News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Ballots are coming soon. In 10 years of working for John Knodell, I was able to observe a true professional, a master of the art, craft and science of a trial lawyer, brilliant not just at interpreting the law and applying the facts and evidence, but also in advocating for crime victims at trial, but fair to ensure that the accused’s rights were protected. John was also a brilliant defense attorney, having represented many in Grant County; that is why he could always look at both sides, the strengths and weaknesses of a case, and make the t...
So far, 180 businesses in Grant County have received grants amounting up to $10,000 for economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Grant County’s Economic Development Council doled out the awards in three phases. Phase one awards totaled $438,000; phase two awards totaled $910,000, and phase three awards totaled $339,000 for a total of $1,687,000. The money comes from $2.5 million set aside from the county’s $5 million total they received in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, Economic Security (CARES) Act funds the county received. Local bus...
Despite a large amount of opposition from the public, the swim dock at Spring Canyon will be removed under a new management plan at the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. The National Park Service released a Finding of No Significant Impact for the Environmental Assessment of the Visitor Use Site Management Plan for the park, which includes Spring Canyon among eight other sites. An Oct. 2 statement from the NPS says that "as funding is available," the NPS will implement proposed actions...
Voting by mail in Washington is safe and secure, Kim Wyman, the secretary of state and the state's top election official has said repeatedly over the last several months. But President Trump's insistence that it's not, as well as changes happening in the U.S. Postal Service lengthening delivery times have concerned the public. That's had Wyman, a Republican seeking her third term in office, also touting the state's system of ballot drop-off boxes. "Our experience in Washington," she wrote in... Full story
For as long as I can remember, political signs have been a staple during the campaign season. And, historically, both parties and candidates have respected the First Amendment rights of one another to support their candidates by displaying campaign signs. These are often displayed in citizens’ yards, on their private property or on public land where allowed. Although, some neighborhoods, such as ours, have a covenant that prohibits yard signs. We were made immediately aware of this fact after putting two Biden-Harris signs and Gov. Inslee s...
Let’s not risk losing Chris Branch as Okanogan County District 1 commissioner. I can confirm the complexity of an Okanogan County commissioner’s job, having taken notes at commissioners’ meetings since 2014. It includes such duties as writing and repealing laws; land use decisions; economic planning; coordinating over 20 departments, such as public works, the judicial system, emergency management; and more — including responsibility for an approximately $70 million budget. With this job, varied and extensive experience are crucial. Previou...
Once again, we endured the intrusion of wildfire smoke into our atmosphere. The National Weather Service has taken note by releasing interesting data regarding wildfire smoke. The data show the percentage of time certain areas have had smoke days for the months of August and September going back to 2006 and compare how often National Weather Service stations in the Spokane County Warning Area reported smoke or haze. The weather stations include: Coeur d'Alene, Spokane (Spokane International...
School district directors did not rush into a decision Monday to reopen Lake Roosevelt Schools sooner than the start of the second quarter, but students who need to will be able to start using the computer labs this week. The Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors held a Zoom meeting Sept. 28 that included a discussion on reopening school to a hybrid model of distance learning and classroom learning, in which some students would be in the school on Mondays and Tuesdays and others...
In Okanogan County, voters will choose a candidate in the upcoming election for Commissioner District #2 between incumbent Andy Hover, a Republican from Winthrop, and Katie Haven, a Democrat from Twisp. Hover "I have been an Okanogan County Commissioner for almost four years now," Hover told The Star in an email. "In that time I feel proud about the state of financial affairs that I have helped bring to Okanogan County. I feel proud that I can see county government working more efficiently for t...
The rate of COVID-19 cases has gone down in the state of Washington, and in Grant and Douglas counties, but has gone slightly up in Okanogan and Lincoln counties over the last week. Counties need an incidence rate of 25 cases or fewer per population of 100,000 in the past 14 days to move forward a phase in the Washington Safe Start Recovery plan. And to partially open in-person schooling, that rate must not exceed 75. Here are the latest data for COVID-19 in Grant, Okanogan, Lincoln, and Douglas (GOLD) counties. As of Sept. 29, Okanogan County...
Local science teacher Derrick Johnson launched a helium weather balloon that went up in the sky over 87,000 feet to "near space," a place "where you and I would not survive, no matter how much oxygen we would breathe or how many coats we would put on," Johnson told The Star in an email. A video on YouTube shows the flight as the balloon goes up and up, showing Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake, as well as other surrounding areas from a greater and greater distance, eventually showing the curvature...
Operating a public school during the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t easy, but optimism remains with the COVID incidence rate in Okanogan County being low right now. As if to underscore the challenges, regional internet service for many went down Tuesday night, right before the Grand Coulee Dam School Board was to meet, via Zoom, to consider whether to partially open in-school teaching. “Everybody’s totally stressed out, it’s been totally nuts,” Superintendent Paul Turner had said Monday over the phone about the new, currently online-only school ye...
COVID-19 cases seem to be going down in the area, with Okanogan County meeting requirements that would allow it to open up more. Counties need an incidence rate of 25 cases or fewer per population of 100,000 in the past 14 days to move forward a phase in the Washington Safe Start Recovery plan. And to partially open in-person schooling, that rate must not exceed 75. Here are the latest data for COVID-19 in Grant, Okanogan, Lincoln, and Douglas (GOLD) counties. As of Sept. 22, Okanogan County had 1,042 total cases, including 13 deaths. There... Full story
What happens in China doesn’t always stay in China. We learned that a couple of years ago when the Chinese stopped buying massive volumes of the world’s used paper, plastics and textiles; and, again last March when the coronavirus escaped Wuhan and spread across the planet. Like other nations, China is struggling with the deadly Covid-19 virus and suffocating under mountains of trash its residents generate each day. Wuhan hospitals generated six times as much medical waste at the peak of the out...
Construction was started on October 13, 1938 of the first boat to navigate what would become Lake Roosevelt. The project was started on the east shore of the forebay, just above the dap. It was to be 64 feet long, with a 24-foot beam and designed to draw 5 feet of water. The boat, which was sponsored by the Bureau of Reclamation, was also going to be used by the Works Progress Administration to help clear debris from the lakebed of the future reservoir. Afterwards it was to be used for...
A pedestrian/bike path along SR-155 that would connect the Coulee Playland area to Banks Lake Park is still in the works. With the path in the design phase currently, the path between the north end of Electric City and the south end of Grand Coulee would be completed in 2021. The vision for the pathway is a half-mile-long paved area less than 10 feet wide on the lake side of the guardrail along Banks Lake, where pedestrians and cyclists can travel comfortably. The $707,800 project will be paid for with $672,410 from a Washington State...
The incidence rates for COVID-19 have gone down significantly in Grant, Okanogan, and Douglas counties, while Lincoln County’s rate surged last week, and two additional cases have popped up in both Elmer City and Nespelem. Counties need an incidence rate of 25 cases or fewer per population of 100,000 in the past 14 days to move forward a phase in the Washington Safe Start Recovery plan. And to partially open in-person schooling locally, that rate must not exceed 75. Here are the latest data for COVID-19 in Grant, Okanogan, Lincoln, and D...
Oscar Osborne had a pure-black, well-trained cattle horse he named Tommy. One hundred years ago Oscar ran the largest, arguably oldest, cattle ranches in the Grand Coulee, selling beef to far away places like Seattle and Spokane. His beef was featured at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, where a huge portrait of him herding cattle around the horn of Steamboat Rock hung. Word is that Texas Jack had stolen and attempted to sell his trained stallion Tommy, and the horse was nowhere to be found. Oscar gathered up a posse and waited for Texas Jack to...
Replanting the millions of acres scorched by wildfires in our western woodlands will be herculean task priced in the hundreds of billions. Thankfully, many businesses, such as Bank of America, Microsoft, and Salesforce, have joined with conservation organizations to fund planting a trillion trees in our public forests by 2028. B of A pledged $300 billion to fight climate change by planting young seedlings. Salesforce plans to “conserve and restore 100 million trees,” according to Fas...
A porcupine that survived the largest of the wildfires in the state, has been recuperating in the care of its human neighbor. Riley Wisdom was driving Sept. 10 on the road leading to her home, along with her boyfriend and mother, when they saw the porcupine they had named Porky huddled by a tree in an area scorched in the recent Pearl Hill Fire which had burned nearly 234,000 acres, including right up to their home located about 30 minutes from Mansfield. "She has lived on our road for several y...
Electric City has a newly formed planning commission now. Mayor Diane Kohout announced at the Sept. 8 city council meeting that members were chosen for the commission: Chairman Don Redfield, Secretary Doug Lockard, Alric Miller, Steve McDaniels, and Ian Turner. The commissioners will be joined by Councilmember Brian Buche, City Planner Kurt Danison, and Hearing Examiner Andrew Kottkamp. The commission will "review and advise the City Council on public and private activities involving the...
Small businesses that operate in Electric City will be receiving some financial relief from the economically distressed times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Electric City council voted at their Sept. 8 meeting to approve distributing $24,000 in federal relief money to local businesses through a grant application process they held during the summer. The money comes from a grant program set up using some of the city’s $30,900 the city is qualified for in total in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds. The 12 b...
Cases of COVID-19 continue to accumulate in local counties, but the rate at which they occur has decreased for some. Here are the latest data for COVID-19 in Grant, Okanogan, Lincoln, and Douglas (GOLD) counties. Counties need an incident rate of 25 cases or fewer per population of 100,000 in the past 14 days to move forward a phase in the Washington Safe Start Recovery plan, and most local counties are far from that goal. As of Sept. 6: As of Sept. 8, Grant County has: 2,497 total cases, including 16 deaths; seven cases in the Grand Coulee Dam... Full story
The Grant County Commissioner #1 position is between Earl Romig of Moses Lake and Danny Stone of Hartline, both Republicans. Stone lives north of Hartline and Almira and manages a dry-land grain operation in Grant and Lincoln counties. He has served as a Precinct Committee Officer in both Lincoln and Grant Counties and currently serves on the Executive Board of the Grant County Republican Central Committee as the 12th Legislative District chair. "I am a Christian and a constitutional...
“Standing at the foot of History” were the titles of Roger Lucas Reporter’s Notebook in the Star. This is really true in the Grand Coulee Dam Area. We live under the shadow of one of the Greatest Project ever built, Grand Coulee Dam. But there is some much more history in the Grand Coulee Dam Area than Grand Coulee Dam which visitors from all over the world flock to this area to see. I am glad that Roger and his family have had to the opportunity to visit so maybe places of history around these United States. I was born in Seattle and because a...