News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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OLYMPIA -- A state of emergency was declared late Tuesday, July 14, in 20 Eastern Washington counties in response to multiple wildfires threatening homes, businesses, public infrastructure, and natural resources in many parts of the state as fire crews face continued severe fire weather conditions. The proclamation was signed at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, acting for Gov. Jay Inslee, who is on state business in Washington, D.C. Firefighters are battling multiple fires in eastern... Full story
GRAND COULEE, Wash. – Lorri Lee, Regional Director for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Pacific Northwest Region, announced today that Coleman Smith is returning to the Pacific Northwest Region to serve as the Grand Coulee Power Manager. Smith replaces Mark Jenson who now leads the Grand Coulee Power Office Project Management Team. “It gives me great pleasure to announce Coleman’s return as the Grand Coulee Power Manager,” said Lee. “He has an in-depth understanding of our power program, and with previous experience as an Area Manager, he understand... Full story
A crew of six tribal fisheries staffers are working on the Sanpoil River from mid-May to July to catch as many walleye and smallmouth bass as they can in hoping to improve redband rainbow trout and kokanee runs. The work is part of a "Chief Joseph Kokanee Enhancement Project" that began in the spring of 2011 and is expected to continue through 2017, a press release from the Colville Tribes' Fish and Wildlife Department states. Over the past three years, fisheries staff have been working to... Full story
KELLER FERRY – Due to rising river levels, the Keller Ferry north shore terminal will be moved from the low water ramp to the regular ramp on Thursday, May 22, 2014. The process will begin at about 9 a.m. and can take up to 5 hours to complete. During this work, motorists are advised to use alternate state routes for their travels. The terminal is moved to the low water ramp in the Sanpoil River arm when Lake Roosevelt water levels are 1,238 feet or lower. As water levels rise toward summer elevation (1,290 feet), the terminal is brought b... Full story
The Keller Ferry is back in service as of 12:30 p.m. today (Friday, May 16). An elusive issue with the computerized steering system on the Keller Ferry vessel, M/V Sanpoil, disrupted regular service on the Columbia River route for the past seven days. Last Friday, May 9, at about 3:30 p.m., one of the ferry operators experienced an anomaly in the steering of the vessel. A supervisor was advised and the vessel was taken out of service. WSDOT advised the US Coast Guard of the steering issue and they officially removed the vessel from passenger... Full story
Explosive material has been found in the bed of the drawn down Lake Roosevelt at the north end of the reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam, and authorities think more may exist. The National Park Service was notified April 22 that explosive material had been found on the west side of the lake, near milepost 243 on state highway 395 north of Kettle Falls, WA. The material was contained in tubes, about a foot long and several inches wide, labeled “Senatel Magnafrac.” The Spokane Bomb Squad responded and destroyed the materials. On April 24, 2014 the...
Grant PUD security personnel found an old pineapple-style hand grenade below the high water mark of the drawn-down Columbia River near the Old Vantage boat launch in Grant County about 6 p.m. yesterday. The WSP bomb squad responded and detonated the grenade. Local residents in Sunland Estates and Vantage may have heard the explosion. The grenade was a fragmentation style device of a style developed for use during World War II. The style was used by U.S. armed forces until the late-1960s. The... Full story
GRAND COULEE, Wash. - The Bureau of Reclamation awarded a $697,000 contract March 10 to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to provide security and law enforcement services on Reclamation lands and at Reclamation facilities located on the east side of the Columbia River. The security and law enforcement services include the Third Powerplant, Downriver Trail and dam tour building. These services will be provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week beginning April 1. The contract also allows the Colville Tribe to assist the... Full story
[Note: This story contains corrected copy after the CCT administration issued a corrected press release correcting an error in the vote count and adding additional facts about the referenced ethics complaint.] NESPELEM, WA – Following several months of investigation and meetings of the Tribal Government Committee’s Rules Committee, the Colville Business Council (Council) voted today to expel Benjamin Marchand, Jr. from their ranks. Mr. Marchand served from the Omak District. His term was set... Full story
MOSES LAKE, Wash. (Jan. 27, 2014) – Four men are jailed today after Grant County law enforcement officers in search of stolen property raided a home east of Moses Lake, the county sheriff said in a media advisory Monday afternoon. Around 9 a.m., the Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team served a search warrant at 4562 Road N-Northeast. The raid was related to an investigation into the Jan. 20 thefts of property from National Frozen Foods in Moses Lake. During that crime, a utility t... Full story
The Grant County sheriff says an attempted theft of metal was interrupted Friday when a vigilant property owner saw a suspicious car parked near a trailer on his land. Around 9 a.m. Jan. 10, deputies were called to 15390 Stratford Road Northeast for a report of a burglary and theft. The property owner, Doug Hendrickson, said he had spotted a suspicious red Dodge Neon with a temporary registration tag near a single wide trailer on the property. Hendrickson was watchful because he had been the victim of several recent burglaries and thefts....
SPOKANE, Wash. – A Bureau of Reclamation employee died Wednesday night as a result of injuries sustained from a fall on Monday at a construction site at Pinto Dam located about 18 miles east of Ephrata, Wash. Holger “Hal” Jensen, 62, passed away with family gathered by his bedside at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash. He was a civil engineer with the construction engineering group in Reclamation’s Pacific Northwest Regional Office in Boise, Idaho. “This is simply heartbreaking,” said Lorri Lee, Pacific Northwest Regional Director. “O...
(Seattle–Nov. 27, 2013) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is continuing burn bans on several reservations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho because of continuing stagnant air conditions and air monitor readings indicating diminished air quality in the region. The burn bans for the reservations listed below will continue. There is also a burn ban in place for the Colville Reservation. A burn ban is in place until 10:00am Saturday Nov. 30 for the following reservations west of the Cascades and in Oregon: Stillaguamish Reservation M... Full story
The National Park Service (NPS) has reopened all 401 national parks, including Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, LRNA announced Thursday. Visitor facilities normally open during this time of year including campgrounds, boat launches, and the Kettle Falls Information Center will be open as quickly as possible. All park programs and special events scheduled to take place will go forward. In addition, National Park Service websites, including Lake Roosevelt’s, will be available again for information. “We are proud to be a part of this are... Full story
LEAVENWORTH – Unstable soil and other construction challenges have pushed the week-long closure of Tumwater Canyon, west of Leavenworth to a week and a day. Instead of Fri. at noon, US 2 will reopen at noon on Sat., Sept. 14. 15 miles of US 2 between Leavenworth and State Route 207 at Coles Corner was closed to replace the Drury Canyon Creek Bridge in Tumwater Canyon. The closure started at 8 p.m. Sept.8. For passenger vehicles there is a signed detour around the Canyon through the Chumstick V...
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office will conduct emphasis traffic enforcement patrols in the Coulee City area in the coming days. Coulee City Mayor Rick Heiberg is concerned with the growing number of traffic violations he is seeing in town. Since the GCSO is the contract law enforcement agency for the town of Coulee City, Mayor Heiberg has requested the Sheriff's Office provide an increased presence and enforcement for violations including excessive speed and failure to stop at stops signs. The Sheriff’s Office will also be looking for oth... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation will conduct a dye test Aug. 8 at Grand Coulee Dam, the bureau announced in a press release Wednesday. The pool below the dam may be slightly discolored as engineers inject the upstream face of Grand Coulee Dam with biodegradable blue dye. The movement of the dye will help to determine the path of the seepage near the Right Powerplant, which has been present and slowly increasing for a number of years. Determining that path will aid engineers in the planning of future maintenance needs. The dye is safe for the...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), authors of H.R. 267, the _Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act_, applauded the unanimous approval of their bill in the U.S. Senate today. Their legislation will facilitate the development of small hydropower and conduit projects and direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to study the feasibility of a streamlined two-year permitting process. “In Eastern Washington, hydropower plays a pivotal role – whether it’s conventional, small, or conduit hydro ... Full story
NESPELEM, WA—Fire claimed the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation’s Headquarters located at the Colville Indian Agency early Monday morning, Colville Tribal Chairman Michael O. Finley said this morning. “For the first time in our government’s recent history, our legislative body and Administration is without a Headquarters. We are shocked and saddened at this development. Many irreplaceable Tribal and personal items were lost today. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The Tribal Governm...
GRAND COULEE, Wash. -- A Quincy-area farmer alerted deputies to the location of his stolen vehicles after he spotted them while flying his private plane. Kevin Weber of Weber Farms reported his 1997 Peterbilt dump truck and Beall pup trailer missing Thursday morning after they were taken from his farm overnight. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday publicized Weber’s offer of a $2500 reward for information on the stolen vehicles and the person responsible for the theft. This morning, Weber piloted his private plane in search of the... Full story
MOSES LAKE -- A Moses Lake man is in custody after detectives from Grant County’s Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team and officers from the Moses Lake Police Department arrested him for suspicion of several drug-related crimes. Juan Quintana, 25, was arrested around 4 p.m. Wednesday July 17 near the Moses Lake Community Health Center. Quintana, who according to police is an alleged leader of a heroin trafficking ring in Moses Lake, is facing criminal charges of two counts of delivery of heroin in a school zone and conspiracy to deliver heroi...
EPHRATA, Wash. - The Bureau of Reclamation will temporarily reduce water deliveries today (Tuesday, April 30) to irrigation districts in the Columbia Basin Project while engineers assess damage to the Main Canal just below Pinto Dam located in eastern Grant County, Wash Water flows in the canal must be reduced so work crews can get to the collapsed concrete panel and assess the damage. Flows were at 7,000 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) when the crack was reported by a canal ditch rider on Monday. “We’re reducing flows in the Main Canal, and exp... Full story
A $1 million arrest warrant was issued Friday for the man suspected of the Oct. 17 killing of Tracy Fullbright. Adrian Rodriguez, 28, of Moses Lake, was identified in the arrest warrant charging first-degree kidnapping and first-degree murder. Rodriguez is currently in the Franklin County jail on an unrelated charge. He is scheduled for release Dec. 9, and will be taken into custody by Grant County detectives on the kidnapping and murder charges. Fullbright’s body was found around midday Oct. 17 near county Roads 10-Northeast and L-Northeast a...
A documentary video, about a concerted cross-reservation effort to reduce traffic deaths from a high of about one every other week to two last year, has won an award. “Traffic Safety Successes on the Colville Reservation”, produced by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, received recognition from filmmakers earlier this month. During the 37th Annual American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 10, the documentary won the award for Best Industrial. The film was directed by M.... Full story
With mop-up objectives nearly met in the South Branch (Barker Canyon) and approaching 80 percent complete in the North Branch (Leahy Fire), the Washington Interagency Incident Management Team #4 (WIIMT #4) announced today that firefighting resources will begin demobilizing today and tomorrow, and that it plans to transition the management of the 92,000-acre Complex to a Type IV incident management team Sunday, September 16, 2012. Approximately 100 demobilized firefighters – hand crew members, s...
