News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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My maternal ancestors go back to a farm near Lillehammer, Norway, where the 1994 Winter Olympics were held. Most of my mother’s family immigrated to the United States and to, you guessed it, Minnesota. My grandmother left Norway right after graduating from high school to join several older brothers and sisters who had already made their way here. That would have been 1884. So my mother rightfully claimed being a Norwegian, and I have followed that. My mother was an only child, born to a middle-class family in Minneapolis in 1898. She left to c...
It was probably my last whitewater rafting trip, maybe! A few years ago my wife, Dorothy, and I talked about taking a whitewater rafting trip, so I went to Leonard Taylor out in Electric City to ask him if he knew anyone who was still taking people on raft trips. Leonard knows the rivers in Idaho real well and at one time had his own boat. Leonard referred me to Bemer Rafts, which at the time was featuring a two-day run, starting on the Salmon River the first day and ending on the Snake River the second. There were about 25 of us that had...
This is a tale about Idaho’s famous “Bigfoot,” who was responsible for a number of stagecoach and wagon train robberies and killings. He roamed the desolate hills of Owyhee County and met his demise there. The name “Bigfoot” came from Shoshoni words “Namp,” meaning foot, and “puh,” meaning big. He was not the Sasquatch-type of Bigfoot, but an actual desperado who came out of Idaho folklore. His foot measured 17.5 inches long, so he’d received his name honestly. He was born into the Cherokee nation and was named Starr Wilkerson, son of a white m...
This is about two politicians, both in their 90s, one who passed away last week and the other still going strong. Former U.S. Senator Birch Bayh, 91, passed away last Thursday. He served Indiana and the nation well during his time in the Senate, and is perhaps best known for shepherding Title IX to its success; anyway, that’s what he has said was his greatest achievement. I first met Sen. Bayh at the annual Democratic dinner in Seattle. Senators Henry Jackson and Warren Magnuson had sent me tickets to the dinner, and a host of Democrats from a...
This news thing that I have been doing started for me back in 1958. I had a number of successful journalism classes behind me, and my professor, Helen Wilson, had talked Idaho Free Press managing editor Jack Scudder into interviewing me for an open position on the Nampa, Idaho five-day daily. I arrived at the appointed time and found Scudder to have a soft and pleasant voice, a kind of man that you might be encouraged to buy a bridge or small island from, if it was offered. We got along well, and he asked all about me, and I gave him honest...
When living in Bothell, we belonged to FIUTS (Foundation for International Understanding Through Students), a program through the University of Washington where you could sponsor foreign students. Through the program we sponsored students from Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. You were expected to share time and your home with them, and they, along with others we met, spread a lot of good cheer to us and our family. We also belonged to a group that raised money to provide supplies for Dr. Pat Smith, a Seattle doctor who had opened a hospital in...
Fasten your belts; you're in for a ride. This year's Colorama Festival kicks off Thursday, May 10, and extends well into Sunday. There are wild rides featured in Rainier Amusements carnival alley at North Dam Park. And wild rides at the Ridge Rider's Pro-West Rodeo. And if that isn't enough, fasten your seatbelt tight for the helicopter rides, staged from the lower ball fields. And there's a host of other exciting events, such as the Colorama Parade, starting at 11 a.m. from near Les Schwabs... Full story
The Colorama Festival Button for this year’s celebration is now on sale. Buy a button for $3, help support Colorama, and you’re in the mix to win one of the many prizes attached to the buttons. All the buttons are numbered and the drawing for the prizes will be held at 1 p.m. at North Dam Park, after the Colorama parade. Buttons are available for sale at a host of locations throughout the Grand Coulee area. Another popular feature of this year’s celebration will be the helicopter rides. White Rabbit Heli Tours, out of Spokane, will provi...
The Colorama Festival Button for this year's celebration goes on sale this week. Buy a button for $3, help support Colorama, and you're in the mix to win one of the many prizes attached to the buttons. All the buttons are numbered and the drawing for the prizes will be held at 1 p.m. at North Dam Park, after the Colorama parade. Buttons are available for sale at a host of locations throughout the Grand Coulee area. Another popular feature of this year's celebration will be the helicopter rides....
A week-long school security training session at the FEMA Emergency Management Institute “will make a huge difference in how we do things here,” Superintendent Paul Turner said Tuesday. People from the Grand Coulee Dam School District and other agencies nearby traveled to Emmitsburg, Maryland, last week on a grant, with meetings designed to get people in responding agencies who might be involved in some kind of security issues talking and planning together. School security was only part of the training, Turner explained. “We went into detai...
The City of Grand Coulee has put off a decision to proceed on a "dangerous" building declaration until at least the end of January. The building once held the museum of Constantinos Vlachos, an inventor and colorful character that was best known for developing the Tri-Phibian automobile, which was powered by a "thermo-hydraulic" motor. Vlachos nearly lost his life when the vehicle caught fire during a Washington D.C. demonstration in 1935. The building in question has been declared "dangerous"...
Several complaints have recently been levied against the Lake Roosevelt school lunch program. Complaints include that the program is frequently running out of hot lunches, evidence of outdated milk and students finding hair in their food. The person complaining stated that kitchen workers are not wearing hair nets. The issue was brought to the attention of Superintendent Paul Turner, who has been monitoring the lunch program. Last week he reported that a check is made each day for the hot lunch entrée. “Everyone doesn’t get the hot lunch entr...
A study on Elmer City’s options for sewage treatment suggests the town may save over the long run by building a new treatment plant of its own, instead of extending its decades-long contract with Coulee Dam. Elmer City has received its wastewater treatment plant alternative study developed by Indian Health Services, and the report will get its first airing at the town council’s meeting, Oct. 12. The report provides several alternative routes for the town to develop its own sewage treatment system, or do nothing at all and remain with Cou...
Want a place to have a refreshment and possibly watch a little football during the upcoming Harvest Festival, Sept. 15-17? The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce is providing such a place in its “Beer Garden” at North Dam Park. The tent will be open Friday, Sept. 15, from 6 to 10 p.m.; Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Spend $5 on a possibly winning ticket and you could even win the raffle for the 55-inch TV you are watching. The TV was purchased at cost by the chamber from Loepp Furniture. Remember: College foo...
Two police officers from Coulee Dam and Grand Coulee interrupted a burglary at 301 Columbia last Thursday in Coulee Dam. Grand Coulee officer Matthew Ponusky heard that a residential alarm had been sounded and went to assist Coulee Dam officer Jordan Ulrich in pursuing the alarm. Ulrich had gone to the back door and contacted a male intruder who slammed the door in his face and went back inside. Meanwhile, Ponusky had gone to the side of the house, where another man who had broken the screen from inside the house was preparing to jump, but...
School bells chimed today (Wednesday) for the start of the new school year. School personnel gathered Tuesday to hear Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner give an outline of activities scheduled for this year, the main one emphasizing "Goal 2" of the district's Strategic Plan, providing a "safe and secure learning environment." Turner emphasized that the district is conducting a "year-long" training period for all employees, focusing on the "whole child." The superintenden...
Dust off your old musical instruments and get back in tune; the community needs you! Lake Roosevelt High School wants parents and community members who have musical talent and no place to apply it to join with students and form a pep band to play at school sporting events. Music director Karen Pace said Monday that it is her hope that local musicians who love music and like to play will step forward and help out. Pace said that community members can come out this Thursday night to the band room at the high school gym and get started, or show...
Grand Coulee’s Municipal Court heard two “potentially dangerous dog” cases last Friday at city hall. In the first, Judge Richard Fitterer dismissed an attempted appeal involving a dog owned by Preston Guin, which bit Shirley Heberling June 21 on Main Street. Fitterer stated that the couple attempting to appeal the city council’s decision to declare the dog named “Scoot/Oreo” potentially dangerous had missed the five-day condition for appeal as outlined in the city’s ordinance. The owners will now have to confine the dog, put up a dangerous dog...
Now you can play foosball with a human twist. It’s a repeat of a fun adventure held over for a repeat performance from last year’s Harvest Festival. This year the festival will be held at Banks Lake Park (near North Dam) on Sept. 15-17. The Foosball event will be on Saturday and run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or until all of the contesting teams have concluded the double-elimination tournament. So gather five friends or business associates, along with yourself, and get your registration in soon. You can register online at http:...
The Washington State Department of Transportation has nixed any change in the speed limit from Coulee Playland to the city limits of Grand Coulee. The Electric City council had the topic on its agenda Tuesday night, but a letter from the DOT answered the question before city officials had to deal with it. The request for the city to consider the change came from Ron Pulsipher, an Electric City resident, who wanted the speed limit changed so he could drive his ATV from the city to Grand Coulee on SR-155. At his request, the city staff put the...
A job of replacing windows and doors at Electric City Hall was awarded to DWK Fowler Construction, a decision made by the council last Tuesday night. The award teetered between two bids and was awarded to DWK Fowler, a local company, after council members nixed adding a handicapped-accessible door to the project. Fowler’s bid of $11,588.48 beat out one by Raven Glass, out of Wenatchee. That bid was $11,976.90. The project calls for seven new energy-efficient windows and two new doors, and is part of a long-range plan to remodel city hall. This... Full story
Two retired school employees, one a janitor and the other a math teacher, gave the Grand Coulee Dam School District board Monday a taste of how they feel about the recent results of surveys that asked about discipline in the schools. Ray Wells, a retired janitor, spoke at length on issues he had while employed at the school. Wells came loaded with hundreds of documents from his experience of over 15 years at the school district. He told the board that he had made several complaints to the administration at the elementary school on conditions... Full story
The Wednesday Market began last week and will continue on Wednesdays through Sept. 13. Chamber of commerce Executive Director Peggy Nevsimal said a number of exhibitors have signed up for the entire summer. The market runs from 4-8 p.m. each Wednesday at North Dam Park. Nevsimal said those who have registered for the entire summer will have produce, other food items, decorated gourds, baked goods, children's items and some surprises along the way. This is the first year that the market has been... Full story
Check your calendar closely. This year’s Festival of America is coming Friday and Saturday, June 30 and July 1. This year’s July 4 Independence Day holiday falls on Tuesday. Chamber of Commerce officials don’t think their annual festival would get good attendance if it were held on a Tuesday, as the work week is split in two. But there are some real treats to come on the two new dates, the Friday and Saturday just before July 4: The fireworks over the dam will fire off just after the Laser Light Show Saturday evening, about 10:30 p.m. In the pa... Full story
A Grand Coulee woman appealed to the city council Tuesday, June 20, to approve a "dog rescue" at her residence. Dorothy Harris, who resides on Young Street, offered to work with Grand Coulee in writing language for an ordinance that would be acceptable to the council. However, zoning got in the way. Councilmember Tammara Byers, who chairs the city's planning commission, told Harris that "there's no way that we are going to allow a rescue operation into an R-1 (residential) zone." Harris told... Full story
