News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Several canoes launched from the Crescent Bay boat launch near the Grand Coulee Dam Friday on an eight-day journey toward Kettle Falls. The Inchelium Language and Culture Association, in association with River Warriors and the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT), organized the event for the third year in a row. A film crew from KSPS was present at the event, which included speakers from these various groups, the singing of a traditional song, and mingling between the paddlers and well-wishers...
The city council approved the creation of the position of “city administrator” and to have current clerk Russ Powers fill the position. The council discussed the need for the position and the justification for the added pay that comes with it for Powers at their June 11 meeting. “So the idea here,” Councilmember Aaron Derr asked, “is we’d have someone at city hall that can make more decisions, given that our mayor will typically have a full-time job and can’t be here on a day-to-day basis?” “Correct,” Mayor John Nordine said. “It makes sen...
Imagine how traveling to another country can change your perspective on life. Local cosmetologist Aly Van Geystel doesn t have to imagine, having returned from a month-long trip to Cambodia, where she taught the trade of cosmetology to former victims of sex trafficking so they can start their own careers. She found out about the Justice and Soul Foundation last year, and decided she wanted to be involved in what they do. A lot of the time," Van Geystel told The Star before leaving, former...
The Electric City council last week obliviated the idea of building a $40,000-plus entrance sign to the city. The city conducted a poll at city hall and online of citizens on the idea. Results showed that out of 81 citizens, 62 (77 percent) didn’t want a sign, and 19 citizens did. Citizens running for council or mayor in the upcoming November election, including Diane Kohout, Brian Buche, Cate Slater, Bob Rupe and Cheryl Hoffman, conducted a survey of their own, collecting signatures and asking Electric City residents if they were for or agains...
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture examines the impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in rural America. Widely viewed as a program that helps combat urban poverty and food insecurity, SNAP has seen a greater percentage of utilization in rural areas since the late 1990s. SNAP participation grew exponentially, quadrupling between 2001 and 2013. This growth coincided with the Great Recession and its aftermath. Participation peaked in 2013, when more than 47 million Americans received assistance, but has...
If anyone recently had to be stopped in the construction zone, as new electrical is being installed on the bridge in Coulee Dam, you might have noticed a certain flagger. You already know the one I am talking about. Her name is Lylah and she is the one that gives us the parade wave and million-dollar smile every time we go through. I do mean every time. Her positive energy instantly makes my day a better day. I have also heard others saying she makes an impact in their day. We all know that her...
A plaque with a bronze Coulee Dam High School Beaver mascot will be installed on the basalt pillar in front of Lake Roosevelt Schools and unveiled July 4 at 11 a.m. in a brief ceremony to which all are invited. Coulee Dam High School was open from 1947 until 1971, when it merged with Grand Coulee High School to form Lake Roosevelt. “Beavers sent their fierce spirit to Lake Roosevelt Raiders,” the plaque reads. A plaque commemorating Grand Coulee High School, featuring their Tiger mascot, was installed on the same pillar in 2017. Bert Smi...
So what's going on with the effort to consolidate local towns into one? A group of local business owners and residents who have that goal met Thursday at the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce to discuss the logistics of the ambitious task. The Coulee Area Consolidation Committee consists of people from Electric City, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam and some outlying areas, and those present discussed wanting to bring in someone from Elmer City for the committee as well. The group discussed...
Despite overwhelming public opinion against the idea, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has chosen to ban vehicles from parking on Geezer Beach, located behind the Third Powerhouse of the Grand Coulee Dam. A press release Monday from the bureau announced the decision, emphasizing "safety" as their reason for banning vehicles from the beach popularly fished by elderly anglers who have heretofore appreciated the easy access to the beach. "The Bureau of Reclamation will continue to allow fishing,...
This year’s graduating class, like many classes before them, had to sit in front of an “Oral Board” with community members that had looked over the educational portfolios the seniors had been keeping for four years. They then asked them questions, got to know them, gave them constructive advice and sent them out the door with a positive statement and a smile on their faces. Before I ever worked for Lake Roosevelt, I was one of those community members who volunteered my own time to sit with a gra...
How do you score sports centered around riding big animals like bulls and wild horses? It’s not as if you can see a ball go through a hoop, or someone carry a ball into an end zone. The Star asked George Kohout, president of the Ridge Riders Saddle Club — the organization that puts on local rodeos, including Friday’s Cleatis Lacy Memorial Bull Riding and Wild Horse Racing — to describe how those events are scored. In bull riding, the rider has to stay on the beast for eight seconds and will be judged on that eight seconds. He has to “suppos...
Washington state’s top legal officer will speak at local Rotary club’s June 12 meeting. Attorney General Bob Ferguson will be speaking about the work of the Office of the Attorney General and taking questions from those in attendance. The Grand Coulee Dam Rotary Club’s meeting at The Siam Palace starts at noon next Wednesday, and the public is welcome to attend. Although not a Rotarian himself, Ferguson has the goal of visiting every Rotary Club in the state, with the local club being the 151st out of roughly 180 in the state, according to a st...
Seventy-nine years to the day after the original Ceremony of Tears, about 80 paddlers will leave Crescent Bay in canoes June 14 for an eight-day journey to Kettle Falls, the site of the original ceremony that mourned the loss of salmon from the traditional fishing spot for Native Americans. The Inchelium Language and Culture Association, in association with River Warriors and the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT), have organized the event for the third year in a row. In addition to the 80 paddlers leaving from Crescent Bay for Kettle Falls,...
Eagle parents along the Columbia River have their hands full with four eaglets in their nest in the Washington Flats area. Local wildlife photography enthusiast Nora Gabler Jenn, previously profiled in a Star article titled "Nora the Explorer," excitedly told The Star about seeing the eagles on her frequent drives around the area, as shown on her Facebook page. Jenn is watching three nests of eaglets this spring. "Four eaglets is kind of rare, but not too rare," said Eric Braaten, a local...
The perceived threat to public safety by individuals fishing at Geezer Beach might be mitigated if their attitudes could be redirected. It is conceivable that they may develop an awareness of public image. Notoriety might be attended by a sense of societal responsibility. Activities such as using canes to whack interlopers who encroach on preferred fishing spots, and rolling abandoned vehicles into the lake, may become less frequent or cease altogether. Societal pressures may result in a transition from miscreants to community role models. A...
The heat came into the Coulee like someone opened the oven door to peek at the cookies and the furnace blast hit them at full force. And just like that, summer arrived … and so did everything that surrounds the sunny days of summer in the containment of the Coulee walls. We hit the 90s on the gauge, and boats, snakes, mosquitoes, sprinklers and out-of-state plates arrived. Parking lots full, ice cream shop open and lasers flickering on the concrete blockage of the Columbia. Summer has a...
Lake Roosevelt Schools may receive a smoking rack for meat and some track and field improvements, courtesy of local Boy Scouts who want to earn the Eagle rank. Showaway Hunt and Reniff Herndon spoke to the Grand Coulee Dam School District board at their May 30 meeting to get the board's approval for separate projects they are working on to become Eagle Scouts. Hunt's project is to build a smoking rack for meat. He had spoken to the board earlier in the school year about the project, first to get...
Grand Coulee discussed the scourge of drugs in town at their latest council meeting. “I think we have a bit of a problem in terms of drug dealing,” Grand Coulee resident and business owner Kimberly Christensen said last week to laughter from a city council already familiar with the problem. “I’ve never been around it, I don’t want to be around it, I don’t want to see it. I’m concerned for everyone.” Christensen, who also owns the newly opened popcorn stand “The Popcorn Shoppe” on Midway Avenue and Main Street, addressed the city council May 21...
Grand Coulee could turn over a stretch of the infamous B Street to the Bureau of Reclamation. The city council discussed the topic at their May 21 meeting. Public Works Director Dennis Francis brought the topic up, noting that the bureau didn’t want contractors doing repair work on B Street while they were working on the fire station the Bureau is building along SR-155 where it connects to Industrial Road, a small stretch that connects to B Street. Francis said that Ian Turner, the project manager for the bureau’s fire station, came up wit...
The Colville Tribes have filed a lawsuit against major manufacturers of opioids, alleging devastating health effects on tribal communities resulting from the drugs. A May 10 press release from the tribes detailed the lawsuit, saying that “the Tribes has sued over 25 opioid-industry defendants in the action, which seeks both compensation for costs associated with the epidemic and injunctive relief.” “The Tribes’ complaint,” the press release says, “asserts claims against the defendants for allegedly marketing prescription opioids in a manner th...
A Wilbur man was sentenced May 23 to over 11 years in federal prison for cyberstalking an ex-girlfriend and illegally possessing firearms. Thomas Martin Roberts, 52, had pleaded guilty June 12, 2018, to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possessing an unregistered firearm and cyberstalking, according to a May 23 press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. United States District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson sentenced Roberts to 137 months in prison, to be followed by three years of court supervision after he is...
What good does a sign do if it’s for a business that no longer exists? And what kind of signal does an ugly sign give to a passerby? Grand Coulee Councilmember Tom Poplawski brought the topic of signs up at the May 21 council meeting. “There are signs in this town that need some attention,” Poplawski said, “be it just the cleaning off of bugs where at night you just see nothing else but bugs, to old business signs, signs that don’t do anything for us.” “I have fine memories of the Wildlife,” Councilmember Gary Carriere said, referring to th...
The stated reasons for regulating access to Geezer Beach seem contrived and sophomoric. If you accept the premise that vehicle traffic on the beach poses a threat to public safety, you could argue that boat ramps and public parks have greater potential for incidental events. The (bureau) should produce valid evidence to support their position. If there is an underlying reason for restricting access, let’s hear it. People who visit Geezer Beach for recreation are not hoodlums. They go there to enjoy nature, fish and socialize. Many choose the si...
As the senior class of 2019 inches closer to that day they have prepared for the last 18 or so years, they can now visualize the ceremony, walking down the aisle, family gathered and grasping the diploma in their own sweaty hands. The question they must ask themselves, as hundreds will ask them: “What’s next?” Many will already know, but many more will have uncertainties still. Some have locked in their schooling and will be looking to the University of Idaho, Eastern, WSU and community colle...
The Lady Raiders finished their softball season ranked seventh in the state, the best a Lake Roosevelt softball team has ever finished. The Lady Raiders' successful softball season came to a close in Yakima following a couple of state tournament losses. The Lady Raiders lost their first game against Adna 12-2 May 24 in Yakima. Adna went on to be the state champions. Cassidy Reyes and Emma Marchand had the only two hits for LR. LR's two runs came in the third inning, while Adna's came throughout the game. Adna had eight hits to LR's two, and...