News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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There will be a week-long Scholastic Book Fair at Lake Roosevelt Schools April 16-20. The week will be packed with related activities, including a contest to see which elementary class wins the “coin war” to see who purchases the most in books. There’s an ice cream party tied to that. Hours to hit the library for the purchase of books go like this: Monday and Tuesday, April 16-17, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Wednesday, April 18, 8-8; Thursday, April 19, 8-3:30; and Friday, April 20, 8-1. The event is called “Paws for Books.” There will be dog mo...
A “dangerous building” issue in Grand Coulee got a 90-day reprieve from the council at its meeting last week. Councilmembers were getting a little tired of no action on getting the building removed, and it showed as the council considered that they were dealing with stalling tactics, starting to get the best of them. At issue is probably the most colorful building in Grand Coulee, a sort of old museum, along Spokane Way. Its bright blue-and-yellow color grabs the eye when you leave the city center heading out of town. The ramshackle, small, for...
Electric City will consider reversing an annexation decision it made back in 2009. The city council has asked City Clerk Russell Powers to find out how to reverse its annexation decision that brought a large block of land south of the Osborn Bay into the city. Powers said Monday that he has asked the city's attorney what the process would be so he can report back to the council at one of its future meetings. "If the city eventually wants to turn back annexed land, it would take a vote of the...
Elmer City's "Complete Streets" project that will connect town streets to the Downriver Trail is underway. Public Works Director Jimmer Tillman said that paving of the 2,300-foot trail will begin as soon as the weather warms. Elmer City awarded the work to be funded through a $250,000 state Transportation Improvement Board grant to DW Excavating, Inc., of Davenport, Wash. The winning bidder has shaped the trail that runs along the Lower River Road and is currently laying a gravel underlay...
Here’s an opportunity, if you live in Grand Coulee, to serve your community. The city of Grand Coulee is looking for someone to serve on the city council, to replace David Tylor, who resigned his position Tuesday night. Tylor submitted his resignation at the council meeting last night after serving for eight years. City officials are asking interested parties, who meet the requirements, to submit a letter of interest to the city clerk. The letters will be discussed and a new councilmember selected at the next council meeting, April 17. To q... Full story
Shoppers eye the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center Easter basket sale as it kicked off Monday morning. Seniors volunteers spent days putting games, toys and treats together for the popular annual sale. This year the seniors ended up with 412 baskets, ranging in price from $5 to $25. All year long, seniors gather baskets and toys, then in the final week add the more perishable items. Easter is April 1. - Roger Lucas photo...
How do you effectively stop a “short-term rental” operation from getting roots in your neighborhood? Two couples on Lakeview Avenue in Electric City are trying to come up with answers. David and Nancy Brown and Mark and Debbie Jenson have been actively trying to convince the city council that partying, noise and drinking have no place in their quiet setting along with their unobstructed views of Banks Lake. Last summer, groups started appearing at a house in their neighborhood through a “short-term rental” operation. The Browns had noticed...
They say "still waters run deep." That would be a good description of Gary Darnold, who informed the Grand Coulee Dam School District last week that he is retiring after teaching here for 42 years. Darnold is soft spoken, but his eyes penetrate you like he is taking your measure. It is highly unusual for a teacher, any teacher, to spend an entire career in one district. Darnold did, and will hang it up after this year's teaching assignment. With a bachelor's degree from Washington State...
The community will see its children perform "The Snow Queen" at this year's Missoula Children's Theater production this Saturday, March 10. Saturday will see performances at 2 p.m. and at 6 p.m., both held at the Lake Roosevelt High School gym. This will be the PTA's fifth time bringing the Missoula Children's Theatre to the Grand Coulee area. Local people attending will see some 60 local children from kindergarten through the 12th grade perform the musical. Spokesperson Kim Stout said children...
The school district’s Alternative Learning Experience (ALE) program might be coming back. The alternative school program was cut last summer due to budget crunches, but could be coming back, Superintendent Paul Turner told the school board Feb. 26. Last July, in the midst of shaping this school year budget, the district was faced with cutting some $700,000 from its staff and programs in order to present a balanced budget. On the chopping block, along with some personnel and other programs was the district’s ALE program. Turner noted that about...
An Electric City man, who had been cited earlier, was cited again Sunday — for having too many dogs. Police wrote Frank Brown, who resides at 18-B West Grand Avenue, citations for his dogs barking and and for having eight dogs on the premises. The officer’s report stated that Brown had been cited earlier for barking dogs and for having more dogs than the city ordinance allows. Electric City allows only two dogs per residence. Police were following up on a complaint of barking dogs. When the officer arrived, he looked over the fence and cou...
The massacre of 17 students and staff at a high school in Florida on Valentine’s Day wasn’t far from everyone’s mind when school safety became a topic at Monday night’s school board meeting in Coulee Dam. The issue of guns in schools occupied about 15 minutes of the meeting as members of the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors took the opportunity to share their thinking regarding the idea of arming teachers in local schools. School board Chair Joette Barry said Tuesday that arming teachers is not just a board issue, but it...
Grand Coulee police arrested two people and recovered a stolen vehicle at the same time when they went to a Grand Coulee apartment on Feb. 17. Arrested were Cassandra L. Graves, 27, a Grand Coulee resident, and Larry E. Fry, 19, from Nespelem. Both had Department of Corrections warrants out for them. Police officer Levi Johnson had been looking for Graves and was advised that she was at an apartment over Pepper Jack’s Bar and Grille. Johnson went to that location, along with Officer Joe Higgs. A blue Chevrolet pickup truck parked alongside t...
Public Service Employees union president Aaron Derr asked the school board Monday night, “Where’s the plan?” He reminded school board members that when he and about 40 PSE members complained about the level of support on discipline matters last November, they were told that they would receive a plan of improvement from the board within 60 days. “We have not seen or heard” of such a plan, Derr said with a prepared statement. He said that it appeared to union membership that the district was being more reactive than proactive in matters o...
There will be a meeting to reorganize both the Coulee Pioneer Museum and Them Dam Writers at 1:30 p.m., Monday, March 5, at the art room on Federal Avenue, above the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center. Birdie Hensley, who started the museum in 2011, said this week that she would like to develop an active museum board and be able to systematically open the Electric City facility one or two days a week. The building, loaned to the museum by owner A. J. Gerard, holds documents and displays collected and developed by Hensley and a few others. Hensley...
A Nespelem man wanted on several arrest warrants was finally captured last Saturday after a foot chase in Electric City and taken to Grant County jail. Arrested was Amos M. Staggs, 23, wanted on a felony warrant and two misdemeanor warrants. Staggs is also facing new charges of escape, obstructing a police officer, resisting arrest and criminal trespass. Police officer Levi Johnson saw Staggs standing outside Banks Lake Pub Saturday afternoon and told him he was under arrest. That’s when Staggs took off running, in spite of repeated s...
Terms have been reached for the sale of Center School. An agreement to sell the old school building and property in Grand Coulee was reached at a special school board meeting Tuesday. The sale price was $155,000 — $5,000 more than the amount asked for by the school board at previous offerings. The site is to be purchased by a group headed by builder Nic Alexander, who owns Coulee Construction, and the sale was managed by former school superintendent Dennis Carlson. Carlson handled the sales effort during the two advertised offerings the d...
Grand Coulee’s city streets will benefit from last week’s voter approval for a “Transportation Benefit District,” and the mayor is pleased. The issue on the ballot gained “yes” votes from 122 Grand Coulee residents. Only 45 indicated opposition to raising local sales tax on non-food items from 7.9 to 8.1 percent. The increase goes to repair the city’s streets. Mayor Paul Townsend was pleased with the positive vote. The city council had struggled with the concept of a “Transportation Benefit District” and took an entirely different approac...
With an early warm spell, some local residents may already be up for a little spring yard cleaning, but the traditional community cleanup dates were set this week for April, when local schools take the first week off and older students can help with the work. The Regional Board of Mayors set the dates for spring cleanup at their meeting Monday afternoon. The Delano Transfer Station will receive garden waste under different schedules, free of charge, starting with Coulee Dam on April 4, and for the three other towns April 17-21. In Coulee Dam, c...
The question of allowing “short-term rentals” in Electric City dominated the council meeting Tuesday night. The city had prepared a draft ordinance, which was for information only, but clearly spelled out that if Electric City eventually allowed the rental issue to stand, then it would be tightly controlled. Terry and Debra Ann Jensen, who live in Edmonds, purchased a residence on Lakeview Avenue in 2016. They asked the city if they could use the residence for short-term residential rentals. A neighbor complained to the council last month of no...
Electric City residents will notice a lot of street repair happening this year in several spots around town. Electric City Council authorized Mayor John Nordeen II to proceed with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) grant street repairs at its meeting Tuesday night. The FEMA program was a response to an exceptionally hard winter in 2016-17, when many small cities were hit with unusual street repair needs. The city had received two grants totaling just under $200,000 earlier, and by council action Gray & Osborne was selected to provide...
A number of school employees, and personnel from other agencies, plan on spending a week-long training session at the FEMA Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland, beginning the first week in March, Superintendent Paul Turner advised the Grand Coulee Dam School District board Monday night. The plan, Turner said Tuesday, “is to get the same training for all the emergency responders that we depend on in this area so everyone is on the same page.” Going from the school district in addition to Turner are Lisa Lakin, elementary princi...
Police are looking for a Grand Coulee man who eluded them after they tried to arrest him Sunday on a warrant out of Grant County. Local police are asking the county prosecutor’s office to add a charge of “escape in the 3rd degree” to the outstanding warrant issued on Tom Waters, of 221 Bowen Street, Grand Coulee. Officer Matt Ponusky thought he saw Waters walking north on SR-155 near Snyder Road and called in fellow officer Adam Florenzen. Ponusky stopped in front of Waters near the intersection of SR-155 and Spokane Way and yelled at him t...
Sometime this spring, Elmer City residents, along with town visitors, can take a hike from their doorsteps along a new interior trail system that leads to the Downriver Trail along the Columbia River. The bid that will allow this to happen was awarded last Thursday night by the Elmer City Council. Council members awarded a $159,726 contract to DW Excavating, Inc., of Davenport, Washington, for a 2,300-foot trail that borders the Lower River Road. Two crosswalks and signage are included in the Transportation Improvement Board grant. It’s all p...
Fireworks over Grand Coulee Dam will be on Wednesday, July 4, this year, Peggy Nevsimal of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday. The chamber board and Nevsimal returned from a retreat at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, over the weekend and made several decisions that affect activities here during the year. Last year, because July 4 fell on a Tuesday, the chamber set the annual fireworks show for Saturday, July 1. “It didn’t go over well, and we all decided to hold it on the traditional day,” Nevsimal stated. Fifteen people attended...
