News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Brenda Covington was chosen Monday night by the Grand Coulee Dam School District directors to join their the board. Covington and Lisa Lyngar were interviewed for about half an hour each to fill the Electric City area spot on the board left vacant earlier this year, with the board choosing Covington after deliberating in executive session. Covington will finish the unexpired term of the position left vacant by Joette Barry, which has less than two years left on it. Covington will have to run for re-election for a four-year term. Covington said...
An owner could have his dogs taken away if he doesn’t address the ongoing issue of the dogs barking. The dogs, located on Grand Coulee Avenue, are constantly barking and running at large, resulting in 20 calls made through Multi Agency Communication Center dispatch in 2018 alone. Each call cost the city $29.42, or $588.40 total. Police Chief John Tufts said that whoever reports the dogs doesn’t want to just call the police station directly, and may be calling the non-emergency MACC number, which charges the city the same rate as it would for...
Electric City is looking into adopting a drug nuisance ordinance, similar to one Grand Coulee passed in October, that would allow the seizure of known drug houses for up to a year. State law on the abatement of drug houses, Revised Code of Washington 7.43, says that If a house is regularly the scene of police enforcement, drug use, drug dealing, or otherwise, the home could be evacuated and boarded up for a year to effectively remove any ongoing nuisances. The process requires superior court approval to seize a house. “If Grand Coulee is going...
In January 1947, the United States Army had an excess of metallic sodium left over from World War II and determined that the alkaline waters of Lake Lenore would be a good spot to dump and neutralize the acidic element, which reacts with water with intense explosions. Barrels containing 20,000 pounds of metallic sodium were rolled off a cliff onto the frozen lake where, according to the video description, they were shot with machine guns to expose the sodium. As the sodium reacted to the water, an estimated 162,000 cubic feet of hydrogen gas...
The topic of consolidating local towns into one came up at the Electric City council meeting Nov. 13, where councilmembers, the mayor, the city clerk, a lawyer, and a citizen spoke on the issue for roughly half an hour. The Grand Coulee council had voted last month to put consolidation on next year’s ballot. Electric City talked about doing the same thing, but ultimately decided not to come out for or against it being on the ballot until more information comes out regarding the logistics of consolidation. If a petition for the cause gathers s...
Many of the details on exactly how consolidation of municipalities can happen in Washington were changed to accomodate a Grand Coulee Dam area push in the mid-1990s to do just that. An article in The Star on May 3, 1995, details some of the issues of consolidation as affected by Senate Bill 5275, which was signed into law at that time by then-Governor Mike Lowry. The details answer some questions being asked today, as the conversation on consolidation heats up. “One major objection to consolidation of the four local towns stemmed from the s...
The Electric City council discussed putting a large sign at their southern limits that would welcome people coming into town from the south on SR-155. The sign would read "Welcome to Electric City," and "Re-energize your recreation," with the city's logo suspended between aluminum columns made to look like basalt rock. The motto is the winner from a contest held in 2007 to come up with a motto for a potential sign, which was submitted by a citizen. The council voted to have City Clerk Russ Power...
The Care and Share Food Bank has received over one ton of donations from our small communities with big HEARTS In the last two weeks. The high school homecoming drive, Boy Scouts, Coulee Medical Center, plus other smaller drives did a great job of adding to our stores, and we would like to THANK YOU, each and every one. The high school did a hygiene drive during homecoming and the products have been well received — items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, plus bar soap, deodorant, shaving cream, razors, to name a few of the...
Sean Garvin, who played volleyball for the Lady Raiders until an injury sidelined her in 2017, won a national championship on Saturday in Kansas with the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles. Garvin's high school injury had dashed plans for a full-ride scholarship to Western Washington University. Not giving up hope, Garvin underwent physical therapy, applied to more colleges, and accepted a full-ride scholarship to CSI. The National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Volleyball...
Citizens of Grand Coulee may want to sit down before reading this, and specifically may want to sit down on the toilet. The Grand Coulee City Council voted last week to raise residential sewage rates by about 63 percent. The $20-per-month hike will cover the expenses of running the system. “As much as I hate the idea of rate increases and taxes, to keep providing services, we’re gonna have to make some changes,” said Mayor Paul Townsend. “Our increases right now, we’re just looking to get up to par with our expenses.” Residential rates will...
Ron Bjorklund had a mission: to golf in all 50 states. And he accomplished that mission on Oct. 9, 2018, at the Cape Cod Country Club in Massachusetts. The daring feat became a goal for Bjorklund in 2007 when he golfed with his brothers at the Mendenhall Golf Course in Juno, Alaska. "I figured if I could get Alaska, I could probably get the rest of them," Bjorklund said. "I already had Hawaii and a lot of the western states. My daughter lives in Montana and we get over there frequently; her...
Need a ride somewhere? Dude, just take an Uber. Hail a cab. Oh yeah! It's the Coulee, so you can't do any of that stuff. Or can you? Teresa Bower has started a company called Blue Dot Transit Connect, which isn't associated with Uber, but offers similar services and has similar rates. Having moved to Electric City via Renton, Washington, earlier this year with her husband David, Bower saw the need for a taxi service in the area. Bower said that Blue Dot is named after the blue skies you see...
After helping people file their taxes for 24 years, Charlie Long is retiring from the tax preparation program offered at the local senior center, leaving a gap that needs to be filled by anyone interested. “It was fun and I enjoyed it,” Long said about the job. “I didn’t especially like the computers, but I like to meet the people and help them get their paperwork together.” Long said that before doing the work on computers he’d do the taxes by hand. Back then the program was located in the basement of what is now North Cascades Bank. The 2...
Gonzaga professor Jessica Maucione will be at the Grand Coulee Library on Monday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m., making a free presentation titled "Writing in the Margins, Transforming the Stories We Tell About Race." "Humans have evolved and maintained our integrity as a species because of our ability to collectively create and tell stories," a description of the event reads. "But what happens when those stories divide, segregate, and even encourage violence among us? In this talk, professor Jessica...
While both sides argue over the merits of Seattle’s escalating minimum wage, there are other issues, such as the total cost per worker, which enter into hiring equations. When employers look to add or retain workers, they must not only consider wages, but the added required benefits which they must pay for each individual they employ. They must keep costs on par with their competitors, because employees are a big part of their operating costs. According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (...
The Lake Roosevelt Raiders football team suffered their first loss of the season Saturday in Coulee Dam, losing 28-24 to the Onalaska Loggers in the first round of the state tournament, ending their season. Onalaska took an early lead, scoring two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to go up 16-0 in the first quarter. But Raider Cameron St. Pierre returned a kickoff for a touchdown, keeping the Raiders in the game with a 16-6 score. In the second quarter, Onalaska scored on a run, and the R...
Plenty of Lake Roosevelt athletes received All-League honors in the Central Washington 2B League, including senior Steven Flowers, who won both offensive and defensive most valuable player in football. Also making the first team for offense in football were Trevor Johnson and Terry Yazzie, both outside linebackers. Making second team on offense were Hunter Whitelaw and Trevor McCraigie, both wide receivers, and kicker Sam Wapato. Wapato also received an honorable mention for wide receiver, as did Kaleb Horn and Darin Whiteman. Making first...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District will be proposing an “enrichment levy” for 2019 meant to bring in approximately $450,000 each year, the second part of a two-levy approach intended to replace the single levy now taken over by the state. Needing to submit a list of items that match up to $450,000 to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the district board Monday night approved the following list of areas the money would support: Special Education - $120,000 Pre-School - $80,000 Driver’s Education - $8,000 Scien...
Lake Roosevelt graduate Calen Farmer spent six years in the Navy before pursuing an electronics engineering degree, and the experience took him around the world. Farmer graduated from Lake Roosevelt in 2008 and enlisted in the Navy in February of 2012, just two days before his 22nd birthday. " Like most young people, I was lost in life and didn't know what to do with my future," Farmer said. "I tried going to school, but it just was not for me at the time. After realizing I wasn't going...
Eyeing free grant money to help stretch local dollars, school leaders Monday told a consulting company to go after grants that would help modernize the heating and cooling system in the old gym at Lake Roosevelt High School and more. The Grand Coulee Dam School District board voted to continue to have the company McKinstry pursue grants for upgrades to school buildings. The district hired McKinstry to look for repairs and upgrades that could be made to the former middle school, the annex to the middle school where the Alternative Learning...
The annual veterans assembly at Lake Roosevelt Schools will be held this Friday at the gym in Coulee Dam. Changing things up from previous years, the event will be split into two segments: one for kindergarten through sixth-grade students, and another for seventh through twelfth grades, with an intermission in between. "Veterans and public are welcome to join us for either or both," said teacher Sandy Hood, who organizes the event and felt that one assembly with the full student body was a bit t...
Strong opinions surrounded a post on The Star’s Facebook page when The Star shared an article from the paper headlined “Transgender policy, club approved at school board meeting.” Opinions on both sides of the argument centered around the idea of boys using the girls’ restroom. “So this means that a BOY who thinks he is a girl or wants to be a girl can now go into the female bathroom with my daughter? If that’s the case I do not agree with it,” a Michael Dennis wrote on Facebook. “If you have a wiener you go into the bathroom where the sign...
As we near Thanksgiving, I hope the Raider Nation will join me in being thankful for the vision and passion Rob Williams had for starting the Lake Roosevelt youth football program 11 or so years ago. Many of the players on this year’s team had the opportunity to grow up playing football and getting better because Rob wouldn’t take no for an answer when pursuing his passion to create a youth football program in the Coulee that would be safe, fun, and make kids better people and players. Although it has been 10 years since we lost Rob, it is awe...
In the last column, I wrote about the physical changes occurring in and around the Arctic Ocean. Those changes are occurring due to climate change. Shipping lanes are being used for commerce, significantly cutting travel time and saving fuel. Other transformations are happening as a direct result of climate change in that part of the world as well. The geopolitics of the Arctic is affected as much as the physical body of the region. Several nations are looking at the region and envisioning...
Lake Roosevelt continues to go undefeated in football, defeating DeSales on Friday, and now prepares to take on Onalaska on Saturday. On Nov. 2 in Coulee Dam, the Raiders defeated the Irish with a final score of 22-6. The Raiders scored first with a six-yard pass from Steven Flowers to Hunter Whitelaw. Flowers scored a touchdown on a 36-yard run in the third quarter, and the Irish scored a touchdown on a pass, also in the third. Flowers ran for another touchdown in the fourth, closing the game...