News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Most of the boys' basketball game with Liberty Bell Friday night seemed to be going according to norms. Tight competition: it ended regular play going into overtime 46-46. And that is where the Mountain Lions apparently decided they would score no more. They kept their score at 46, even as Raiders racked up 60 points. It's not like Liberty Bell wasn't equal to the task, they just didn't do it. Worse, they continually fouled so LR would head to the free-throw line, racking up the Raider win...
Consultants working on a project to convert the old Center School into a senior living facility gave community a progress update last week, at a gathering Tuesday night at the Voltage Coffee House. Patti Westby, of Westby Associates, Inc., said a feasibility study is done after gathering input from a series of 84 interviews with "prioritized contacts," community members and stakeholders. They were gathering feedback and "estimating potential support" for what is likely a $15 million project to...
by Scott Hunter Emma Isaak is looking forward to a lifelong learning curve, so she's picked a good profession in financial management. The last year hasn't let her down. That's when she moved to Coulee City after growing up in Spokane, graduating high school at Northwest Christian, and getting her master's degree in business administration at Gonzaga following a bachelor's in psychology at Wheaton College, in Illinois. Quite a jump from psychology to financial management? "You know, you would...
It's been a long time coming, but Nespelem saw a victory on their home basketball floor Saturday night, some 56 years (that was a best guess by school officials) after their last high school closed and their students started attending Graxnd Coulee Dam schools for high school. The Nespelem Eagles hosted the Columbia Lions, from Hunters, for the 68-31 win, which had to feel good after their 20-point loss at Republic the night before, 68-44. The Eagles are not playing in a league this year,...
Following a public hearing Nov. 25, school directors decided students will attend Lake Roosevelt Schools for four days each week instead of five, beginning in the fall of 2025. People at the hearing expressed support and concerns, urged the board to consider how it would affect academic progress, and questioned whether enough research had been done into the idea. Superintendent Rod Broadnax assured people the decision would have no impact on the district funds and the board’s decision would have to be based on what’s best for the kids. Boa...
Two men whose crime spree ended with murders on the Colville Reservation in 2022 were convicted Monday in federal court of those and other crimes, including shooting a Colville Tribal Police sergeant. Zachary L. Holt, 24, and Dezmonique D. Tenzsley (a/k/a “Privilege”), age 35, were found guilty on all 17 counts presented at trial, including Felony Murder in Indian Country, Attempted Murder of a Federal Officer, Assault of a Federal Officer, Attempted Robbery in Indian Country, Robbery Affecting Commerce, as well as several firearm off...
The treaty that has governed how the United States and Canada have managed the Columbia River for the last 60 years was set to expire in September, but the two countries announced in July they had reached a new agreement in principle “on the key elements for a modernized Treaty regime,” according to the U.S. State Department. Next week, you can attend an online meeting to find out what that means for how Grand Coulee Dam, and Lake Roosevelt behind it, will likely operate in the future. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Bureau of Recl...
The basement of the Church of the Nazarene in Grand Coulee was filled with help Saturday as local scouts hauled in the results of their annual food drive for the Care and Share Food Bank, an effort that restocked shelves that were getting empty. Care and Share is currently serving around 130 local families, according to Director Carol Nordine, including many young families with children and working parents who find it hard to keep up. About a dozen volunteers, plus the scouts, made fairly quick...
Two people were taken to hospital following an incident in which a 17-year-old had reportedly slashed two people with a knife at a party early Sunday morning. Coulee Dam Police responded to a Grand Coulee residence after overhearing a Grant County dispatcher call out a county sheriff’s deputy to the scene of a large fight about 2:15 a.m. at 213 Second Street. A Coulee Dam Officer responded after asking if the Grant County Sheriff’s Office wanted the assistance. On the way to the active scene he called another Coulee Dam officer for help. Whe...
It's gotta make a guy feel pretty appreciated when a send-off-to-state rally is held just for him, as it was for Caden Portch Friday. The Raider junior alone among his cross-country teammates qualified for the state meet at Pasco's Sun Willows golf course held Saturday. So Lake Roosevelt saw him off Friday in the school's traditional style with an assembly, the "tunnel," and sirens and lights supplied by police and emergency services folks escorting him through town on the way out. Portch ran...
As most of the country’s election map turned red last night, so did most of Washington states but with different results overall. With only 64 % of votes counted in the state as of 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris, with 51% of the vote nationally had received 58% in Washington, giving the state’s 12 electoral college votes to her. Results are unofficial until they are certified Nov. 26 by county officials, then by the secretary of state on Dec. 5. That blue leaning in the most heavily populated areas of the state carried thr...
When you've had one win all season and your last league game will be against one of the top 2B football teams in the state with 22 straight wins, you might not think it could be fun. But don't tell that to Lake Roosevelt's Raiders, at least not those who made the trip to the home of Bulldogs Friday night to endure a 78-8 drubbing. "We took 16 players to Okanogan, five of them freshmen," said Raider Head Coach Geary Oliver. "At the end of the game we had 13 able to play. Our guys played hard...
A popular program that provided after-school and summer educational activities for students may return to Lake Roosevelt Schools next year. School District Superintendent Rod Broadnax told the district board of directors Monday that several people have volunteered to help get the funding back that is lacking this year from the 21st Century grant program that once funded the District’s SHARP Kids program. Broadnax said Gene Sharrett, former NCW Education Services District superintendent, and one other person met with him Friday. “I’m very excit...
With their season about to wrap up, the Raiders grabbed a football win on the Lake Roosevelt field for their homecoming game Friday. They beat the Tonasket Tigers 40-35, boosting the Raider win-loss to 1-6. "I'm always proud of our players, but this week our team built on the value of personal sacrifice," said Head Coach Geary Oliver. "Our defensive line was asked to play a technique which would result in no personal accolades. However, it would give us our best chance to win the game. It was a...
A letter from the city’s attorney to the Bureau of Reclamation official, which the city council ratified last week, confirms that the city of Grand Coulee and the federal agency “have mutually agreed to ‘pause’ or significantly reduce service under the Contract due to the lack of City personnel to fulfill the Contract service requirements.” Along with the city’s current police staffing shortage, the Oct. 2 letter from City Attorney Julie K. Norton to Sandra Snediker at Reclamation’s Pacific Northwest Regional Office in Boise, Idaho, unders...
Fixing the heating and cooling system in Coulee Dam’s “Community Building,” where the Rio Grande Restaurant, the bowling alley and soon a reopened theater operate, just got a higher priority. The city council OK’d a plan to tap funds, if needed to patch the roof, as Larry Hernandez digs into his project to get a new HVAC system in the building. He’s been consulting with companies to get the place heated over the winter. Hernandez plans to re-open the Village Cinema, which close 11 years ago when the industry changed to require all digital p...
The switchyards that direct the power from Grand Coulee Dam have been owned by that Bureau of Reclamation project since it was all built, but that just changed. On Tuesday, the Reclamation formally handed over ownership of those assets to the Bonneville Power Administration at a signing ceremony in front of the dam, much of which was used to recognize those in each agency who worked to make it happen, many of them for years. Grand Coulee Power Manager Coleman Smith said he has been working on th...
Leaders at one local school district broached the idea of changing the yearly school calendar to an alternative that cuts down on the long summer break. The state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction calls the concept a “balanced calendar” approach, which generally means taking the same 180 days a year of school and not concentrating them all into nine months, then taking all summer off. Nespelem School Superintendent Effie Dean said she’s noticed frustration on the part of teachers whose students are taking longer than expecte...
A cooking mishap turned a house to ashes Friday, leaving a family without a home, but well, not including one or more less fortunate pets. Firefighters got the call at 5: 24 that evening, according to a post on the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department's Facebook. When they arrived, "the fire had progressed enough to determine it would be a defensive attack," the post states, so firefighting would emphasize keeping it from spreading to other structures and the dry grass in the adjacent lot. A...
A young man came down from the top of the Columbia River Bridge in Coulee Dam Thursday evening, coached down by a Nespelem Valley Electric worker with a bucket truck. Police had called for the truck earlier in the day from the Rural Electric Authority utility, which also contracts to do line repairs for the city utility in Coulee Dam and was nearby. Police were looking for a way to communicate with the man and planned to have a cell phone delivered with the bucket truck. But the man in the...
As a newspaper, we actually try not to cover certain stories if they’re arising from an individual’s personal mental health problems. It’s not unusual to get a report that authorities have responded to an individual in distress, or worse. But if someone threatens to do themselves harm, most often it seems far less likely that a news story would help either the individual or society, which might only suffer greater loss if a news article placed more pressure on an already bad situation for that individual. Most of the time. But it was diffi...
Update A young man came down from the top of the Columbia River Bridge in Coulee Dam Thursday evening, coached down by a Nespelem Valley Electric worker with a bucket truck. Police had called for the truck earlier in the day from the Rural Electric Authority utility, which also contracts to do line repairs for the city utility in Coulee Dam and was nearby. Police were looking for a way to communicate with the man and planned to have a cell phone delivered with the bucket truck. But the man in... Full story
This Saturday’s Swing for the Good Charity Scramble at Banks Lake Golf Course will help the cause of developing a new park in Electric City. The event, sponsored by Jess Ford and the Columbia Basin Foundation offers teams of four a fun tournament Saturday morning with an 11 a.m. shotgun start. The $400 registration fee for the foursome includes green fees, cart fees, lunch, goodie bags, and prizes — plus that chance to win a new vehicle. Run the Dam, the local non-profit that puts on the annual Run the Dam race coming up on Sept. 21, will get...
A new Alternative Learning director at Nespelem School told its board of directors Aug. 26 he was excited for the program. “I just wanted to thank you all for the opportunity of bringing an alternative program to Nespelem,” said Mark Herndon, who made the move to Nespelem this fall after heading the ALE program at Grand Coulee Dam for several years. Nespelem’s program is integral to the startup last year of its emerging high school offerings, designed to develop a Career and Technical Education component, working with the Colville Tribe...
Elmer City officials and citizens met to look over a draft of the town's park and recreation plan Aug. 22. Planning consultant Kurt Danison of Highlands Associates presented the draft as the small group discussed ideas and additions or changes to it. The town hired Danison to help put together a master plan that will serve in the ever-important process of acquiring grant money for projects to improve the quality of life in the town with better recreational amenities. That process, itself, is...