News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Our snowfall certainly wasn’t anything to get too thrilled about. Over a two-day period, the Dec. 10-11, we got 1.9 inches of snowfall here at the home weather station. That’s slightly more than the November mean of 1.4 inches. Mean precipitation for November is 1.25 inches, while we recorded a meager half inch here at home. For the year, we are well above our average precipitation of 10.50 inches, currently at 13.56 inches here at home. We had a November mean temperature at 40.9°F, below the... Full story
Eight candidates have been nominated for The Star’s annual volunteer of the year award. The nomination deadline was Monday night. Voting will cease on Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. The honoree will be announced in the following week’s newspaper. Nominees are: Hillary Carriere, Carol Estrada, Fern Blaylock, Earl Cole, Bob Hendrickson, George Kohout, Eloise Bowman and Andy Trader. All nomination letters are included below. To make your preference known, do one of the following: • Take the online poll at bo... Full story
A prayer vigil in memory of the Newtown, Connecticut victims will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec 19 at Mason City Memorial Park in Coulee Dam. Charlene Bearcub and Loretta Bingham are organizers of the event. They advised to dress warm, bring your prayers, and help comfort each other. There will be songs, speakers, and healing for the community, they noted....
A rally of tribal members who have sought by petition the other half of a $193 million settlement with the United States government, will be held at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Colville Tribal Administration building Wednesday, Dec. 19. Yvonne Swan, coordinator/moderator, said that members of the group plan to appear before the Colville Business Council on Thursday. Swan said over 2,700 Tribal members have signed the petition. The Tribes received the one time $193 million payment for the mismanagement of tribal natural resources. The council...
A group that has been studying the feasibility of building a community/wellness center in the area decided Thursday to push ahead with the effort, citing a very favorable feasibility study and a growing need in the area. Full disclosure: Readers should know I’ve been a member of that group since its inception and have been one of many considering the idea since long before that. After deciding by consensus to move ahead, the steering committee for the effort decided where it should be located and gave it a temporary name. The Coulee Regional We... Full story
It’s still Thanksgiving time at 432 Columbia in Coulee Dam. The resident, Carol Netzel, sets the table twice a day and feeds anywhere from four to 14 visitors. It’s not an ordinary feast, but appreciated just the same. Netzel feeds deer. Early morning and late afternoon, every day, the feast is on. Countless boxes of apples, and store-bought deer food is involved. Netzel has purchased a number of boxes of apples from Shaw’s Fruit and Produce in Belvedere. “These are apples that they couldn... Full story
The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners passed a budget for 2013 Monday night totaling $73,000. It includes revenues of $36,500 from a Bureau of Reclamation grant, and $6,000 from each of three local cities that collect hotel/motel taxes. The budget anticipates spending $18,000 on a master plan for North Dam Park and $50,500 on operations, maintenance and construction in the park.... Full story
The same day tribal members submitted a 2,600-signature petition, the Colville Business Council rejected the petitioners’ plea to pay out all of a $193 million settlement with the U.S. government. The council will stand by an October resolution on the use of the half of the settlment that remains after already having put $96.5 million into the hands of some 9,600 members. The Qwam Qwmpt’ Plan was adopted by unanimous resolution Oct. 5, a statement from the tribes said Monday. It “allocates the remaining 50% of the settlement money for activ... Full story
Port District 7 has applied to Grant County’s Strategic Infrastructure Program for $7,500 to pay for its feasibility report on a plan to build an RV park at the course. District Chairman Oroville Scharbach said he and others will meet with the county’s committee Dec. 19, to go over details of the overall plan. Port commissioners got a sticker shock when the overall study by USKH engineers last month showed a cost of nearly $1.5 million for the facility. Allowing for overages, the estimate swelled to $1.749 million. Since then, com... Full story
It will cost more now to ride in an ambulance in Grand Coulee, according to a new rate schedule and ordinance passed by Grand Coulee’s city council last Tuesday night. The more notable hikes in fees include: • a $50 increase from $250 to $300 for basic life support, for one client, for a one-way ride; • a $50 increase to $300 for a return pick-up or second transport for the same client, same 24-hour period. Residents get a $60 break for each of those categories. Fire Chief Rick Paris explained that the new charges will bring ambulance billi... Full story
Tough flu season has arrived Grant County Health District officials said this week that the flu season has arrived early this year and it may be the worst in years. District officials urged residents 6 months old and older to get flu shots as soon as possible. Currently, officials stated, there is no shortage of flu vaccines, and it is readily available in clinics and pharmacies. Flu-like symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. If sick with flu-like symptoms, the heath district... Full story
Colville Tribal officials on Friday unveiled a new solar array to power the Fish and Wildlife Program building near Omak and the Hearts Gathered immersive Salish language school. Located on the campus of buildings behind the Paschal Sherman Indian School at St. Mary’s Mission, the group of five towers each hold two panels that turn sunlight directly to electricity and feed it into Okanogan County PUD’s grid, when they’re actually producing. Friday’s snowy weather didn’t make for much of a demo... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District was awarded a $484,738 energy grant from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Friday. The school district was one of 21 throughout the state that shared in $14.9 million in energy grants. Almira School also benefited from the OSPI grant, receiving $894,000. Grand Coulee Dam District had earlier been awarded an energy grant that would have serviced needs in schools that the district plans to close. That grant was eventually turned down. Friday’s grant was one of three rounds of grants i... Full story
Ten Years Ago Front page photo titled “What’s Up Dock?” caption says: National Park Service employees rescue the swamped dock at Crescent Bay boat launch early Monday morning after Lake Roosevelt rose over the weekend. An Electric City council member questions the fairness of a draft agreement for the sharing of water between Grand Coulee and Electric City. Council member Bob Rupe said the contract contained, “an overabundance of language that needs clarification in some cases.” He said some of the language is too broad and other parts nee... Full story
The Raiders picked up their first win of the season Monday against the Entiat Tigers by the score of 59-56. The Entiat Tigers came in Monday on a two-game winning streak and looked to make it three at the cost of the Raiders. It was an uphill battle for the Raiders most of the game. The Tigers held the lead for most the game and had two big shooters in Jeremy Davis and Truong Tran. At the end of the half, it was Entiat 28, LR 24. After halftime, the Raiders stormed the floor, taking the lead... Full story
Although not a local resident, I would like to make a nomination for your volunteer of the year. As you are aware, TriFreaks puts on a rather large event in the Grand Coulee area annually in September. Although we have many volunteers in the community, there is always one that truly shines. With an event that requires so much time and commitment, the high school students come out and shine every year. In 2011 I had the honor of meeting a particular student by the name of Hillary Carriere. She was an amazing volunteer, taking charge of the... Full story
I would like to nominate Carol Estrada for volunteer of the year. I think she is very deserving of this award as she volunteers a lot of her time throughout the communities, whether it be at the hospital, the schools, or at the Eagles. She also helps out with the Trees of Sharing. No matter what she is helping with at the time, she enjoys doing it all. Sam Stanczak Nancy Bolyard... Full story
Fern Blaylock is my nominee for Volunteer of the Year 2012. I had the privileged opportunity to work with Fern for a couple of months at the beginning of the school where she was a volunteer riding everyday on the school bus that I drove. Fern is amazing. Besides riding as a volunteer monitor on a school bus for four hours a day, which is a challenging job by itself, she also spent the day working with students at school as a foster grandmother. On top of all that, she still took out time to keep the food bank going. It is my perception that... Full story
I am nominating Earl Cole. Every time there is a free dump day, we see Earl with a load of yard debris from some of the senior citizens that can not do the work themselves. Earl also takes care of a lot of their yards and other needs. Fred G. Womack... Full story
This January, core government functions such as scientific research, education, public safety, and environmental protection will face deep cuts under budget sequestration. If lawmakers cannot put politics aside to avoid continued cuts to these programs, our nation’s security, global competitiveness, and economic growth will be compromised. Teachers will be taken out of classrooms, cutting-edge research will be stifled, and conservation of America’s natural resources will be diminished. Experts agree these essential jobs and services are not... Full story
There’s been a lot of talk about what we can’t afford as a nation and who is getting what “gift” or which free ride. When President Obama recently met with CEOs and chatted with Jamie Dimon, we should hope he issued a stern warning that legal tax avoidance games played by banks and multinational corporations are on the chopping block. After all, free enterprise isn’t free. In the coming weeks there will be pivotal conversations about how and where to tax corporations and how to reform our corporate tax system. Don’t believe the hype that t... Full story
Carol Marie (Snyder) Rasmussen, loving mother, grandmother, sister, and daughter, went to be with her Heavenly Father on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. Carol was born Sept. 18, 1952, and had many fond memories of growing up on the “family farm” just outside of Eatonville, Wash. Carol spent most of her life calling Eatonville home, where she graduated in 1971 from EHS. Eatonville became home to the Rasmussen family as they raised their five boys. Carol spent much of her time being involved in the liv... Full story
Lighting at the Library 6:30 p.m., Preschool choir to sing, followed by the Coulee Community Choir. Coulee Community Choir The Coulee Community Choir will present its annual Christmas Concert on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. at St. Henry’s Catholic Church, Complimentary refreshments will follow. Church of the Nazarene Christmas worship and Candlelight Communion Service at the Nazarene Church will be held Sunday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m., at the church and is free. Coulee Dam Community Church-Presbyterian Mon., Dec. 24 at 7 p.m. a Christmas Eve C... Full story
Youngsters in the Coulee Medical Center (CMC) Emergency Room have a special advocate when it comes to reducing anxiety and stress. It stands about 15 inches tall, is soft and cuddly and is the creation of a local woman who needed one, once, for her own granddaughter. Maureen Gross of Coulee Dam, “the Teddy bear lady,” as many call her, has, for the past four years built Teddy bears out of donated and leftover fabric. Once completed, she donates the bears to the CMC Auxiliary, which uses the... Full story
Kailey R. Francis and Anthony S. Marquez Jr., of Grand Coulee are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Annalia Clare Marquez, born Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee. She weighed 6 lbs., 13 oz. and was 20 inches in length at birth. Sibling is Joseph age 4. Maternal grandparents are Brenda Francis of Grand Coulee and the late Jim Francis. Paternal grandparents are Tish Nash of Florence, Ala., and Tony Marquez of Corcoran, Calif.... Full story