News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Animal control workers removed over 60 cats from a home in Electric City Monday. Representatives from Pasado’s Safe Haven, a rescue operation from Monroe, Wash., along with Grand Coulee Police Chief John Tufts, completed taking the cats from Mardee Davis at 103 W. Grand Avenue. Davis said Tuesday that she had called Pasado’s for help. “I have been trying to get help since things started piling up on me,” Davis said. Friends are coming this weekend to help her clean the place, she explained. Davis said she had been busy helping her ailing... Full story
Update As of 9 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 7, the fires had consumed nearly 8,300 acres and was threatening some 50 homes and 50 other structures. One outbuilding has burned. San Poil Valley residents were ordered to evacuate Tuesday due to several fires on the Colville Indian Reservation that have burned about 2,000 acres, according to officials at the Mt. Tolman Fire Center. Some 20 to 25 homes are threatened, along with cultural resources, power lines and commercial timber. One fire, burning in... Full story
A new mayor and two new council members were sworn in at Coulee Dam last Monday. Mayor-elect Greg Wilder, and council members-elect Gayle Swagerty and Duane Johnson all took their oaths of office at a ceremony at town hall with U. S. Attorney Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney from the Eastern Division of Washington, and Dana Cleveland of the Office of the Reservation Attorney at the Colville Indian Agency, officiating. Over 60 persons showed up for the official swearing in process.... Full story
Two fires separated by a couple of miles and a day scrambled local fire fighters early this week to protect property. Brisk winds pushed a fire Sunday night perilously close to Lone Pine homes and briefly brought on a level-three evacuation notice for that area as well as River Drive in Coulee Dam. Monday, fire marshals were combing the area trying to determine the cause of the 15-acre blaze. The fire started shortly after 7 p.m. and lit up the skies as flames worked their way through grass,... Full story
A chamber of commerce-sponsored meeting of community leaders Monday selected a committee whose goal is to approach the three municipalities that collect hotel/motel tax money about the possible formation of a tourism advisory board to oversee spending it. Many in the room clearly would like to see local municipal councils shake loose of nearly a half million dollars not being used to increase tourism, the intent of the law that authorizes the tax. The meeting was a continuation of an earlier gathering where many of the same people discussed... Full story
A drive to raise $95,000 to replace Village Cinema’s projection equipment with new digital technology has failed, and the theater’s owners hope to end their lease early, unable to continue with a broken, obsolete projector. A report on Kickstarter, an online fund raising site, reported at the end of the drive, May 4, that only $2,688 had been pledged, less than 2 percent of what was needed to make a transition to digital equipment required by new industry standards next year. Owner Lynette Zierden said they just made the last payment to the... Full story
Elmer City had stated that it wanted a seat at the table. Last Wednesday night, its town council met with Coulee Dam’s council, and it got a seat at the table, but significant questions remain. At issue is a $4.92 million wastewater treatment plant upgrade now under design. Foremost in Elmer City’s mind was whether it was a partner in Coulee Dam’s wastewater treatment plant, or merely a customer. While that wasn’t answered directly, Elmer City was advised that anytime in the future that Coulee... Full story
The new Keller Ferry “Sanpoil” will be christened July 19, 2013, an official from Foss Maritime Company said Monday. However, there’s a whole lot of work that has to be completed before then. Some of that work is occurring this week near the National Park Service boat launch at Crescent Bay, where a 145-foot by 45-foot concrete slab will be poured, on which Foss workers will assemble the new ferry, which will be trucked in to the area in parts. Access to the boat launch will not be affected by the construction, said National Park Servi... Full story
People that have been around the area for a long time said last Friday afternoon’s storm was the worst they had ever seen. A National Weather Service warning at 12:54 p.m. said it was moving north through Grant County at about 30 miles per hour. The warning was issued until 1:45, but the storm hit the Grand Coulee Dam area with force about 3 p.m. In its wake, there were many reports of upended trees and roof damage, and the driving rain kept people indoors for the half hour or so of the s... Full story
Sometimes dreams do come true. The Grand Coulee Dam School District’s plans for a new school appear to be a go. After long budgeting hassles in Olympia, the governor, the House and Senate finally agreed today, mostly, on a budget — one that includes enough money to build a new school for the Grand Coulee Dam community. Added to the $14 million already approved two years ago for the project, a $17 million line item in the supplemental capital budget appeared virtually assured of passage early thi... Full story
Nespelem School District is hoping for a good Valentine’s Day present, passage of its four-year maintenance and operations levy. Nearly 400 voters received their mail-in ballots recently to approve a four-year levy for $118,000 in funding. Although that’s among the very lowest levy amounts in the state, Superintendent John Adkins notes, it accounts for far more critical funds to the district than just the levy dollars themselves. Passage of the levy would also make the district eligible for state “Local Effort Assistance” or levy equalization f... Full story
About a dozen people who showed up for an informational meeting about a wastewater treatment plant project got assurances from two Gray & Osborne engineers that the extent of change was necessary to meet agency requirements. Jeff Stevens and Dave Van Cleve of G&O stated that the different elements of the project were as low as possible in cost and would allow considerable growth. The remodeling of the existing 40-year-old plant will likely begin in 2013 and take from 12 to 18 months to complete,... Full story