News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The Spanish teacher at Lake Roosevelt High School, Guillermo Guzman, was arrested Thursday by U.S. Border Patrol agents and Coulee Dam Police on a number of federal charges, and is currently in Okanogan County Jail. Among a list of charges that Police Chief Pat Collins said was expanding: Guzman had used someone else’s Social Security number, wasn’t a citizen, and didn’t have a valid work permit. The arrest was made late afternoon Thursday, and came about after the person whose Social Secur...
Two local residents, Andrea Marconi and Angela Feeley, who appeared a few weeks ago before Grand Coulee’s city council to look into starting a daycare service on Main Street, met the same results again last Tuesday night. They were informed that it took the city two years to get its zoning ordinance in place, and the city wasn’t interested in changing it. The zoning code doesn’t allow a daycare center in the “central commercial” zone. Mayor Chris Christopherson encouraged the two to seek a different location, one zoned for their interests...
Remember the blood draw program at Coulee Medical Center every year during “National Hospital Week?” It’s history. Hospital officials said this week that the blood draw, which can give patients an indication of their health, actually runs counter to the law that governs public hospital districts. That was the message from hospital administrator Scott Graham. “The simple truth is, it has been brought to our attention that state regulations prohibit any sort of reduced fee gifting of services,” CMC’s Chief Executive Officer Scott Graham said...
by Roger S. Lucas Fishing for rainbow trout in Banks Lake is about to get a little bit better. The POWER organization (Promoters of Wildlife & Environmental Resources) plans to release 50,000 rainbow trout into Banks Lake April 20. Carl Russell, spokesman for the group, said that POWER will receive 50,000 more rainbow trout on April 23, and start the process of feeding them and growing them into maturity for future fishing. Fish scheduled for release April 20, were received last Oct. 24. They were then 2 to 3 inches long, and it took 21 of the...
They’re not the Frisbees you’re used to tossing around on Saturdays, but they’re similarly shaped and heavier, and disc golfers will travel to courses set up for playing with them. Disc golf is a growing sport that Josh Rabe thinks would catch on in Grand Coulee and provide an extra activity for tourists. Rabe is proposing to set up a “nine-hole” course around North Dam Park, an idea endorsed by the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District. Rabe met with district commissioners Monday for the second time, and provided them with a cost breakdown...
Officials at Banks Lake Golf Course reported that sometime between last Tuesday and Wednesday nights, someone had entered the course’s golf cart shed and made off with over 100 gallons of both diesel and gas fuel. Orville Scharbach, chairman of the Port District 7 commission that runs the course, said the loss was about $763. The police report stated that entry to the fuel tank wasn’t forced, so it was likely the door was left unlocked or the thief had the combination to the lock. It was reported that locks on the tanks were unlocked from key...
The Regional Board of Mayors met and dismissed their meeting for lack of a quorum Monday afternoon. Only two of the four mayors showed up, Electric City’s Jerry Sands and Elmer City’s Mary Jo Carey. Both Coulee Dam’s Mayor Quincy Snow and Grand Coulee Mayor Chris Christopherson missed the meeting. Those attending did hear reports from the Delano Transfer Station. Grand Coulee produced some 759 tons of material for the transfer station, the leading city in the garbage department. Coulee Dam produced 602 tons of garbage, Electric City, 472 tons...
The Regional Board of Mayors met and dismissed their meeting for lack of a quorum Monday afternoon. Only two of the four mayors showed up, Electric City’s Jerry Sands and Elmer City’s Mary Jo Carey. Both Coulee Dam’s Mayor Quincy Snow and Grand Coulee Mayor Chris Christopherson missed the meeting. Those attending did hear reports from the Delano Transfer Station. Grand Coulee produced some 759 tons of material for the transfer station, the leading city in the garbage department. Coulee Dam produced 602 tons of garbage, Electric City, 472 tons...
The Ridge Riders, in their second annual auction and banquet, raised nearly $25,000 to support the various activities planned by the group this year. The auction raised $10,500; contributions for Rodeo Queen Erin Wieldraayer’s activities raised $1,200; and $2,000 was raised toward a new junior rodeo. Monty Fields, vice president of the Ridge Riders, stated that the Colorama Rodeo last year cost the group $20,000, and the bull riding events, $7,000. He said their April 1 banquet and auction w...
Well, once again the Grand Coulee City Hall’s elected officials have proven that they are EXTREMELY effective when it comes to stomping out business in the Grand Coulee area, and not as good when it comes to cultivating an atmosphere for it. Our question to you, Mr. Mayor and the Council Members that have failed to act over the last couple weeks regarding the day care center (whomever you may be, we did hear it wasn’t all of you but complacency isn’t much better in our opinion), why does it take so long to do anything in your city? Why six mont...
When I have a question, I will ask. When I am not given a sensible answer, I read. After quietly listening to a public presentation of the present and clear need for a $6.2 million dollar upgrade to the local Wastewater Treatment Plant in early 2012, I asked how is this going to be funded? A loan, I was told. Why haven’t you applied for any grants? I asked. There are none, was the angry response. How do you know if you haven’t applied, I wondered. The next presentation about a week later was for the $6.2 million dollar project, even though we...
With all the talk about the health care system and its downfalls I would like to make one very big point that everyone seems to be forgetting: that the whole country doesn’t have any money, so how is this plan supposed to help anybody when there are NO funds to supply it? Most of the people that are pushing for the present healthcare system are lacking funds to pay for many medical bills, but the entire country is lacking money for some very important projects like law enforcement and emergency crews. Affordable healthcare for everyone is a v...
Only 30 years ago, crime victims had no rights, access to crime victim compensation, or services to help rebuild their lives. They were often excluded from courtrooms, treated as an afterthought by the criminal justice system, and denied an opportunity to speak at sentencing. Yet through decades of advocacy and hard work, the rights of crime victims have come a long way. Today, all states have enacted crime victims’ rights laws and established crime victim compensation funds. More than 10,000 victim service agencies help victims throughout t...
Political stupidity in Washington, D.C. is about to come down hard on our local area. Some economists argue that the sky will fall because of the “sequester,” a budget cut imposed by Congress and signed by the President in 2011 in a move designed to make such blind, across-the-board cuts so painful that they would never be politically feasible, forcing opposing parties in the nation’s fiscal policy debates to compromise. That was a huge political miscalculation based on the perception that things are as they have ever been. They’re not. Te...
Tours, visitor center hours and laser light show offerings might be curtailed because of budget cuts, officials confirmed this week, but they’re still hoping for a reprieve from the national budget cutback known as “sequestration.” Although tours at Grand Coulee Dam resumed Monday after a normal winter stoppage, a hiring freeze across the Department of Interior has made it impossible to hire the extra help needed to keep operations open all week through the normal tourism season, explained Lynne Brougher, public affairs officer with the Burea...
There is good news and bad news for those who visit the area to see the laser light show. The new show won’t be ready until mid-July. However, the all-new laser equipment will be able to show the old laser show. Until recently that ability was an unanswered question. It all depends on the “sequester” and how that affects staffing the various visitor functions at the Bureau of Reclamation. Nicole Poisson, project manager for LumaLaser of Eugene, Ore., the firm that is developing the new show, said visitors are going to see something outst...
The chamber of commerce is sponsoring the “Are You Tough Enough” first annual Banks Lake Triple Fish Challenge, this weekend, April 6 and 7, out of Coulee Playland in Electric City, a major sponsor. The two-day event features a fishing derby for smallmouth bass, walleye, and rainbow trout. Competition is divided into two age categories, 0-14 years of age, and adults. So get out your rod and reel, read up on the contest, and get your 2013 fishing license, so you are all set for the big eve...
Officials from Coulee Dam, Elmer City, Gray & Osborne, the Colville Tribes and Indian Health Services are meeting and moving toward some decisions on proposed wastewater treatment plant work that has been halted by controversy. Larry Holford, town council member at Elmer City, said he was pleased with the cooperative attitude of those attending a meeting last Tuesday. “We need to let the principals get their report together,” Holford stated this week. Holford said that Alex Dailey, an engineer from Indian Health Services, Frank Friedlander fro...
Jim Keene, retired school administrator, was named to the Grant County Port District 7 board of commissioners last Thursday. Keene replaces Jerry Birdwell who resigned last month. Keene will take over his duties when the board meets the last Thursday of April. Keene has been superintendent of schools in the Grand Coulee Dam School District, in Clarkston and in Pendleton before his retirement brought him and his wife back to Delano. Keene has also served as president of the Grand Coulee Dam Rotary Club and is active in a number of local groups....
Work on preparing the old Melody Restaurant for opening has been so extensive that the town of Coulee Dam has given the owner, Juan Moreno another month’s free rent in exchange for an extended contract. City officials pondered another problem at the restaurant site, which is owned by the town, in a 40-year-old, walk-in cooler and a same-age freezer. Public works director Barry Peacock told the council that each unit would cost the city $10,000 or more. Councilmember Bob Poch noted that probably neither unit was energy efficient and that parts t...
Wooden sculptures in Mason City Park will get their final touches as a result of action of the Coulee Dam Town Council last Wednesday night. The sculptures were made from the trunks of two trees that blew over in a wild wind storm last year. The evergreens provided shade for the play and picnic areas in the park. The council voted to let a contract to cut the sculptures loose, and prepare the area around them so they could be bracketed down permanently. The contractor will pour a concrete pad for each of the trees and place crushed rock around...
Coulee Dam may be in line for a grant that would replace all its street lights with energy saving systems. Public works director Barry Peacock told the town council last week that the town is entering phase two in a grant from the Transportation Improvement Board to replace some 300 town street lights with new energy efficient lights, including installation costs. Peacock said the new lights, if the grant progresses, will cut energy costs for the lights by 50 percent. He said the new fixtures cost about $400 each. He said the town was notified...
The town of Coulee Dam recently held a meeting regarding the problematic sewer treatment plant project. The meeting was closed to the public and the mayor directed that “Greg Wilder was not to be admitted.” When I asked what would happen if I just showed up, I was told that I would be kept away by physical force if necessary. The meeting was held in the basement of Town Hall — tucked away from the eyes and ears of the public. The town schedules these meetings with virtually no meaningful notice, they schedule them on national holidays, and t...
At the Coulee Dam Town Council meeting held on March 27th, Councilperson Bob Poch stated that "we" could not just walk away from $1.5 million on the table from IHS for the proposed Waste Water Treatment Facility and that more and sufficient time is needed for IHS to bring their proposal and requirements for their contribution to the WWTF. Kudos to Mr. Poch for stating the need to move forward with new ideas and alternative plans. Shame, shame, shame on the rest of the council who hung their heads and for not offering a motion or a second on...
This letter is in response to the March 20 Star article about Electric City looking to get rid of its “butt ugly trees.” In the 1980s, there was a consensus of the whole Grand Coulee Dam area community to beautify our area by creating more parks and greenery to soften the plainness and harshness. Project REV was implemented based on that and other mandates in the mid 1980s and the community worked hard to do just that by creating green areas wherever they could. Now our local governments are cutting down beautiful mature trees and soon we...