News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 901 - 925 of 6969
Memorial Day can be a special occasion. It is meant to be a day of remembering family members and close friends who have passed on. It is a time when you can reflect on the good times enjoyed with those who have been closest to you. When I return home to Palouse, which I plan to do in a few weeks, the first place I always go is to the cemetery where my parents and grandparents are buried. There are a number of others that were close to me buried there. How fortunate we are that our society sets apart a special day to do this. At my parents’ g...
Over the past year and a half — under the Democrats’ one-party rule — rural communities like ours in Central Washington have been harmed by the failed, anti-energy policies coming out of our nation’s capital. Gas prices have hit all-time highs, and American families are facing high inflation and supply chain interruptions thata threaten our way of life. It is more critical than ever that our nation establishes a strong, reliable, all-of-the-above domestic energy portfolio. Fortunately for us in Central Washington, we have a prime example...
Two school boards learned Monday night that a major source of funding education for local students is apparently coming to an end if local officials can’t find a way to appeal a recent “review” of their method of sharing federal funds. An agreement to funnel “Impact Aid” from Nespelem School District to Grand Coulee Dam School District hasn’t been correct for years, a federal “reviewer” recently informed the Nespelem superintendent, a finding that will have a large financial impact on Lake Roosevelt Schools. For decades, the two districts h...
The annual Isle of Flags, with its Memorial Day ceremony, will honor 15 more veterans whose families have requested a flag be flown in their honor. The annual event, which started in 1976, continues to add more flags every year to the spectacle that community volunteers (more needed) will start putting them up at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at the Spring Canyon Cemetery. They will be flying 599 American flags. A Veterans’ Center Memorial Day Breakfast will be offered free of charge to all Saturday from 7 to 11 a.m. at the Vets Center in E...
Part of Federal Avenue in Grand Coulee is receiving a half a million dollar makeover. Wheeler Excavation, LLC out of Benton City is the contractor for the project, replacing the main water line, installing a sidewalk and storm drainage, and rebuilding the street. The full project is expected to cost $535,555, Grand Coulee City Clerk Lorna Pearce said. The streetwork is being done with state Transportation Improvement Board money up to an amount of $524,096. The city will be paying for the...
A $7,000 study funded by the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center found that developing senior housing in the area would be beneficial. The senior center pledged up to $25,000 for studies geared towards developing land currently owned by Centerline Development into living options for senior citizens. With this initial study saying it is a good plan, further studies would include financial studies, an architectural plan and legal expenses, among other items, totalling about $50,000. At a March 14 meeting at the senior center, Ian Turner and Nic...
Electric City is forming a new committee focused on developing a city park, and Electric City residents can be a part of that committee. At a May 18 special council meeting, the council approved going forward with forming a new park committee focused solely on building a city park. Councilmember Brian Buche noted during the meeting that people have expressed interest in taking up the cause again. Buche was elected as part of a new administration in 2019, including all new council members, a new mayor, and a new city clerk, with the park being...
Electric City is making the correct move in considering whether it should plan for expansion to its south. Like the rest of the country, the local area is running short of housing, and that’s a major obstacle to progress for a better community. Local employers have trouble recruiting employees to the area when they can’t find a place to live. Our largest employers in the Grand Coulee Dam area — the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Coulee Medical Center — run into the problem repeatedly. The hospital keeps eight rentals of its own just to have a...
The cartoon in the May 18th edition of The Star newspaper depicts the issue of abortion as a political one. It is a huge disservice to our communities to infer abortion is a political issue. It is not. It is a moral issue. A woman cries out it is her body, therefore, her choice, but what about the little girl or boy who is torn to pieces by the abortion? Why does she or he not get a say in what is going to happen to her or his body? To hear what happens to that little girl or boy, listen to Dr. Anthony Levatino. In October of 2015, he...
People that fly complain about how much time it takes to get to and clear security at the airport. Just getting to the airport can be just as difficult. I was staying at the Mandarin Hotel, which is located on Hong Kong Island. I had a fairly near flight departure and asked the guy at the desk to call a taxi for me. He explained that there were no taxis at that time, but the bicycle taxi people gathered at dawn at a location nearby, he said. Maybe I could get one there. You would think that one of the world’s prime hotels would have a better h...
As Memorial Day approaches each year, I reflect on the debt that each and every American owes to the heroes who have fought to preserve our freedoms. Throughout our history, more than one million Americans, in Lincoln’s words, “gave their last full measure of devotion” in our nation’s defense. This Memorial Day will be the 155th in our nation’s history, and rather than simply marking the beginning of summer, as Americans we should take the opportunity to honor those who have given their all. This year is especially memorable for Central W...
Imagine the nation’s hospitals besieged by pressure to set aside most of what medical science has learned in the past half century. Individuals needing care would receive attention, but from physicians wary that implementing contemporary practices and ideas could have consequences for their careers. Public health would diminish even more. This is the challenge faced by history educators in many states and school districts across the United States right now. Radical organizations, prompted and prodded by marketing professionals and political i...
Some people aren't too thrilled about a possible impending speed limit reduction on a stretch of highway between Electric City and Grand Coulee. The upcoming construction of a pedestrian and bicycle pathway along Banks Lake connecting the Coulee Playland area to the North Dam area may come with a speed limit reduction from 45 miles per hour to 35 mph for an 800-yard stretch of road if the state Department of Transportation deems it appropriate. The path will narrow the roadway, which will...
A construction project is beginning on a new waterline and paving on a section of Federal Avenue in Grand Coulee from Main Street down to Midway Avenue by The Star newspaper building. The street was closed Tuesday to through traffic. The project also involves putting in a sidewalk and storm drains on one side of the street. Construction is anticipated to be finished by July 7, City Clerk Lorna Pearce said at the May 17 council meeting. The Star reported in September of 2021 that the city's...
This weekend is the time, and the Delano Regional Transfer Station is the place to "e-cycle" that old TV or computer monitor that's been cluttering up your garage or attic. This week, May 19-21, you can take certain electronics to the transfer station for free to be recycled. The transfer station is open from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the 19th and 20th, and on Saturday the 21st from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. An electronics bin was previously outside of the gates of the transfer station, but some people...
The Lady Raiders softball team has two shots at going to state following a hometown win last week against Brewster that started the postseason. The rain didn't dampen the spirits of the Lady Raiders, who hosted Brewster on May 14 in Grand Coulee, winning 12-0. LR scored three runs in the first inning, eight in the third and one in the fourth. On the mound for LR and shutting out the Brewster Bears were Presley Steffens and Aaliyah Marchand. Steffens pitched four innings, striking out two, and al...
Raider tennis competed at the Central Washington 2B league tournament in Omak on May 11, and May 14 where several Lady Raiders qualified for the district competition today. In Omak, Amy Dorman won her matches in girls’ singles to qualify for districts. The girls’ doubles teams of Kaylee Landeros and Riley Ayling and Terai Bob and Raeanna Joe won their matches to qualify for districts. The boys’ season is done. “Reese Hansen won two [matches] and lost two and was one match away from going to the next round,” Head Coach Billy Monroe said. “He...
Raider Terek Bush took fourth place in the District 5 tournament at Alta Lake Golf Course on Monday, qualifying him for the state tournament at Deer Park May 24. At Alta Lake, the Raiders competed with opponents from Oroville, Okanogan, Waterville-Mansfield, and Riverside Christian schools, with the top six boys and top five girls qualifying for state. "I think all the players were really feeling the pressure and Terek really handled himself well," Head Coach Steve Files said. Bush finished the...
By Jacob Wagner Raider athletes qualified for districts after placing in league track and field championships last week. LR’s team competed at the Central Washington 2B league championship May 11 at Liberty Bell High School with other athletes from Bridgeport, Oroville, Tonasket, Liberty Bell, and Okanogan. Athletes needed to place in the top eight in each event to move onto the district meet, which will include athletes from those same teams. From LR, Raeley Portch qualified to compete in the 100-meter race, 300-meter hurdles, and the j...
After a few decades of interviewing high school students two or three times a year, certain traits start to seem universal, including eager optimism mixed with a little nervousness about the unknown coming up. Last week, I had the absolute pleasure, once again, to talk with a few local seniors, one on one, about their plans for the future and what high school has been like for them. Whether they hoped to go to college, pursue a certain career, or begin a new adventure, these young adults — vibrant, bright, and hopeful as they are — carries at...
Summers in Palouse when I was a kid meant carnivals and the circus. They held the carnivals just off Main Street and next to the downtown gym. My brother Bob got kicked out of the carnival one summer. They had a monkey on a chain, and it was a popular attraction. Well Bob, who was always pushing the envelope, pushed a little too much. He was teasing the monkey, and the animal would make it out to the end of the chain. Bob didn’t calculate distance too well, and the monkey got on him, causing a stir. Every carny at the site thought Bob was h...
The Lady Raiders defeated their Okanogan rivals tonight at the District 6 championship game on the state top-ranked Lady Bulldogs' home diamond. The Lake Roosevelt girls have a good chance to win the state championship tournament in Yakima May 27-28, where they're likely to face Okanogan for a fourth time this year. The Bulldogs will face either Brewster or Tonasket this Saturday in a game for second place in District 6.... Full story
You can see the world from a different perspective by flying a drone. Greg Behrens, a retired geologist from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, demonstrated his drone for The Star in April at his home east of Grand Coulee in the Spring Canyon area. Behrens got his drone in July of 2021 and his commercial license in October, but he didn't really need it; he just enjoyed the intellectual challenge of passing the test for certification and learning all there was to learn about it. "You have to...
Firefighters from Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, and Elmer City departments responded to a vehicle fire near the Coulee Dam Casino Tuesday. The fire burned inside the cab of a pickup truck. The cause is still under investigation. The fire, reported at 5:14 p.m., was extinguished by 5:25 p.m. Two fire extinguishers were used to put the fire out, which could have been worse, according to firefighters on the scene, who said it could have burned the truck to the ground. Firefighters at the scene of...
Alonzo Adams signed a celebratory letter of intent May 5 to attend Pacific University in Oregon, where he'll play basketball and study hard. In a small ceremony in the Lake Roosevelt High School HUB with family, friends and teammates, Adams signed the letter saying he intends to play basketball for NCAA Division III school in the 2022-23 school year. A table of basketball mementos from his high school years also included a framed certificate of admission to Pacific University as a "trustee...