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 has been a wave of counterfeit money hitting the Grand Coulee area. Police said Monday that they have picked up a number of 5's, 10's, 20's and a 50 so far from local businesses. Some of the counterfeit copies are poorly done and are either poorly aligned, miss the watermarks and lines through the paper, or are done on paper obviously not matching regular paper money stock. The police department in Grand Coulee asks that officers be informed when someone thinks they have a counterfeit... Full story
Carol Nordine was selected to fill out Marie Chuinard's unexpired term on the Electric City council last Tuesday night, with a tie vote broken by the mayor, her son. At the conclusion of the meeting she was sworn in by Mayor John Nordine. She was one of two candidates who filed for Chuinard's vacated seat. The other was Birdie Hensley, who had served on the council earlier. Both will be on the November ballot for the full four-year term. But the vote was close, ending in a 2-2 tie, with the... Full story
The fate of some Colville Business Council positions is fuzzy as a result of polling last Saturday. Absentee ballots will be counted this Thursday, providing the final vote tally. Both races in Nespelem are close. In Position 1, Brian J. Nissen led Ricky Gabriel, 105-97; and in Position 2, Sheilah Cleveland was ahead of longtime council member Andy Joseph Jr, 105-97. In the two Omak council positions, the races are equally close. In Omak Position 1, Karen Condon leads Richard Tonasket, 107-91, and Mel Tonasket leads Cherie Moomaw, 103-96 for... Full story
You soon can run your wheeled ATVs on Electric City streets. The city council passed an ordinance last week to allow all-terrain vehicles on city streets, and one permitting golf carts will soon follow. The council, in passing the ATV ordinance, instructed city Clerk Jackie Perman to draw up a corresponding ordinance allowing golf carts the same privilege. The ATV ordinance restricts speed to 35 miles per hour and to streets that don’t have a higher speed limit. It also requires that the driver wear a helmet unless the ATV has a roll bar. O... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson Monday night outlined changes in the use of some spaces at the gym site on the Lake Roosevelt High School campus. Carlson told the board that the plan is to remove a wall in the old art room and then use the space s a weight room. That would turn the existing weight room into a space for Lee Largent and his special math classes. Work would include some interior door work for security reasons. Carlson said the low bid on the remodeling work was for $9,064. In other business, the... Full story
Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School principal Brandon Byers has resigned. The Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors accepted Byers’ resignation at a special meeting Monday night. Byers said Tuesday that he has accepted a position as assistant principal at Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake. Byers graduated from Moses Lake High School in 2002 and has several family members there. Leaving is “bittersweet,” Byers stated, and referred to the many fine staff members he has been associated with here, adding, “But it is the rig... Full story
Grand Coulee may move to aggressively enforce its own nuisance laws to clean up the city and add a part-time employee to do so. A woman who lives on Burdin Boulevard, finally got her message about trash in her Grand Coulee neighborhood across to the city council at its meeting June 2. Becky Billups found a friend in Mayor Pro-tem Paul Townsend, who will be the city’s next mayor, and in a council poised to act on her complaints. The council listened again to Billups Tuesday night, periodically breaking up as she told how her neighborhood was goi... Full story
A new metal sculpture called "Raider" will soon stand near the entrance to the new school complex in Coulee Dam. The Grand Coulee Dam School District's art committee had hoped to have the sculpture placed before school was out but it will have to wait a few more weeks before all the things are in place. The 7-foot high metal work was created by Virgil "Smoker" Marchand cost $12,500, part of some $70,000 worth of public art that will eventually be associated with the new school. Marchand said... Full story
Grand Coulee’s council inched closer to a deal to address the Four Corners traffic question last Tuesday night. The council voted to ask the Department of Transportation to move forward and install two “Your Speed Is” radar signs on SR-155 to improve the compliance rate of vehicles to the existing speed limit of 35 mph. This is one of the steps that the DOT had suggested to the city in a memo sent to city hall a week ago. The council isn’t ready to take on the idea of reducing the speed between Four Corners and the turnoff to Delano. There h... Full story
The Regional Board of Mayors is looking at some type of recycling program for the area. The idea of starting a recycling program is not new for the mayors, who are still trying to figure out how to pay for it. The group heard a proposal from Sunrise Disposal Monday that would limit product to cardboard and aluminum, both easily sellable and possibly able to pay their own way. Most items that are considered recyclable don’t pay their way. Start small, and do what’s doable, seemed to be the message. Sunrise would supply bins and place them in... Full story
The low bid for the proposed Federal Avenue/Main Street sidewalk project in Grand Coulee came in about $80,000 over the original engineer’s estimate, Grand Coulee’s council learned last Tuesday night. The low bid of $440,292 was submitted by Halme Construction of Davenport, who did work for the city during the covering of the landfill project some years ago. At the meeting, Jeff Stevens, of Gray & Osborne, the city’s engineering firm, said he was working with the low bidder to see if there was some wiggle room that would get the project withi... Full story
Visitors to the coulee area over the July Fourth "Festival of America" festivities will get to hear the "Big Band" sound at the park below the Visitor Center. Tuxedo Junction, a 21-member band, is made up mostly of "teachers," according to music director Craig Catlett. There will be an added twist to the band's appearance; there could be up to five Lake Roosevelt High School band members playing during Tuxedo Junction's second set at the park. "I still have some things to get settled before I... Full story
Jean Comstock didn’t have public comment this week after she learned that the City of Grand Coulee had denied her application for a business license to put in a marijuana retail store on Burdin Boulevard. While Grand Coulee was denying an application for a business license, the city of Omak was granting one. The state’s attorney general had declared that his office would not recognize a city’s refusal to grant a business license based on the fact that it would be in violation of federal law. That was the primary reason Grand Coulee City Clerk C... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District spent $1,762 more in utility expenses for the new school in the first seven full months of this school year, the school board learned Monday night.The utility comparison is for power, water, sewer and garbage, and is from October, 2014 through April, 2015. Superintendent Dennis Carlson said that a more accurate picture of comparisons will likely take two or three years. Prior to this year, the district schools were in three different buildings. September, 2014, is not included in the comparison because of... Full story
A school board candidate who filed for Ted Piccolo’s at-large seat has decided to withdraw her name. Tamra Sacchi, who filed her intention to seek the at-large seat during the normal filing period, found out Monday that she couldn’t serve on the school board and be a substitute teacher at the same time. She said Tuesday that she plans to advise the Grant County Auditor’s office of her decision and have her name taken off the ballot. Earlier this week, Sacchi had delivered a letter of interest in finishing out Piccolo’s term to the school... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson received an “Award of Merit” from the North Central Washington Educational Service District for his administrative leadership. Each year the various educational service districts in the state select a key administrator to honor for outstanding contribution to education in their area. Making the presentation May 21 in Wenatchee was Richard Johnson, Okanogan School District superintendent and chair of the Washington Association of School Administrators. Richard McBride, ESD sup... Full story
The school board learned how students referred to the “Opportunity Room” get a new lease on life, at their meeting Monday night. Tami Nichols, who short circuits students referred to the program because of their activities, had put a spark back in their lives by using a book and teaching tool called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.” Nichols, catching the students before they face more serious consequences, has had good success showing them that they all possess sometimes hidden talents and abilities. Nichols provided an outline of the ... Full story
Port District 7 commissioners selected their engineering firm from among five presenters at a special meeting Monday. Selected was T-O Engineers, from Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, rated number one through a series of criteria approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. The selection committee was made up of two commissioners, James Keene and Dennis Lohrman; secretary Joanne Davidson; and airport Manager Bob Babler. Other firms submitting packets included Century West, of Ellensburg; J-U-B, of Spokane; Reid Middleton, Spokane; and Stantec, of S... Full story
The city of Grand Coulee has denied a business license for a marijuana retail store here. City Clerk Carol Boyce said Tuesday morning that she is denying the license application by Jean Comstock because it is still a federal crime to possess marijuana. She said she is given the authority by city ordinance. Comstock’s application had created a storm of protest by more than 25 people who attended to the city council meeting May 19, to ask the city to deny the request. Many of these same people had attended the city planning commission the previou... Full story
More than 30 people have submitted comments on proposed zoning amendments, and the public will have further opportunity to comment at a public hearing schedule for 6 p.m., Tuesday, June 2, at Electric City’s council chambers. The zoning amendments address regulations on the height and overall size of accessory buildings, fencing issues and home business occupations. Tuesday marks the end of a 60-day public comment period. City officials said planner Kurt Danison will be at Tuesday’s meeting. The public hearing has been scheduled for the council... Full story
Don’t look for any extreme changes to the Four Corners intersection. However, Grand Coulee’s council will have an opportunity at its next meeting to make some suggestions to the state Department of Transportation on how it can “tweak” things related to the intersection and perhaps make it safer for motorists. Councilmember Paul Town-send has been working with the DOT, sorting out ideas, and will ask the council to make firm recommendations on a number of small changes. Some of the ideas include changing the speed limit between Four Corners... Full story
A major sidewalk project that was scheduled for Elmer City in 2016, has been moved up to later this year, the town council learned last Thursday night. Public works director “Jimmer” Tillman told the council that he expected work on the project to begin late summer. City Clerk Renée Tillman told the council that she expected to put out a call for bids as early as next week. The project is financed through a grant from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board. Public works director Tillman said that the project was ready to go,... Full story
Late election filings helped fill Elmer City’s open positions and added to Nespelem town council openings. In Elmer City, Joaquin J. Marchand has filed for position 1 and Clara Carson has filed for position 2, providing the town with a full election slate. Others filing were Don Bonertz for position 4 and Jessie Tillman for position 5. Both are incumbents. All four will appear on the general election ballot unchallenged. In Nespelem, Dennis Montes has filed for town council position 2, and Dolores Castillo has filed for position 5, leaving p... Full story
Electric City took action last Tuesday night to extend its lease with Coulee Playland for another 10 years. The 13-acre resort provides camping and fishing activity on Banks Lake, and is leased by the city from the Bureau of Reclamation, which subleases it to Hal Rauch, manager of the resort. The agreement calls for a lease review every five years. In separate action, the council approved a list of modest increases for services by the resort. The council regularly reviews increases in fees charged by the resort. Rauch has been involved in the... Full story
American Legion Post 157 will dedicate 10 new flags in honor of veterans in the Isle of Flags Memorial Day ceremony, beginning at 11 a.m., Monday, May 25. Over 500 flags will fly at Spring Canyon Cemetery when volunteers complete the task this weekend. In a separate promotion, the Legion Post will hold its annual Memorial Day breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m., Saturday, May 23, at the Vet's Center in Electric City. The breakfast is free; however, donations will be accepted. In the Isle of Flags ceremo... Full story