News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 2306 - 2330 of 2933
Nearly half a century after hundreds of American Indians were arrested during the "Fish Wars" in the Northwest, a proposed state bill would give those who were convicted a chance to clear their records. Along with arrests, American Indians were repeatedly harassed and beaten while trying to exercise their treaty rights to fish, according to Hank Adams, a Sioux-Assiniboine tribal advocate. "Fish-ins"--illegal encampments modeled after the sit-ins of the civil rights movement--were set up by...
by Scott Hunter A draft budget for the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District could be slashed in half, or not, depending on what other agencies do. The $57,005 bottom line for the agency with no direct revenue of its own would have to be altered substantially if levels of support from local cities stay low, or if Grant County commissioners don’t approve a grant request for work the district would like to accomplish this year. Chairman Phil Hansen’s simple budget includes a donation of $9,000 from Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam, but neither has... Full story
Having recently moved from the Grand Coulee Dam Area, I thought that it was a community to have been proud of for many reasons. However, the recent actions of the new mayor of Coulee Dam and the head administrator for Coulee Community Hospital make me feel like I just got out in time. Mayor Wilder’s grandstand play on the computer issue and Graham’s thinly veiled attack on Dr. Castrodale make it clear to me that neither belongs in the position he holds. Frankly, hurt feelings that can’t be put aside on the part of both men tell me that their... Full story
I wish to sincerely thank my family and friends for the overwhelming support I have received. A famous poet wrote: and if paraphrased – Which gave us the maxim that it is the rare person who supports a struggling, wounded man in his time of direct need. More importantly, thank you for the concern shown for my children and parents after their unfortunate crash. It will be a long road of recovery for them as well. I have been shown, the coulee area has an abundance of such rare and noble people and the effect your support has had on me during t... Full story
The Raiders defeated Entiat at home on the 11th due in part to a high scoring fourth quarter. LR won by the score of 51-42 over the Tigers to improve the Raiders' win-loss record to 5-4 overall. The Raiders started slow as the first field goal of the game came with four minutes left in the first quarter. Entiat took advantage of the Raider sluggishness to take the lead 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter Entiat played with a determination to avenge their earlier loss this... Full story
Five of 12 Raider wrestlers placed in last weekend’s Rainier tournament, securing a ninth-place finish for Lake Roosevelt at the 17-team tournament. Some teams at the Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial Tournament split their JV wrestlers off, increasing the scored squads to 31 at the event on the other side of the Cascades. LR and Pateros were the only B schools in attendance. At 126 pounds, James Monaghan knocked off a number-one seed, which impressed both his coaches; and Oscar Pakootas faced a t... Full story
The opt-up deadline for the 2014-16 classification cycle has passed and the final number counts are in. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s 2B category will hold 59 schools in the new classification cycle, up 11 from the current cycle. The number spread for 2B in the 2014-16 cycle will be 92-225 students in grades 9-11. After a heated school board meeting, in which many spoke for and against moving down, Okanogan decided to drop down to 2B rather than opt up to 1A. Brewster did not repeat the 11th-hour opt up as in 2012 and... Full story
A computer used by Coulee Dam’s former mayor is missing, and the new mayor has asked the sheriff to investigate the possible theft of public property and destruction of public records. Newly elected Mayor Greg Wilder said when he entered the office at the beginning of the year, a brand new computer was already there for his use. It had never been used, and no files existed on its hard drive. Wilder, who defeated Quincy Snow in the mayoral race last fall, had earlier lodged a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission alleging the i... Full story
A special meeting of the commission that governs Coulee Medical Center, originally called for last night, was postponed, likely until Thursday night, Jan. 9, because an attorney central to the agenda could not make it out of Spokane due to snowy roads. [Update 1-9-14: Confirmed: the meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight.] A majority of the five commissioners called the special meeting to consider, among other things, hiring a different law firm, a proposal that died at a regular meeting of the commission Dec. 26, less than two weeks earlier.... Full story
An Omak woman was injured and flown to a hospital after the car she was driving hit black ice Friday morning. Maya Best, 31, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with unspecified injuries after the 2007 Ford Freestyle she was driving slid off highway 155 about 11 miles north of Nespelem, close to Disautel Pass. As Best was southbound at 7:15 a.m., her car hit black ice and slid off the road to the right and into a boulder, then came to rest blocking the northbound lane at about milepost 56, according to a Washington State... Full story
A fire that scrambled area fire departments to the Third Powerhouse at Grand Coulee Dam last week started in an air filter. It put out a lot of smoke, but, unlike fires in other power plants at the dam last year, didn’t affect power production. A contractor working on the overhaul of of G-24, one of six massive generators in the power plant, had been sand blasting the interior of the generator’s shaft, according to Public Affairs Officer Lynne Brougher. In that process, a dust collector separates air from dust, which it deposits in a bar... Full story
The kids were long boarding, not skateboarding! They need a hill to ride down and now someone felt the need to tell the police. Were they really doing something that terrible? It is risky, but the alternative in the winter seems to be sitting in their room and playing video games. I remember riding dirt bikes at the Hills below East Heights until the complaints came, then it got shut down. We then rode in the mud when the river was down or when the lake was down, until that was shut down. So we rode in Barker Canyon until that was recently... Full story
How many times do we look around the community and not see what’s going on? I know it’s only human nature to complain when things aren’t right and not compliment on a good job, but I think it’s about time to thank some of these federal entities, the people doing the work and their contractors on a job well done. For instance, Grant County has done a great job on the road to Eden Harbor, with new gravel and grading even tough the rug dumpers had been there the same as North Dam Park, leaving their garbage around. For the Park Service to allow us... Full story
The Lady Raiders recorded their first two wins of the season at the Tonasket Holiday Tournament, where they took the championship. “We started to play better defense and played good team ball.” Head Coach Wallace Pleasants said. “The girls passed the ball and the right person had the ball to take a shot; there was a good balance on the floor.” LR won the first game Dec. 27 over a Tonasket team who had sneaked away with a win two weeks earlier from the Raiders. The Lady Raiders came out fast, leading Tonasket at halftime, 24-8. In the second... Full story
by John R. McNeil II Raider wrestling took part in two tournaments over the holidays, placing third at home and eighth at Warden. “We had a great day full of good matches,” Head Coach Steve Hood said of the Raiders’ own Powerhouse Tournament on Dec. 28. The Raiders finished third overall, with 97.5 team points. Okanogan took the championship. At 126 pounds, the Raiders had two wrestling — James Monaghan and Zack Erickson. Monaghan won his first match against Riley Prescott of Okanogan, 15-4. In the championship match for 126, Monaghan faced T... Full story
The Raiders split at the Tonasket Holiday Tournament Dec. 27-28 to take home third place, then defeated Waterville Jan. 4 to go 2-1 on the holiday break. With the wins the Raiders improve to .500 on the season, 4-4 overall. This week marks the start of Central Washington 2B League play, and with no clear frontrunner, the league title is up for grabs. At Tonasket the Raiders rematched a Tiger squad that had beat them by 24 points Dec. 10. The game was close all the way through, with Tonasket leading just 20-17 at the half and never by more than... Full story
A committee formed to try to heal a critical breach between health care providers and administration at Coulee Medical Center recommended hiring a consultant to investigate what the committee heard from staff and community members over the last five weeks. Commissioners Jerry Kennedy and Kris Hare reported at a regular meeting Dec. 26 that many had shared concerns in confidence and were afraid to speak critically of administrators for fear of job consequences. “Many of the personnel concerns expressed require additional investigation, more inve... Full story
The weather elsewhere is disrupting events in the coulee tonight. A special meeting of the local hospital district commission will be postponed until probably Thursday, Commissioner Geary Oliver said. An attorney central to the agenda can’t make it from Spokane, where cars are piling up due to snow conditions. And tonight’s Raider basketball games with White Swan have been cancelled due to inclement weather in Yakima. They will be rescheduled, said Athletic Director Rich Black....
A special meeting for Tuesday night has been called of the commission that governs Coulee Medical Center. A majority of the five commissioners set the special meeting to consider, among other things, hiring a different law firm, a proposal that died at a regular meeting of the commission Dec. 26, less than two weeks earlier. At issue were public complaints about stopping a popular discounted lab test week. Commissioners Jerry Kennedy and Geary Oliver had served as a committee to look into obtaining independent legal counsel for the board to...
An Omak woman was injured and flown to a hospital after the car she was driving hit black ice Friday morning. Maya Best, 31, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with unspecified injuries after the 2007 Ford Freestyle she was driving slid off the highway 155 about 11 miles north of Nespelem, close to Disautel Pass. As Best was southbound at 7:15 a.m., her car hit black ice and slid off the road to the right and into a boulder, then came to rest blocking the northbound lane at about milepost 56, according to a Washington State... Full story
A new mayor and two new council members were sworn in at Coulee Dam last Monday. Mayor-elect Greg Wilder, and council members-elect Gayle Swagerty and Duane Johnson all took their oaths of office at a ceremony at town hall with U. S. Attorney Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney from the Eastern Division of Washington, and Dana Cleveland of the Office of the Reservation Attorney at the Colville Indian Agency, officiating. Over 60 persons showed up for the official swearing in process.... Full story
Four individuals with records of service to the community have been nominated for the annual volunteer of the year honor, and the community will now choose. It could be a difficult choice, but the one chosen will ultimately serve as an example, as do all nominees, of how individuals can follow an ideal, a philosophy of helping others. Jerry Birdwell, Heather Downs, Fern Blaylock and Jan Erickson each have passionate supporters who appreciate their good work in the community. Their letters nominating these individuals have all been published in... Full story
Several people have taken the time to write out some great explanations as to why they believe their particular nominee deserves to be recognized as the 2013 volunteer of the year. We hope readers will take time to review those nominations and help select the honoree by writing us a note on their choice or going to the online poll at grandcoulee.com So much needs to be done in any community to keep it moving in a good direction. Volunteers who work for the good of all simply because it’s the right thing to do make progress possible. Honoring o... Full story
Against tough competition, Raider wrestlers took fifth place at a Cashmere tournament Dec. 21. Lake Roosevelt placed higher than Reardan, Cascade (Leavenworth), and Omak. It was sweet revenge for the Raiders, who had lost a dual meet with Omak four days earlier. That dual at home ended with the final score of Omak 54-LR 24. The Raiders had to forfeit to the Pioneers at six weights, giving them many easy points. Of the 11 matches wrestled against the Pioneers, the Raiders won five. Alexia Hanway, at 112 pounds, won both her matches against Shyan... Full story