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 Triple Fish Challenge fishing tournament added a big new feature Friday, inviting kids from anywhere in the community to come down and catch big fish from a pen. We're not talking about a little tank, or even a big one. These folks built a net pen between docks and called in Pacific Seafood, which happily donated 250 very good sized rainbow trout. Luckily, Lake Roosevelt School got out at 1 p.m.. "It wasn't long after that that you could hear kids squealing every minute, it seemed like," said Danielle Florenzen, of Pacific Seafood, whose...
Several schools in Lincoln County were among more than 30 in the state that shut down April 12 after receiving and email claiming a bomb was in the building. Lake Roosevelt Schools was not among them, and after checking staff emails for a similar message determined the Grand Coulee Dam School District had not received the threat. Superintendent Paul Turner notified the community with a posting online. “At this time, we have not received any such email or threat,” Turner stated. “We will continue to monitor the situation and update you if more...
Police may pursue suspects that pose long-term serious risk to others under revisions of a more restrictive 2022 vehicle chase law that has now passed both houses of this year’s Legislature. Engrossed Senate Bill 5352 was introduced by Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek. “I’m a Black man from birth, my skin tone is brown, but I wore the blue uniform proudly for 31 years as a state trooper,” he said. “I know there are fears out there, but I think legislation like this can bring our community together and help our law enforcement professio...
The Colville Business Council announced Thursday that it had expelled from the CBC its vice chairman, the elected representative of the Keller District, for “using his position to obtain financial gain or something of substantial value …” A public notice dated April 13 said the council, the governing body of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, had earlier held an evidentiary hearing in allegations of unethical conduct, which resulted in a “findings of fact.” The notice said that Ferguson had “appeared before a department...
I appreciate the “public service announcement” in last week’s Star newspaper concerning sexual abuse and information about available hotlines and help. Since not everyone, especially teens, seniors and those with special needs, is able to travel 50 or more miles to receive emergency or ongoing care for their mental health issues, what, if any, services are available closer to home? I realize our community sits in extreme corners of several counties and that it’s difficult for our hospital to persuade medical professionals to work in our are...
Our youngest son, Nathan is visiting the 37 courthouses in Oregon with the intent to create a book. He received his bachelor and master degrees from the University of Oregon. For the past 25 years he has been teaching at a private school in Portland. He proposed getting a sabbatical from teaching to do the book and was granted a leave. Nathan got the idea after stopping by and taking photos of the courthouse in Davenport. All of his active life as far back as high school, he has had something to do with photography. When I was involved with a...
Running in with a movie script-like ending, Sawyer Steffens crossed home plate after her hit over the fence for the Lake Roosevelt Lady Raiders' second win in Saturday's doubleheader against Omak in Grand Coulee. Lake Roosevelt edged out the Omak Pioneers 6-5 in the first game, 5-4 in the second. "What Sawyer did in that second game was what most kids dream of," Coach Jaci Gross said. "Bottom of the seventh, two outs, and a walk-off homerun. It was something I will never forget." Aspen Smith...
Lake Roosevelt’s track and field athelets traveled to Davenport and Kittitas last week, placing well in both events. Davenport’s April 11 event was fast and fun, coach Lori Adkins said, where points were only given to first, second and third place finishes. “It was a great way to begin our two-meets-a-week section of the season.” Carly Neddo took second place in the shot put and in the javelin with her season’s best throw. Raeley Portch placed third in the 300-meter hurdles. Logan Marconi took three third places: in the long jump, the 800-m...
A discussion on what kinds of administrators are needed at Lake Roosevelt Schools and how to pay for them turned Monday toward weighing the merits of a “school resource officer” versus a “security officer,” which the district currently has. Currently at the schools, a dean of students handles some discipline issues and more, and a security officer is there to handle immediate flare ups and discipline problems, including potential violence. But current grant funding for that position may well go away this year, Superintendent Paul Turner...
Electric City will hold a town hall meeting at the fire hall on Thursday, April 13, at 6 p.m., giving citizen a chance to hear and talk about several aspects of ongoing city business, including meeting the new police chief. “There’s quite a bit on the agenda,” Mayor Diane Kohout told the city council Tuesday night. Police Chief Paul Bowden’s Coulee Dam department gained the city’s contract in January for providing the service to Electric City. Bowden will attend the meeting and talk with citizens, as will Fire Chief Mark Payne. Kohout sa...
De-annexing a portion of Electric City was one topic of discussion at a retreat its city council held March 18 to discuss various matters. The council and mayor reviewed with the city attorney the process for de-annexing a large part of the city that was added several years ago, moving the boundary further south and encompassing land on the other side of Osborne Bay on Banks Lake. Kohout said the city will ask the council, probably in June or July this year, to consider a resolution to put the matter on the ballot for the November general...
After Tax Day, you may want to clean house of no-longer-needed financial records. To help, and in keeping with its recent practice, the Grand Coulee Dam Rotary Club will offer its biannual Shred Day service, when you can get rid of all those records and watch as a big truck double shreds them in bulk. The event will take place at North Dam Park by the Gehrke Windmills on April 22, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. - or until the truck is full. The flow of traffic should start at the road by North Dam and ex... Full story
Today, employers continue to struggle finding enough workers while attempting to bring people back to the office (work sites). A key problem is there simply aren’t enough people to fill available jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported at the end of February, there were 9.9 million job openings and 5.9 million unemployed workers. The Chamber added if every unemployed person in the country found a job, there would still be 4 million vacant positions. As America emerges from the Covid-19 p...
All work and no play…. You know the rest. While in college in 1955-59, I occasionally took some needed time off to go fishing, despite two jobs, a full college load of classes and being a husband and father. I was located in Nampa, Idaho, and had found a good bass fishing spot, about 15 miles away, along the Boise River. I kept my fishing gear in my car, so in an instant I was on the 20-minute drive to fish. On one occasion I went by a house that had piled up some boxes with a “free” sign on them. I turned back, looked in the boxes and, along...
Coulee Dam's Sixth Street will be rebuilt this spring, starting this week. The Sixth Street Improvement Project started Monday and will include "a full depth reclamation of the street, reconstructing curb and gutter, installing new storm structures, and constructing new ADA ramps at select intersections," a city notice posted online Friday says. Extending only the few blocks from Aspen Street to Central Drive, the street directly to the north of Harvest Foods and the Colville Tribal Casino will...
Although more “cash flush” than they were a year ago, Coulee Medical Center posted just over a quarter million dollar loss in January on net patient revenue of$2.98 million, which was $144,000 less than budgeted, Chief Financial Officer Kelly Hughes reported March 20. December 2022 had seen a gain of nearly $736,000. Salaries in January were over budget by $96,000, but that had been estimated last August, before they knew they’d be implementing a larger wage increase to meet market conditions. And the “temporary manpower” line item was still...
My mom would be horrified by the rash of violence in our schools today. The most recent tragedy at Covenant School in Nashville, where three students and three adults were shot to death, is devastating. It was unimaginable 40 years ago. Mom was an elementary school secretary for 20 years. She wanted us — her four children — to become teachers. A key reason was schools were safe places for kids, teachers, and staff —places where students learned the fundamental skills required in life. Littl...
[Editor’s note: We mistakenly ran only a part of this column last week; here’s the full piece.] I’ve visited both the spectacular and the simplest of places where the faithful gather. A visit to Angkor Wat near Siem Reap in Cambodia is probably the place I will always remember. The complex is huge and the construction history reminds me of the pyramids in Egypt. Angkor Wat was completed in 1110, and has many Hindu carvings in the complex. Sometime along the way it was taken over by the Buddhists. The quarry where the stone came from is 50 mi...
After a week of holding two opponents scoreless in four games, the Lady Raiders ended their last game too early Friday when Presley Steffens suffered a broken leg. It happened at Liberty Bell High School, where Steffens was making a play at second base to put out a runner who slid into her. Steffens suffered a complete break of both the major bones in her lower leg and won't be playing the rest of the season. The game, the second of a doubleheader, was called at the bottom of the second inning....
The Raiders won two and lost two baseball games in the last week, starting with a 7-4 loss at home against Liberty Bell March 28. Lake Roosevelt picked up a win in four innings Thursday, besting the Bridgeport Mustangs 14-4 in Coulee Dam March 30. At Liberty Bell on Friday afternoon, the Raiders had a chance to figure out the Mountain Lions, but it took two games. Lake Roosevelt lost the first game by the same score they lost with on Tuesday, 7-4. The Raiders came together in the second game,...
Two men have come home and now have hopes and dreams for the closed theater in Coulee Dam. Benji Dupris and James Pakootas addressed the town council last week, hoping to get a blessing to explore their dreams about how to revive the town's closed theater and make it into a space for more than just feature films and popcorn. They've both been forging careers in the media world and working with youth, Dupris said. "So, when we saw the theater shut down, we made some inquiries." Dupris graduated...
Use of consumer reproductive health data would be much more restricted under House Bill 1155, the proposed “My Health, My Data Act.” The proposed law requires the consumer’s consent before sharing or collecting personal health data. This prohibits organizations from selling consumer health data not otherwise protected by law. After an extended floor debate over 23 proposed amendments, the bill received a vote of 57-39 in the state House of Representatives and moved to the Senate. In 2022, Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced his offic...
H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights, passed the House on Friday. A recent column by Sean V. O’Brien, Eastern Washington director of right-wing Washington Policy Center (WPC), “We must affirm parents’ rights, put students first” (March 22), explained the bill. Reading the “five pillars of H.R. 5,” one senses that in normal times this legislation, though unnecessary, would seem quite innocent. But these aren’t normal times and the second pillar, “Parents have the right to be heard,” is being greatly debased by many Republicans. Perhaps the greates...
I’ve visited both the spectacular and the simplest of places where the faithful gather. A visit to Angkor Wat near Siem Reap in Cambodia is probably the place I will always remember. The complex is huge and the construction history reminds me of the pyramids in Egypt. Completed in 1110 A.D., the complex has many Hindu carvings in it, but sometime along the way it was taken over by the Buddhists. The quarry where the stone came from is 50 miles away. The earliest person to visit the site stated that it was more spectacular than anything in R...
In the United States, there are currently over 1.3 million people serving as active-duty military. These men and women are dutifully serving our nation, and when they return home, it is crucially important they have the support of a grateful nation. As your representative in Congress, I have worked hard in Washington D.C. to be a voice for the over 39,000 veterans residing in Central Washington, and ensure they are receiving the highest quality support and care they have earned. During the 117th Congress, I am proud to have sponsored and...
