News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair was awe-inspiring. It previewed developments that would improve our daily lives in the next millennium. While “Century 21” memories have faded, three of its landmarks remain as reminders of the innovations it inspired: The Seattle Center, the Space Needle, and the monorail. One thing many remember is “The Bubble-ator,” a glass ball-shaped elevator in the coliseum (now Climate Pledge Arena) which gradually climbed to the middle of a contoured map of the Puget Sound reg...
Thousands of young doctors recently learned where they’ll be spending the next few years of their lives in residency. A significant number of them will be U.S. citizens who completed medical school abroad. This corps of internationally educated doctors has become increasingly important to the U.S. healthcare system -- and is tackling a disproportionate share of America’s biggest healthcare challenges. The United States desperately needs doctors. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, we could face a deficit of up to 124...
As our politics degrade, so does our ability to deal with the most urgent issue we all face. Climate change is so very hard to wrap your head around, especially for people like us who live in an area where a river runs through it and powers our homes and businesses with green, hydro-electric energy. It’s easy to be complacent here, until August anyway. That’s when, over the last few years, we’ve come to expect “smoke season” if we’re lucky, “fire season” if conditions push the nature around us to kindling levels and something, anything, causes...
The idea of consolidating Coulee area towns was discussed briefly at a recent meeting of area mayors, with the general opinion expressed being that it is complicated. During the April 6 Regional Board of Mayors meeting, the group discussed at some length how to pull off a spring-cleaning event, a frequent topic with the group. When asked by The Star if they felt consolidation would help simplify what seems to be a convoluted process by having one conversation instead of four between four different towns, a few spoke on the topic. Elmer City...
A local driver ended up in the water last week when her vehicle veered into Banks Lake about 5:44 p.m. Thursday. Stacey Joe White, 46, of Coulee Dam got out of the car and swam to shore before the Toyota Highlander sank, according to Trooper John Bryant of the Washington State Patrol. The incident happened on SR-155 about five miles north of the junction with US 2 just north of Coulee City. White was reportedly alone in the car. She was taken to Coulee Medical Center with minor injuries. The...
The city of Grand Coulee has launched a new website that has some handy info for residents. The website, which went live in January, is a little hard to find on Google, but is at www.gccitywa.org. There, visitors to the site can find meeting agendas, look things up in the city’s code, find the email addresses for the mayor and council members, and find handy forms such as building permits, demolition permits, and dog license applications. Kristine Thiesfeld, who is the clerk for the Grand Coulee Police Department, put the website together u...
North Cascades Bank donated $2,500 Friday to help the Ridge Riders put on the Colorama Rodeo. The bank, said Branch Operations Manager Jerri Smith, sees the rodeo as "an important event for our local community. Not only does it give us something to look forward to each year, it's also an entertaining, family friendly event that benefits our community financially." Smith noted the bank has helped sponsor the rodeo for many years. This year, she said, "we are very excited to sponsor the...
Why am I cold all the time? Doesn’t the weatherman know it’s supposed to be spring? But I’ve seen much colder days. I endured 46 below when working for Potlatch Forest shortly after I got out of high school. Work area layout was a cement slab with a tin roof and the sides all open. Three planer machines filled the interior of the huge shed. One person fed the boards into the machine, and two graders marked the planed boards according to their value. Two more pulled the boards off the chains and put them in appropriate piles. The winter had b...
The news that President Biden plans to resume leasing of federal land for oil exploration maybe good five years from now, but that action alone won’t bring down record gas prices at the pump in the months ahead. According to American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.07 on Good Friday (April 15); down from $4.31 a gallon a month ago. That’s still 70 percent higher than when he took office. The Interior Department announced it will put up...
Many small business owners wonder how cybersecurity pertains to their business, or think they could never fall victim to cybercriminals. But, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA), cyber-attacks are a growing threat for entrepreneurs and the U.S. economy. In 2020 alone, the FBI reported that the cost of cybercrimes reached $2.7 billion. While some small businesses have little to no financial resources to devote to professional information technology solutions, tools are available to help understand the risks and where improvement...
The annual Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Triple Fish Challenge drew 50 anglers in 23 boats who caught a lot of fish over two days in highly variable spring weather. Saturday was windy and rough on Banks Lake, but after a day of sunshine Sunday, smiles were everywhere as they lined up for the final weigh-in at Coulee Playland. On day one, Jim Stanley caught the 3.38-pound smallmouth bass in the adult category. Derek Hilderbrand netted 7.97-pound walleye. No one caught a trout. Among...
by Scott Hunter Two people were arrested at the Lakeview Terrace trailer park April 5 and charged with burglary after a property manager reported he’d caught them straipping wiring from an unoccupied unit. The Star reported the development as it was in progress last Tuesday but had few details. Undersheriff Kelly Watkins said Thursday that one occupant of a mobile home had finally come out after initially declaring he would not. After deputies learned of the possibility of a rifle inside, Grant County sent a SWAT team at one point. Watkins s...
In my column I have often mentioned what good neighbors I have. I particularly mention Dave and Dorothy Stiegelmeyer, who frequently are doing little things to make life easier for me. I received a postcard recently from an old friend asking if he was a good neighbor when living next to us in Nampa, Idaho when we were both attending college. That was in or about 1957. I assured him that he was. Earl Tromburg and his wife Velma lived right next to us in the Vetville apartment complex made up of about a dozen apartments for students attending sch...
What do you do in someone just says no? That they are not going to follow the law? That’s a policy issue the Electric City Council discussed Tuesday night after approving new forms the city’s code enforcer will use to inform people when they need to correct a “nuisance” code violation. But the subject of a rooster came up. Someone owns one who lives near Councilmember Brian Buche. The city allows chickens — up to six — but not roosters, which can be persistently noisy. Buche said a neighbor not far from the offending bird in his neighborhoo...
Getting ready for next month's Colorama Rodeo, the Ridge Riders Rodeo Grounds Tuesday saw workers from Spokane mounting new speakers to the light poles for a better sound experience that should save money in the long run. President George Kohout said the speaker systems that announcers must bring with them are an expensive, added cost of putting on a rodeo. The investment taking shape this week will lessen that bill each year and upgrade other events that have been lacking a good sound system....
My wife Dorothy has suffered from dementia for the past several years. We have been able to care for her in our home for these past years until recently all the family agreed that the level of care she needed could no longer be provided by me in the home. It is fortunate that our two grandchildren, Ashley Landeros and Travis Irwin, live here and handled all the details, paperwork, and other needs during this time, always mindful of my feelings and the concurrence of family members who live elsewhere. We sought a place for this care and were...
Where did all the nurses go? One of my family members ended up in the ER for a week after a bad fall. The hospital we chose and its staff were wonderful in every way, but this time, one important thing was missing: an appropriate number of nurses to deliver superior care. The nurses who were there did their best. They are working long hours and exhausting themselves and, still, the ones we met were cheerful and supportive. There is a special place in Heaven for people in this profession. But where did all the nurses go? We moved our family memb...
It is completely mind-boggling that amidst an energy and supply chain crisis, President Biden would remove a source of power and transportation for an entire region. Yet, just last week, the White House updated their blog with a post about doing just that: breaching the four Lower Snake River Dams. This “blog post” proves that the Biden Administration is beholden to radical, environmental lobbyists, and is only hearing their side of the argument. They are completely ignoring the devastating impacts that breaching the Lower Snake River Dams wou...
With COVID-19 vaccines widely dispensed and masking requirements mostly lifted, will “work from home” end? Will workers return to downtown offices at pre-pandemic levels? Probably Not! One big reason it is expensive to drive and the waste of time and fuel idling in traffic jams. Another is safety. Gas prices continue to skyrocket. Last year, the average cost at the pump was $2.62 per gallon. By the end of March, Seattle’s gasoline increased to $4.88 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s latest sur...
As in most of the country, housing in the Grand Coulee Dam area is in short supply, pushing prices high. “It’s happening everywhere,” said longtime local broker Merle Kennedy of Foisy and Kennedy. Nationally, prices on single family houses are up over 18 percent from a year ago, a trend that hold true in the Grand Coulee area, which Kennedy knows well. Speaking at a Rotary Club online meeting March 23, Kennedy illustrated with a story: A listing came up in the Northwest Multiple Listing Service on a Friday afternoon that he thought would inter...
Incidents of violence and other issues at Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High seem to be decreasing after a few measures have been implemented. In her report to the Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors, Principal Sara Kennedy wrote that to address an “escalation in behavior incidents” they have implemented a few new measures. One new measure is that restrooms are now closed between class periods. Students can use the restrooms during class time after signing out of class, one at a time. Kennedy told the board that this has red...
Two drivers suffered a head-on collision in Grand Coulee about 1 a.m. Sunday when one crossed the centerline on SR-155 near Federal Avenue, the Washington State Patrol reported. Amy Glover, 39, of Wilbur was driving north in a 2018 Ford Explorer when it crossed the centerline, striking a 2004 Chevrolet Impala headed north. The Impala was driven by Malia Vogel, 26, of Almira. She told a Grand Coulee police officer first on the scene that she’d had to crawl out and that her leg hurt. The officer noted that front of the car was crushed to the f...
K-12 schools have more guidance on how to conduct active-shooter lockdown drills with a new bill signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee. The bill prohibits schools from conducting drills involving life-like simulations or reenactments of active shooter scenarios that are not “trauma-informed and age and developmentally appropriate.” Additionally, students, teachers and staff will be alerted before carrying out a shooting-safety lockdown drill. Prime sponsor of the bill, Rep. Amy Walen, D-Kirkland, said the legislation is needed to protect sta...
Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School is purchasing a used car for its traffic safety/driver education program. The Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors on Monday approved the purchase of a 2017 Ford Escape for about $25,000 from Jess Ford using school levy money. The class has been leasing a Ford Fusion from Jess Ford. Superintendent Paul Turner said the four-wheel-drive Ford Escape has low mileage and that the school should get a lot of use out of it over the coming years. “We’re a district that champion’s drivers ed,” Turne...
The Lake Roosevelt Raiders baseball team is off to a good start for the season with a 3-1 win-loss record so far. The Raiders lost their season opener to Cascade High School March 22 at the Peshastin-Dryden Sports Complex with a final score of 6-5. "We were ahead most of the game and they had a hit in the bottom of the seventh to score two runs to beat us," Head Coach Billy Nicholson said. "Everyone played well, we just didn't win." The next day in Okanogan, the Raiders beat the Bulldogs 7-6....