News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Grant Transit Authority, which provides bus services through Grant County, will be buying four more buses with federal grant money. The acquisition of those buses will not add any routes to the Grand Coulee Dam area. Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell announced Dec. 2 that the Washington State Department of Transportation will receive $3,932,622 in federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration “to provide improved bus service to rural areas across the state,” a press release from her office states. “WSDOT will receive funding for the r...
Are smartphones a hindrance to learning in the classroom, or an asset? A recent article in The Star reported on smartphone-related discussions at a recent Grand Coulee Dam School District board meeting. That article directed readers to a poll on the topic to get their opinions. The article was also shared to The Star’s Facebook page asking people to take the poll. Although only receiving 30 responses, a variety of viewpoints were presented in the results, including those of two students, eight teachers or staff members, 13 parents, and seven w...
An unexplained phenomenon took place 35 years ago on a farm on a plateau west of Omak Lake in which a three-ton piece of earth was lifted out of the ground, landing some 73-feet away. It's still a mystery. No signs of machinery were seen near the 10-foot by 7-foot hole, nor near the relocated piece of earth, which is said to have fit the hole like a jigsaw puzzle piece, like it was cut with a giant cookie cutter. Greg Behrens, who worked as a geologist for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the...
The air around us is polluted, and the level of pollution in our air varies constantly. The causes of the pollution fluctuate as well. The pollution consists of gases and particulate matter. Common “natural” sources are forest and range fires, volcanic activity and various gases that originate in nature. Most all of these natural sources are not constant, unlike the sources that humanity produces on a recurring and regular basis. Envision pre-historic human activity after fire became part of...
With an ever-growing presence of smartphones and tablets in our lives, how do they fit into the school system? The topic of smartphones, and therefore social media, came up multiple times at the Grand Coulee Dam School District's Nov. 25 board meeting. Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School Principal Kirk Marshlain, in his report to the school board, spoke about a new practice on his side of the K-12 school complex: assigning unique passwords to students to access the internet, passwords... Full story
The Grand Coulee City Council voted last week to extend their contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to keep a portion of B Street closed for up to another year during construction of the bureau’s new fire station. The council discussed some of the frustration of closing the street for another year at their Nov. 19 council meeting. Councilmember Tom Poplawski said he’d like to add a penalty clause that says the bureau has to pay a penalty if the project isn’t done before the end of 2020. Councilmember Mike Horne agreed that would be a...
The local port district set a formal deadline of Dec. 31 for the sale of Banks Lake Golf Course to Rattlesnake Ridge to be completed. Grant County Port District 7, which manages the local airport and Banks Lake Golf Course, signed a purchase and sale agreement earlier this year to sell the golf course and some surrounding land to Rattlesnake Ridge for $1.8 million. The company gave the district $10,000 in earnest money toward the sale. District Commissioner and President Jim Keene said that he recently had told Scott Gerrits, the president of...
A local museum focused on honoring the people who make the community's history now has a collection of tools from a worker on display. Antique hammers and wrenches were donated by Robert McClure this month to the Coulee Pioneer Museum in Electric City. The hammers belonged to Delbert McClure, Robert's father, and a former mayor of Electric City in the late 1960s who also owned Del's Texaco there. Amanda Covey, who volunteers at the museum, which is open from 1-5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday,...
The Lake Roosevelt Raiders' football season ended in Kalama in the second round of the state playoff tournament Saturday. In Kalama, the Raiders played against the Kalama Chinooks, losing 43-0. "Obviously Saturday didn't turn out how we'd have liked, but we lost to really good football team," Head Coach Tim Rasmussen said. "It was a fantastic opportunity to travel and play on turf and experience what the elite football programs at our level look like. We can use it as a tool to be able to help...
At the same meeting in which their public works director described the “dilapidated” state of some of Electric City’s water and sewer system, the city council voted to change the firm that plans and engineers major upgrades on those systems and more. The city council chose Century West Nov. 12 to be the city’s new engineering consultant firm, ending a 35-year relationship with Gray & Osborne, approving the recommendation of a committee tasked with comparing different engineering firms. That committee was made up of Mayor Elect Diane Kohout,...
A proposed $1.4 billion hydropower project is looking more likely to happen in the area, its promoters say, and would bring in 1,000-1,500 workers during construction and create 100-150 permanent jobs. The Banks Lake Pumped Storage Project would be a gravity-fed, pumped-storage system, draining water from Banks Lake, back down to Lake Roosevelt, turning generators in the process, and later pumping the water back up to Banks Lake. One or two penstock pipes, up to 35 feet in diameter, would run...
Justin Miller has been selected as the new fire chief for the Electric City Volunteer Fire Department. Miller’s appointment to chief was approved by the Electric City Council at their Nov. 12 meeting. Miller has served on the department for 16 years and was a lieutenant prior to being appointed chief. Mark Payne, who was recently fired as chief, was present at the meeting and said that Miller would be a good selection, and that he feels Miller will do a good job. The council also approved a stipend to the fire chief of $25 per fire training o...
Imagine opening an old envelope and catching a glimpse of history. Grand Coulee man Fred Long received a few items that belonged to his brother, Robert "Bobby" Long, after he passed away recently, including an unsigned letter titled "This is Persia, The Way a G.I. Soldier See's It," dated November 13, 1943 from "Iran Persia." Fred Long knew right away it wasn't his brother's handwriting, but since Robert Long, along with his other brother Harry, had served in Persia at that time, Fred Long...
The grounding of the 737MAX is testing Boeing’s resiliency. It has turned the company upside down in just six months. Boeing executives and engineers have been under duress since the two fatal crashes killing 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia, and that is likely to extend well into 2020. What started as a continuation of a most successful 2018 for Boeing has turned into prolonged migraine. Hopefully, the world’s most successful aerospace company will weather the storm and quickly con...
In August 1934, the Silas Mason Company, headquartered in New York City, began building a new "all electric" town next to the Columbia River in eastern Washington State. The town, called Mason City, was named after Silas Boxley Mason II, who was the Chairman of the MWAK consortium that won the contract to build the Grand Coulee Dam. Silas was married to Suzanne Dallam Burnett, an accomplished thoroughbred racehorse trainer and owner. Suzanne owned Lexington Kentucky's Duntreath Farms and 1933...
The Lady Raiders ended their volleyball season by competing in the state tournament for the first time since 1991 as they lost in two games in Yakima last week. Lake Roosevelt first played the Kalama Chinooks Nov. 14, winning the first set 25-15, but losing the next three 25-13, 25-16, and 25-21 for a 3-1 final. That evening, the Lady Raiders faced off against Chewelah, again winning the first set, 25-13, and dropping the next three 25-19, 25-9, and 25-15. "We had a wonderful season this year,"...
Many Raiders and Lady Raiders athletes have received “All League” honors from the Central Washington 2B League, nominated and chosen by coaches from the league. All four teams made it to the post season this year. In football, in which the Raiders will compete in the state quarterfinals Saturday, Hunter Whitelaw was named as First Team quarterback; Sam Wapato was named as First Team receiver; Trevon Johnson, Josh “Bobcat” Flowers, and Myka Boyd were all named as First Team offensive linemen. Malachi Rasmussen was named as Second Team receive...
A garage fire in Grand Coulee was extinguished before it spread on Monday afternoon, causing mostly smoke damage, with no one suffering any injuries. “It could have been way worse,” Marjie Gallagher said about the fire that she said was caused by a wood stove. Her husband, Don, has power tools in the garage at their home on Roosevelt Drive, she said, among lots of other stuff, but she wasn’t sure of the extent of the damage yet. “It’s just a big mess, really,” she said, adding that they are still able to stay in their house and aren’t in n...
Two local towns will directly lose transportation funds because of the passage of a state initiative. Electric City and Elmer City will lose a bit of revenue from the recent passage of a statewide initiative that, among other things, limits how cities can collect money for their transportation benefit districts. Electric City and Elmer City each have charged a $20 fee per vehicle registered to their residents, which brought in about $17,000 for Electric City’s TBD and $6,000 for Elmer City’s, according to their city clerks. Grand Cou...
First of all, thanks to everyone who has supported me the past years as Electric City Council member. Congratulations to the Electric City Council and mayor elect. I wish them the best in their journey the next few years. I only hope that the community will support them in this journey at public meetings and at monthly council meetings. Birdie Hensley...
Just before Veterans Day, the last known survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor died at age 98. With the passing of George Hursey of Massachusetts, it closed that chapter of World War II — the world’s most deadly conflict in which over 60 million people perished. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941, “the date which will live in infamy.” During the surprise attack, 350 Japanese aircraft descended on Pearl Harbor and nearby Hawaiian military installations in two waves. Mor...
The Lake Roosevelt Raiders football team is going to state, hosting a first-round game on Saturday, following a solid victory in the district crossover game. In Coulee Dam on Nov. 8, the Raiders annihilated Liberty Christian, 61-14. Liberty Christian started the game off looking good, leading 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. But those were the only points Liberty Christian would score. LR put 27 points up on the board in the second quarter to lead 27-14 at the half. The Raiders then scored...
The Lady Raiders volleyball team is Yakima bound, having qualified for state for the first time since 1991 with a 3-0 victory over Mabton last week. The Lady Raiders had lost to Lady Bears Nov. 5 in Brewster, 3-1, winning the first set 25-21, then dropping the next three 25-8, 25-30, and 25-11. But Lake Roosevelt then went to Wenatchee for district play Nov. 7, when the ladies faced off against Mabton, winning in three sets 25-23, 26-24. and 25-16. That win solidified their going to the state...
Raider Kyle Edmo ran at the 1B/2B state cross country meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday. Edmo placed 110th out of 154 runners with a time of 18 minutes, 40.1 seconds. Daniel Quintana of Ilwaco won the event in 15:55.8. "State went great!" Head Coach Ann Green said. "The early morning was pretty cold but warmed up just before his race. Kyle definitely gave it his best and that's all you can hope in an athlete." "This season has not only been great, it's been a huge learning...
The Lady Raiders soccer team's fourth season ended in the playoffs last week, the first time the team made it to the playoffs. Lake Roosevelt lost a soccer playoff game 6-3 in Tonasket against the Lady Tigers on Nov. 5. Bryn Chaffee scored a goal and had an assist. Jasilynn Schilling and Madisyn Toulou each scored a goal. Kyona Edmo made seven saves at goalie for LR. "Thursday's game with Tonasket was hard to swallow," Consultant/Trainer Randy Semanko said. "We thought we had prepared well and w...