News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Communication between the Colville Tribes and the Grand Coulee Dam School District should be prioritized, officials from both groups say. At their meeting Monday night, GCDSD School Board directors hosted the chairman and other members of the Colville Business Council, the governing body of the Colville Confederated Tribes. With 37.8% of students in the district being enrolled tribal members, and more being of tribal descent, the school board has spoken frequently in recent years about wanting...
There should be plenty to do around town with 10 events planned for 2022 in the Coulee area, including a monthly market with beer and music, but the biggest event faces multiple challenges this year. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce has a slew of events scheduled for the year. The Triple Fish Challenge is scheduled for April 9-10; Colorama from May 6-8; the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus on June 2; Koulee Kids Fest on June 18; the First Friday Night Market will run from June to October, the Festival of America on July 4; the Run...
A while back a person told me I’m always fighting for the underdog. I liked Underdog as a kid but was more of a Popeye fan. I was hoping the GCDSD high brass would not feed me more spinach. However, more cans were opened with leaps of abstraction by the GCDSD Board. Blaming the failure of both levies on the pandemic and reminding us that elections have consequences is unbelievable. These disastrous results are due to their poor decision making over the last few years. This is a self-inflicted wound that they’re responsible for. Now they want to...
A lot can be accomplished in a lifetime. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce is starting a new award for lifetime achievement in honor of Colleen Manley who died unexpectedly earlier this year at the age of 63. “If you have been a part of this community, then you knew Colleen,” Chamber Executive Director Rachelle Baughman said at their March 8 meeting. “She was a huge aspect of this community. Colleen did a lot. She was a part of the chamber, she was a part of the Rotary, she was a part of the Lions. I’m not even sure of everything sh...
Coulee Medical Center employees walked into local businesses last Friday to spread awareness about colon cancer. The walk was a new local twist on a longstanding emphasis in medicine - prevention. Eighteen CMC employees walked from the hospital to more than 25 local businesses in Grand Coulee, where they gave gift bags that included pamphlets about colon cancer and CMC's services, stickers, bracelets, and fiber bars. Chief Medical Officer Doctor Sam Hsieh told The Star a bit about colon cancer...
It’s the year 2022, and racism is still an issue that children face at school. Following a report of racist behavior at a basketball game in Okanogan, the school district there has been investigating the matter, and a report is anticipated to be done later this week. Lady Raiders Assistant Coach Matthew Pleasants reported that while he was reviewing video of a Feb. 18 game in Okanogan, he noticed that some fans at the game had made monkey noises while a Lady Raider who is African American and a tribal member was shooting free throws. P...
"What a year to start a business," Morgan Tillman said last night about starting her Elmer City salon in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tillman's Apothecary Salon was awarded Business of the Year by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. "It was quite a wild ride," Tillman said. "I'm thankful to be a part of the chamber and the community that's been so welcoming." "There's a lot of excitement around this business, which I think is fabulous," Patty Oliver of PK's Culinary...
Raider players learned some lessons at the state 2B basketball tournament last week in Spokane where they competed against top teams from around the state. "That experience of going to state is something you can't take away from these boys," Raider Head Coach Jeremy Crollard said. "Playing in the Arena is a different atmosphere." At the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena March 2, the Raiders faced off against the Coupeville Wolves. Coupeville started the game with a 9-0 run before the Raiders got...
The Lady Raiders competed in the state 2B basketball tournament last week, taking on teams from around the state and capping the year with the best game they've played all year, according to their coach. "That was fun!" Lady Raider Head Coach Peewee Pleasants said about playing La Conner in the Lake Roosevelt team's final event of the tournament at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane on Friday. Pleasants said the Lady Raiders hadn't that quality of competition all season, and the girls...
Lady Raiders Assistant Coach Matthew Pleasants came across something shocking while reviewing video from their Feb. 18 game against the Okanogan Lady Bulldogs. While a Lady Raider, who is of African-American descent as well as a tribal member, was shooting free throws, Okanogan fans jeered at her by making monkey noises. Pleasants and his father, Head Coach Wallace “Peewee” Pleasants, are also African-American, and Matthew Pleasants, said that he found the jeering “disheartening” but added that he wasn’t “one bit surprised.” That type of behav...
With mask mandates changing around the country and in the state of Washington, people expressed mixed feelings in a Star poll this week. Readers who took the poll on state mask mandates ending in March are split over the topic, with 56.5% being comfortable with the idea, and 43.5% being uncomfortable with it. Gov. Jay Inslee announced Feb. 17 that Covid-19 mask restrictions will be loosening on March 21 for the state, the date "we project we will be in a position to be able to reduce some of...
There'll be a new superintendent in the Grand Coulee Dam School District for the 2024-25 school year. Current Superintendent Paul Turner told the district's board of directors Monday that he intends to retire after working part time for two more school years. Turner noted the past two years being hard both physically and mentally caused him to look at his personal situation and his future, leading to his decision. A full-time assistant superintendent will be hired to potentially, but not definit...
I recently had one of those annual medical examinations. While waiting for the doctor, I was required to provide answers on a questionnaire. “Have you ever had this or that medical issue?” Finally, the questionnaire posed a set of state-of-mind questions ending with, “Are you happy with your life?” I answered, yes, I am happy with my life. The doctor looked at the questionnaire and remarked, “We don’t see many people like you.” My satisfaction with my life is not because of great achievements; I am in the ordinary category. It is because I am...
The Raider team demolished their opponent at the regional round of the state 2B basketball tournament to qualify for the next round at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Wednesday. The ninth-seeded Lake Roosevelt team beat the number-16 River View team by 38 points, 80-42, on Feb. 26. The win sends the Raiders to the next round, tonight, March 2, at 9 p.m. at the arena when they will play number-eight seed Coupeville in a fight to keep their season alive. If they win, they will play Liberty...
The Lady Raiders basketball team lost the regional round of the state 2B tournament but were scheduled to play again today at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena to keep their postseason alive at the State 2B Basketball Tournament. The sixth-seeded Lady Raiders lost 70-50 against the number-three seed, Colfax Feb. 25 at University High School in Spokane Valley. "We played against a high-caliber team and it took us a while to get going," Assistant Coach Matthew Pleasants said. "The start of the...
A man who was unconscious in his burning car gets to continue to live with his family thanks to local heroism. Three Jess Ford employees saved the Ephrata man's life in December. Joshua Bessette, 46, of Ephrata, was on his way to work at the Grand Coulee Dam on Dec. 3 at about 7 a.m. He was driving north on SR-155 at about milepost eight between Coulee City and Grand Coulee near the Million Dollar Mile, when, according to a report from Washington State Patrol Trooper John Bryant, he left the...
With mask mandates set to lift in late March, half of school district personnel are skeptical about the idea, and our readers can voice their own opinions in a brief online poll. Governor Jay Inslee announced on Feb. 17 that Covid-19 mask restrictions will be loosening in March for the state. As of March 21, masks will still be required at medical facilities, long term care settings, public transit, correctional facilities, and at whatever private businesses that choose to require them. They will no longer be required at schools, libraries,...
I am a lifelong Washingtonian and practice full-spectrum family medicine, including surgical obstetrics and hospital care at a Critical Access Hospital in Northern Grant County. Coulee Medical Center provides crucial access to healthcare services in an area of very high need, and passage of HB 1868 could have disastrous consequences for a small yet crucial rural hospital that is already straining under the demands of the pandemic. I work as a hospitalist seven days each month and am the Acute Care Director, and I have personally witnessed and...
Europeans have invaded Russia twice. Napoleon invaded Russia with a force of close to half a million troops. He advanced to Moscow, but the Russian government had relocated. The brutal Russian winter arrived, and Napoleon’s army froze, starved, and died of disease as they retreated from the country. Germany, under Hitler, invaded Russia at the outset of World War Two. The Germans sent their best armed forces to the Eastern Front to fight the Russians. Seventy percent of Germany’s casualties were sustained fighting the Russians. During the war...
The Raider wrestlers did it again, producing two state champs and two second placers over the weekend, with the team taking third place in the state. "Every single wrestler on the team won a match at state and scored valuable team points to allow us to get third," Head Coach Billy Monroe said. "When the season started, we were ranked as the seventh best team in the state, so I think we surprised quite a few other teams and coaches with how tough our kids ended up being." At the state...
With roughly 56% of voters voting against two levies in the Grand Coulee Dam School District last week, school board members are looking into running just one levy in November. In the Feb. 8 election, the Educational Programs and Operation Levy failed 631 votes to 483 among voters in the district, while the Capital Levy for Safety, Technology and Facilities Improvements failed 599-477. Combined, the two levies would have brought in a combined $1.4-$1.7 million per year from 2023 to 2026 into the school district. Superintendent Paul Turner...
Fences were built last week to close a popular beach at Steamboat Rock State Park a year after the decision was made to close it. In January of 2021, The Star reported that a stretch of beach, located near the main boat launch in the park, was being closed due to erosion and to protect resources, according to employees from the park as well as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Originally, a fence was going to be built from a point on the beach near the boat launch, up to an access road, around a...
The amount of force a police officer uses must be “proportional and reasonable,” a bill approved recently by the State Senate says. The bill also specifies officers will also be allowed to engage in vehicular pursuits as long as there is “reasonable suspicion” when making a traffic stop. The Senate voted 31-18 on Senate Bill 5919 on Feb. 9 with a handful of Republicans joining the majority Democrats. The bill cleans up language adopted last year on the use of force that many in the law enforcement community said was confusing and contradictory....
In the wake of the pandemic, Seattle Children’s Hospital reports an increasing number of children need outpatient mental health treatment, but not enough providers exist to meet the demand. “The devastating consequence of the inability to access outpatient care is that you’re likely to get worse and need emergency department or crisis level care,” said Kashi Arora, from Seattle Children’s Hospital. House Bill 1800, now under consideration in the state Legislature, creates a behavioral workgroup to identify barriers to behavioral health services...
Aijanae Young is a birth postpartum doula, a person who delivers non-medical care after birth. She said she didn’t realize the value she brought to her clients until she was the one in need. Young said before her doula arrived, she felt her pain and symptoms weren’t being addressed, and she had to fight to have the support she needed. “My doula listened to my cries, saw my struggles, she said. “I was afraid and suddenly didn’t know what to ask.” Doulas can provide physical, emotional, and informational support during and after pregnancy,...