News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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At a family reunion, I went outside to play catch with a cousin. “I’d rate your baseball skills below average,” he said. “Does that surprise you?” That didn’t shock me one bit. I score below average in most sports, with the exception of “spitting for distance.” Coaches generally took one glace at me, then decided I was not a leader. My natural facial expression is “confused.” And when I concentrate, I look positively disoriented. In school, I attempted all the standard games. But I was too skinny for football, and in basketball my verti...
The Raiders won their do-or-die crossover game Saturday in Wenatchee and will head back there to the first round of the state 2B tournament this coming weekend. Now with a 20-3 win-loss record, the Raiders' 57-41 victory over Reardan's Spirit Eagles (11-15) puts the Raiders into game three of that first round, facing the Tigers of Napavine (21-4). The game starts at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 at Wenatchee High School. Ivan Alejandre led the Raiders in scoring with 28, including five...
The Lady Raiders' basketball postseason ended in Wenatchee Saturday as a nearly last-second shot bounced off the rim from almost half court. The "crossover" game in Wenatchee was a loser-out event between teams in the WIAA's Districts 6 and 7 to determine those who would go on to the first round of the state tournament. Lake Roosevelt took on the Davenport Lady Gorillas, whose 6-3 post proved a decisive factor with an accurate lob in the final seconds for their 45-43 win. The Lady Raiders' poor...
The Lake Roosevelt Raider boys' wrestling team finished in 11th place out of 45 teams at the state tournament in the Tacoma Dome Saturday, taking a third place and two sixths, and an LR girl also took a sixth. Rodger Cate took third at his 106-weight category, pinning Darrington's Creed Wright. He 15-pointed Warden's Castro and pinned Reardan's Matusik. Kalama's Suzara got an 11-7 decision over him. At 145, Christian Carson took sixth place. He won by a 12-7 decision over Chewelah's Dakota...
Coach Pleasants was surprised when he walked into the banquet room at the Coulee Dam Community Church to be greeted by dozens supporters there to wish him well and honor his time as a Lady Raider coach. Wallace "Peewee" Pleasants coached the Lake Roosevelt High School girls' basketball program for 12 years, ending in 2022 at the state tournament in Spokane, each year punctuated with motto to drive home a lesson. His coaching career started 24 years ago, when he coached his son Mathew's...
Keller Ferry is closed tonight due to high winds, the state Transportation Dept. said. It should be reopened at 6 a.m. tomorrow, Feb. 21. Winds are expected to be around 14 mph with gusts of up to 41 tonight. While a high of 46 is expected Tuesday, the low Tuesday night is expected to get to 22, and on down to 11 on Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Spokane. The change in weather has to do with a "massive winter storm" about to hit. "A massive winter storm is expected to impact a large portion of the U.S. the next... Full story
The ice on Banks Lake could "could rapidly change without warning" as the Bureau of Reclamation will begin pumping water into the lake on Friday, Feb. 17, the Bureau announced Thursday. A similar warning applies for those fishing at Potholes Reservoir. The most popular spot for ice fishing in the local area may well be the area near North Dam where the feeder canal brings in water from deep in Lake Roosevelt. That starts Friday, and "Recreationalists on Banks Lake and Potholes Reservoir should... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Tuner will retire this coming July, he told his school board in a letter Monday. Turner, hired in 2016, put forth a plan a year ago to work part time for two more years alongside a full-time assistant, who could then take over. That assistant was never hired. In his letter, Turner recounted accomplishments and obstacles. Among them, upgrading the CTE building, working with the tribe to establish a Native language/culture program, and establishing a viable alternative learning environment...
Heaving sidewalks along Coulee Dam’s Ferry Avenue will finally get replaced this year, after years of delays. J.M. Pacific Construction Inc, of Moses Lake, will replace the sidewalks for $195,390. The total cost on the project, including engineering, construction, consultants and more, comes to $230, 514. The project is completely funded by the state Dept. of Transportation and Chelan-Douglas Transportation. The work must be done by September....
The Running Start program, which allows high school juniors and seniors to earn college level credits, will expand to include sophomores if a proposal in the state Legislature is approved. “It’s a heavy lift when you’re a junior and senior to try to accomplish your two-year degree in those two years,” said Sen. Brad Hawkins, R-Wenatchee. “A little running start to Running Start might be good to actually accomplish some of the two-year attainment that we’re seeking in the state.” Running Start allows high school students to earn credits at co...
It’s past time for an energy reality check. If we are to meet our soaring demand for electricity and produce it without coal and natural gas, we must double down on nuclear power. Today, U.S. nuclear plants generated enough electricity to power more than 70 million homes. It’s the most reliable source of electricity operating at full capacity over 90 percent of the time. It is “greenhouse gas” free, yet many activists are pushing to close, not build, nuclear power plants. If President Biden a...
We were in Baltimore visiting our daughter Kathy, who lived there at the time, and did the town. One of the highlights was touring the USS Constellation, a three-mast sailing man-of-war. It was the last ship in the fleet commissioned by the United States that moved under sail power. Named after two other ships by the same name, the ship was commissioned in the mid 1850s, was 181 feet long, and had a crew of about 350. The Constellation had several decks, with 16 large cannon and four smaller guns, all on the same deck. In the hull, where the fo...
We are now two years into the Biden Administration and the crisis at our southern border has only gotten worse. Recent figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show record levels of border crossings with no sign of improvement while fentanyl is flooding into our communities. Moreover, the American people have not seen any signs from President Biden that he is serious about addressing this worsening crisis and bringing forth solutions to get it under control. The crisis at our southern border is a crisis that affects every...
With a blood-pumping finish, the Lake Roosevelt Raiders came back from an eight-point deficit with under three minutes left in the game against Brewster to claim the District 6 basketball championship Saturday night at Omak. With LR down 61-53 with 2:47 left in the game, Coach Jeremy Crollard called a time out, and the Raiders switched to a press to stop the Bear advance. Brandon Pino sunk a free throw, then added a trey to cover half their deficit. Chase Clark, open at the top of the key,...
The Lady Raiders took second in the District 6 championship game in Omak Friday, falling to Okanogan, the top-rated 2B team in the state. "That was the competition we needed," said Coach Melissa Meza, a reference to the two-tiered nature of District 6, with Okanogan's 21-1 overall win-loss record, Lake Roosevelt's 15-8, and Brewster's 13-8 setting them apart from everyone else. Cylia St. Pierre took top scoring honors for LR, but the Lady Bulldogs kept her to 12. Carly Neddo put in nine;...
Don’t be alarmed if you hear a lot of sirens Thursday morning about 11, but look outside and cheer. Several Raider wrestlers will be headed to state, with an escort out of town by police cars and fire engines. The Raider boys’ team took fifth at the WIAA 1B/2B/1A/2A Region 4 tournament last week, and five of them will compete in the Mat Classic state tournament in Tacoma. Two LR girls will also head to the state event. Rodger Cate took the regional championship at 106 pounds last weekend and will try for his second state championship in Tac...
The state Dept. of Ecology may be about to provide the community with a woodchipper to help with community cleanup of wood debris during annual cleanup times — if it comes in time. Electric City Mayor Diane Kohout told the Regional Board of Mayors Feb. 1 that Ecology has said the board can apply for, and receive, $50,000 in funding for a chipper that handles annual yard cleanup wood waste the community has traditionally taken to the Delano Landfill, and more recently, the transfer station. But transferring that wood waste to the landfill in E...
Students should spend more time in school and less time on break so they retain the learning they acquire during the school year. That’s the opinion of Sen. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee, who has introduced a bill in the state Legislature that adds five days to the school calendar. “SB 5505 takes swift and decisive action to support learning recovery with a simple solution — providing our students with additional access to their teachers, their peers, and to dedicated support staff,” Hawkins said. Under current law, schools are require...
It’s easy, and human, to get pulled into negative thinking about the state of world, which, after all, is never the way it used to be and therefore must be headed for nothing good, and fast. Don’t fall for it. I get reminded of this every time I have the privilege of spending time near today’s young people. They’re usually wiser, more self-aware, less selfish, and more ambitious than I expect them to be. Admittedly, that says something about my own sometimes-negative rut. But it’s also reflective of an all-too-ready, knee-jerk reaction...
For several weeks we’ve read comments by John Adkins, who serves as Superintendent of Wellpinit schools, although he focuses at the local school scene. We know that students at Wellpinit are accomplishing noteworthy studies, and we’d like to know what Adkins thinks about the Spokane Tribal Community. A longtime Elder from the Reservation was recognized for her Life’s work. A new school in Spokane was named Pauline Pascal Flett School for Pauline’s initiation of means to retain the Spokane Salish Language. All levels of Wellpinit student...
Last week, news outlets around the country had wall-to-wall coverage of a spy balloon sent by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) transiting across America. While a balloon itself does not sound very dangerous, it’s the intent behind it that’s concerning—the CCP is testing us to see how President Biden responds, which should raise alarm bells for every American. We simply cannot take this threat lightly and must respond with tough policies to protect our sovereignty from the CCP. As more information arises about this situation, it’s becomin...
The Lake Roosevelt Raider wrestling team on Saturday qualified 11 athletes for the regional tournament next weekend, including two District 6 champions. Zach Elwell took first place at the 106-pound weight division over teammate and 2022 state champion Rodger Cate. Teyten Flores, at 145, claimed that championship with a pin of Tonasket's Logan Stucker at the event, which was held at Lake Roosevelt High School. Dillan Yazzie took second place at 113, as did Dakota Green at 138, Landon Krohn at...
The Lady Raiders beat down the Liberty Bell Lady Mountain Lions Friday night in Coulee Dam 64-12 in their first post-season game, sending them on to meet Brewster last night (Tuesday) at Omak High School, where the next part of the 2023 District 6 2B Girls Basketball tournament is being held. If the LR girls, with an overall win-loss record of 14-7, beat Brewster (12-7), they’ll meet either Tonasket or Okanogan at Omak at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10. If Brewster won last night, the Lady Raiders will still play the earlier Omak game on the 10th at 6 p...
Coulee Dam will accept a $906,000 bid by a contractor for work on a sewage lift station if funding and that award is approved by a federal agency. The city council voted last week to accept a bid from Strider Construction for $906,716 to update its west side lift station, which sends wastewater from the neighborhood on the west side of the Columbia River, across the bridge to the town’s new treatment plant. But that acceptance is contingent on the federal Dept. of Agriculture’s Rural Development Fund (RD)approving extra funding for the imp...
The Grand Coulee Dam and Nespelem school districts came to agreement Friday on terms of a "tuition" agreement they've been negotiating for the current school year. A solution for the next school year is still under discussion. The districts had until Jan. 31 to file applications with the U.S. Dept. of Education for "impact aid" funds that are meant to replace tax levy money they can't get because of non-taxable federal land within their boundaries. They've had an agreement since 1995 on sharing...