News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Articles written by jess utz


Sorted by date  Results 26 - 38 of 38

Page Up

  • What's next?

    Jess Utz|May 29, 2019

    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...

  • Senior Profile: Olivia Antone

    Jess Utz|May 22, 2019

    As we get closer to this year’s graduation day at Lake Roosevelt, I sat down with one of this year’s seniors and we had a great conversation filled with tears, hope for the future and advice. Here is a little bit of my chat with Olivia Antone. “I feel more accomplished.” That is how Olivia started her answer about her senior year. “I am more stable in my head and am able to focus on my classes.” Olivia explained to me that her high school years were not the easiest for her. There were lots o...

  • Unity is the key to a lot of doors

    Jess Utz|May 15, 2019

    I have been hearing the word unity a lot lately. Its meaning, according to the dictionary, is “a state of being united or joined as a whole.“ It also has a mathematics definition. The number one is also called unity. Unity is a word that never meant much to me except for its importance, but I can see this word’s meaning becoming something applied in all areas of life. In a marriage, in a business, in a school, in a church, in a community and in government, having a united body is the key to un... Full story

  • "Gem in the Coulee – John Huston" Part 2

    Jess Utz|May 29, 2013

    I decided that at least once a week I would dig up a gem of a person in the Grand Coulee area and write about him or her, someone that might do pretty cool things or have an amazing heart that might go unnoticed. Here is part two on the local gem named John Huston, who regularly is sent to disaster areas and just got called by FEMA to Oklahoma after the latest tornado. John is a servant of God, in his words, and just wants to do what he feels the Lord called him to do when he was a teen.... Full story

  • Spirit is alive and well

    Jess Utz|Oct 10, 2012

    Homecoming week for LRHS was fun to be a part of and it showed me spirit is alive and well. The halls of LR were decorated with different genres of music. Rap, country, techno and rock boomed in the halls of Raider Country. During the week, if you ventured in you might have spotted a Jeff Foxworthy type redneck, a hurricane victim or a wave of Raider Pride. The end of the week concludes in a powder puff football game and a boys’ volleyball match. All classes versus classes. I know that f... Full story

  • Jess, Shut Up - When scary is an understatement

    Jess Utz|Sep 12, 2012

    Back in the early 1990s, I was sent to the Chelan area for a large fire that was burning. Deano McPherson, Flint Bjorson and I took a structure truck over there as part of a “structure protection strike team.” One day we were set up in the Navarre Coulee and were told the fire was coming but it would be hours. Our main objectives were to protect the homes we could and to not let the fire cross the highway. We spread out our trucks at the different residences there and started our wait. The hou... Full story

  • Through destruction to “the plantation”

    Jess Utz|Aug 1, 2012

    The family and I headed out for camping last week near Republic. It was an awesome example of nature’s power as we drove through the Keller and Republic areas. I can just not do justice in words to what the area looks like following the big storm July 20. I have heard from people that live in hurricane and tornado areas that it is hit—and-miss, referring to what neighborhoods and whose houses are destroyed. It is very similar in how the wind storm took areas of trees out of the ground and lai... Full story

  • Cartoons - not like they use to be

    Jess Utz|Jul 18, 2012

    I was watching cartoons the other morning with my nephew, Terrill, and man have things changed. It seemed that all the cartoons he was watching had killing, fighting and weapons of some sort. Violence seemed to be the plot in all of them. I quickly did some channel surfing until I found the good old Looney Toons. After some disagreement between myself and a 9-and-a-half-year-old, the TV was turned off and outside he went. Whatever happened to the Jetsons, Strawberry Shortcake and He Man. Charact... Full story

  • How summers should be spent

    Jess Utz|Jul 4, 2012

    Well, summer might just be making an appearance in the Coulee, and it got me thinking. When I was a kid we spent just about all day outside. We just had to be home before dark. All day outside. I know, kids, it’s an absurd concept. When I was old enough to ride my bike without supervision (that may never have really happened) we were on the road. We rode all over, pretending we were star-fighters or Top Gun jets or big mean bikers. We set up race courses and jumps and pretended we were Evel o... Full story

  • Jess, Shut Up - Wisdom in a grove

    Jess Utz|Jun 20, 2012
    1

    There is a man in Seaton's Grove that has wisdom beyond a lot of us. I can first remember meeting this Wizard of Wisdom when I was a small child. I would go to his shop and look at all the fish. Tank after tank of colors and swimmers, crabs and fish. His greenhouse was a warm, misty walk of blooms that matched the color of his fish. The outside was just as glorious as the inside, a garden walk that was capped off with a frog pond. As I grew up in the area, I wandered into Seaton's Grove Green... Full story

  • Coyotes, Colorama, and Cletis

    Jess Utz|May 23, 2012

    I learned a valuable lesson a couple weeks ago. It all started when one of our cats, Nala, was killed by coyotes in the middle of the night. It was hard for all of us who had ever petted her soft fur. Now, some of you guys out there are thinking about taking some man points away from me, but just wait. I racked my brains for ways to “pay back” these no good, sneaky, K9s. But, after many hours of scheming, I concluded there was nothing I could legally do to these vicious wild dogs that lived in... Full story

  • Jess, Shut Up - Continuing my tour

    Jess Utz|May 9, 2012

    After the last column I had many people come up to me, saying, “Hey you forgot about …” this business and that business, and they were kinda right. So I will continue my tour of local businesses, 20 years ago …( and my mom says hi from Wildrose, N.D.). Where LePresa now is was Rapid Roberts.Video games, pool tables, curly fries and all the cool kids hung out there. After Rapid Roberts, That Italian Place offered gourmet pizza there (the seafood pizza was my favorite). Where Flo’s now is was Be... Full story

  • Jess, Shut Up - Missing the missing trees

    Jess Utz|Apr 4, 2012

    Over the last few weeks, trees and shrubs have been disappearing between Pole Park and The Star newspaper. The culprit? USBR. This made me think of the joggers and walkers that use that path every morning, afternoon and evening. Shade will be gone, protection from the rain and wind gone. It made me think of the bicyclists in the triathlon and the new view that awaits them as they exit Grand Coulee and head for the dam. I also thought of the birds (birding is a new hobby of mine, even though my... Full story

Rendered 07/21/2024 21:45