News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The Regional Board of Mayors will purchase its new transfer trailer next year through BuyBoard, a national purchasing cooperative, officials stated Nov. 13. The 2018 budget, that has been approved by all four towns and cities in consortium headed by the RBOM, had set aside $90,000 for the purchase of the new transfer trailer, making the trailer the third at the transfer site. Electric City Clerk Russell Powers, who does the financial reports for the four mayors, said Monday afternoon that the difference between the $90,000 budget projection...
There has been a rash of car prowls in the Grand Coulee area. In a three-day period, Nov. 7-10, nine prowls were reported and investigated by police. In every incident, owners of the vehicles had left them unlocked; one had even left the keys in the ignition. All reported that someone had ransacked their vehicles, going through whatever was inside and leaving things in a mess. On Nov. 7, two prowls were reported on Banks Avenue. In each case the guilty party got some loose change and a few odds and ends. Also on Nov. 7, prowls were reported on...
Better get your rakes out, pick up your leaves and other garden waste, and bag them; you only have through Saturday to take advantage of free dumping privileges at the Delano Regional Transfer Station. You must reside within areas served by Sunrise Disposal to get the free dumping privilege. Remember to bag your garden materials (nothing else) and tie your loads down. Limbs must the cut to under six feet to be accepted. The Transfer Station will be open this week during the following hours: Thursday and Friday, 10-2, and Saturday,...
Politics in Coulee Dam have changed dramatically as a result of the Nov. 7 election. Town residents elected a newcomer in politics as its mayor, and also two newcomers to the council. According to results updated since the election, Larry Price garnered 73.56 percent of the votes in his bid for mayor, defeating Gayle Swagerty, who received 26.44 percent, 192-69. Swagerty gave up her council seat to run for the mayor’s seat being vacated by Greg Wilder, who chose not to run again. In council races, incumbent David Schmidt lost his Position 1 sea...
The Electric City council declared a dog owned by Krayton Duclos as “potentially dangerous” at its meeting Tuesday night. The complaint was filed by a neighbor, Gary Martin, who resides next to Duclos on Gerard Street. Martin told police that Duclos’ dog, named “Volt,” had repeatedly tried to attack and bite him while he was riding his bike. He stated that he had to get off his bike and put it between himself and the dog to avoid getting bit. Both Duclos and Martin attended the meeting, and the Volt also was present. Martin stated that this...
The free Thanksgiving dinner tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 15) at the Senior Center filled up quickly to its capacity of 110 guests, officials said Tuesday. Counting guests who pick up their meals and those that are delivered, the total being fed at 5 p.m. tonight could run as high as 135. The Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center was still taking calls for people to put their names on a reserve list in case people canceled. That number is 633-2321. The Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union has been paying the expenses of the free Thanksgiving dinner for the...
Now, 95 years young, World War II veteran Fred Long walks with a slight stoop and uses a cane, but his health is fine and his power of recollection is keen. Long, who has lived in the Grand Coulee Dam area for 25 years, was born in Oroville, and moved to the Renton area when very young. He joined the National Guard in 1940, before the war broke out, was assigned to the quartermaster corps and learned how to drive truck (they were 1936 Chevys), Fred said. After a number of stateside postings, he...
Upsets in the town of Coulee Dam were the order of the day as ballots were counted Tuesday for mayor and three council positions. Newcomer Larry Price won decisively over Councilmember Gayle Swagerty in the town’s mayoral race. Price collected 116 votes to Swagerty’s 34 as of 9:20 p.m. Another upset at Coulee Dam saw newcomer Fred Netzel defeating incumbent Councilmember David Schmidt, who was running for another Position-1 four-year term. Netzel received 101 votes to Schmidt’s 50. In the council race for the Position 3, another new face won a...
Grand Coulee council gave Dorothy Harris another 90 days to get the number of dogs she has down to two. Harris and her sister-in-law, Doneen Harris, had been operating a dog rescue on Young Street and had worn out their options before both the city’s planning commission and the council. The council gave Harris 90 days to find homes for her dogs. That 90 days would have expired in mid-November. She had been told by council that if she needed more time she would have to come to the council and ask for it. She did last Tuesday night, and her r...
Is Grand Coulee goat friendly? We may find out. Officials in Grand Coulee may have to look at their animal ordinance and add goats. Councilmember Tammara Byers told her colleagues that she had been approached several times by people who would like to have one of those pet pygmy goats. Actually, goat people say that you need to have two since goats are herd animals and need the company. The little goats, pets in many cities, are playful, can also be destructive and at times can be very loud, according to information on pet goats on the...
A Grand Coulee man who appealed a ruling that he had a “potentially dangerous” dog faced trouble with police again. Andrew Kramer, of 110 Burdin Boulevard, whose dog “Rowdy” bit a Portland woman July 22, had his dog declared “potentially dangerous” by the Grand Coulee City Council. When Kramer went before Municipal Court Judge Richard Fitterer, he appealed the city’s decision on his dog. That appeal was denied by Fitterer on Sept. 22. Kramer was supposed to obtain a dog license and a surety bond on the animal but was having trouble with...
Two candidates for Grand Coulee City Council, Tammara Byers and Tom Poplawski, were running unopposed until last week, when two local residents said they are seeking their council seats through a write-in campaign. Dorothy Harris is seeking the council seat occupied by Byers, and Deneen Harris, her sister-in-law, is seeking the Poplawski position. The two have been in the news the past several months over efforts to get the city to agree to a dog rescue operation in a residential area on Young...
The city of Grand Coulee held an open house last Wednesday night to talk with citizens about proposed upcoming changes to its comprehensive plan. The planning commission had scheduled the meeting to seek comments from city residents about what they would like to see happen in the city in years to come. No one showed up but planners and city officials. The city's planning firm, SCJ Alliance, from Lacey, had prepared drawings of the city, and of other cities they have served, to help solicit...
School bus drivers are hard to find. The problem in the Grand Coulee Dam School District is a carryover from last year when officials had stated that they were three drivers short. It is the same problem this year. Stephanie Duclos, manager of the school district’s bus operation, is a qualified trainer and had nine prospective drivers in a training program, she said. All but two have dropped out, and that pair won’t be done with their training until about the end of November. Superintendent Paul Turner reported to the school board a week ago...
A report of a “shooter” incident at Lake Roosevelt Schools was determined to be a rumor, according to investigators. Last Wednesday, a person overheard some high school students talking on the school bus about a “shooter,” thought that it might be a threat, and reported it late Thursday. “As soon as we heard about it, we started an investigation,” Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner stated this week. That investigation continued late on Thursday, and on Friday school officials called a staff meeting to report that it had...
School officials this week are investigating who painted the words “white power” on a window at Lake Roosevelt School. Superintendent Paul Turner said that the incident occurred early last week, and was scrubbed off by school janitors. “We haven’t had any racial incidents at the school, and we are trying to find out who was responsible,” Turner said. Turner re-stated the fact that “words matter” and that students need to be made “more aware” of this. He was referring to a rumor of a “shooter” incident at the school, also last week. In that ca...
Work is scheduled to begin this week to make the Colville Tribal Museum in Coulee Dam handicapped accessible. Last week, museum workers were busy packaging everything up on the lower level to get ready for the project to begin. DWK Fowler Construction was the successful bidder on the nearly $800,000 museum remodeling. The project calls for ramps at both levels of the building to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and new concrete siding, to replace rotting wooden materials. Entrance doors at both levels will be...
All four cities and towns have approved the Delano Regional Transfer Station budget for 2018. The budget shows revenues of $503,975 and expenses of $675,850. The deficit can be tied to two big-expense items: paying off the transfer station semi-truck at $142,615, and the purchase of another trailer, at $90,000. In spite of the deficit, the budget was passed with only one time through the monthly meetings of the four town councils. It hasn’t often been that way; in the past, some councils have been reluctant to approve measures that come to them...
After a year’s absence, this year’s senior class is bringing back the popular school-related fundraiser. The Penny Auction will be held Nov. 18, at both the senior and elementary cafeterias in the new school, from 11 a.m. to the drawings, scheduled for 1 p.m. A “baked potato” bar will be set up with a variety of desserts and drinks. Senior class advisors Tammy Norris and Aaron Derr were responsible for getting the Penny Auction started again. Norris stated that a number of community members said they missed the Penny Auction and were pleased...
The coulee area is a long ways from Chicago, Illinois. That's where Grand Coulee Dam School District Director Richard Black was born. But there's been a lot of life in between. The bulk of his growing-up time was spent near Los Angeles, California, and most of the rest was courtesy of the U.S. Navy. Captain Richard Black (Navy retired) is seeking a four-year term for Position 5 on the school board, the seat he now holds. Black was named to the school board about 15 months ago while still a...
Kelly Steffens is running for Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors Position 5. She and her husband, Mike, have two elementary age girls, 11 and 9, in the district, and have lived in both the Grand Coulee and now Smith Lake Road areas. "I am from a large school district when I lived in Portland, and had 400 students in my class. I have always wanted to live in a small city where everyone knows one another," Steffens said. "I am concerned with bullying and that discipline be...
Carla Marconi has strong ties to the Grand Coulee Dam School District, and she is seeking her third term on the school board. "I graduated from Lake Roosevelt High School in 1973, and all four of my children are also graduates from LRHS," Marconi stated this week. She has been on the board for nine years, having filled out a year of someone's term before she ran and won an election on her own. "I started attending school board meetings because I believed that there needed to be more...
Tammy James-Pino's life is centered around education. Currently, she is director of employment and education for the Colville Confederated Tribes and is running for the Position 1 seat on the Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors. Her roots in education can be traced back to her earlier years, when she was a student at Lake Roosevelt. A move took her to New Mexico, where she completed her high school years and got both a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of New...
Elmer City voted last Thursday to build its own wastewater treatment plant. The measure to build a modular plant, on property to be determined, got a unanimous vote from the town’s five council members. The decision wasn’t much of a surprise, since the town has been in disagreement with Coulee Dam for some time over billings and other matters. Elmer City pumps about 21 percent of the flow to Coulee Dam’s present plant. With this decision, if successful, Elmer City will leave its larger neighbor with a new plant and no partner. While the vote...
Grand Coulee is completing an application to form its own Transportation Benefit District, which would bring in more revenue in the form of sales taxes. The TBD can use one of two forms for collection of special fees. Grand Coulee has decided to raise its Washington State Sales Tax locally, for non-food items, by two tenths of one percent, rather than collect fees from renewal of license tabs. That would take total sales taxes in Grand Coulee from the current rate of 7.9 percent to 8.1 percent. City Clerk Carol Boyce, in working with the state...