News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 5026 - 5050 of 6918
In the past weeks, we have had a few city council meetings and committee meetings at the local cities. As usual, sometimes things are said that have been taken wrong. Remember, most of these people on the local city councils, city committee are working as a volunteer, and if they are getting paid it is way below minimum wage. The important word is VOLUNTEER. These dedicated people are people that are dedicated and have a love for their communities. At a couple of the meetings in the past weeks, citizens who have only been to two or three... Full story
Please provide your readers a follow up on charges brought against the alleged car thief. Please include in the update, what, if any, disciplinary action has been brought against the police officers that participated in the high-speed chase. The high-speed chase endangered innocent citizens of the community. I believe your readers will be interested in the rest of the story. Art Harding... Full story
People apparently pleased with the mayor's selection of a consultant who has been helping the Coulee Dam Fire Department were not happy with the mayor's refusal last week to commit to hiring him longterm. Brought in to assess the fire department and work with member firefighters in the wake of resignations and investigations, Michael Green told The Star after a well-attended town council meeting Jan. 14, that the department's problems would not be hard to fix. Wilder asked Michael Green to tell... Full story
Electric City residents will have an opportunity to learn of and respond to a number of suggested changes in the city’s zoning code at a public hearing of the planning commission, tonight, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. at the fire hall. There they will learn of suggested changes to the size of accessory buildings, some new requirements for home occupation business permits and for the size and placement of fences in the city. The main change is in the size of accessory buildings, a hot topic in the city for nearly two years. Currently the city’s zoning cod... Full story
Hotel/motel tax money dominated the meeting as Electric City’s council debated with the chamber of commerce about freeing up additional monies for advertising last week. The meeting Jan. 13 got a bit ugly, and dragged on for over an hour, with neither side giving an inch. Councilmember Marie Chuinard said the chamber representatives appeared “hostile” in their approach. The chamber appeared to ask why Electric City had chosen to give it $10,000 less for advertising in 2015 than it had last year, and asked the city to free up some of the $280,00... Full story
The Lake Roosevelt High School gym should be ready for basketball again this week, an official from Walker Construction assured the school board last Wednesday evening. Jim Crowley stated that the gym roof is sealed and that the final steel sheeting should be on site in about three weeks. Crowley said final cleaning of the interior of the gym would be completed by the end of last week. High school basketball games and wrestling tournaments were forced to move to the old Grand Coulee Dam Middle... Full story
Plans for the construction of a 261-foot high tower that would rise within the flight path to the Grand Coulee Dam Airport are under study, by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is seeking public comment. The FAA became interested in the proposed antenna tower when airport Manager Bob Babler responded negatively to a questionnaire about the proposed height and location of the tower. The tower would be some 3.08 nautical miles from the airport runway, a paved landing area nearly 4,200... Full story
The school district maintenance and operations replacement levy, on which voters will cast ballots Feb. 10, could actually cost taxpayers less than they are now paying. The Grand Coulee Dam School District is seeking a replacement levy for four years, 2016-2019, asking for $1.13 million each year costing $3.95 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, compared to $4.54 per thousand now being paid with the current levy. A person with a $100,000 house would pay $395 in school levy taxes in the new levy compared to the $454 they are now paying,... Full story
At least one resident in Delano was upset when he saw a dead horse being dragged down Alcan Road onto Cardinal Road at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The horse, which had been cared for at the Grand Coulee Animal Rescue, died earlier in the day after at least two people active at the rescue had sat up with the horse most of the night. Mel Hunt, former Grand Coulee police chief, now retired, said he and his wife, Joyce, were shocked to see a pickup pulling the dead white horse down the street. According to a Grand Coulee police report, the horse was d... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board voted to donate playground equipment at Center School to Electric City and will take a look at giving two portable buildings at the high school to a Carlton Complex Fire group at its next meeting. The district had offered up the playground equipment to other agencies, as required by law, with no takers, and voted to donate the equipment to the city of Electric City, to be used in a proposed park. Some of the playground equipment at Center School has been relocated to the new school site, and the... Full story
Perhaps there would be nothing wrong with holding onto money collected for another purpose, if just holding onto it did no harm. But it does, and it is wrong. Specifically, money collected under a state law designed to promote tourism and create jobs has been doing neither — for decades. Instead, the funds collected by Electric City from those who use motels and campgrounds within the city have lain fallow, earning next to no interest, instead of being used for their purpose laid out so clearly in statute by the Washington State Legislature. I... Full story
As a community, we are facing a significant decision between now and February 10. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, the outcome of this decision will affect everyone in our community — young and old. I am referring to the pending public school levy vote. Some might say the passing of this levy doesn’t affect them because they don’t have school-age kids, for example. I disagree. The responsibility of a community to support its schools never expires with time. The successful education of our community’s children has a wide-ra... Full story
Lady Raider Basketball is at a crossroads after losing two of the last three games. Against Okanogan Jan. 13 at Okanogan, the Lady Raiders struggled against a sluggish Bulldog team. Okanogan jumped out to a big 22-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second the Bulldogs scored only 10 points, but LR failed to score a basket during the quarter. The Lady Raiders restarted their offense in the second half, but it was too little, too late. Okanogan defeated the Lake Roosevelt 67-26.... Full story
Readers have until next Wednesday, Jan. 21, to make their wishes known on choosing the person to be honored as the 2014 Volunteer of the Year. All letters nominating eligible volunteers are published in this week’s Star, starting on page 3. The letters are also online here. In all, nine people were nominated this year. Two other writers named persons who had already received the honor in years past, which makes them ineligible to receive it this year. Readers can make their preference known through an online poll, which will be linked in t... Full story
If you've ever found yourself wondering if it might be more efficient to have one city instead of four to govern the local area, you're not alone. The local chamber of commerce offered Monday to head up efforts to look at the question of consolidating at least two local cities. Their overture met with encouraging words from the mayors of both cities - Chris Christopherson, of Grand Coulee and Jerry Sands, of Electric City. "I'm encouraged by this," Christopherson said. "I think it would work,"... Full story
Grand Coulee’s volunteer fire department responded to 216 ambulance calls within its jurisdiction in 2014 and the department made an additional 51 ambulance calls in Coulee Dam, Fire Chief Richard Paris told the city council recently. The ambulance crews were busy with 112 transports from Coulee Medical Center to other hospitals or to the airport where patients were picked up by MedStar and flown to other sites for treatment. Four additional transports were made for other jurisdictions, Paris reported at the council’s Jan 6 meeting. Fir... Full story
The park district that struggles to find ways to pay for maintaining North Dam Park will have an easier time financing the effort with a new grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners learned Monday night the district will get a five-year matching grant from the USBR, totaling up to $149,703. “We can spend as much as we can match,” Commissioner and Treasurer Phil Hansen told the commissioners. Maintaining the park costs about $30,000 a year, Hansen said. The grant will help pay for tha... Full story
School district patrons will vote on a four-year $1.13 million replacement levy, Feb. 10; one that reduces the current rate of $4.55 per thousand to $3.95 per thousand of assessed valuation for taxpayers. Locally, a levy committee is meeting weekly to see that information gets out to taxpayers. The levy committee meets again today (Wednesday) at 4 p.m. at the library at Lake Roosevelt Junior and Senior High School. Volunteers are encouraged to attend and assist in the levy campaign, said chair Karen Depew. The levy replaces the current four-yea... Full story
Students from the second to sixth grades are getting an extra boost in art history and training by a volunteer who continues to provide help and information for students who are interested. Kathy LaPlace, who had a similar program at the middle school last year, continues the program in the new art room at the high school once a month, on Mondays, from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. This week, students learned about Frida Khalo, a surrealist artist from Mexico. Students, about 10 in number who are signed up for the class, learned about the artist and her... Full story
The Regional Board of Mayors contracted with URS, an engineering firm, to do its quarterly and annual groundwater testing and reporting for 2015. The firm has been doing this service, and the RBOM’s agreed to a new contract for the current year at its meeting Monday. URS will prepare groundwater monitoring reports presenting data for the four quarters and an annual report. The firm also will provide, if necessary, negotiations with the Department of Ecology and the Grant County Health District. The estimated cost for the quarterly and annual r... Full story
Grant County Health District was notified this week that a Grant County woman has died as the result of influenza complications. “Since the beginning of December, there has been a significant increase in influenza cases in all age groups in Grant County,” said county Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny. According to the Washington State Department of Health, 16 other Washington state residents have died this flu season. The county health office declined to name the recent death of the county resident. The symptoms of the flu include tem... Full story
Electric City citizens still have police protection in the wake of a last-minute, inter-city agreement that came together before the year 2014 came to an end. The Electric City Council voted unanimously last Tuesday night to stay with Grand Coulee for its police protection. The evening had its moments as the meeting started with Councilmember Aaron Derr proposing that the city accept a proposal for a contract with Coulee Dam for police services. Derr argued that the Grand Coulee contract was for too much and Electric City couldn’t afford it. I... Full story
Two ceremonial rifles are missing from American Legion Post 157 in Electric City. Both of the missing rifles had been reported stolen back in 1990. The Legion post gets its ceremonial rifles from the Army and on a regular schedule turns them back for replacements. The two missing rifles, one of them a Springfield M1903 and the other an Enfield M1917, had been reported stolen back in 1990 by Colville Tribal Police and San Antonio, Texas police. The two rifles were part of a six-rifle batch... Full story
A committee to help the Grand Coulee Dam School District pass its Feb. 10 special maintenance and operation levy will meet at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, at the new school secondary library on the second floor, Chair Karen Depew said this week. “We need volunteers to help,” Depew stated. Depew said that she encourages local citizens to turn out and assist the district in promoting the levy. The district is asking voters to approve a four-year levy of $1.13 million annually. The school board accepted the recommendations of a special levy exp... Full story
A Grand Coulee man told police that he had found a backpack on a picnic table at North Dam Park, Dec. 24, and when he started to go through it found that it contained some drug paraphernalia. The backpack contained many jewelry items, lock picking equipment and crow bars. The man took the backpack to the police department, where an officer checked its contents and found the following: A black leather wallet, two broken glass smoking pipes, an iPod Shuffle, a cell phone with chargers, miscellaneo... Full story