News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Articles from the January 11, 2012 edition


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 25 of 26

  • USBR will take comments on local education impact

    Roger Lucas|Jan 11, 2012

    The Grand Coulee Dam School District will get its opportunity, a bit late, to comment on how the Bureau of Reclamation’s Third Powerhouse remodeling project could affect schools in the area. The addendum to the Third Powerhouse Overhaul Environmental Assessment, will allow the school district to make its case that it was left out of the original assessment process and that it could have a significant impact on classrooms and schools in general. Schools have until Feb. 12, to provide addendum i...

  • Salmon eggs to grow at schools

    Scott Hunter|Jan 11, 2012

    Chinook salmon eggs were delivered Wednesday to the Grand Coulee Dam Middle School, which had received special equipment to support them before winter break, donated by Grant County PUD. Bob Tuck, of the Yakima Basin Environmental Education Program, delivered the eggs from the Priest Rapids Hatchery. Nearly 100 schools are participating. Every school district in Grant County received a similar donation from the PUD, and Yakima and Kittitas counties schools’ participation was funded from a s...

  • Pill pusher conviction upheld

    Roger Lucas|Jan 11, 2012

    The conviction of a Spokane woman, Maya Michelle Campbell, 29, who was convicted for having 750 Ecstasy pills in her purse, was upheld last week in appellate court in Spokane. The woman was arrested, along with Jeffrey Vernon Joseph, Nespelem, who was 18 at the time of the arrest. A minor, who was driving the car, was also arrested. The incident occurred, Sept. 9, 2008, in the H&H Grocery parking lot in Electric City. Campbell argued in the appeal that a search warrant didn’t include her purse. The Washington State Court of Appeals disagreed a...

  • Man busted on the courthouse lawn

    Roger Lucas|Jan 11, 2012

    A 22-year-old Grand Coulee man was cited and released by Grant County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday for possession of marijuana on the front lawn of the Grant County Courthouse in Ephrata. Around 1:30 p.m. Jan.10, citizens notified sheriff’s deputies that a man wearing a red coat and black baseball cap was approaching people in front of the courthouse and asking if they wanted to buy marijuana. Deputies found Andrew Allen Kramer, smelling strongly of marijuana, standing on the front lawn of the courthouse, they said. They found 20.5 grams of por...

  • Pay rates set at local towns

    Roger Lucas|Jan 11, 2012

    The four local municipalities passed their salary ordinances in the past several days. Clerks, public works directors and police chiefs have a wide range of salaries. Most have the same benefits. Grand Coulee Police Chief Mel Hunt is paid $45.93 an hour, or $95,901.84 annually, while Coulee Dam’s police chief, Pat Collins, receives $30.17 an hour, or $62,994 annually. Differences occur through length of service and extra duty demands. Hunt has been with the Grand Coulee Police Department 35 years, most of the time as chief. He receives extra p...

  • Newsbriefs

    Jan 11, 2012

    More calls for help answered Grand Coulee Police Chief Mel Hunt told the city council last Tuesday that his officers had handled nearly 1,600 calls during 2011. It was an increase of about 8 percent over the prior year. Rick Paris, fire chief of Grand Coulee, reported to the city council last Tuesday that his department answered 345 ambulance calls and 49 fire calls in 2011. He said the fire calls represented an increase of 21 over the previous year. Paris said a number of the fire responses were due to alarms going off and firefighters...

  • Hundreds of babies benefit from 10-year tradition

    Jan 11, 2012

    (Editor’s note: This article is edited from submissions from Coulee Medical Center Director of Customer Relations Parkes Tanner and SaDonna Heathman) Ten years ago, a young mother’s concern for others launched a local tradition: gift baskets for newborns to help parents with the supplies they need to care for their new babies. When the nation was rocked with terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, SaDonna Heathman was in her Hartline home caring for her first child, Ava. As the effects of ter...

  • Discover Pass expansion gets senate committee nod

    Maida Suljevic|Jan 11, 2012

    A pass for entry into state-owned lands, such as Steamboat Rock State Park, could be good in more than one car if a bill moving in the state Senate becomes law. The Washington State Senate Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee on Monday voted unanimously to refer to the Ways and Means Committee the bill that would make the Discover Pass transferable between two vehicles. The Discover Pass was established by the Legislature and the creating bill signed by the governor during last year’s legislative session. It went into effect J...

  • A (too small) step in the right direction

    Scott Hunter|Jan 11, 2012

    A bill in the state Senate would take a small step toward correcting a major gaffe embraced by the Legislature last year, the Discover Pass. The wrongheaded attempt to close budget gaps by making public land users pay to stop alongside the road is wrong on so many levels it could unite socialists and libertarians, but nobody plugging a $2 billion budget hole is in the mood to hear that this year. Instead, they may address a flaw that may make the whole concept of paying to access public lands a little less onerous. At least your $30 annual...

  • Thanks a million from Trees of Sharing

    Trees of Sharing Committee|Jan 11, 2012

    Thank you, one and all, for celebrating the season with 212 children this Christmas. You are appreciated because you filled out tags, cut out ornaments, purchased gifts, made generous cash donations or gave store discounts, shopped to fill wishes for ornaments on the trees, or wrapped endless gifts as the delivery date approached. We are so grateful that you were all part of the Trees of Sharing success story this year. The “Trees” committee especially thanks the members of the United Methodist Church for their hospitality and financial sup...

  • Thanks to a thoughtful officer

    Connie Hakola|Jan 11, 2012

    Often we hear (and repeat) only the negative on our area police officers, so I would like to give a positive word to one of our officers. I am sorry I didn’t get Officer Gary’s last name, but it is a small town, so hopefully he knows who I am speaking of. A young person coming to visit came in upset because her friend was in the driveway speaking with the policeman who had pulled her over. He had stopped her for a California stop. He hadn’t seen her when she stopped ahead of the sign. She felt it was undeserved because she had stopped ahead of...

  • Weather Watcher - Can January muster up some “real” snow

    Bob Valen|Jan 11, 2012

    December left only 1.3 inches of new snow here at the home weather station; a real disappointment. December 2010 we had 7.8 inches of snow (2009: 2.6 and 2008: 21.1). Temperatures were mild as well. Our lowest temperature was on Dec. 8 at 16.4F. The month couldn’t even muster up a single-digit reading for us. La Niña is in place but not much has happened. Generally, during a La Niña year, we see wetter and cooler weather. Much of this drier weather is due to the ridge of high pressure that is ch...

  • Coulee Recollections

    Jan 11, 2012

    Ten Years Ago It’s a late winter afternoon, the water is cold and Don Miller is stepping carefully on two boards inches above the frigid water of Banks Lake. Miller, a senior, signed up to help a local group feed thousands of fish they’re raising until spring. He’s fulfilling a requirement by Lake Roosevelt High School that all students complete a senior project. Monday was his last day. The Coulee Dam TV association is nearly dissolved and would have been already were it not waiting on a claim against a construction company. A new progr...

  • Gretchen V. (Lindbergh) Stinson

    Jan 11, 2012

    Gretchen Stinson, age 97, passed away peacefully Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, in Kennewick, Wash. She was born in Halliday, N.D., on September 12, 1914, to Dorothea and Clifford Barrows. She was the first of five children and was raised in Dodge, N.D. After graduating from high school, she attended Dickenson State Teachers’ College. She then went on to teach at a local country school for one year, teaching first graders how to read. She came to the Grand Coulee Dam area and worked for the USBR P...

  • David C. Doppler

    Jan 11, 2012

    David C. Doppler son of Alice and the late Edward Doppler, Coulee Dam, died December 23, 2011, in the Maldive Islands where he was an underwater welder. He had resided there most of his adult life. A private memorial service will be held in the spring....

  • Sharon K. Tillman

    Jan 11, 2012

    YAKIMA – Sharon K. Tillman, 68, died December 24, 2011, at Yakima Regional Hospital. She was born November 8, 1943, in Hampton, Iowa, to Sanford and Lena Christian (Johnson). At a very young age, her family moved to Yakima, and then to Richland, in 1951. Sharon attended Columbia High School in Richland and was a member of the drill team. She married Jerry Edwards and they had two children, Lance and Lori. She worked as a senior buyer for Hanford contractor, JA Jones, for many years. She was a...

  • Thomas/Green have first baby of 2012 at CMC

    Jan 11, 2012

    Ann Thomas and Kerry Green Jr., of Nespelem are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Sage Helen-Gayle Green on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee. She weighed 7 lbs., 2 oz., and was 19 inches in length at birth. Siblings include Dakota Green, 4 and Kimana Green, 1. Maternal grandparents are Karen Thomas and Joseph Thomas. Paternal grandparents are Kerry Green Sr., and Kelly Gossett. Great-grandparents include Helen Thomas and Gaylene and Larry...

  • Meetings & Notices

    Jan 11, 2012

    Chamber to Meet The GCD Chamber of Commerce will hold its regular meeting this Thursday, Jan. 12, at noon at Pepper Jack’s Bar and Grille in Grand Coulee. OES to Meet Order of Eastern Star Grand Coulee Dam Chapter will meet Thursday, Jan. 12. This will be short form and chapter dress. Refreshments and birthday cake will be provded by Linda Carlson. Worthy Matron Carole Fisher and Worthy Patron Don Redfield presiding. Paper Recycling Day Set The Rotary Club has set a date for a community shred day of Saturday, April 28. Last summer, the club s...

  • Extension Program wins national award

    Jan 11, 2012

    WSU Ferry County Extension’s Colville Reservation Extension Program, through promotion of the 4-H National Youth Science Day event, Wired for Wind, has earned a $3,000 award. The 2011 Toyota Innovation Award for Promotion and Media Outreach recognizes the efforts of youth and adults who sent news releases, developed posters and flyers, and created online awareness to publicize the October 4-H Super Science Saturday event. “This hands-on science experiment helped reservation youth see and understand how science can make a difference in the...

  • Raider boys open 3-0 in league play last week

    John McNeil II|Jan 11, 2012

    The Raiders opened league basketball play last week with three wins over Liberty Bell, Brewster, and Pateros. At Liberty Bell Jan. 3, LR took it to the Mountain Lions, taking a 39-13 lead at the half and then cruising to a 79-35 win. “It is always good to pick up a convincing road win,” Raider Head Coach Brad Wilson said. Ty Egbert led the Raiders in points with a monster night, scoring 35 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Kramer Carlson had five points, four assists, and five rebounds. Tyl...

  • Raider wrestlers trying to find their groove

    John McNeil II|Jan 11, 2012

    LR Wrestling returned from winter break with a mix-and-match at Chelan last Thursday against the Goats, Brewster and Pateros. The Raiders wrestled tough and competitive against all the teams present, Head Coach Steve Hood said, but Chelan provided an exceptional challenge. But that challenge was, Hood said, “the kind of competition needed right now.” Freshman Daniel Loch, wrestling at 132 pounds, won his first match of the season against Giovoni Reyes of Chelan in a 4-2 decision. Kodie Horn cam...

  • Winterfest to play up guys versus gals in LR spirit competition

    Scott Hunter|Jan 11, 2012

    Lake Roosevelt students will be locked in battle next week as the boys try to outdo the girls in a fundraiser for ASB funds and school spirit. The stakes are high, with sacrificial representatives of the losers subjected to the “Polar Plunge” at the end of the week. This has something to do with a kiddie pool, dry ice and bare feet for five minutes. Perhaps even better is the positive incentive to stuff the guys and gals donation cans at the office with collected cash donations. Principal Brad Wilson has agreed to a temporary ear piercing if...

  • SHARP Kids will offer another session in its series of NASA

    Jan 11, 2012

    Family Science Nights on Thursday, Jan. 19, at 6 p.m. at the Coulee Dam Community Church. “’Tis the Seasons” will answer the question as to “why we’re walking in a winter wonderland in December... but sizzling in the summer sun in July,” states a press release announcing the latest in the series of the family oriented sessions with hands on activities. This program is open to students of all ages and their families....

  • Raider sports dates

    Jan 11, 2012

    Tues., Jan. 10 Basketball here with Manson. 6 p.m., girls’ varsity, 7:30 p.m., boys’ varsity; Middle School - 6 p.m. boys’ JV/7:30 girls’ JV. Fri., Jan. 13 Basketball here with Oroville. 6 p.m., girls’ varsity, 7:30 p.m., boys’ varsity; Middle School - 6 p.m. boys’ JV/7:30 girls’ JV. Sat., Jan. 14 9:30 a.m., Wrestling at Rainier Tournament. Tues., Jan. 17 6/7:30 p.m., Basketball at Bridgeport. Wed., Jan. 18 6 p.m., Wrestling at Reardan. Fri., Jan. 20 Basketball here with Pateros. 6 p.m., girls’ varsity, 7:30 p.m., boys’ varsity; Middle Sch...

  • In Other Words - Stories to inspire at all ages

    Danielle Vick|Jan 11, 2012

    It seems to me that as our world has changed from the hunter-gatherers we once were to the high-paced technological world we are today one thing hasn’t changed, and that’s the way a story can impact your life. After all, isn’t that what the ancient cave drawings were? They were telling a story. It’s also clear to me that this isn’t a vein of teaching that is reserved strictly for the classroom. We begin telling stories to our children in infancy and continue listening to stories our entire li...

Page Down