News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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A storm that ripped through the area Sunday afternoon toppled a tree that pulled down a powerline in Coulee Dam, closing River Drive and leaving the area without power for several hours. A 60-foot evergreen tree fell across a front porch at 1015 River Drive but didn't damage the house or a pickup parked in the driveway - under the downed tree. But it did pull down power lines crossing River Drive, which is also SR-155 through town. Coulee Dam fire trucks closed the road while Nespelem Valley...
Officials for the barely funded public agency currently responsible for managing the park that holds major events in the area said Tuesday they may have to close it down. North Dam Park, which is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation but managed by the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District (CAPRD) is the venue for events like Colorama, Run the Dam, summer softball and baseball games, a skate park, the Gehrke Windmills display, countless private events, and more. But CAPRD commissioners Brian Warneke and Kevin Porch said Tuesday that USBR... Full story
The town council in Coulee Dam Wednesday night approved spending $3,020 to “move dirt” in an area just above the city hall, a residential neighborhood, and a motel so police can use it for a shooting range. Officer Josh Watkins introduced himself to the council as the firearms instructor for Coulee Dam’s two-officer police department and explained the need for such a space. Watkins said the biggest benefit would be the ability to get free training. Police have training requirements to keep up with, but scheduling time at the U.S. Bureau of Re... Full story
While he’s right about the diverse energy portfolio the state of Washington boasts, and about the necessity of an all-of-the-above energy solution, for now, Rep. Dan Newhouse would better advance the goals of energy independence by not including the divisive rhetoric he seems to think is necessary at every turn. We include his column on this page because he represents us in the U.S. House of Representatives, but even a piece about his bringing members of Congress to his district to show them local energy solutions obligatorily starts with an a... Full story
With public health agencies now reporting two-week-old covid case rates and home testing widely available, hospital admissions seem a more reliable indicator. Those are trending up, even locally. Coulee Medical Center CEO Ramona Hicks told hospital district commissioners Monday that more tests at CMC for COVID-19 are showing its presence, with the positivity rate rising from 10% last Friday to 18% by Tuesday, including some admissions to the hospital. Statewide, too, hospitals are recording an...
Two school boards learned Monday night that a major source of funding education for local students is apparently coming to an end if local officials can’t find a way to appeal a recent “review” of their method of sharing federal funds. An agreement to funnel “Impact Aid” from Nespelem School District to Grand Coulee Dam School District hasn’t been correct for years, a federal “reviewer” recently informed the Nespelem superintendent, a finding that will have a large financial impact on Lake Roosevelt Schools. For decades, the two districts h...
The annual Isle of Flags, with its Memorial Day ceremony, will honor 15 more veterans whose families have requested a flag be flown in their honor. The annual event, which started in 1976, continues to add more flags every year to the spectacle that community volunteers (more needed) will start putting them up at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at the Spring Canyon Cemetery. They will be flying 599 American flags. A Veterans’ Center Memorial Day Breakfast will be offered free of charge to all Saturday from 7 to 11 a.m. at the Vets Center in E...
Electric City is making the correct move in considering whether it should plan for expansion to its south. Like the rest of the country, the local area is running short of housing, and that’s a major obstacle to progress for a better community. Local employers have trouble recruiting employees to the area when they can’t find a place to live. Our largest employers in the Grand Coulee Dam area — the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Coulee Medical Center — run into the problem repeatedly. The hospital keeps eight rentals of its own just to have a...
After a few decades of interviewing high school students two or three times a year, certain traits start to seem universal, including eager optimism mixed with a little nervousness about the unknown coming up. Last week, I had the absolute pleasure, once again, to talk with a few local seniors, one on one, about their plans for the future and what high school has been like for them. Whether they hoped to go to college, pursue a certain career, or begin a new adventure, these young adults — vibrant, bright, and hopeful as they are — carries at...
The Lady Raiders defeated their Okanogan rivals tonight at the District 6 championship game on the state top-ranked Lady Bulldogs' home diamond. The Lake Roosevelt girls have a good chance to win the state championship tournament in Yakima May 27-28, where they're likely to face Okanogan for a fourth time this year. The Bulldogs will face either Brewster or Tonasket this Saturday in a game for second place in District 6.... Full story
Alonzo Adams signed a celebratory letter of intent May 5 to attend Pacific University in Oregon, where he'll play basketball and study hard. In a small ceremony in the Lake Roosevelt High School HUB with family, friends and teammates, Adams signed the letter saying he intends to play basketball for NCAA Division III school in the 2022-23 school year. A table of basketball mementos from his high school years also included a framed certificate of admission to Pacific University as a "trustee...
The hulking shell of a construction project will be revived at some as-yet-unknown date, but a tangle of legal problems has been resolved to allow the Bureau of Reclamation's fire station project to move forward. The agency announced an agreement with the insurance company April 28. The bureau said in a press release that Berkley Insurance Company has selected J.S. Held LLC to coordinate the project with National Native American Construction, Inc. "The mobilization date is unknown but is...
Electric City is able to keep $278,979 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds it wasn’t sure how to spend. The city had planned a special city council meeting to decide last week, just before and application deadline, until a final ruling from the U.S. Treasury Department was distributed, clarifying how the money could be used by local governments. The $1.9 trillion plan passed by Congress was signed into law by President Joe Biden in March and includes $350 billion in funds for state, local, tribal and territorial governments in C...
It's Mother's Day weekend in May, which means it's also Colorama time. If you're new to the area, it's pronounced with the word "color" in it. Some people unfamiliar with our unusual spring festival name see it in a medical context, rendering a completely different connotation. So why is the festival called Colorama; what's so colorful? When local folks first decided to have a big spring hoot, they called it Western Days, a spirit that still lives on in Colorama with the popularity of the...
Anytime you go out anywhere, it is so apparent that people are feeling exhilarated to be outside, and the community is not holding back. After the end of most covid-warranted restrictions in most places, we’re breathing sighs of relief and flexing our collectively stiff, out-of-shape social muscles. And it feels so good. Last night, a junior high softball game and two very young kids’ baseball games were all going on at the same time on Ludolph Field, the athletic field of the former middle school. A breeze seemed to blow good will across eve...
As our politics degrade, so does our ability to deal with the most urgent issue we all face. Climate change is so very hard to wrap your head around, especially for people like us who live in an area where a river runs through it and powers our homes and businesses with green, hydro-electric energy. It’s easy to be complacent here, until August anyway. That’s when, over the last few years, we’ve come to expect “smoke season” if we’re lucky, “fire season” if conditions push the nature around us to kindling levels and something, anything, causes...
A local driver ended up in the water last week when her vehicle veered into Banks Lake about 5:44 p.m. Thursday. Stacey Joe White, 46, of Coulee Dam got out of the car and swam to shore before the Toyota Highlander sank, according to Trooper John Bryant of the Washington State Patrol. The incident happened on SR-155 about five miles north of the junction with US 2 just north of Coulee City. White was reportedly alone in the car. She was taken to Coulee Medical Center with minor injuries. The...
North Cascades Bank donated $2,500 Friday to help the Ridge Riders put on the Colorama Rodeo. The bank, said Branch Operations Manager Jerri Smith, sees the rodeo as "an important event for our local community. Not only does it give us something to look forward to each year, it's also an entertaining, family friendly event that benefits our community financially." Smith noted the bank has helped sponsor the rodeo for many years. This year, she said, "we are very excited to sponsor the...
The annual Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Triple Fish Challenge drew 50 anglers in 23 boats who caught a lot of fish over two days in highly variable spring weather. Saturday was windy and rough on Banks Lake, but after a day of sunshine Sunday, smiles were everywhere as they lined up for the final weigh-in at Coulee Playland. On day one, Jim Stanley caught the 3.38-pound smallmouth bass in the adult category. Derek Hilderbrand netted 7.97-pound walleye. No one caught a trout. Among...
by Scott Hunter Two people were arrested at the Lakeview Terrace trailer park April 5 and charged with burglary after a property manager reported he’d caught them straipping wiring from an unoccupied unit. The Star reported the development as it was in progress last Tuesday but had few details. Undersheriff Kelly Watkins said Thursday that one occupant of a mobile home had finally come out after initially declaring he would not. After deputies learned of the possibility of a rifle inside, Grant County sent a SWAT team at one point. Watkins s...
What do you do in someone just says no? That they are not going to follow the law? That’s a policy issue the Electric City Council discussed Tuesday night after approving new forms the city’s code enforcer will use to inform people when they need to correct a “nuisance” code violation. But the subject of a rooster came up. Someone owns one who lives near Councilmember Brian Buche. The city allows chickens — up to six — but not roosters, which can be persistently noisy. Buche said a neighbor not far from the offending bird in his neighborhoo...
Getting ready for next month's Colorama Rodeo, the Ridge Riders Rodeo Grounds Tuesday saw workers from Spokane mounting new speakers to the light poles for a better sound experience that should save money in the long run. President George Kohout said the speaker systems that announcers must bring with them are an expensive, added cost of putting on a rodeo. The investment taking shape this week will lessen that bill each year and upgrade other events that have been lacking a good sound system....
As in most of the country, housing in the Grand Coulee Dam area is in short supply, pushing prices high. “It’s happening everywhere,” said longtime local broker Merle Kennedy of Foisy and Kennedy. Nationally, prices on single family houses are up over 18 percent from a year ago, a trend that hold true in the Grand Coulee area, which Kennedy knows well. Speaking at a Rotary Club online meeting March 23, Kennedy illustrated with a story: A listing came up in the Northwest Multiple Listing Service on a Friday afternoon that he thought would inter...
Two drivers suffered a head-on collision in Grand Coulee about 1 a.m. Sunday when one crossed the centerline on SR-155 near Federal Avenue, the Washington State Patrol reported. Amy Glover, 39, of Wilbur was driving north in a 2018 Ford Explorer when it crossed the centerline, striking a 2004 Chevrolet Impala headed north. The Impala was driven by Malia Vogel, 26, of Almira. She told a Grand Coulee police officer first on the scene that she’d had to crawl out and that her leg hurt. The officer noted that front of the car was crushed to the f...
It’s hard to calculate the costs of misinformation, even of something as simple as child’s false boast of knowing about a threat to a school. Reportedly, something like that caused school to close to students for two days last week, adding to the list of items already causing tensions, long enough even in normal times, which these are not. Kudos to administrators and police for their professionally cool heads sorting it out. And to everyone else, including any parent and student, who these days chooses to back away from an urge to jump immediat...