News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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More local events that have become traditions have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Run the Dam running event, as well as the Harvest Festival, have both been canceled this past week. Both were originally scheduled for the third week in September. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce announced on July 17 the cancellation of what would have been the ninth Harvest Festival on their Facebook page. Their board of directors "have explored all possible options to keep this... Full story
With local fires sometimes taking place across a lake, should a fire department have a boat ready to take firefighters there? At Electric City’s July 14 council meeting, Public Works Director Jarred Armstrong brought up the idea that the Electric City Volunteer Fire Department should have a boat. While discussing the Fourth of July weekend, Armstrong mentioned a boating accident that took place, as well as fires that burned near SunBanks Resort and as Barker Canyon, incidents requiring responses via boat. Armstrong commended Fire Chief Mark P...
Two local counties reported two more deaths this week amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in their counties, in the state and in many parts of the nation. Okanogan County Public Health reported that 71 new cases of COVID-19 emerged in the county on Monday and Tuesday alone, with over half its cases all year breaking out within the last two weeks - 147 of its total of 263. Those include the county's third death, which OCPH learned of yesterday. The victim was an agricultural worker from Mexico in his... Full story
Small businesses in Electric City can apply for up to $5,000 in coronavirus relief funds from the city, and all Grant County small businesses can apply for up to $10,000. Electric City small business owners have until July 31 to fill out and submit a one page application to receive the funds. City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal said the city set up the grant program in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Commerce, something the city council approved in June. The funds businesses can receive would come from the $30,900 the city is eligib... Full story
Ballots for Washington’s primary elections must be mailed out by county election offices by Friday, and local voters will have options from which to choose no matter which county or district they live in. In the Grant County Commissioner District #1 race, the candidates are: Danny Stone, of Hartline; Mark S. Wanke, of Ephrata; and Earl Romig, of Moses Lake. All candidates are listed as Republicans. In the Grant County Commissioner District #2 race, the candidates are Rob Jones and Tom Taylor, both Republicans from Moses Lake. In Okanogan C...
The Colville Tribes responded Monday to inquiries regarding continuing layoffs at the tribes, as well as the use of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money towards a new rehabilitation center being built in Keller. In April, the CBC announced in a letter that the Colville Tribes as well as the Colville Tribal Federal Corporation had temporarily laid off nearly 600 employees as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Some employees were posting further layoff notices on social media last week. Regarding the... Full story
When Mark Head noticed the other boat headed straight for him in the middle of Banks Lake, it was too late. Head, 51, from Cashmere, and the four others aboard his pontoon boat, including small children, had been just floating, doing some cleaning up without the engine running about 5:25 p.m. Thursday when he saw the wake boat coming. Head hurried to try to start the engine and move, but couldn't before the other boat hit, stopping instantly on top of the middle section of the pontoon boat,...
A new multimillion-dollar hotel in Grand Coulee is being planned with optimism towards the area growing. Blackfly, LLC, owned by Bill Stevens, a farmer from Soap Lake, and Caleb McNamara, a contractor from Moses Lake, bought property along Midway Avenue that includes Pepper Jack's Bar and Grille, another nearby building, and surrounding lots. The property consists of three parcels of land along Midway Avenue purchased from Norman and Carlene Worsham for $285,000 and a fourth purchased from...
The cause of the wildfire that burned in Coulee Dam June 30 is still under investigation. That fire burned around 21 acres on the northern outskirts of town near 12th Street and Central Drive and up towards the sandhill, according to Debbie Caudell, lead dispatch at Mt. Tolman Fire Center. The fire was first reported to Mt. Tolman at about 7 p.m. and resources were called back in at about midnight. Those resources included four type-6 engines, two dozers, a hand crew, and more. Workers returned the next day to mop up the scene of the fire,...
Teachers, students, and parents from the community voiced their opinions on the upcoming school year in a Star survey, and the results are as diverse as the personalities of the respondents. Two weeks ago, The Star reported on changes schools are facing for the 2020-21 school year after guidelines were released by the state's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Those guidelines include rules such as those requiring all students and staff to wear face coverings and maintain a... Full story
Community and family worked together to make possible a day at the races on Saturday, when Ty Tipps competed in Monroe at the Evergreen Speedway, racing in a brand-new Chevy S-10 mini truck. Tipps competed in the Northwest Pro4 Truck series races held at the Evergreen Speedway on June 27 where he posted the best lap time in the B Heat qualifying race with a time of 20.7 seconds. The track was getting slick from rain. "We had to back it down a little bit or get stuck in the wall," Tipps told The...
Raider sports, like all aspects of our lives now, will look a lot different in the new normal of COVID-19 pandemic life. Like seriously different. Like you can’t pass the basketball different. Like a kid playing tennis with the wall different. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, along with the National Federation of State High Schools Association and Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, has released guidelines for resuming high school sports. Those organizations “believe it is essential to the physical and mental well-being of... Full story
Schools are looking at how to successfully implement changes that will be put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new Star survey seeks the opinions of local parents, students, and staff members. Last week The Star reported on changes schools are facing for the 2020-21 school year after guidelines were released by the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Those guidelines include rules such as those requiring all students and staff to wear face coverings and maintain a distance from one another. Those rules ha... Full story
Kids got out of the house this past weekend to take part in the 2020 Koulee Kids Fest. "Koulee Kids Fest went FANTASTIC!" wrote Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachelle Haven in an email to The Star. "The turn-out was amazing, more than we ever expected." The festival included children going to local businesses to get take-home activity kits or take part in an activity. Coulee Wall Variety Store had close to 250 kids attend their "fishing pond" activity, Haven said,...
The Fourth of July fast approaching, but don’t plan on setting off fireworks from North Dam again this year; it’s still unavailable as a launching location. The chamber of commerce’s Festival of America event, typically held below the Grand Coulee Dam, with fireworks launched from it, also will not be held this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lighting of personal fireworks from North Dam, a popular spot for years, will not be available, as it was not last year. “Last year on July 4, fireworks were not allowed on top of North Dam bec... Full story
Anyone in the market for a Jeep? The Electric City council voted on June 9 to put the city’s 2018 Jeep Renegade Sports edition, which has only around 5,000 miles on it, up for bid. The city bought the Jeep just last year when the city had a completely different council, mayor, and city clerk. The minimum bid for the Jeep is $17,000. The council was in agreement that although the trade-in value for the vehicle was around $13,000, trade-in values are lower than the actual value, and that the vehicle’s low mileage made it worth more. The cou...
The institution of public school will look a lot different in the 2020-21 school year due to the COVID-19 health precautions that will still be in place, and schools are now beginning to grapple with freshly issued state guidelines that bring the challenges into focus. Last week, the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction released guidelines for how to resume school in the 2020-21 school year in keeping with Department of Health safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines anticipate a return to the... Full story
If you own a business in Electric City that was hurt financially by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, you should soon be able to apply for a grant with the city to receive relief funds for which the city is eligible. City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal addressed the city council on the topic at their June 9 meeting. Nevsimal said she has spoken with the Washington State Department of Commerce about setting up a grant program to distribute some of the $30,900 the city is eligible for as part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act p... Full story
Koulee Kids Fest will take place this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and one lucky child will win an iPad Mini and a pair of Beats headphones. Children of any age participating in Koulee Kids Fest will pick up a “passport,” then take it to area businesses where they will pick up kits, a treat, or take part in an activity that follows social distance guidelines. Each location will stamp their passport, and six stamps qualify a child to win the iPad Mini and Beats headphones grand prize by dropping their passport off at the Grand Coulee Dam...
Coulee Medical Center has been going through masks like hotcakes during the COVID-19 pandemic and would be grateful to receive more from local mask makers. “Our mask utilization has increased significantly since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” CMC Chief Nursing Officer Marlene Elliott told The Star in an email Monday. “We are currently requiring universal masking for all staff, as well as any patient or visitor who enters our facility. … Average mask utilization for staff is approximately 30 to 50 per day using conservation methods... Full story
People are evidently cleaning up, and so is the local dump. Increased business at the Delano Transfer Station has brought in enough extra money this spring to offset much of a projected loss, so rates will rise only slightly. Dump rates will be raised $2 a ton, a negligible amount for casual dumpers, while spring cleaning has led to an increase in dumping and extra cash for the transfer station. Originally, in October of 2019, the Regional Board of Mayors had voted to raise dump rates at the Delano Regional Transfer Station half a cent a pound,...
Schools are looking at how to successfully implement changes that will be put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new Star survey seeks the opinions of local parents, students, and staff members. Last week The Star reported on changes schools are facing for the 2020-21 school year after guidelines were released by the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Those guidelines include rules such as those requiring all students and staff to wear face coverings and maintain a distance from one another. Those rules ha... Full story
The people have spoken! Results are in from a Star poll on the topic of wearing masks in public during the COVID-19 pandemic, a controversial topic nationally. Last week The Star posted an online poll asking readers if they wore masks in public, and why or why not. The poll received 214 responses as of Tuesday, the most of any poll conducted by The Star in recent years. The majority, 118 (55.14%) said they do wear a mask when out in public near people; 74 (34.58%) responded that they don't; and... Full story
People who spend recreational time at Spring Canyon told the National Park Service their concerns over potential changes for the park. The NPS collected 83 comments on their Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area Draft Visitor Use Site Management Plan and Environmental Assessment before the comment period ended on May 30. The draft plan lists potential changes to nine sites along Lake Roosevelt, including Spring Canyon. A list of potential actions relevant to all sites along Lake Roosevelt,...
CORRECTION: This article has been amended to show the correct graduation date for Lake Roosevelt, which is June 13. Okanogan County enters Phase 2, meaning locally, among other things, that Lake Roosevelt’s modified graduation ceremony can go on as scheduled; however, reservation restrictions vary from the county’s. On June 5, Okanogan County entered Phase 2 of Washington State’s Safe Start plan for reopening businesses and activities in Washington. “While moving to Phase 2 is an important step, we still have work ahead of us to stay in Phas... Full story