News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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A Douglas County farmer and his wife, Leroy and Betty Sanderson, have been named “Landowners of the Year” by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The couple, who now live in Electric City, own a large cattle and wheat ranch and have cooperated with Fish and Wildlife in enrolling hundreds of acres of wheat into the Conservation Reserve Program. The Sandersons turned the reserve property into a recreation area for wildlife by planting trees, shrubs or crops specifically for wildli... Full story
High-speed Internet will soon be on its way to the Colville Reservation, according to Jim Ronyak, IT division director for Colville Indian Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. New fiber-optic lines will bring service to Nespelem School, Nespelem Head Start and the tribal government campus. Later it will branch out to other areas. Ronyak said this week that high speed Internet service on the reservation would be “life changing.” The estimated $1.4 million project was 90-percent financed by a grant from federal Universal Service funding sup... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board Wednesday night awarded a contract to demolish A.E. Wright Elementary. Elder Demolition, a Spokane/Portland firm bid $371,095 -- about $49,000 over the official estimate -- yet $47,000 under the next lowest bidder. Senior architect Laurence Rose, of Design West, told the board that Elder Demolition indicated plans to grind up concrete at the site and store it there for later fill on the K-12 project, therefby saving the district a considerable amount of money. The second lowest bid came from Cates and... Full story
While local school officials are gearing up for the initial phase of building a new K-12 facility, State Senator Linda Evans Parlette is beating federal funding bushes to find the additional $15 million necessary to finish the project. In a letter to four members of the state’s congressional delegation, Parlette outlined why the federal government should step up to the plate and provide final funding for the construction project. “I believe the Federal Government has a responsibility to thi... Full story
Tim’s 4 Corners Union 76 Station has been purchased by Jack and Lauretta Madsen. The sale ends a 24-year ownership of the popular corner station by Tim and Michéle Arrants, who purchased the business in 1988, after leasing it for a number of years previously. The Arrants plan to stay in the community for the next few years while their youngest son, Sammy, finishes his schooling. The Arrants came to the community in 1980. After leasing and then owning the station for 10 years, the couple ex... Full story
An Electric City resident told the city council at its last meeting in June that rules it had enacted for their meetings were probably illegal. Jeff Eiffert took issue with the council’s desire to curb comments and criticism by trying to keep visitors from making complaints in public meetings. Eiffert had fired off his objections to the state Attorney General’s Office, whose open government ombudsman, Tim Ford, said if the council has a place on the agenda for citizens to speak, it can’t tell them what they can or cannot say. Ford’s similar... Full story
Dennis Schuchman came by his love of airplanes naturally. His dad was a Grant County deputy sheriff and had his own full-size airplane, and, from Dennis’ earliest days, his father was into radio-controlled planes. They flew a lot together, and even though Dennis never got his own flying license, he often took the stick in his father’s plane, taking off and landing. “My dad would fly prisoners from Ephrata to minimum security prisons,” Dennis remembers. This love of flying later transfe... Full story
Teams from the Tonasket area won the first four places at the ranch rodeo a week ago at the Ridge Riders Rodeo Grounds. The first place team, made up of Ben Kershner, Austin Olma, T.J. Symmonds and Kristy Rothrock, picked up $280 each for their performances. Second place went to Steve Richey, T.J. Symmonds, John Symmonds and Carla Stucker, who each picked up $210 for their efforts. The third place in team performance went to T.J. Symmonds, Cesar Bobadilla, Dennis Wines and Marcy Harris, and each won $140. Fourth place was picked up by Rod... Full story
Wendell George will be at the Colville Tribal Museum Saturday to sign copies of his new book “Last Chief Standing.” It’s George’s second book, the first was titled “Coyote Finishes the People.” George is a member of the Entiat Tribe and has served on the Colville Business Council, acting as chief officer for several years. His book “Last Chief Standing” is a tale of two cultures describing how one Indian family moved from a nomadic existence into the modern world and resisted extinction. George’s great grandfather was Chief Chilcosahaskt and... Full story
The Colville Tribes’ wolf trapping team has captured and collared two gray wolves over a two-day period near the San Poil drainage area. It was the first official report of wolves actually being on the reservation in over 100 years, officials stated June 8. In making the announcement, Colville Business Council President Michael O. Finley said the radio collars on the two wolves will help Tribal Fish & Wildlife officials track their movements. The wolf trapping team was made up of Randy F... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District directors approved personnel issues at their meeting June 25. Renewals were approved for Sandy Davidson, accounts payable; Peggy Day, special education secretary; Lee Seekiins, 21st Century grant director; Mandi Strocsher, payroll/personnel director; Sue Hinton, Center School principal; Lisa Lakin, middle school principal; and Brad Wilson, Lake Roosevelt High School principal. Coaching assignments approved included: Lori Adkins, high school varsity track and high school winter cheer coach; Steve Archer,... Full story
Next week marks one of my favorite holidays of the calendar year -- Independence Day. I love this holiday because it is typically a day filled with simple good cheer. I find it an easy holiday to celebrate. The weather is usually warm and pleasant. Friends and family gather around barbecues, lakes, and pools to laugh and simply be together. It is an uncomplicated day filled with little family drama or outsized expectations, like many holidays can be. On the surface, the 4th of July is purely a day to have fun, watch some fireworks, eat, drink,... Full story
An Electric City woman was arrested and taken to Grant County Jail Thursday evening, after allegedly stabbing her live-in partner twice in the back with a 12-inch kitchen knife. Kimberly Kay Piapot, 45, and Martin Thomas Stanley, 43, had been arguing at 214.5 W. Grand Avenue in Electric City when Piapot stabbed Stanley, police reported. Police went to the residence after a call from a neighbor, but couldn’t find either party. Officers learned that Piapot had gone to a residence at 217 Kelso and went there to arrest her. Stanley couldn’t be fou... Full story
The Festival of America, July 3 and 4, will celebrate our freedoms at the park below the Visitor Center in Coulee Dam. There will be craft booths, food, and music for hometown folks and visitors alike and it will all be capped off Wednesday night after the Laser Light Show with fireworks over Grand Coulee Dam. The event is sponsored by the Coulee Dam Casino, the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce and the town of Coulee Dam. During the day, the craft and food booths will open at 11 a.m.... Full story
It was three dog night in Electric City. The city council Tuesday night declared two dogs “dangerous” and a third was given a temporary reprieve. The council didn’t take long in declaring Duke, a dog owned by Joseph Balthazar “dangerous,” and Shadow, a dog owned by Jeanie Marie French, also “dangerous.” All three dogs were allegedly involved in biting incidents in Electric City recently. Balthazar’s dog, Duke, was involved in a biting incident May 13, when it bit Amanda Lyn Button, an Electric City resident out jogging, about both legs. Balt... Full story
Workers were prepared to set 16 tanks for Electric City’s arsenic treatment plant in place Tuesday until word came that the crane enroute to do the job had slammed into an underpass someplace around Spokane. The crane delay was holding up two trucks loaded with the tanks. Clearwater Construction crews had to off-load the tanks in a temporary location so drivers could return to their routes. There was no word on how long the crane accident would hold up the project. The crane had been s... Full story
The next Keller Ferry has a name — “Sanpoil.” The state Department of Transportation said “Sanpoil” was selected from among 200 suggestions that met the parameters set by officials. Some 500 suggestions were received. The ferry crosses Lake Roosevelt near the spot where the Sanpoil River flows into the Columbia and near one of the old time favorite salmon fishing sites visited by native tribes. The new ferry, now under construction by Foss Maritime at Rainier, Ore., will be delivered for final assembly at the Crescent Bay boat launch site late... Full story
by Roger S. Lucas The Grand Coulee Dam School District’s surplus and garage sale has netted some $11,336.24, Superintendent Dennis Carlson told the board Monday night. Two sales made up the bulk of the money with the disposal of two portable classroom buildings at A.E. Wright Elementary School, and a bus purchased by a Utah sheriff. The portables, 24 by 36 feet, were purchased by the Colville Indian College at the agency, for $3,600. The bus, estimated to have a $750 trade-in value, was purchased for $5,400. The sheriff’s office that pur... Full story
The Coulee Dam Town Council voted last Wednesday night to sign a loan agreement with the state Department of Ecology for a $4.992 million loan for its proposed wastewater treatment plant. In addition the council voted to move ahead and give the okay for Gray & Osborne, the town’s engineering firm, to proceed with the design for the plant. The action was taken in spite of questions raised by a local resident Greg Wilder and the town of Elmer City, who have questioned the size of the plant and some of the redundancies in equipment as well as o... Full story
There will be no “hooting” at Electric City council meetings. Nor any “jeering,” according to new rules laid down by council members last Tuesday night. One section, called “Conduct of Audience” states that you can be removed from the council chambers if you clap, cheer, hoot, holler, gesture, whistle, guffaw, jeer, boo, hiss, make remarks out of turn, use profanity or the like. The council had a difficult time explaining to itself and a few residents scattered in the chambers how citizens should address the council. Mayor Jerry Sands expla... Full story
It all started for Bruce Maynard at the Peace Arch in Blaine. Where it will end is anybody’s guess. Will he be walking to Alaska, or from Lisbon to Beijing, China? Maynard was weaving his way back across to Blaine when we caught up with him here in Grand Coulee. Near 78 years old, Maynard, like Forsest Gump, just started walking one day -- from the Peace Arch to Key West, Florida. It was March 20, 2010, when he took off, contrary to the wishes of his four sons and daughter, who thought then, a... Full story
One lone incumbent, Colville Business Council Chairman Michael O. Finley, kept his seat after polling results Saturday. Six others either lost their seats in the primary election or trailed by a significant vote after Saturday’s polling. In Nespelem District, William “Billy” Nicholson, who ran on giving half of a $193 million settlement with the federal government directly to tribal members, outpolled incumbent Harvey Moses, Jr., 134-97 for Pos. 1. And challenger Nancy C. Johnson is leading incumbent Ricky Gabriel, 126-106 for Pos. 2. In Omak D... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District started advertising for bids for the demolition of Wright Elementary School this week. The preliminary estimate for the base bid was $320,000, the bid request stated. Superintendent Dennis Carlson said the district will cease taking bids at 3 p.m., July 11, and that he plans to have a special school board meeting that evening to award the bid. A pre-bid conference is planned for interested bidders June 26, at 11 a.m. The bid calls for removing the existing Wright Elementary School building, including... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District will enter a two-year “guaranteed education” pilot project beginning with the senior graduating class of 2014. Superintendent Dennis Carlson has been talking about the idea for some time and last Wednesday asked the board to embark on a two-year pilot project to which the board readily agreed. The program would guarantee graduating seniors, for one year, that if they had difficulty moving on in college, the military, or a work situation, the district would come to their aid. Carlson said the program would pa... Full story
Wright Elementary School, scheduled for demolition sometime this summer, is the warehouse for hundreds of items that go on the garage sale block this Thursday and Friday. You can pick up a urinal for about $15. Two portable class buildings (24 by 36 feet) can be purchased cheaply, but be prepared to move them. Metal desks, sinks, cabinets, counters, trash cans, lavatory sinks, and dozens upon dozens of other useful items, all are there ready for a new home. The school district had placed all items with a firm that handles surplus materials,... Full story