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 National Weather Service is warning us to expect heavy snowfall from Tuesday night through Wednesday night, Nov. 29-30, that may make travel "difficult or impossible." An alert issued early Tuesday morning says people in the area from Highway 28 north, reaching to Wauconda and Republic, can expect 5-9 inches of snow, with mountain areas getting up to 10-15 inches. The snow is expected to start about 7 p.m. Tuesday night. Areas south of Highway 28 (the highway that connects Soap Lake and...
Leaders in Electric City Tuesday night approved a slightly revised contract for police services with Coulee Dam after clarifying some language in it. The Electric City Council voted unanimously to approve the contract that will put the city’s law enforcement in the hands of Coulee Dam instead of Grand Coulee for the first time in many decades. Coulee Dam’s council voted last Wednesday to approve the contract with clarifications that had been worked out the prior two days after its last special meeting to consider the contract. Those inc...
The powers that Google and Facebook have over economic and political power in society - especially over the news industry - has caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington, DC. After a close election and many worries over the quality of public debate, many ask if social media have played a role in the misinformation that erodes our free press and plagues our democracy. Nowhere is this power more daunting than in the social media giants' use of news organizations' reporting, which the...
We’ve been visiting the area for 15 years and recently purchased land for our retirement home. The culture of the GC community is reminiscent of the small towns we grew up in and we intend to get involved. Reading about the plan to allow Dollar (General) to invade the area was dismaying! Not only do these stores undermine local merchant stability (just like Walmart) but they are notorious for L&I infractions! Corrine Behme...
In Central Washington, we have so much to be thankful for. This Thanksgiving, as we come together with our friends and family, don’t forget to take a moment to give thanks to our hard-working farmers, processors, and food bank workers throughout Central Washington who work to provide the food on our plates. From the turkey to the stuffing, our farmers probably played a part in your Thanksgiving dinners. Many of the potatoes, onions, winegrapes and other Thanksgiving favorites you consume were grown right here in Central Washington, making up a...
The local school levy was passing by a better margin after vote tallies continued Tuesday in the four county election offices involved, with more ballots yet to count in two counties Thursday and Friday. With a total vote so far tallied at 630-571 in favor, Grand Coulee Dam School District’s Proposition No. 1 was winning in all counties but Grant by 52.46% of the vote as of 6:13 p.m. Tuesday night. That 4.92% margin had slimmed down from 5.66% an hour earlier after Grant County counted another batch of ballots, bringing their uncounted e...
Electric City will change from hiring Grand Coulee’s police department to enforce law in its city to contracting with a city slightly further away — Coulee Dam — after reviewing proposals from both departments for future police services. Details are still being smoothed out following a Monday city council meeting in Coulee Dam in which council members asked for clarifications, but their consensus was to accept the agreement in principle after clarifications were made. The deal will require Coulee Dam’s two-man department to double personn...
School board members Monday night accepted new “tuition agreements” between districts that have already been doing for decades what the new contracts will make legal, in the eyes of federal regulators. Grand Coulee Dam School District directors voted to OK the so-called “tuition” pacts with Nespelem and Keller school districts, whose students eventually attend junior high and high school in Coulee Dam, bringing with them federal “Impact Aid” funds to help pay for it. Because those schools get paid at a higher rate than the Coulee Dam distric...
I read the recent Star news article appearing in the October 26th issue of the Star. It was reported, at the October 18th Grand Coulee City Council meeting, during the public comment period an attendee, Darryl Hackworth, spoke. Mr. Hackworth said he had been working with “Dollar General” regarding setting up a retail shop in Grand Coulee on property located on Federal Way, behind where it intersects with Midway Ave. As an area resident, I personally feel the possibility of a Dollar General locating in Grand Coulee would be deleterious to our...
Give President Joe Biden some credit for mid-term election Democratic successes when most everyone, including the media, predicted otherwise. Instead of focusing on himself, he quietly avoided states where he’s unpopular and helped Democrats win Pennsylvania where he grew up and is still popular. He presented us with our country’s greatest challenge: to save our democracy from autocratic ambitions of the MAGA faction that dominates the Republican party. He inherited a mess and time spent cleaning it up detracted from time for positive acc...
For decades, Central Washingtonians have had to fight to make our voices heard over the noise of outside interest groups and government bureaucrats who think they know what is best for our communities. Unfortunately, last week’s decision by the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reopen discussions on introducing grizzly bears, an apex predator, into the North Cascades Ecosystem proves that, once again, our voices are being ignored. The debate over grizzly bear introduction in Washington state is nothing new. In 1995, W...
The school levy was barely passing Tuesday night by a margin of just 1.38% of the 866 votes counted so far. The measure, which asked to replace the Grand Coulee Dam School District's current levies with one at half the combined rate of expiring levies, had slipped into the fail bracket by the slimmest of margins, two to five votes, in each of the four counties involved except Douglas, where it held a 23-vote favorable margin. Ballots could be postmarked by Tuesday, or inserted in a ballot drop...
Utility line crews in Okanogan County were still fixing outages from Monday's storm late Monday afternoon. In the immediate Grand Coulee Dam area, only a few flakes fluttered here and there, but a bit north it was a different story. Okanogan County reported at 10:38 a.m. Monday that electric utilities were experiencing small outages around the county, including Nespelem Valley Electric Cooperative. "It was the heavy, wet snow that was the culprit," NVEC General Manager Kevin Black said Tuesday as his linemen were finishing repairs near Bridgepo...
An Electric City couple pressed the city council Tuesday to start a discussion on the in-town deer population, which they said is now increasing and becoming a problem. Robbin and Carol Boyce said they’ve lived in the area since 1989 but never had problems with deer before 2010, and now it’s getting worse. Carol Boyce described problems with deer now ranging from her apparently tasty forsytvuhia bushes that are “just about toast” to an overly familiar buck who spooked her visiting adult granddaughter by coming too close behind her in the yar...
Central Washington is lucky to be home to over 33,000 veterans. As our nation observes this upcoming Veterans Day, we reaffirm a solemn promise to remember and honor the men and women of the United States Armed Forces — past and present. Although Veterans Day was established to remember and revere the sacrifices of so many, our veterans deserve to know their country is looking after them and their families each and every day. I have spent much of my time in Congress meeting with veterans across Central Washington and learning about the i...
Lake Roosevelt High School postseason sports came to an end Friday night when the Raiders lost to Liberty High School's Lancers at Spangle, 15-6. That loss came a day after the Lady Raider volleyball team lost in Omak in their bid to advance past the District 6 semifinals in three sets to Manson on Thursday and in three sets to Okanogan on Saturday afternoon. They finished the season with a 10-8 record overall, 8-6 in league. Raider Coach Bubba Egbert was disappointed not to get to advance this...
A federal funding problem that could have cost the Grand Coulee Dam School District millions in future years, and several just past, has apparently been averted, Nespelem School District Superintendent Effie Dean said Monday. Federal authorities reviewing a practice the two districts have used for decades to share federal Impact Aid took exception to it last spring. The two districts, since 1995, have operated under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that some of the money from the federal Impact Aid program coming into Nespelem would be...
I didn’t believe my wife when she told me there were 80 students at the elementary Raider cheer clinic last week. So, I went to the game and once again she was correct – darn it! It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Totally awesome! A fan by me said the mini cheerleaders were adorable. Great job Coach A. and Coach Tufts. My wife said she could not have done it without her wonderful assistant coach and hardworking high school cheerleaders. Appreciated the simple fun, enthusiasm and tremendous energy so much! John M. Adkin...
“Police spoke to a man at Safeway who was reported as acting strangely and not speaking. The man did speak to police, saying he wanted a drink. Police told him he wasn’t welcome at the store, and then found that he was wanted on a felony warrant out of Okanogan County for assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, theft, and another assault charge. Officials in Okanogan were unable to speak to the officer, who was told to call back in 30 minutes. The officer found this to be an unreasonable amount of time to detain the man outside of Safeway, so...
I have worked in some form of law enforcement in Okanogan County for 31 years having started in Winthrop. The last 3 years have been a rollercoaster ride with COVID and the negative changes in the laws that were passed in WA State. Sheriff Hawley has made his way through unprecedented times and has succeeded, with more hard work to come. His education and experience have all been in the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office and living in Okanogan County which makes him the best choice. He has gone from Corrections Officer to Deputy then Sergeant a...
A tragedy that unfolded in Keller Thursday quickly spread to Nespelem as police searched through the night for suspects in the killing of two people and the shooting of a police officer in Keller. As police from agencies far and near answered a call not heard by residents listening to scanners for clues about what was happening, Colville Tribal Emergency Services posted a warning on Facebook about 7 p.m. asking Nespelem residents to stay in their homes. The mayor also issued that plea and added...
The Colville Tribes and top federal officials of the Environmental Protection Agency met Tuesday to discuss and announce proposed changes to air quality regulations that affect some Indian reservations, including the Colville Reservation. The Federal Air Rules for Reservations (FARR) apply to all residents and businesses on or within 39 reservations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation hosted the EPA's deputy administrator, Janet McCabe, and...
Police were not giving out any information tonight as officers from various agencies arrived from far away to diverge on Nespelem, where tribal police were searching for an active shooter. Colville Tribal Emergency Services posted a warning on Facebook about 7 p.m., asking Nespelem residents to stay in their homes. The mayor also issued that plea and added that a car chase was happening with someone shooting at police. Many commenters on Facebook made statements on social media giving other...
Maybe she thought she could trust me, or maybe she just really needed to tell someone right then. We were both about 10, and our conversation then sheds light for me on a minor item in today’s report from the Elmer City Council meeting last week. She’d come over to our house with her parents, who were friends with my parents. Sally and I didn’t know each other well, but got along OK. She was with me when I fell off the cliff, but that will come a little later on in this story. This is about her, and all of us. We lived at the foot of Marshal Gr...
I have known Melissa Chlarson for over 30 years, and I am proud to support her as our county’s next Superior Court Judge. Melissa and I both grew up in the Columbia Basin and attended Moses Lake High School together. Years later, we graduated from Gonzaga Law School and started our legal careers as young associate attorneys in the same law firm in Moses Lake. I argued countless motions in front of Melissa when she served as the Grant County Superior Court Commissioner. She was always well prepared, respectful, temperate, and conscientious of t...
