News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Ever wonder where your sense of humor came from? I got mine from my dad. He was always pulling pranks on the family, sometimes in a very creative way. When we lived on the farm and my dad came out of the house, all five of us kids in unison shouted, “Can we go with you?” That was a sore spot with my dad, so he told us to go in and get cleaned up. We raced inside because we thought we would be headed to town. We came out raring to go, but then my dad went to the outhouse. It taught us a lesson about asking to go all the time. That little trick h...
Grand Coulee Dam area residents may dispose of household hazardous waste for free on Friday, September 8 from 12 pm to 4 pm 13at the Delano Regional Transfer Station. This event is for waste generated by households only. Containers will not be returned. Hazardous products have labels with words such as danger, caustic, flammable, and poison. Examples include oil-based paint, used automotive oil, paint thinner, rechargeable batteries, solvents, brake fluid, aerosols, spot removers, drain openers, insecticides, herbicides, pesticides, mercury... Full story
OTHELLO MAN INDICTED FOR ROLLING BACK AND REPLACING ODOMETERS News Release from U.S. Attorney's Office - Eastern Dist. of Wash. SPOKANE – On September 4, 2024, a federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Washington returned an indictment charging Reynaldo Valdez Garza Jr., of Othello, Washington, with five counts of Odometer Tampering. Garza made his first appearance in Federal Court on September 9, 2024. The indictment alleges that beginning in May of 2023, Garza carried out a scheme to a... Full story
Students at Monday's school board meeting requested full-time counselors, citing the stress of the recent deaths of fellow students, and bullying and violence that have taken a toll in the last few months. They asked for on-site and text-based counseling and suggested a program called Only7Seconds out of Chelan, which works with schools to address youth loneliness and prevent self-harm. ASB President Riley Ayling said she had a phone conversation with the executive director of the program last...
From the starting bell in the morning to the end of the school day, Lake Roosevelt students will no longer be allowed to use their cell phones — not even at lunch — a change intended to reduce distractions, bullying and other discipline issues. In a 3-2 vote, the school board Monday night agreed with staff members who advocated for the formal change, citing statistics about student learning and cyberbullying, and personal anecdotes of the discipline challenges that can easily distract a room full of students or lead to harassment of students by...
Elmer City officials and citizens met to look over a draft of the town's park and recreation plan Aug. 22. Planning consultant Kurt Danison of Highlands Associates presented the draft as the small group discussed ideas and additions or changes to it. The town hired Danison to help put together a master plan that will serve in the ever-important process of acquiring grant money for projects to improve the quality of life in the town with better recreational amenities. That process, itself, is...
My friend Will Chausee had a sapphire mine in Montana about 35 miles east of Hamilton. He was an unlikely friend. Will owned a high-class cedar lumber operation, catering to high-end builders. He was a burly chap, probably 200 pounds if an ounce. Over time we got thrown together through the Rotary Club and other endeavors. Will kept inviting me to vacation at his Gem Mountain sapphire mine. So, my wife and I decided to do just that. The mine was located high up in the mountains, a fun and scenic drive, if nothing else. He spent time there in a...
Larry Hernandez sat alone Tuesday in the Coulee Dam theater that hasn't been operating as one since 2013, testing speakers with the big screen blank, streaming the audio from his phone via a Bluetooth connection, the 1985 movie "Back to the Future" blaring out. That alone could be taken a hopeful sign for the theater that closed 11 years ago as technological updates mandated by the movie distribution industry collided with small-town realities in many places that still operated with projectors...
A former three-term Grant County commissioner who moved to Grand Coulee five years ago will be the city’s next council member. Tim Snead did not take his seat after the council voted him in on Tuesday night, but he will be sworn in and ready to participate for the next meeting. Snead also served as city administrator of Quincy for 13 years, including during the server farm boom years. “We went from an assessed value of $700 million to $2.4 billion before I left, but I will tell you: Growth is a pain,” Snead said, to laughter around the room....
A verbal argument over a barking dog allegedly escalated into a physical fight, with one man getting shot and injured in Delano Heights Aug. 6, according to a Grand Coulee police report. An 89-year-old man listed as a witness told police he too pointed a firearm at the suspect in order to break up the men — an action the victim’s mother credits with saving her son’s life, the police report said. Dustin Miley, 45, survived his injuries but spent multiple days in the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Medical Center and is about to under...
A Department of Justice grant created to help small and rural law enforcement agencies combat violent crime will bring in just under $300,000 over three years for the Grand Coulee Police Department to spend on several key strategies as defined by the DOJ. The city council voted to accept the grant August 20, after hearing Officer Matt Gilbert’s presentation at a special meeting the week prior, in which he shared an updated proposal of what specific initiatives the $293,125 award would fund. Gilbert had applied for the grant in 2023, and the D...
A 17-year-old lost her life in a tragic crash Aug. 13 as she and her four passengers headed north on SR-155 five miles south of Nespelem. The Washington State Patrol reported that at 9:24 p.m., the 1999 GMC pickup Jaelynn F. Vallee was driving failed to negotiate a curve, drove onto the shoulder, overcorrected, came back across the northbound lane, rotated and rolled onto the southbound shoulder. The four other children in the vehicle injured and taken to hospitals: a 3-year-old girl to Coulee Medical Center, along with a 12-year-old boy; a...
It’s almost impossible today to buy something off the rack that fits. Gone are the days when better clothing stores had a tailor on staff to make minor adjustments so clothes fit better. The biggest issue is fitting the length of trousers. All too many times I have bought pants that needed tailoring so they fit. Yet the service isn’t offered at the store. I have pants hanging in the closet that have been bought, paid for, and just hang there. You end up in double jeopardy if you like a cuff. I guess stores expect you to grow your legs to fit...
As the summer comes to a close and the new school year is looming, excited children are buying backpacks, going over their class schedules, and anticipating all the new things they are going to learn. But with the year beginning, I would be remiss if I did not discuss the elephant in the room —Washington’s education report card. In yWashington state, children ages K-12 are failing to meet the basic math and reading proficiency requirements, test scores are still far below where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment is down 4%, and...
Lake Roosevelt schools could move to a four-day school week in the 2025-26 school year, and an informal survey of the community showed a majority of respondents support the idea so far. Superintendent Rod Broadnax presented the school board Monday with the results from the voluntary six-question survey he put out to the public on the district website and Facebook page, asking people’s thoughts on how a four-day week would impact families, student learning, attendance and other metrics. 260 people responded. To the big question – “Do you feel...
Grand Coulee will make an appearance in an independent coming-of-age/road trip movie coming out next year. At least one iconic location in town could show up on the silver screen. The filming crew for "Evergreens" stayed in town a couple of nights in late July to shoot one of the scenes, following the route the two lead characters take as they get to know the state and each other. The story starts in Spokane and continues across Washington, ending up in the Hoh Rainforest on the peninsula....
Only one person applied to be mayor when it came open this spring. But the council will have a few more choices for the open Grand Coulee City Council seat and may appoint a new member as soon as next week. Those seeking the spot were asked to write a letter explaining their interest, which was due Monday. The council will interview candidates at their regular public meeting at City Hall on Aug. 20, 6 p.m. They may take a vote to appoint the new council member at the same meeting. Four people applied, and all four will be interviewed. The candi...
At the chamber's First Friday event Aug. 2, we asked people who visited our booth to write down their "One Wish for this place" - something that would make the Grand Coulee Dam Area better, safer, healthier, or more fun. We got some good responses from people who jotted their wish on a card and dropped it into our little makeshift wishing well. "Fix potholes," "clean up the neighborhood," and "more boat docks" were each on at least somebody's wishlist. Two people wrote down the same thing:...
While preparing for one of my trips to the Far East, I learned that Myanmar (then Burma) had opened up its borders to allow 72-hour visits. I jumped at the chance. Burma had been a British colony. I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be any strings attached. I asked Pan American Airlines officials if it was a good idea to stop over there. I had booked my trip with Pan Am since they had route privileges everywhere I was planning to go. My contact there was Willard Marsh, who said things were a little strained but a visit might be i...
Kelly Ortberg’s appointment as new Boeing CEO and the company returning its headquarters to Seattle are promising steps toward rehabilitating the aerospace giant started over a century ago. The Seattle Times editorial summarized it best: “Dare we hope?” Ortberg has a sterling reputation, vast aerospace experience, and a record of accomplishment. Hopefully, his experience and success pave the way for Boeing to re-emerge as the pinnacle of aerospace — where it was before the Chicago move in 2001. Boeing knows how to build good, safe airplan...
Throughout the nation and right here in Central Washington, our Native American communities are disproportionately impacted by lower rates of positive healthcare outcomes and violent crime. Throughout my time in Congress, I have built strong relationships with tribal partners and have worked on comprehensive legislation to address some of these challenges. In rural communities, healthcare continues to be a challenge, and given the health disparities that exist in tribal nations, recruitment of quality health personnel should be a priority. The...
Pavement maintenance and road repair jobs will mean detours and parking restrictions over the next six weeks in Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee and Electric City. The $1.9 million project, funded entirely by a state grant from the Transportation Improvement Board, or TIB, begins on Monday, Aug. 12. The contractor has 30 working days – until the end of September – to substantially complete the job. The exact order of which street segments get completed when was not available by press time, but Granite Construction Company will have multiple crews wor...
Around one in five Washington households qualify for a $200 credit toward their power bill–including residential customers in the Coulee area. It is fast and free to apply online, but applications must be in by September 15. The credit is available to customers served by Grant County PUD, the Town of Coulee Dam, Nespelem Valley Electric Co-Op, Ferry County PUD, Avista and some 40 other utilities across the state. More than 675,000 households in Washington will qualify, according to a press release from the Washington Department of Commerce. T...
Central Washington’s longtime man in Congress, Rep. Dan Newhouse managed a majority in Grant County in last night’s primary, but that was the only county he won of the eight that the 4th Congressional District reaches into. Newhouse was bested by challenger Jerrod Sessler, one of three fellow Republicans seeking to oust him from his seat following Newhouse’s vote in 2021 to impeach then-president Donald Trump. Newhouse was leading by a nose in Grant, according to unofficial results at the Secretary of State’s Office, but overall, the distric...
It wasn't supposed to be in the cards this year. But an unexpected cash injection from a Medicare lump sum adjustment led CMC's board of directors to earmark funds for demolition of the four grain bins across Highway 174 from the hospital, probably this fall. At the CEO's request, the board authorized up to $275,000 to pay for the work, necessary for "employee safety and creating room for expansion," according to the formal resolution. "We decided, in keeping with the idea of hopefully getting...
