News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 701 - 725 of 1382
Grand Coulee Dam School District passed its four-year school levy with a whopping 65-percent approval from the four-county area, Tuesday’s results showed. It caused Karen Depew, who chairs the Citizens for Quality Education committee, to say, “Way to go.” Superintendent Dennis Carlson could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. The total vote was 591 yes votes with 325 no votes. Voters approved a four-year $1.13 million replacement levy which will begin in 2016. Voters apparently appreciated the fact that in most cases their school taxes... Full story
To school officials here, and throughout the state, Initiative 1351, passed by voters in November, is just another financial unfunded nightmare. The initiative calls for smaller class sizes, an idea that normally would receive little argument. However, there is no provision for funding. The Legislature, now in session, is faced with the task of funding the number of additional teachers and aides required in smaller classroom sizes, plus classroom space. Locally, Superintendent Dennis Carlson... Full story
By a narrow 3-2 vote, the Grand Coulee City Council refused to pay back a building permit fee to Mike Horne, who wanted to move his automotive business to a new location earlier this winter. The permit fee of $650.06 was only a small portion of what it cost Horne told the city council last Tuesday night. Horne said he had taken out a loan and had attorney fees of his own, in the amount of about $5,000. In an earlier discussion, the council decided not to reimburse Horne for the permit fee, and last Tuesday night he appeared before the council... Full story
Electric City is starting a process that could lead to the building of a pedestrian pathway along SR-155, using hotel/motel tax money. Council members have long hinted that the city would like to do a major tourism project using some $280,000 held in its hotel/motel reserve fund. Councilman Brad Parrish talked about the project at Tuesday night’s council meeting. The proposed pathway would go from Coulee Playland to the Causeway and connect with all three firms that develop hotel/motel tax monies, Sunbanks Resort, Skydeck Motel and Coulee P... Full story
Coulee Dam is getting closer to selecting its third police officer. Police Chief Pat Collins and Sgt. Larry Hall have handled law enforcement duties for over a year while waiting for the civil service commissioners to be named and to organize. The town’s Civil Service Commission has forwarded two names to Collins, who said Monday that he plans to conduct an interview with the second candidate soon. After that process is complete, Collins will select the department’s third officer. However, there won’t be much relief in sight since that candi... Full story
Grand Coulee’s volunteer fire chief, Richard Paris, has asked the council to give him authority to sign an interlocal purchasing agreement with Snohomish County Fire District 3, so Grand Coulee could “piggy-back” with that agency in the purchase of a new ambulance. Paris said the city has enough in its fire department equipment reserve fund for the purchase and that he had placed a $160,000 request in the 2015 budget, which was approved by the council. Paris said that piggy-backing with another agency that has already gone through the effor... Full story
John Tufts is the new chief of police in Grand Coulee. Mayor Chris Christopherson named Tuft, to the applause of council members, at the city council meeting Tuesday night. Tufts, a 30-year veteran of the department, had been acting as interim chief since shortly after the retirement of Mel Hunt on Oct. 1. Tufts was one of the top three candidates for the job and his name along with two others was advanced to the mayor for consideration for the appointment. When the mayor made the announcement, it was apparent from the reaction, that council... Full story
Local school district patrons have only six days remaining to mail in their replacement levy ballots. The ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 10, to be counted. The Grand Coulee Dam School District is asking voters to approve a four-year, $1.13 million maintenance and operation levy, which would result in a reduction in taxes to most property owners. This levy is a replacement levy of a four-year levy that ends this year. It asks voters to pay $3.95 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, compared to the current rate of $4.54 per thousand,... Full story
Five Lake Roosevelt High School students will begin a pilot project at the Bureau of Reclamation in February. The project will allow upper class students at the high school to spend one day a week getting a work experience at designated locations at the dam. High School Principal Brandon Byers said Tuesday that he is in the process of selecting five students who are currently in the school’s engineering program. Byers said he met with Bureau officials last spring and the process got started. He also stated that if the pilot project gets off t... Full story
A Keller man was arrested last Wednesday at a Burdin Boulevard residence for being in possession of a stolen vehicle. Henry Alexander Palmer, 43, was arrested and taken to Grant County Jail on an outstanding warrant for driving while his license was suspended and for having a stolen vehicle in his possession. Palmer told police he had bought the pickup from a third party. Police saw the black 1999 Toyota pickup in the alley behind Burdin Boulevard and A Street, partially blocking the alley about 8:30 p.m. When they checked the registration,... Full story
Recent outbreaks of Avian Flu in Washington state have prompted officials to schedule two local meetings, on Monday, Feb. 9, to provide the public and poultry growers information about the bird disease. A meeting is set for 9-10 a.m. at the Nespelem Community Center, and a second meeting is set for 1 p.m. in Okanogan at the county commissioner’s hearing room, 123 Fifth Avenue North, room 150. Dr. John Huntley, USDA APHIS Veterinary Services, assistant District 6 director of the US Dept. of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Ser... Full story
Members of the Banks Lake Golf Course received letters late last week of a new rate structure for annual membership. Port District 7 officials were busy Thursday preparing letters noting that single memberships and family memberships wlll each go up $50 for 2015. The golf course will open for play on March 1. Port commissioners said the rate increase is modest and is still much less than a few years ago. This year, family memberships will be $750, and an individual membership will be $650. In addition, gas cart storage will be $200 a year, and... Full story
Port District 7 got its new dump truck and blade last Wednesday; but where's the snow? The truck, with an International chassis, was delivered from Wisconsin, amid a lot of fanfare, with port district officials there to assist in the unloading of the huge truck. The truck and blade, along with the 35-foot by 40-foot garage to house it, come in at about $292,372 for the truck and $133,000 for the building, according to port district officials. The entire project, including engineering, was paid... Full story
Bob, Washington? That could be the new name of a consolidated Grand Coulee and Electric City, chamber representative Bob Valen laughingly told Grand Coulee’s council last Tuesday night. He and Kevin Portch appeared before the council to make a pitch for consolidation discussions. The chamber had earlier appeared before the Electric City council. This time, the issue got some action, with the council agreeing to prepare a letter of support. It’s a first step. Valen had proposed that the chamber hold a community meeting for residents of the two... Full story
She was selected, by a vote of local citizens to be awarded the "volunteer" for 2014. Rice was among a list of nine that had been nominated for the honor, and received almost a third of the total 182 votes. Others nominated include Karen Depew, Emily Robinson, Earl Cole, Donna White, Fern Blaylock, Donna Shear, Bubba Egbert and Zekkethal "Val" Vargas-Thomas. As this was being written, you could have found her at the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center training to help people prepare their income... Full story
The Electric City Planning Commission will submit a number of changes to the city council as a result of its public hearing held at the fire hall last Thursday night. Major among the changes is the doubling of the size allowable for accessory buildings, a hot topic for nearly two years at both the planning commission and city council meetings. About 30 local residents turned out to hear planner Kurt Danison, of Highlands Associates of Okanogan, walk through the changes that the planning commission will propose to the city council. The planning... Full story
School district patrons received their official mail-in levy ballots this week and will need to return them by Feb. 10, in order for them to be counted. At issue is a four-year replacement levy that would provide $1.13 million each year, 2016-2019, for maintenance and operation costs for schools and programs. The levy provides additional funding for underfunded school programs, and is in fact a reduction in the rate at which taxes are levied on property owners currently. A successful vote also... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District is loaning itself the money to truly own Center Elementary School and the surrounding property. The board voted last Wednesday to move $155,000 from the district’s general fund to its capital fund to purchase the property. Then later in the meeting the board authorized the superintendent to sign the necessary documents. The district will actually purchase a “reverter clause” in the existing title, and when this is completed will be the owner of the Center School building and surrounding property. The distric... Full story
It looks like a new gym, at least on the outside. A large part of the new siding has been completed on the old Lake Roosevelt High School gym and, according to school officials, the new metal roof will soon follow. Walker Construction, the general contractor, has indicated that the new metal roofing will be arriving from Montana in about a week. Superintendent Dennis Carlson told the school board Monday night that the interior of the gym has been cleared of any trace of asbestos and games are... Full story
by Roger S. Lucas An Electric City man was arrested last Thursday on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and trafficking stolen property. Anthony Kelly, 31, was taken to Grant County Jail after he was apprehended during a routine traffic stop. Police pulled over a pickup truck because of a broken tail light and found Kelly, a passenger in the vehicle. The police had been looking for Kelly in relation to a vehicle reported stolen by the Colville Tribal Police, Nov. 12. Police were contacted by a woman who said that they might want to look... Full story
Electric City residents will have an opportunity to learn of and respond to a number of suggested changes in the city’s zoning code at a public hearing of the planning commission, tonight, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. at the fire hall. There they will learn of suggested changes to the size of accessory buildings, some new requirements for home occupation business permits and for the size and placement of fences in the city. The main change is in the size of accessory buildings, a hot topic in the city for nearly two years. Currently the city’s zoning cod... Full story
Hotel/motel tax money dominated the meeting as Electric City’s council debated with the chamber of commerce about freeing up additional monies for advertising last week. The meeting Jan. 13 got a bit ugly, and dragged on for over an hour, with neither side giving an inch. Councilmember Marie Chuinard said the chamber representatives appeared “hostile” in their approach. The chamber appeared to ask why Electric City had chosen to give it $10,000 less for advertising in 2015 than it had last year, and asked the city to free up some of the $280,00... Full story
The Lake Roosevelt High School gym should be ready for basketball again this week, an official from Walker Construction assured the school board last Wednesday evening. Jim Crowley stated that the gym roof is sealed and that the final steel sheeting should be on site in about three weeks. Crowley said final cleaning of the interior of the gym would be completed by the end of last week. High school basketball games and wrestling tournaments were forced to move to the old Grand Coulee Dam Middle... Full story
Plans for the construction of a 261-foot high tower that would rise within the flight path to the Grand Coulee Dam Airport are under study, by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is seeking public comment. The FAA became interested in the proposed antenna tower when airport Manager Bob Babler responded negatively to a questionnaire about the proposed height and location of the tower. The tower would be some 3.08 nautical miles from the airport runway, a paved landing area nearly 4,200... Full story
The school district maintenance and operations replacement levy, on which voters will cast ballots Feb. 10, could actually cost taxpayers less than they are now paying. The Grand Coulee Dam School District is seeking a replacement levy for four years, 2016-2019, asking for $1.13 million each year costing $3.95 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, compared to $4.54 per thousand now being paid with the current levy. A person with a $100,000 house would pay $395 in school levy taxes in the new levy compared to the $454 they are now paying,... Full story