News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Grand Coulee Police said Tuesday that their department email account had been “hacked,” after they were notified about 9:45 a.m. of a potential spam email that had been sent from Chief John Tufts account, containing an unknown attachment. The list of recipients was not known, but multiple organizations began notifying the MACC (Multiple Agency Communications Center) dispatchers that they had received the suspicious email, which contained an altered disclaimer and department name that indicated it was of a foreign origin. “Chief Tufts and Offic...
The Nespelem School board Monday OK'd an agreement with the Grand Coulee Dam School District to split the federal Impact Aid money received in the 2023-24 school year for Nespelem students, with 75% going to the GCD district, and 25% going to Nespelem, both for K-8 students and for older students who would normally transfer to Grand Coulee Dam for high school. The two districts have been in negotiations on a new "tuition agreement" the federal Dept. of Education said was needed to make the...
When checking into a motel or hotel have you ever wondered who had stayed in this place? In this country, places seldom reveal who has been there before you, like it would be an invasion of privacy. That’s not true in many places, at least in the Orient. Several places I have stayed in, like Taiwan, Calcutta, and Burma, apparently want you to know that they are visited regularly by the rich and famous. For instance, in Taipei, on the island of Taiwan, they make it a point to let you know who some of their most famous guests have been. The G...
When Oregon enacted the nation’s first bottle bill in 1971, it was intended to reduce litter on the state’s beaches, along roads, and in parks. It was a cleanup, not a recycling program. Today, the focus is recycling empty beer, pop, juice, and water containers and it is working very well, in large part because it pays people to recycle. Collect the “empties” and earn a dime for each plastic bottle or aluminum can. It adds up and often is enough money to supplement purchases of food and gas. Ore...
Raider Coach Steve Files was named “Coach of the Year” among the Central Washington 2B League golf coaches, four Raiders players were listed in the all-league teams, including a player of the year, and the Lake Roosevelt team got the sportsmanship award. Lake Roosevelt golfers named included the league boy “Player of the Year,” Terek Bush, also on the league’s “first team,” and Nikolas Seymor, Teyton Flores, and Trevan Barnaby, all named to the second team. In softball, Sawyer Steffens was named to the league “first team.” Presley Steffens...
More than 600 American flags fluttered in a gentle breeze Saturday as a couple hundred or more locals and relatives gathered at Spring Canyon Cemetery Memorial Day for the annual Isle of Flags service to remember the fallen veterans and dedicate flags to them. "I stand in awe of the decorations here today," said Grant County Commissioner Danny Stone, in his keynote address. "These flags that line these roads, these pathways around these graves ... It's a fantastic memorial. And it's the first...
The city of Coulee Dam will get nearly $393,000 for upgrading crosswalks and adding “speed feedback” signs, flashing beacons, and more to improve the safety on routes to school. The Safe Routes to School grant is funded through the Washington State Dept. of Transportation budget, signed earlier this month by Gov. Jay Inslee. A project schedule indicates engineering will begin in October this year, with an estimated contract award date in May 2024. The project includes installing a new crosswalk, pedestrian scale crossing illumination, rec...
I was talking to a friend who told me she was pulled over on her ATV and told not to travel between Electric City and Grand Coulee. But it is fine to speed in town. I do not know the braking distance of a 100,000-pound tractor trailer. But judging from the amount of roadkill deer I have pulled out of town with my quad, it’s a long distance, and too frequent. The holidays are coming, and so are the trucks pulling boats and motor homes. Two years ago, I had to drive to Spokane five days a week. I noticed drivers don’t speed through Wilbur, tha...
If you are a basketball fan and have been around the sport for a while, you will know the name. When the Denver Nuggets won over the Lakers the other day, I recalled how I knew him. Dick went to school in Palouse and was part of a trio of lads growing up there, including myself and a boy named Jon Skovlin. Dick had a rich basketball life in Palouse and then four years at Eastern Washington, where he played for Red Reese. He then made his way to Denver, where he was instrumental in starting the Denver Rockets, a pro team that later became the...
In his last preliminary race of his high school career, Logan Marconi pushed himself to a new personal record Friday in the qualifying prelims at the state track meet in Yakima, running the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 3.81 seconds. That time in a field of 16 top competitors, just 3.04 seconds behind top qualifier Shawn Jones, of St. George's, got the senior to the starting blocks in the finals on Saturday, where he would take seventh in the state for Lake Roosevelt High School. His time in the...
A line of employees wrote letters to the school board stating serious concerns about hiring Rod Broadnax as the Grand Coulee Dam School District’s new superintendent, several of which were read at Monday night’s meeting. They’re hiring him anyway. The letters noted anonymous emails that circulated in the community, critical of Broadnax’s record, claims of professional achievement throughout his career and controversy at one community where he worked. Carrie Derr, a longtime teacher who now oversees federal and state grant programs for the dis...
Nespelem School District, which has for decades sent its students to “the dam” after eighth grade to attend high school, is looking at ways to expand its service to the community by moving toward a high school offering. The school board formally approved the move Monday night, directing Superintendent Effie Dean to continue working to set up an “emergent high school,” offering just ninth grade in the coming school year, with a “career technical education” component under discussion with the Colville Tribes. “Everybody is super excited about...
The city of Grand Coulee will hold a primary election in August to pick two of the three candidates who filed to run for mayor, which does not include the current one. Chuck Crowe, of Partello Park; Kimberly Christiansen, of Roosevelt Drive; and Mike Eylar, of Spokane Way, have filed to run for the mayor’s office, currently occupied by Mayor Paul Townsend. The primary election is set for Aug. 1. In Electric City, two council positions have picked up challengers to incumbents. Councilmember Brian Buche, in Council Position 3, will run against T...
We have an uncountable loss for our Town. Yet again, betwixt the battle our sidewalks and our trees. That said, we can now announce, on Arbor Day, April 28th, 2023, the celebration for the destruction of two blocks of beautiful mature majestic Maples… brought down by the metaphorical axe. Kiss goodbye the savored shade, gone too are the uncountable nesting birds… the frogs and the crickets, the playful squirrels – all gone now. The budding shades of green in the spring, the bright colors in the fall, the whispers through the wind – they to...
Thank you to the beautiful and magenta Maple trees on Ferry in Coulee Dam who provided shade, habitat, cooling for 90 years. I am sorry you were mowed down for a sidewalk for people to walk on. Which nobody wants to walk on because it is too hot. So sorry nobody could figure out that a walkway through you would be a nice place for people and habitat to live and thrive. I’m so sorry for your loss. Gayle Swagerty...
With the basketball season coming to a close, we will be into baseball. It will be a strange season; I can’t name a single player, on any team. I remember that when I was covering baseball, I kept track of several big league players, many of them from the Boise Valley where I worked for the Idaho Statesman newspaper. Baseball was big in the valley, partially because we had a Milwaukee farm club locally. The Boise Braves were part of the Pioneer League, a class C franchise. But baseball was big for another reason. We had several players from t...
Although New Zealand and Washington are located a half a world apart, they have lots in common — beautiful seashores, majestic mountains, crystal clear streams and lakes, and vibrant salmon and trout fisheries. Both are struggling to rid their air sheds of CO2 and other greenhouse gases coming from the burning of carbon fuels (coal, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel) in vehicles, home heating and electric-power generation. New Zealand and Washington share a common goal to be carbon neutral by 2...
Residents of Coulee Dam's Ferry Avenue couldn't talk city representatives into alternatives Monday night as officials explained why all of the street's 60- to 70-foot-tall shade trees are going to be cut down. A sidewalk fix four years in the making is leading to the removal of the trees that have given the neighborhood of 16 homes its distinct feel for decades. The sidewalk repair will cost about a quarter million dollars, coming from a federal grant. The added cost of removing the maples will...
(Nespelem, WA) - The Colville Tribal Police assisted in the execution of a search warrant on May 9, 2023 and seized more than 1,000 fentanyl-laced pills. The seizure included 20 firearms and drug paraphernalia. Stolen property was also recovered, including stolen firearms and valuable personal property. The property owner, 63-year-old Daniel Curdie, was arrested and booked into Okanogan County jail on charges of delivery of a controlled substance, unlawful use of a building for drug-related... Full story
Grand Coulee police held a public meeting to hear residents' ideas on what they need to focus on and also to introduce them to a new app Officer Matt Gilbert is working on for easier communication with police. The app, which he is developing, is currently for Android phones only. Features will include police related news, resources, alerts, police activity in the area, a one-tap feature for calling the dispatch center to ask for police, and more. The informal meeting was called to give people a...
The Colville Tribes have reason to be proud of Michelle Stanger. Michelle just returned from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she competed along with 26 other Indian national representatives for national honors and the opportunity to represent Indian tribes, teaching diversity, throughout the world. Michelle was selected as Miss Colville Confederated Tribes last July and has been representing the 12 tribes since then. She won local recognition through competition on the reservation. Michelle and her mother Lucy drove to New Mexico in late April,...
You are invited to attend the re-naming ceremony May 27th, at 1 p.m. in the Tonasket Legacy Park. Highway #20 in Okanogan County will become the “Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Highway.” The ceremony will have the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Honor Guard presenting the colors, the Tribal Singers “The Citizens,” singing the honor song. Louie Wilson will be the master of ceremonies and will introduce the dignitaries in attendance. We have heard from our 4th District Congressman, Dan Newhouse, and our 7th District state represe...
Small businesses play a critical role in creating jobs, driving economic growth, and contributing to the overall well-being of rural communities. In many areas, they are the backbone of the local economy, providing essential goods and services. Spring offers a good reminder of the importance of these entrepreneurs’ contributions, with National Small Business Week, Small Business Month, and other recognitions celebrated in May. For consumers, it’s a great time to research what’s available in their community, instead of hitting the road to shop...
A new superintendent will lead the Grand Coulee Dam School District, beginning July 1. The school board selected Rodriguez "Rod" Broadnax as the best candidate Saturday, following what board President Rich Black described as a thorough, broad-based effort to involve as many people as possible in the decision. Broadnax is currently the interim superintendent at the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System in Michigan, according to information supplied by the GCD district. Black said...
A long-awaited sidewalk fix is leading to the removal of many, if not all, of the trees on Coulee Dam's Ferry Avenue that have given the neighborhood its distinct flavor for decades, and the city set a meeting for tonight to explain the decision. The meeting is set for 5 p.m. on the corner of Grant and Ferry, where the project starts. The city notified residents along the street of tonight's meeting with doorhanger notices left at each residence on Friday, so city officials can explain and show... Full story