News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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To enforce or not to enforce was the question Tuesday night as Electric City officially entered the dog days of summer. The city, it seems, has been sending letters to several residents about the city’s pet code, many of whom have been ignoring them, some by a wide margin of error. The city gets complaints, has tried to persuade owners into compliance through other means, and it’s now down to writing tickets, but city employees wanted some guidance on how hard-nosed they should be about it. City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal gave the council exa...
It began with a roadside fire July 5, along SR-155 south of Electric City where a small blaze burned grasses both sides of the highway near jeopardizing homes. In the following days, various agencies in the region would call for immediate evacuations of areas where a wildfire had started quickly. Thunderstorms with multiple lightning strikes didn't help amid conditions the National Weather Service had predicted would include low relative humidity with stiffer winds, calling for a "Fire Weather...
While taking a walk recently I had the opportunity to visit with my neighbor, Brad McConnell. Brad has lived next to me for nearly five years and this is the most extensive visit we’ve had. As we were talking about travel, he shared his experience in the Statue of Liberty. That’s right, “in” the statue. The Statue of Liberty is probably the most familiar patriotic symbol we have in this country. It is located on Liberty Island with New York City as a backdrop. Brad spent the better part of a day at the statue. A good part of the time, he was...
A fairly heavy rain storm, with lightening is head into the area right now. Staying inside and unplugging electronics are good advice. Here's a screenshot of lightning strikes in the area a few minutes ago.... Full story
Coulee Dam doesn't do enough to get property owners to control weeds, and neither does Okanogan County. That's the assessment of Councilmember Keith St Jeor, who complained about no enforcement despite a recent increase in his property taxes, which he said supposedly includes payment for weed control. "That place across the street from me ... has been treated by the town like a joke" for the 21 years he's lived in his home," St. Jeor said at the June 28 council meeting. Thinking he paid...
Coulee Dam’s city council unanimously passed a resolution June 28 intending it to put a hold on any enforcement against so called short-term rentals of private property, following a plea from the owner of one such property two weeks earlier. Coulee Dam doesn’t have an ordinance specifically making such an enterprise illegal, but it’s also not specifically allowed in its zoning codes either, which distinguish between residential and commercial zones. At least two houses in east Coulee Dam are advertised on Airbnb, a site that handles the trans...
Early Monday morning, someone stole a tractor from the Spring Canyon Cemetery. The thief was there for at least 40 minutes, apparently breaking into one building through an old, wooden panel covering a door window, then probably taking keys found inside to open another building that housed the tractor, a 1996 John Deere 1070 loader with a backhoe attachment. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is hoping the pickup may look familiar to someone, so they put photos on a Facebook page and asked for...
A man who has been operating his house on Central Drive as a short-term rental took exception to a cease-and-desist letter from the city that said that activity is illegal. Danny Wiyrick didn't back down at a city council meeting June 14, had his arguments ready to go point by point, and had council members wanting to find a way to make it legal before the end of the meeting. But tonight (June 28) they consider a draft resolution declaring a moratorium on such rentals as Wiyrick's Airbnb...
Several years ago, the Grand Coulee Dam School District decided to fence off its “bus barn” near the baseball field in Coulee Dam due to repeated thefts happening at night. Earlier this month, as city officials gathered at the Delano Transfer Station to learn about their new equipment, a good sized $50,000 wood chipper obtained with a grant, transfer station manager Randy Gumm wondered aloud about the advisability of keeping it there; he’s had a lot of problems with theft. Other city officials from Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam, and Elmer City...
Mel Johnson is an oil painter I first met while living in Bothell. I used a framer in Lake Forest Park to frame pictures I liked. Knowing I was a reporter, he said that I ought to do a story about Johnson. He had a couple of Johnson’s paintings hanging in his gallery. They looked interesting so I called Mel and set up a time I could go over to his place and talk with him. That’s when I came to say “experience him,” rather than just meet him. It may seem cruel to say he was strange. But he was strange. It appeared that his paintings reveale...
Kids from all over the area took part in the annual Koulee Kids Fest Saturday, organized by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce and supported by businesses and organizations. About 17 of them put on little activities for kids from 10 a.m to 2 p.m., when the day capped off with a learning opportunity as The Reptile Man taught and entertained kids with live snakes, an alligator, and other reptiles. At least two activity sponsors offered prizes in drawings. Kids who filled in a...
Their house didn't burn, but firefighters couldn't save the garage/shop at Bill and Heather Williams' home in Electric City Monday when fire cut short their plans to work on an old pickup. Searching for the bright side as firefighters sprayed down the charred wood and hot metal siding, Heather Williams said at least they wouldn't have to decide what to keep from a collection of belongings they'd moved into the garage to sort. Electric City Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Payne said Bill...
Students from four area schools got to stomp around a field on the Colville Reservation in a citizen science experiment that continued this June. The students, from Nespelem and Keller schools on June 6 and from Lake Roosevelt and Inchelium schools June 7, had prepared in class a lot of "seed bombs," for planting native wildflowers on a field of native bunchgrass. The bombs, which a year ago had been made of clay and a pinch of seeds for the same experiment, this year had a bit different makeup...
Sometimes, there’s a gap between what is right and what is legal. Government is good at falling into those. Locally, the four mayors who comprise the Regional Board of Mayors are asking their councils to consider a problem: an Electric City employee at the transfer station whose wages are funded by the RBOM had his long-term wage agreement altered several years ago without his knowledge or consent and is now asking to be made whole on the “longevity pay” increases he didn’t get. Most council members in Elmer City, Grand Coulee and Coulee...
I understand the old “why should I have to if they don’t have to.” I’m talking about the police officers assigned to the USBR. I wouldn’t think they need protection inside the project grounds. Security is for the perimeter. Anyone driving by the blue light house in Coulee Dam must notice that the Grand Coulee police cars don’t seem to leave the house. So why would the officers not assigned to the dam have to leave their house? We have eight officers employed by Grand Coulee. You would think the town would be flooded with officers. But they gi...
The federal debt ceiling crisis was averted but tax cheats benefited. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 contained $79 billion for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); $45 billion of it was to audit individuals or businesses making over $400,000 dollars annually, to catch those not paying their taxes. Funding cuts for many years rendered the IRS largely unable to audit the wealthy. Currently, the amount in taxes owed but not paid totals nearly $7 trillion over a decade; three-fifths is held by the top 10% of taxpayers, more than one-quarter by...
When we used to return to Southern Idaho to visit my wife’s family, we were usually treated to something special by her brother, Robert Compton. He is still known affectionately as “Uncle Bob.” This particular time we got in his car and headed to Jarbidge, Nevada. We headed down Highway 93 to Rogerson, Idaho, where we turned west on a very questionable road. The road xsxsign said 28 miles to Jarbidge. Jarbidge lies in Elko County, very close to the Idaho line. The road follows a canyon with high mountains around. Soon my brother-in-law turne...
To supporters of the four Lower Snake River Dams, the latest news that President Biden continues to pursue dam breaching is not shocking, but surprising, considering the growing shortfall in electricity predicted in the western states and his desire to dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Biden’s March 21 announcement started another “Whac-A-Model” game to determine the dams’ future. The news was reported in a Wall Street Journal commentary by Faith Bottum titled “Biden’s Fishy Plan to Bre...
Forty students graduated from Lake Roosevelt High School Saturday as the class of 2023 gathered for that last time - on the stage at the gym in gown and cap. Much about the speeches echoed those sentiments that rightly drip from every high school graduation - "the last time," "the next chapter," and so forth. But the tone, the affection, the familiarity - as in, family-like - seemed something more. "The friendships that we have made over the years have shaped us into the young men and women...
With the face of Grand Coulee Dam as a backdrop Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's top official wrapped up a tour of facilities in celebration of the agency's 120-year history and the 81 years since the first filling of Lake Roosevelt. Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton listed Reclamation stats the crowd could be proud of, perhaps part of the purpose of the visit and tour. It's not always popular being the "nation's largest wholesale water supplier" in an era when folks in the...
We recently attended the Isle of Flags Memorial Day celebration at Spring Canyon Cemetery. My wife, son and I raised a flag in honor of my father, Sid Roberson, who served in the US Army between the Wars. During my 18 years growing up in the area, I marched in several of the Memorial Day celebrations at Spring Canyon as part of the Boy Scouts. Our hats are off to all those who support this incredible effort. Ben Alling deserves a huge vote of thanks for organizing and doing much of the work. Every detail was taken care of! Between active duty...
Three-day holidays are the worst for people speeding into town. With summer, people are speeding to their favorite campsite. Sixty miles an hour is reckless driving in city limits and against the law. Where are the officers? At city hall. If there, not there, they don’t seem to be anywhere. When vehicles of authority drive by, I ask myself who it is. The only way to tell if it is police or federal government is by the license plates. Why are the new vehicles unmarked? And since when did the feds stop marking their own security vehicles. M...
If you could, you would end up with someone who has the human characteristics of Colleen Leskinen. Colleen lives a couple of miles out of Nespelem. She was mayor there for 14 years, but if you know her it is probably for her daycare program. Not long ago she applied for and won a state grant to erect a daycare center on her 80-acre farm. She has provided daycare for the area for a number of years, in her home. This fall her new daycare facility will be finished and Colleen will be authorized to provide services for up to 50 children. She...
China’s growing dominance of critical metals production and stockpiles is setting off global alarms. It has American manufacturers in a bind as they ramp up domestic electric vehicle (EV) battery production. Ores containing these elements are in deposits across our planet; however, the technology to process them is largely in China. As the China Communist Party (CCP) under Xi Jinping exerts its leverage, America and its allies are facing global economic and military challenges. China is t...
Readers of The Star may notice some changes next month, including weekly full color on some pages and a narrower width of the newspaper, but they come at great cost to Grant County. The venerable Grant County Journal, the Ephrata newspaper where The Star and The Star Buyers Guide have been printed for decades, will cease publication at the end of June after 116 years of serving that community and promoting community journalism in eastern Washington by backing independent publishers. The change means we will be printing at the Cheney Free Press...
