News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1431 - 1455 of 2941
In spite of all the economic factors pointing in the opposite direction, our Okanogan PUD is pushing ahead with the electrification of Enloe Dam. This decision has no basis in reality and defies common sense. The estimated construction cost of $42.5 million dollars is only just a guess. The commissioners admit they have no idea what the actual cost will be. Whether $45 million, $60 million or even higher, this powerhouse will never pay off the borrowing required to build it. The annual losses of $2 million dollars projected by the PUD make this... Full story
Coulee Dam's town hall will end up with an almost entirely newly refurbished police department, community ballroom, kitchen and more after repairs to damage done last winter from a variety of causes. The work will likely cost more than $100,000, with the bill paid, for the most part, through insurance, says Mayor Greg Wilder. Last December a hot water heater in the kitchen off the facility's ballroom blew its top, flooding water went undetected for some period of time while no one was in the tow... Full story
Man, you’d think we’d just come out of a long winter and every part of the community was now straining with fresh green shoots of progress at the first rays of sunshine. The buds are everywhere: a rebuild at Coulee Dam’s town hall, plans for patching in Electric City, a needed new crosswalk in Grand Coulee, a new building for mosquito district equipment, kids performing in a musical and a junior rodeo. And those are only the buds we had room for this week. News is fun when it’s full of good stuff. We’ll have more next week, having to do with o... Full story
More than 60 engaged county residents attended the April 23 Community Outreach Meeting in Okanogan to hear Commissioner Chris Branch speak about Okanogan County. For almost an hour the commissioner spoke about current and future issues before the county, and the importance of being involved in good governance. He also answered audience questions. Afterward, attendees brainstormed ways to be informed that included attending commissioner meetings, researching county issues, increasing voter registration, encouraging citizen participation in... Full story
One bright spot in an otherwise troubling political scenario is the significant change in Okanogan County governance made by our two new county commissioners, Branch and Hover, during their first four months in office. Now that they are elected, they need citizen participation and support. Improvements and involvement opportunities include: On Thursdays at 8 a.m. on KOMW, Branch and Hover address important county issues. A Methow broadcast may soon be available. Citizen comment opportunities are scheduled most Tuesday afternoons, and the commis... Full story
I have significant differences with Donald Trump’s political stances, but I want him to enjoy a successful presidency. It’s good for neither the country nor the world when a U.S. president struggles or fails. Yet I also believe that constructive criticism can help a president grow more capable. It’s in this spirit that I want to take a hard look at the Trump presidency so far. President Trump’s personal and stylistic approaches may have served him in business and on the campaign trail, but are problematic in office. He has an unfortu... Full story
An article in last week’s Star, written on an event that occurred at deadline, accurately reported the event on which we had limited information available — except for one word. “Vandalism” was the wrong choice in the headline of “Daylight vandalism” over the photo caption that relayed our reporter’s eyewitness account of a pickup truck crashing through the fence at the Lake Roosevelt High School athletic field, then spinning in circles, throwing up turf and damaging the grounds before taking off up the road and getting stopped by a police o... Full story
Washington, along with every state in the nation, utilizes a gas tax to provide a major source of funding for roads and bridges. It has been a reliable workhorse for decades, but its future sustainability is uncertain as vehicles become more fuel-efficient and alternative fuel sources emerge. We all want to lower our costs of owning a car and many of us want to leave less of a mark on the environment. As gas consumption goes down – for all the right reasons – gas tax revenues also go down, whi... Full story
A high speed chase ended on Peter Dan Road when two vehicles, a car and a truck, both crashed into the landslide that spans the road. A woman, apparently a nearby resident, told The Star that two suspects then took off on foot, and that police were going to houses looking for them. The resident also said that a SWAT team was on the scene in full uniform with guns drawn. No further info is yet available. A witness in Coulee Dam said a car speeding down the hill at Grand Coulee Dam hit the bottom... Full story
Coulee Dam’s new wastewater treatment facility got big push ahead last week as the town council approved interim financing to get the project started, then approved the bid to build it for more than expected, but with more cost-saving features. The council awarded the construction bid Wednesday to McClure and Sons Construction of Spokane, which bid $5,609,399.07. That award was contingent on the approval of supplemental funding from the US Dept. of Agriculture for extra work engineers deemed prudent to lower long-term operating costs. The t... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation is asking for comments from interested parties on a planned overhaul of 18 generators in the left and right powherhouses of Grand Coulee Dam. The generators have been in service for some 70 years and need repair, the bureau has said. Doing the work would keep them making electricity for another 30 years. In a draft environmental analysis, the bureau lays out its preferred of three alternatives: Do the upgrades on two generators at a time and complete the work between 2018 and 2029. Another alternative would extend the... Full story
The local PTA is looking for support to continue filling in an important gap in the curricula offered by local school districts. Each year the group funds or sponsors a variety of worthwhile events, the latest being the science fair at Lake Roosevelt Schools. Next up, it will bring the Missoula Children’s Theater to town so local students can get a taste of a subject not offered here — drama. In a world focused on what is viewed as practical — science, math, engineering — it’s important to remember that those critical disciplines focus on... Full story
The little shop on Main Street that opened with coffee, knickknacks and T-shirts three years ago now plans to expand its restaurant offerings outside. Junkers, which began offering subs and wrap-style sandwiches in January 2016, will add outdoor seating within a month, say owners Richard and Mandi Button. That seating will be offered under a shade canopy Richard has built and will install in the grassy area he leveled and built up at the corner of Main and Spokane Streets in Grand Coulee, about a block off Midway Avenue. With the canopy,... Full story
Okanogan County commissioners declared a state of emergency Monday, due to threat of flooding and debris problems on county roads. Commissioners passed the resolution after county roads suffered damage from heavy precipitation recently. They acknowledged the continued threat of heavy rain has created a danger to public health and the safety of those using county roads. The Charlton Complex and other wildfires stripped vegetation from hills in the county, resulting in flash floods with mud and debris being swept over roadways. Commissioners... Full story
At one point it seemed that for several years, the local community slipped by without a home burning down. That was unusual, a local fire chief and I agreed, hoping the trend would continue. It didn’t. Although home fires are reportedly less common in recent years than in the decades earlier, they still happen too often. Families in this community have suffered three in the last few months, including one on the front page of this issue. Firefighters remind us to keep batteries in smoke alarms, and change them about every six months. Figuring ou... Full story
I just wanted to congratulate you on the Guzman story. At a time like this, stories about immigration have political ramifications, and it is courageous of you to publish this story, which approaches the process with compassion and a level, fair eye. Bruce Holbert... Full story
Fourteen months ago, the sudden passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia left a void on the nation’s highest court. Not only did the court lose an esteemed colleague, but the nation lost an eloquent advocate for constitutional limits on government and preserving the rule of law. In the intervening months, the question of who should replace Justice Scalia was put before the American people. Now, with Senate confirmation of U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch, a new voice advocating for judicial restraint and original i... Full story
After years of court dates and a life put on hold, a former Lake Roosevelt High School Spanish teacher had a burden lifted by Okanogan County Superior Court Monday, when it dismissed charges of identity theft and forgery. After receiving a call from a woman in California four years ago, Coulee Dam police checked the Social Security number Guillermo Guzman-Romo had used to apply for the Spanish teacher job at Lake Roosevelt High School. It was the same number he'd used as he worked to put... Full story
When you lose a child, at any age and whatever the cause, it changes the rest of your life. Each day you wake up wishing it weren’t true, wanting to cry and scream when you realize it is true and then you resolve to finding your new normal in this day, just like every other day since their death. We, like most, were not prepared to make arrangements on his lasts, like you get to when you’re preparing for their firsts. We will never know what his children will look like, how successful his career would have been, and we will never again sha... Full story
After several months of repeated phone calls to Representative Newhouse’s staff, I finally received confirmation that he will be scheduling a constituent meeting during the April in-district work session (sometime between April 10th and April 21st). This meeting will likely take place in Yakima, but all from the 4th district who want their voice heard by Newhouse should plan to attend! Meeting directly with our elected officials is the most effective way to make our voices heard and our beliefs represented in our democratic government. U... Full story
Leaders at Coulee Medical Center will submit to its federal funding agency by the end of the week a plan to turn the facility around financially. That plan will show a reduction in wage and benefit costs of $2.1 million a year following decisions made by Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Owens to cut staff in non-patient care positions. “People understood that we needed to adjust where our focus was in the facility,” Owens said of the general reaction in the hospital, which has employed as many as 225. “If it wasn’t a direct patient care positio... Full story
Some 34 injured veterans and 20 host boat captains made a day of fishing on Banks Lake Sunday, the first of what organizers said they hope is an annual event. The Fallen Outdoors organization takes veterans on outdoor excursions and says its mission is to "film and show real-life American soldiers balancing duty for their country and passion for the outdoors." Eastern Washington Team Leader David Atteberry said the event had been planned for March 10 but was postponed because the lake was... Full story
You hear all the best teachers talk about it, and last Thursday night anyone who attended the PTA’s science fair at Lake Roosevelt Schools got a little taste of it, as well. “It” would be the “Aha!” factor, the real reward that teachers crave when that light comes into the eye of a student excited for having just learned something new. Talking with each of the students who entered their science experiments, it was apparent they’d taken great interest and care in putting together some fairly sophisticated evidence and arguments, and accepted th... Full story
This is a letter to all those vying for a position on the Tribal Council. You should do three things after becoming an elected representative. First: Change the name of the reservation. REASON: Time has long since passed that we continue to call ourselves colvile Indians and understand that there never were any colvile Indians. That we must either change to our language name “Syilx People” or our dominant tribe “Okanogan” (no matter how you spell it)! Second: Change the length of service for councilpersons to four years. All you do now is find... Full story