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Articles from the January 8, 2014 edition


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  • New mayor asks sheriff to investigate missing computer, records

    Scott Hunter|Jan 8, 2014

    A computer used by Coulee Dam’s former mayor is missing, and the new mayor has asked the sheriff to investigate the possible theft of public property and destruction of public records. Newly elected Mayor Greg Wilder said when he entered the office at the beginning of the year, a brand new computer was already there for his use. It had never been used, and no files existed on its hard drive. Wilder, who defeated Quincy Snow in the mayoral race last fall, had earlier lodged a complaint with the state Public Disclosure Commission alleging the i...

  • Sheriff: Property owner interrupts theft, suspects jailed

    press release, Grant County Sheriffs Office|Jan 8, 2014

    The Grant County sheriff says an attempted theft of metal was interrupted Friday when a vigilant property owner saw a suspicious car parked near a trailer on his land. Around 9 a.m. Jan. 10, deputies were called to 15390 Stratford Road Northeast for a report of a burglary and theft. The property owner, Doug Hendrickson, said he had spotted a suspicious red Dodge Neon with a temporary registration tag near a single wide trailer on the property. Hendrickson was watchful because he had been the victim of several recent burglaries and thefts....

  • Thefts occur at Lincoln County homes

    Jan 8, 2014

    The Lincoln County Sheriffs Office is seeking information from anyone who may have information on recent criminal activity that has occurred in the Spring Canyon and Lake View Terrace area’s of northern Lincoln County, Sheriff Wade W. Magers reports. Magers said that on Jan. 2, his office received a report of a theft/burglary that occurred in the area of Sunny Hills Lane. The absent home owner was notified by a neighbor that his residence had been burglarized. Deputies determined that jewelry and other items were stolen from inside the r...

  • Friends of Rachel Club & SHARP Kids to put on movie night

    Jan 8, 2014

    Save the date! On Wednesday, Jan. 22, Friends of Rachel and SHARP Kids are sponsoring a Family Movie Night in the Grand Coulee Dam Middle School gymnasium. The event is open to all families in the community. Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult. Admission to the movie is free along with a free bag of popcorn. Date: Wednesday January 22, 2014 Time: 6:30-8:30 PM Location: Grand Coulee Dam Middle School Gym Movie: Despicable Me 2 Watch a movie trailer to check it...

  • Hospital district com. may meet Thursday

    Scott Hunter|Jan 8, 2014

    A special meeting of the commission that governs Coulee Medical Center, originally called for last night, was postponed, likely until Thursday night, Jan. 9, because an attorney central to the agenda could not make it out of Spokane due to snowy roads. [Update 1-9-14: Confirmed: the meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight.] A majority of the five commissioners called the special meeting to consider, among other things, hiring a different law firm, a proposal that died at a regular meeting of the commission Dec. 26, less than two weeks earlier....

  • Joe Pakootas to run for Fifth Congressional seat

    Roger S Lucas|Jan 8, 2014

    Joe Pakootas, chief executive officer for the Colville Tribal Federal Corporation, confirmed Tuesday that he has filed for Washington's Fifth Congressional seat as a Democrat. While Pakootas, 56, stated he will make his formal announcement in a week or so, he told the Spokesman-Review in a business interview published last Sunday that he was going to run for Congress. He confirmed this Tuesday. Pakootas stated that his run was about jobs, health care, economic inequality and education, all...

  • Woman injured in car wreck

    Scott Hunter|Jan 8, 2014

    An Omak woman was injured and flown to a hospital after the car she was driving hit black ice Friday morning. Maya Best, 31, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with unspecified injuries after the 2007 Ford Freestyle she was driving slid off highway 155 about 11 miles north of Nespelem, close to Disautel Pass. As Best was southbound at 7:15 a.m., her car hit black ice and slid off the road to the right and into a boulder, then came to rest blocking the northbound lane at about milepost 56, according to a Washington State...

  • Newsbriefs

    Jan 8, 2014

    New mayor sworn in Gail Morin was sworn in as Elmer City’s new mayor last Monday, Dec. 30. She took office Jan. 1. She was sworn in at the town hall by Town Clerk Renee Tillman before about 20 guests. She replaces Mary Jo Carey whom she defeated in November’s election. Weather elsewhere halts local events The weather elsewhere disrupted events in the coulee Tuesday night. A special meeting of the local hospital district commission was postponed until probably Thursday, Commissioner Geary Oliver said. An attorney central to the agenda couldn’t m...

  • Man indicted for arson

    Roger S Lucas|Jan 8, 2014

    A Nespelem man has been indicted by federal authorities for setting a wildfire off SR-155, between Elmer City and Belvedere last July 8. An enrolled Colville Tribal member, Mylan Williams, 35, is being held in the Colville Tribal Correctional facility near Nespelem. A press release from Colville Business Council Chairman Michael Finley said the fire had been investigated by Tribal Police. The fire consumed about 250 acres of brush land but threatened a number of homes in the area and scrambled a number of local firefighters to the scene. “As t...

  • Man survives wreck on Peter Dan Road

    Roger S Lucas|Jan 8, 2014

    A Nespelem man returned home Monday after receiving serious injuries in an auto accident Saturday, Dec. 30, on Peter Dan Road. Speaking by phone Tuesday, J C Moses, 22, said his 2001 Toyota Camry hit black ice and skidded off the road, rolled some 50 feet down a steep embankment and came to rest at the bottom of the hill. "I remember going over the edge of the road, and then laying on the ground next to the car on the cold ground and (EMT) Ben Aling saying, "Stay with me." Moses said the...

  • New mayor packs agenda for change

    Roger S Lucas|Jan 8, 2014

    If you attend Coulee Dam’s council meeting tonight (Wednesday, Jan. 8) you better take your “No Doz” pills, not because the meeting will be boring, but because it will be long. Council members used to short agendas and short meetings will have to muscle up for this one. Tonight is Greg Wilder’s first meeting as mayor of Coulee Dam, and, true to his word, he plans to change the direction the town is taking. From hires, sewer rates, salaries, and the welcome of public input, there are a lot of changes in store, outlined in a thick council...

  • Fire in power plant mostly smoke

    Scott Hunter|Jan 8, 2014

    A fire that scrambled area fire departments to the Third Powerhouse at Grand Coulee Dam last week started in an air filter. It put out a lot of smoke, but, unlike fires in other power plants at the dam last year, didn’t affect power production. A contractor working on the overhaul of of G-24, one of six massive generators in the power plant, had been sand blasting the interior of the generator’s shaft, according to Public Affairs Officer Lynne Brougher. In that process, a dust collector separates air from dust, which it deposits in a bar...

  • Commissioner offer his thoughts on hospital strife

    Geary Oliver|Jan 8, 2014

    Everyone wants to know what the root of all the strife [at the hospital] is. The details of the answer are complicated and cannot be aired in public. The simple answer is trust, or lack of it. This lack of trust did not happen overnight but has recently grown to the point that there is no reasonable chance of an amicable resolution. In the meeting on Dec. 26th, different citizens spoke up with questions and statements. Mr. Campbell stated that people should get together and work things out. It was not for lack of effort. In the end, the...

  • Appalled at hospital's letter on "breach"

    Alicia Pulsifer|Jan 8, 2014

    [Editor’s note: The writer has asked that this letter, originally written to the hospital administrator regarding a notice of a breach of privacy laws Coulee Medical Center sent out last week, be published in our letters from readers section.] Dear Mr. Graham, Like so many others, I received your letter regarding the possible privacy breach at Coulee Medical Center. After reading the details and explanations several times, I feel compelled to write my own letter back to you. Sir, I am frankly appalled that your letter was sent out in this m...

  • Re: "Skateboarders told route too sketchy" (12/23/13 Star)

    Dale Thomas|Jan 8, 2014

    The kids were long boarding, not skateboarding! They need a hill to ride down and now someone felt the need to tell the police. Were they really doing something that terrible? It is risky, but the alternative in the winter seems to be sitting in their room and playing video games. I remember riding dirt bikes at the Hills below East Heights until the complaints came, then it got shut down. We then rode in the mud when the river was down or when the lake was down, until that was shut down. So we rode in Barker Canyon until that was recently...

  • Flag football help appreciated

    Brian Walters|Jan 8, 2014

    I would like to say thank you for all the support and help in putting together the flag football events. I know I had a great time and got to meet some new people. This is what living in a small town is about, getting together, making new friends and being a community. So let the thank you's begin — Rob Dzurick, owner of Tropical Pig, for the great lunch and drinks. Rob brought out his cook trailer and had pulled pork sandwiches, chili and drinks. Nic Alexander, owner of Coulee Construction, for helping set up fields (which took longer than w...

  • Charity begins at home with a local cause

    Jerry Beierman|Jan 8, 2014

    Charity begins at home! What is charity? One dictionary describes charity as: 1. Christian love for God and men. 2. An act of feeling of generosity or benevolence. 3. The giving of aid to the poor and suffering! To me, my home is where I live in the city county, state and country, the place of my home! Locally we have a 2-year-old girl in Elmer City who could use local area charity support. Victoria Detwiler was born with brain damage and eyesight problems, and this becomes a large expense to the family for Victoria’s upkeep and medical a...

  • Commending the good stuff

    Ray Schoning|Jan 8, 2014

    How many times do we look around the community and not see what’s going on? I know it’s only human nature to complain when things aren’t right and not compliment on a good job, but I think it’s about time to thank some of these federal entities, the people doing the work and their contractors on a job well done. For instance, Grant County has done a great job on the road to Eden Harbor, with new gravel and grading even tough the rug dumpers had been there the same as North Dam Park, leaving their garbage around. For the Park Service to allow us...

  • My view on the world's last 365 days

    Jesse Utz|Jan 8, 2014

    I sometimes wonder, “What is going to make our history book that is happening today?” So I researched the last 365 days to see what I thought would be written for future generations to study and to decide if it was a pivotal moment in history. Although Paula Dean, Miley Cyrus and Duck Dynasty made other people’s top-ten lists of the news for 2013, they did not make mine. (But I guess they just made the column.) Two people stepped into the spotlight this year that will probably have impact for g...

  • Coulee Recollections

    Jan 8, 2014

    Ten Years Ago A local couple donated 40 beanie babies to the local police department and EMS. Don and Karen Daniels donated the stuffed toys after buying them from Coulee Gifts to supply to kids when they are needed. David Bjorson and Jamie Combs announced their upcoming marriage. The two plan to get married February 29. Twenty Years Ago Grand Coulee School District proposed this week that construction of a new school to house all grades would cost an estimated $9,580,547.00. It would also include a new gym, performing arts facility and a new...

  • Ernie Garcia

    Jan 8, 2014

    Ernie Garcia, 56, of Grand Coulee, Washington, passed away Sunday, December 15, 2013, after a series of surgeries at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. He was born to Al and Ruby Cantu in Rupert, Idaho,on March 27, 1957. He is preceded in death by his biological father Al, mother Ruby and sister Debbie Martinez. He was one of 15 children: Jerry Cantu of Rupert, Idaho; Lucille (Vincent) Sanchez of Ogden, Utah; David (Elaine) Cantu of Prescott, Ariz.; Fred (Sandra) Cantu of Rupert; Archie...

  • Maxine A. Crawford May 29, 1914, died December 28, 2013

    Jan 8, 2014

    Maxine A. Crawford, 99, (MAC) went to be with her Lord last weekend at The Renaissance Assisted Living Facility in west Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. She was born the eldest of four children to Elliott V. Heater and Bernice Wilson on the family homestead, a wheat ranch south of Ritzville, Wash. The family moved when she was small to Colfax for two years and on to Grandview, Wash. She enjoyed cooking for crews on the 40-acre farm in the Yakima Valley, as well as" practicing" teaching on her siblings and...

  • Cold fun

    Jan 8, 2014

    A flag football game on New Year's Day at the Grand Coulee Dam Middle School field provided a good time for players, from left, Bobby Gates, Brian Walters, Josh Hagen, Aaron Black, Judah Pope, among others. Walters organized the game and found plenty of support, even a free lunch from the Tropical Pig, whose owner brought in a mobile barbecue unit and was likely the only warm person there. - Scott Hunter photo...

  • Meetings and Notices

    Jan 8, 2014

    Chamber to Meet at Pepper Jack’s The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce will be meeting this Thursday, Jan. 9, at noon at Pepper Jack’s Bar & Grille in Grand Coulee. Bill and Renee McCarty will be talking about the new changes at the Moose Lodge. Lincoln County Fire Dist. #9 Meeting Lincoln County Fire District #9 will hold its regular meeting Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, at 6 p.m., at the Nazarene Church on Hwy 174. OES Meeting The January meeting for Order of Eastern Star will be held Thursday, Jan. 9 with a regular stated meeting beg...

  • It's a boy for the Tufts

    Jan 8, 2014

    Alex and Jessica Tufts of Anchorage, Alaska are pleased to announce the birth of their son Jackson Alexander Tufts, born Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. He was 8 lbs., 2 oz., and was 21-1/2 inches in length at birth. Maternal grandparents are Bob and Cathy Sternberg. Paternal grandparents are John and Patti Tufts....

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