureau of Reclamation planned to pump water into the lake beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday. That could make the ice unstable, and Reclamation urged people to stay off the ice. But late Saturday afternoon, ice fisher's tents were lined up at the edge of the ice. - Scott Hunter photo...
After a vandal hit Grand Coulee City Hall Jan. 4, the city was left with cleanup and repairs. Those are coming in at about $74,000 to fix broken windows, damaged floors and walls, office equipment and police cars parked outside. The city council Tuesday night OK’d spending $13,450 on new windows, including a couple not damaged in the incident but old enough to be replaced with more energy-efficient windows. The council also voted to declare surplus five of those now-unused police vehicles outside, which had served the police department when it...
Ice fishers and other recreators are urged to stay off the ice on Banks Lake, which will soon become unstable if it isn't already. The Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam will begin pumping water into Banks Lake, beginning Saturday, Feb. 22, at 10 p.m. This influx of water may result in unstable ice conditions that present serious safety risks to all ice fishers and recreationists, Reclamation announced this week. The change in operation will conclude on Monday, Feb. 24, at 6 a.m.... Full story
Citizens unhappy with the direction of the federal government under President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who heads up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, marched with signs Monday from noon to 1 p.m. along Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee. A week earlier, Sheri Edwards had walked the route alone. On Monday, President's Day, the number climbed to 13 like-minded people. Several said they were pleasantly surprised by positive responses, and no negative ones, from passersby honking horn...
A person died in an early-morning fire Monday when a home at the corner of B Street and Second Street in Grand Coulee burned. Fire Chief Ryan Fish said the single-wide mobile home was fully engulfed the first time he saw it, and he lives across the street. Citizens called it in at 5:24 a.m. They also "took actions to save two dogs from the yard," a Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department press release states. Fish was at the scene at 5:29. Fish called for response from the U.S. Bureau of...
A new team of federal personnel attended the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District meeting at the old middle school Jan. 22, to meet with district commissioners and get a sense of how to move forward during a transition. Bill Dykes, Stefani Utter, Chloe Johnson and Lauriann Mountjoy, all with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are the new resources group that will work with the district that currently oversees North Dam Park, which is owned by Reclamation. "We're here to see what are options and...
As the Indian Education Director at Grand Coulee Dam School District, I witness every day the incredible impact our schools have on students, families, and the community as a whole. Our schools are more than just classrooms; they are centers for growth, connection, and opportunity. They are where children learn not only math and reading but also the rich cultural heritage and values that make our community unique. The levy is the backbone of so much of what we do. It supports the programs that set our schools apart—programs that empower our s...
Jean Graff passed away peacefully at The Cottages in Spokane, Washington, on January 17, 2025. With the given name of Emma Jean Iva, she was born March 18, 1927, to Edward and Iva (Sherman) Bammerlin on the family ranch near Burton, Nebraska. She went to a one-room country school until high school, when she moved in with her grandmother in Springview, Nebraska, during school weeks. After graduating high school in 1944, she attended business school for a short time until she got a federal job wor... Full story
Star reader Robert Fields promised last June in a letter to the editor that if by the end of July a pile of scrapped used concrete eyesore had not been moved he would be calling regional Bureau of Reclamation authorities for an explanation. On Tuesday, Fields took this photo of that pile being removed from alongside SR-174 near the 230 Switchyard, which is now owned by the Bonneville Power Administration. - Robert Fields photo...
In a historic light show, various colors of blue, green, red and amber lit up Grand Coulee Dam for New Year's Eve, decades after a fire ruined the display's control panel. The light show will continue to illuminate the dam from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., nightly until March 6. The Bureau of Reclamation Visitor Center has a free parking area for viewing. The Bureau of Reclamation recommissioned the historic light show on the spillway of Grand Coulee Dam from 5 to 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve, a landmark...
When he approached the broken city hall front door from the inside late Saturday night, the suspect in widespread vandalism there saw the targeting dots on his chest from an officer's taser and immediately complied with an order to lie down. Coulee Dam's Officer Mathew Ponusky, driving by on patrol just before 11 p.m., had noticed the broken glass door on the front of the building and stopped to investigate. Ponusky could hear glass breaking at the southwest corner of the building, and, looking...
D Delores Jean Mueller, 91, died on December 17, 2024, in Spokane, Washington. Jean was born on May 20, 1933, in Wagner, South Dakota, to William (Bill) McCabe and Emma LaBarge McCabe, and spent her childhood in Lake Andes, South Dakota before graduating as a Registered Nurse from Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Yankton, SD. In 1955, she married Robert (Bob) Mueller in Lake Andes, and they began their life together in Huron, SD where Bob worked for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Their... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation, in accordance with 43 CFR 423 Subpart B, is providing public notice announcing the temporary closure of Reclamation owned lands at Osborn Bay near Electric City, WA from Jan. 31, 2025, through Feb. 6, 2025. Camping and outdoor recreation will not be permitted on Reclamation land surrounding Osborn Bay on the east side of Highway 155 during this period. For more information, please contact Julie McPherson at jmmcpherson@usbr.gov....
. 10. Details of those meetings will be posted on the project website early in the new year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. To learn more about the project or to submit public comment, visit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website. This article was first published by the Idaho Capital Sun, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions:...
Sandra E. Green, 84, from Grand Coulee, Washington, passed away peacefully on December 8, 2024. She was born in Mandan, North Dakota on July 27, 1940, and moved to Spokane, Washington with her family when she was a little girl. Sandra was the mother of three children, Greg Edmunds (and wife, Dawn Edmunds) of Osburn, Idaho, Debbie Van Brunt of Rockville, Maryland, and Brenda Edmunds of Spokane, Washington. She was grandmother to seven: Sarah, Matthew, Meghann, Jeremy, Rachael, Joshua, and... Full story
Ivetta Jane Morgan was born in 1936 to Clifford and Mary (Hansen) Morgan at her Grandmother Hansen's home near Lebanon, MO. She died December 14, 2024 at home with her loving family beside her. From Missouri, Ivetta's parents moved for a year to CA, and in 1948 the family moved to Electric City, WA. Ivetta graduated at Grand Coulee, WA as Salutatorian of her class. Robert Eylar and Ivetta were married Sept. 10, 1955 and moved frequently while he was employed by the Bureau of Reclamation,... Full story
Federal agencies to revise environmental study for Columbia River Basin dam operations by Mia Maldonado, Washington State Standard December 19, 2024 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation announced Tuesday that they will update an environmental study on the management of federal dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers. The agencies will prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement analyzing new environmental data that a 2020 study, which evaluated the operations and maintenance of the 14 federally managed dams...
Following a public hearing Nov. 25, school directors decided students will attend Lake Roosevelt Schools for four days each week instead of five, beginning in the fall of 2025. People at the hearing expressed support and concerns, urged the board to consider how it would affect academic progress, and questioned whether enough research had been done into the idea. Superintendent Rod Broadnax assured people the decision would have no impact on the district funds and the board’s decision would have to be based on what’s best for the kids. Boa...
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's rope access team - made up of 11 employees from multiple regions with various disciplines - completed an inspection of the Grand Coulee Dam spillway. The volunteer group started at the top of the dam and worked their way down to inspect the overall health of the spillway. The rope access team inspected an area just under 10 acres and descended more than 12,000 feet of rope in five days, totaling 60 hours, said a Reclamation Facebook post this week. The...
The treaty that has governed how the United States and Canada have managed the Columbia River for the last 60 years was set to expire in September, but the two countries announced in July they had reached a new agreement in principle “on the key elements for a modernized Treaty regime,” according to the U.S. State Department. Next week, you can attend an online meeting to find out what that means for how Grand Coulee Dam, and Lake Roosevelt behind it, will likely operate in the future. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Bureau of Recl...
Grand Coulee Police 10/30 - A man was reported to look suspicious, measuring things with tools and a ladder outside of a Grand Coulee business. He was simply a contractor doing his job. - A Grand Coulee man reported that two pumpkins were stolen from his porch. Security footage showed the pumpkins get taken and placed into a white car that was then parked not too far from his own residence. Police knocked on the door and the culprit answered, admitting to stealing the pumpkins, and was willing to return them. He went to the man’s house, r...