News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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I recently sat down with Senior Terry Yazzie and we talked about a variety of topics. The outcome of our talk was this: This is a young man I wish I could have gotten to know better. He has a great sense of humor, but is so grounded and sees the value in what others around him are trying to do and say to him. So here is a small snapshot of our conversation. “Hard, but fine.” That is how Terry described his senior year to this point. He added, “The work is hard; it’s not a lot of work, it’s just...
Sometimes life throws us situations that make us feel like we are being burned alive from the inside out. A situation happens and it seems that our life has just been set ablaze, never to return to the way it was. But maybe that is just my point. If we truly are walking through the fire, then maybe we should be changed on the other side. When a wildfire rages through the area, as we have all seen and experienced, it can be scary in the beginning. A fire raging out of control, uncontained, threat...
I was going to tell you all about Alianna Rose this week and how she came into the world. As I thought about it, I realized that it was not my story to tell. It is the parents’ story; it is for Levi and Davida Seylor to share with all of you. As much as I want to tell you all about being a brand-new grandparent of a little angel, I am going to refrain. But what I am going to share with you is about a wonderful facility and the people that work in this place called Coulee Medical Center. This p...
This past weekend was a powerful weekend for Karrie and me. I thought I had my column all worked out with exactly what I wanted to share with you all. I was going to give you a glimpse into divine appointments, miracles, listening for the voice and where it can lead you. But things changed before I sat down to write, and my heart took me somewhere else. Or did it? I want to write a column of hope to you this morning. I don’t know exactly who this is for or why exactly I was prompted to change m...
Pretty much any decision made by our state, on anything, our legislation spends a lot of time in Olympia bouncing things from the House of Representatives to meetings in the Senate, back to meetings and round and round it goes until there is a vote and then they vote again on the other side of the building. But no matter what, it either lives of dies on the Hill. I spent the weekend with Public Schools Employees, around 400, as we met with representatives and senators from every district and...
On April 4, 1968, a shot rang out in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated. Riots started in many cities in the aftermath and the United States went into mourning. The leader of the Civil Rights movement have been taken out and our nation was in civil unrest. As we celebrate the day named after the man who is looked at as the pivotal stepping piece in bringing equality to all people, I want to look at his immortalized “I have a dream” speech and pick out a few pie...
Every year I like to look back at the celebrities we lost the year before. As we focus on the blessings of the future, it is good to remember the ones we lost and the foundation on which we are building the next generation. These stars went out last year, but their memory is engrained our thoughts. These are the people that had some sort of impact on me, even though we never met. Penny Marshall, or Laverne as I first knew her, was an icon in comedy. I can remember as a kid watching Shirley, her,...
It seems hard to believe that the actual year is 2019. Just under a year and we will be looking at 2020. When I was a kid I thought for sure we would have floating cars by now and kitchens that made us whatever we could think up, but we still need to cook for ourselves and we still need to dodge potholes as we drive to work. But this year as we move ahead and look to the new year, I am looking forward to the blessings that will be bestowed upon the entire area. I am praying for healing for you....
A young child cannot sleep the night before Christmas. Visions of the toys that will be there, the stockings overflowing with goodies, and the mouthwatering feast all keep a young mind from drifting off. Also, the thought of the little fat man in the red coat delivering something special and eating the cookies left for him, and the child’s desire of catching a glimpse of the mythical being add to the sleeping dilemma. These hopes and ideas are as pure as the freshly fallen snow when we are y...
Continuing on with profiling a senior in Lake Roosevelt High School, this month I chose a senior who follows a family tradition of being profiled right here in these pages. Quincy “The Kid” Williams and the superstar Chasity Williams are ones I have written about in the past two years, so it is a time-honored tradition that this time I write about Gloria “Roo” Michel, little sister to the other two. “Pretty good” is how she answered my first of many questions as we sat down for an impromptu o...
It happened for me on Thursday night at the K Diamond K Ranch. As I sat in this big circle with 21 students from Lake Roosevelt and nine adults, I realized that a dream had come true. Natural Helpers had indeed rebooted itself and was happening. Not only was it happening, but I was one of the leaders, leading it back into the halls of Lake Roosevelt. As all 30 guests and the ranch owner shared their stories with the rest of us, it became abundantly clear that this retreat needed to happen and...
The holiday season is upon us and, as we start our list of chores to do for the festivities, we must remember that this first holiday is all about giving thanks. So amidst the second course of turkey, the third course of stuffing and the fourth piece of pie we should give thanks to what we are all thankful for this year. Then we can go into a coma on the couch watching football. Family. That is the first thing to come to mind this year, and I am truly thankful for them all. Even though we...
If you live in the Grand Coulee Dam area, you know that the large volcano-looking structure beside the high school is called “the sand hill.” It is one of the markers of our little area that has become part of the town. Very much like our dam, North Dam Park, Banks Lake, Siam Palace, Loepps and the TeePee, it has become a part of our community. But the history it holds tells a story that only a large sand hill can tell. Most of us know it is the leftover sand from the construction of our Gra...
There are some students who fly by under the radar, and they are moving to the college of their choice when you realize you missed out on knowing a senior who is pretty special. That is not the case with Rainy Dawn. I met her a few years ago and have been addicted to her personality ever since. So when I sat down with her this past week to talk about all things “her,” I was really looking forward to what she had to say. She did not disappoint. Rainy is one of those rare students. Good grades, go...
If we take a peek into our past and look at options available in it for kids in the Coulee area, we see many things to keep them busy. At one time there were two theaters showing current flicks of the time. There were dances every weekend in different locations. School functions, church functions, community events and traveling enterprises kept our kids constantly entertained, and the great outdoors held many other adventures. Fast forward to when I was a youngster. The Village Cinema in Coulee...
Sometimes a subject, a number or an object comes up over and over again in a person’s life. This object or phrase seems to keep showing itself in conversation, dreams, stories or testimonies, and it makes one think to themselves, “God, what are you trying to tell me?” I have a good friend who is always seeing the numbers 18 or 19. On the clock, in scripture or in normal conversation, when she hears or sees these numbers, she takes notice because God seems to be telling her something and she h...
As you all know by now, I like to profile some seniors at Lake Roosevelt so you can get to know them a little better before they go out and conquer the world. This year there are some outstanding students that I am excited to tell you more about, but I decided to start with the man in the class who has accomplished so much already. I will start with a name you know well already: Kaleb Horn, the youngest of Jason and Erica Horn, brother of Kody Horn, and a man on a mission for his final year as...
Over the weekend, our God showed me he is still present and listening, but more than that, he is moving among his children in awesome and powerful ways. I know some of you read the title and turned to Coulee Cops, but those of you whose attention was caught by the title of this column and are still reading, well, let me explain my weekend the best I can. It starts in 1992. Yep, that long ago. Right after I gave my life to Christ, a couple of ladies took me to a youth camp for the weekend. I slept most of the way and really had no idea where thi...
Someone I know recently came home from a trip to Spokane and declared, “You have to watch this movie.” He was pumped and said that the flick had even moved him to tears. Well that got me thinking: What inspirational movies would I recommend to others? So, I decided to only go with movies that moved me in a dramatic way. This is not a list of action-packed thrillers but of soul-searching, sometimes tear-jerking movies. The first movie that comes to mind is “The Lion King.” It is a good movie,...
We have all taken a different path to get to right where we are today. For some, it has been a long and windy road of ups and downs, mountains and valleys. For others it has been a quick hop, skip and jump, and before you know it you have arrived. Some have been on this path for many years while others are just getting started. So how did we all end up right here, right now? Most of us, when we started this journey, had grander visions and ideas of where we would be five years, 10 years or 20...
It is that time of year again. It seems to come earlier and earlier every year, and our summers get shorter and shorter. It is time for the awesome employees of school districts across the nation to go back to their classrooms, buses, custodial carts and offices. Summer has come and summer has gone (it may be hidden behind the smoke), but nonetheless the school bell has rung. The floors are shiny, the buses are running with a purr, everything is organized, and curriculum is ready to be taught. O...
All of us have stories of this past weekend. I also know that the fire is far from out as I write this, but many of us are taking a breath of not-so-fresh air and relaxing for the first time in days. In the midst of disaster and facing possible loss, heroes emerged for many of us. Some in the form of neighbors and community members; some in firefighters, both local and from across the state. Strangers became a comforting face in the smoke-filled unknown that stared many of us down. Sometimes...
At a recent conference in Kennewick, Wash., two local stars from our school district were honored with high awards. I had the honor and privilege of being on hand when these two powerful superstars in education received their hardware from the elite in the Public School Employees Annual Conference. Our school was definitely well represented, and our school has been put on the map by these two outstanding classified employees. Aaron Derr received the President’s Award for his hard work and d...
In this day and age, the word “relationships” can have a skewed meaning. The younger generation may immediately think of the number of friends they have on Facebook or their followers on Instagram. Others may think of something more intimate, like boyfriends and girlfriends or spouses. But there is more, and I was reminded of that over the weekend at a yard sale, a funeral and a family reunion. The yard sale: Sometimes we can misread a person when first meeting them. This became very app...
Let’s start with the cat. We have a very cuddly and cute kitty named Camaro. She has the sweetest temperament and has stayed pretty small for her age. We adopted her many years ago into our family and she joined Nova and Chevelle in our feline garage. In the beginning, I was not a cat guy. But they grew on me. With every cuddle and purr, I grew fonder and fonder of them. About a month ago, when I was neck deep in graduation and everything that erupts at the end of a school year, we came home lat...