News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The Community of Spring Canyon Cemetery was dedicated on March 30 ,1959, has 2,200-plus residents, 4.5 acres of grass, a park manager, council. The cemetery is privately owned by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Lions, but gets no state of federal money to operate. Like many other communities, Spring Canyon Cemetery board members are few and are aging and unable to do several of the tasks that are needed to keep up the cemetery in tip top shape. Yes, we have a grounds keeper like the other cities in the area, but the residents need help keeping their...
Four towns and/or cities, but the largest community in the area needs some help! The Community of Spring Canyon Cemetery was dedicated on March 30 ,1959, has 2,200-plus residents, 4.5 acres of grass, a park manager, council. The cemetery is privately owned by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Lions, but gets no state of federal money to operate. Like many other communities, Spring Canyon Cemetery board members are few and are aging and unable to do several of the tasks that are needed to keep up the cemetery in tip top shape. Yes, we have a grounds...
I love this Coulee…the scenery, the climate, the people. It will be my home until I leave this earth. I started running in the Coulee nearly 25 years ago. The Coulee has a way of reaching into your soul to bring peace and calm. Run The Dam (formerly The Over The Dam Run) became my baby in 2016. I wanted to share the unique course and beauty of the Coulee with the whole world. Run The Dam, now a nonprofit organization, has a mission to provide healthy outdoor activity in the Coulee. The annual event, always the third weekend of September, now b...
For the past decade, the media has been obsessed with the idea of a growing divide between rural and urban areas, often portraying it as a deep chaasm separating the nation’s citizens. A recent example of this coverage took it a step further. Not only are we portrayed as divided, but there are now suggestions that we should make it official through a divorce. Case in point: the Greater Idaho Movement, an effort by its supporters in eastern (rural) Oregon to secede from Oregon and join Idaho. The grounds for the divorce? The rural-urban politica...
I understand the old “why should I have to if they don’t have to.” I’m talking about the police officers assigned to the USBR. I wouldn’t think they need protection inside the project grounds. Security is for the perimeter. Anyone driving by the blue light house in Coulee Dam must notice that the Grand Coulee police cars don’t seem to leave the house. So why would the officers not assigned to the dam have to leave their house? We have eight officers employed by Grand Coulee. You would think the town would be flooded with officers. But they gi...
To supporters of the four Lower Snake River Dams, the latest news that President Biden continues to pursue dam breaching is not shocking, but surprising, considering the growing shortfall in electricity predicted in the western states and his desire to dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Biden’s March 21 announcement started another “Whac-A-Model” game to determine the dams’ future. The news was reported in a Wall Street Journal commentary by Faith Bottum titled “Biden’s Fishy Plan to Bre...
We recently attended the Isle of Flags Memorial Day celebration at Spring Canyon Cemetery. My wife, son and I raised a flag in honor of my father, Sid Roberson, who served in the US Army between the Wars. During my 18 years growing up in the area, I marched in several of the Memorial Day celebrations at Spring Canyon as part of the Boy Scouts. Our hats are off to all those who support this incredible effort. Ben Alling deserves a huge vote of thanks for organizing and doing much of the work. Every detail was taken care of! Between active duty...
Three-day holidays are the worst for people speeding into town. With summer, people are speeding to their favorite campsite. Sixty miles an hour is reckless driving in city limits and against the law. Where are the officers? At city hall. If there, not there, they don’t seem to be anywhere. When vehicles of authority drive by, I ask myself who it is. The only way to tell if it is police or federal government is by the license plates. Why are the new vehicles unmarked? And since when did the feds stop marking their own security vehicles. M...
China’s growing dominance of critical metals production and stockpiles is setting off global alarms. It has American manufacturers in a bind as they ramp up domestic electric vehicle (EV) battery production. Ores containing these elements are in deposits across our planet; however, the technology to process them is largely in China. As the China Communist Party (CCP) under Xi Jinping exerts its leverage, America and its allies are facing global economic and military challenges. China is t...
When Oregon enacted the nation’s first bottle bill in 1971, it was intended to reduce litter on the state’s beaches, along roads, and in parks. It was a cleanup, not a recycling program. Today, the focus is recycling empty beer, pop, juice, and water containers and it is working very well, in large part because it pays people to recycle. Collect the “empties” and earn a dime for each plastic bottle or aluminum can. It adds up and often is enough money to supplement purchases of food and gas. Ore...
I was talking to a friend who told me she was pulled over on her ATV and told not to travel between Electric City and Grand Coulee. But it is fine to speed in town. I do not know the braking distance of a 100,000-pound tractor trailer. But judging from the amount of roadkill deer I have pulled out of town with my quad, it’s a long distance, and too frequent. The holidays are coming, and so are the trucks pulling boats and motor homes. Two years ago, I had to drive to Spokane five days a week. I noticed drivers don’t speed through Wilbur, tha...
Although New Zealand and Washington are located a half a world apart, they have lots in common — beautiful seashores, majestic mountains, crystal clear streams and lakes, and vibrant salmon and trout fisheries. Both are struggling to rid their air sheds of CO2 and other greenhouse gases coming from the burning of carbon fuels (coal, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel) in vehicles, home heating and electric-power generation. New Zealand and Washington share a common goal to be carbon neutral by 2...
Some would argue that spring is the most wonderful time of the year in Washington. Throughout our state fruit trees blossom, vibrant tulip fields bloom, and colorful lentils carpeted the fields on the Palouse. It is when photographers and sightseers have a field day. While spring is eye-catching, it is the late summer and fall when our state reaps the benefits of the harvest. It is when crops yield “green,” generating cash in markets around the world. While Washington ranks 14th in agr...
In the April 19, 2023 edition of The Star, one of your readers wrote a letter asking about mental health resources in the Coulee Dam/Grand Coulee area. I am happy to reassure your reader that help is available in your area. Your reader was correct that “a person’s mental and emotional health are as important as their physical health,” especially with all the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was a very difficult time for so many reasons. There is a marked increase in the need for behavioral health services as a result, espec...
So why am I writing this letter? I have asked the Chief of Police for 20 years to have an officer do speed control above the canal on SR-174. The answer is always the same: Ok, Rob. Then there is nothing done. I have asked several officers if they would be traffic control on SR-174. Their answers are, I work for the Grand Coulee Dam Project, or there is no place to sit by the road above the canal. People don’t have to pull over if they don’t want to, and, it costs too much to write a ticket. With the cost of gas and time going to court and peo...
Intentionally, the Washington State Legislature, Governor Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, are completely destroying our state. The Democrat controlled legislature has singlehandedly absolved you from having any say over the health of your children as it pertains to gender identity. If your child runs away from home and seeks shelter at a state facility, while seeking gender-transitioning treatment, including puberty blocking drugs that can render a child sterile for life, the state will not contact the parent or guardian. This bill,...
I would like to know how much of our city budget goes to our police department. How long do they get to destroy our city finances? We have eight officers and a sniper. I do notice there is a new SUV in the sniper’s garage (unmarked). I do notice the force also has a new unmarked SUV plus a unmarked cruiser with a police bumper sticker. We lost the Electric City contract, but we did not lose an officer. We hire officers that do not work for the city; they work for the Grand Coulee Dam Project, but where will there retirement come from? Not t...
President Biden is unwisely “throttling up” plans to ditch carbon fuels unilaterally despite the extreme consequences of doing so. He wants to accelerate replacement of gas/diesel vehicles with electrics (EVs) which will be recharged by electrical grids energized by solar, wind and hydro power---- not coal, natural gas, or nuclear fuels. Additionally, in our state, Governor Inslee mimicked Berkeley (CA) building codes stopping the installation of natural gas stoves and water heaters; however, a federal appeals court overturned the ban. The cou...
Police may pursue suspects that pose long-term serious risk to others under revisions of a more restrictive 2022 vehicle chase law that has now passed both houses of this year’s Legislature. Engrossed Senate Bill 5352 was introduced by Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek. “I’m a Black man from birth, my skin tone is brown, but I wore the blue uniform proudly for 31 years as a state trooper,” he said. “I know there are fears out there, but I think legislation like this can bring our community together and help our law enforcement professio...
Today, employers continue to struggle finding enough workers while attempting to bring people back to the office (work sites). A key problem is there simply aren’t enough people to fill available jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported at the end of February, there were 9.9 million job openings and 5.9 million unemployed workers. The Chamber added if every unemployed person in the country found a job, there would still be 4 million vacant positions. As America emerges from the Covid-19 p...
My mom would be horrified by the rash of violence in our schools today. The most recent tragedy at Covenant School in Nashville, where three students and three adults were shot to death, is devastating. It was unimaginable 40 years ago. Mom was an elementary school secretary for 20 years. She wanted us — her four children — to become teachers. A key reason was schools were safe places for kids, teachers, and staff —places where students learned the fundamental skills required in life. Littl...
Developing exciting, supplemental courses that young learners will become motivated about can be challenging. Some schools have proven that it can be done. I don’t recall any supplemental classes when I attended elementary school. Of course, those days are deep in the recesses of my mind, nearly lost to memory. A friend sent me a news item about a school program that peaked my attention. It was about a supplemental course in weather. Sierra House Elementary School is located in South Lake T...
Legislation prohibiting involuntary termination of electric or water services during extreme hot weather was approved by the state House of Representatives 64-31. Current law prohibits utilities from terminating heat utility services between Nov. 15 and March 15 if a resident follows certain steps, including agreement to a payment plan. House Bill 1329, by Rep. Sharlett Mena, D-Tacoma, would prohibit involuntary termination of electric or water utility services due to lack of payment in certain high-heat events. “It’s snowing and freezing acr...
People 18 to 22 will be required to pass a driver’s education course before getting their license if a bill that passed the state Senate becomes law. Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5583, which passed 41-7 on March 1, also includes fee increases. The measure now moves to the state House of Representatives. Sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias, D-Everett, the bill would require people between the ages of 18 and 22 to take a full driver’s education course by a licensed, private driving school or a school district before receiving their license, beg...
Lincoln County has always been a huge proponent of transparency. We believe, as elected officials, that we should not get to decide what the public should or should not know about how their tax money is spent. In fact, in 2016 the Board of County Commissioners passed a Transparency Resolution stating that all future union contract negotiations will be conducted in a manner that is open to the public. Not for public involvement or input but so citizens and employees alike can see how their representatives negotiate what is the single biggest...