News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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An Electric City council member has asked for a public hearing after being reprimanded by city authorities during a city retreat in January. Birdie Hensley asked for a public hearing so the matter would become public, and she recently sent out invitations to a number of people asking them to attend the hearing. Hensley was reprimanded by other council members and Mayor John Nordine II, after she had communicated with various agencies by email suggesting that her inquiries were officially on behalf of the entire council. The legal issue is... Full story
Elmer City's volunteer firefighters are preparing to put on their 55th Annual Pancake Feed Saturday, and they're hoping you'll attend. There's a good chance of that, judging from the past experience of the popular fundraiser. Firefighter Brad Dudley said the folks who man the fire engines at Okanogan County Fire District No. 2 usually feed more than 300 people at the event. "It's huge support," Dudley said, noting that more than 50 businesses have donated items for a raffle and silent auction... Full story
Some 63 people associated with the City of Grand Coulee will get Medstar memberships as a way for the city to say thank you to them. Getting memberships are city staff, elected officials and volunteers. The city council approved the measure at its last meeting, subject to getting an okay from the city’s attorney. City clerk Carol Boyce said this week that Grand Coulee is moving forward with the plan. The normal cost for a Medstar annual membership is $59, but under a group plan the city will get memberships for $48. The membership program c... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce named its "Achiever of Year" and "Business of the Year" at a special awards luncheon last Thursday at the Moose Lodge. The chamber membership chooses the honorees through a ballot process. The "Achiever of the Year" is Debbie Bigelow, chief executive officer at Coulee Medical Center. Bigelow stepped into the hospital position during a time of turmoil and was instrumental in rebuilding trust and confidence. She recently announced her intent to retire... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam Yacht Club has been working on tearing out its aging docks at Eden Harbor over the last three weeks to make way for new ones. Keith St. Jeor said Friday, while pulling the old docks apart, that the club had determined it made sense to replace them. They were installed in 1981-82. The club has purchased used docks from a Lake Pend Oreille marina that suffered damage in a wind storm. About 10 members drove up there in pickups and trailers to pick them up last August. Now that... Full story
Elmer Easter eggs Elmer City will have an Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday, March 27, at 1 p.m. at the city park. The hunt will be in three age categories: five and under, 6-10, and 11 and older (no age limit). Help is needed to fill plastic eggs with candy and hide the eggs. If you can help, call Mayor Gail Morin at 633-0526. It’s spring concert time The Lake Roosevelt Elementary bands and chorus will hold a concert in the LRHS gym at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 23. Coming in April, the Lake Roosevelt junior and senior high bands and choir w... Full story
We would like to take a moment to introduce the community to a funding site that allows us to donate to projects AT OUR SCHOOLS in OUR CLASSROOMS. It is DonorsChoose.Org. This site allows teachers to post a specific project and the funding needed to make it happen. It can be a small amount or a large amount. We searched for local schools, and there were no projects listed yet. Let’s change that! Let’s get some projects listed and then let’s fund them. We can do this! We, as a community, can make a difference, with just a click. We urge the s... Full story
Hot summers, several years of low snowpack, and the severity of recent drought across the West illustrate the extent to which water is truly the lifeblood of Central Washington and our economy. Unlike the west side of the Cascades, the “rain shadow” effect caused by the mountain ranges keeps Eastern Washington dry, with less than 10 inches of rainfall on average. Communities throughout Central Washington, including employers, manufacturers, agriculture producers, and tribes, depend on access to water supplies through irrigation and water inf... Full story
The threat from the misuse of anonymous shell companies is real, and routine. Criminals use them to scam consumers, defraud the government, and launder money. They also use them to cheat small businesses. For example, from 2004 to 2012 a large Virginia-based security firm used a shell company to fraudulently obtain $31 million in federal contracts – contracts that should have gone to minority-owned small businesses under the SBA’s section 8(a) set-aside program. In a second case, a Maryland woman used multiple shell companies to win con... Full story
Ask any butcher: trimming the fat off a beef or a deer is essential to the prime cuts of meat. Some butchers just throw away the excess fat; others use it in other places, like in burger. Others even give the fat away or sell it to candle makers or other crafts that require the waxy substance. That being said, native tribes from around the globe use every part of the animal. Especially the nomads way up north who rely on the fatty substance to survive. But even we meat lovers say, “A little fat is where the flavor is” as we gnaw on a whi... Full story
Pouring the first bucket of concrete in the back wall of the pump-generating plant. – March 4, 1949... Full story
The Coulee Dam All-Class Reunion is seeking the whereabouts of the original Coulee Dam High School beaver mascot (Benny the Beaver), which was an actual stuffed beaver mascot mounted on a small wooden platform. If anyone has information on the whereabouts of this mascot, please contact either Bert Smith at 405-637-6398 (bjsmith@telepath.com) or Linda Zlateff at 509-647-5853 or (dlzlateff@bigdam.net). We would like to display him during our reunion activities on August 5 and 6, 2016. Afterward,... Full story
Jamie Ward and Shawn Dahlenburg of Almira, Washington, are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Salem Rene Dahlenburg. She was born Monday, March 7, 2016, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee, Washington, and weighed 7 lbs., 2 oz., and was 21 inches in length at birth. Siblings are Liam, age 6, and Camden, age 1. Maternal grandparents are Debbie Ward of Electric City, Washington, and James Ward of Alaska. Great-grandfather is Francis Reyes of Coulee Dam.... Full story
Christopher James "Chris" Johnson, was born Saturday, July 22, 1972, in Orange County, California, to Lewis and Lorale Johnson; passed away Monday, March 7, 2016, at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, Washington at the age of 43 years. "Boo-Boo" to his family, Chris was a life-long resident of Coulee Dam, Washington, where he attended Lake Roosevelt High School. Known as "Shafter" to fellow students, Chris participated in his younger years in basketball, wrestling and track prior to... Full story
Chamber to Meet The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce will meet at noon this Thursday, March 17, at Junkers in Grand Coulee. Dan Foster, from the National Park Service will be the speaker. Okanogan County School Retirees Assoc. to Meet The Okanogan County School Retirees’ Association will celebrate Retired School Employees’ Week and OCSRA’s 61st birthday on Thursday, March 17, at 10 a.m., at On the Avenue, 134 2nd Ave S., Okanogan. The association will meet Friday, March 25, at 11 a.m., for a no-host luncheon meeting ata Koala Street Gr... Full story
Wed., March 16 – Dinner Ham & Bean Soup with Cornbread, Egg Salad Sandwiches, Veggie Platter, Fruit Cup, Cookies Thurs., March 17 – Dinner Corned Beef Cabbage, Potatoes & Carrots, Fruited Jello, Irish Soda Bread, Cook’s Choice Dessert. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Fri., March 18 – Breakfast German Sausage & Eggs, Hashbrowns, Muffins, Fruit Bowl, Orange Juice Mon., March 21 – Breakfast Sausage Links & Eggs, Hashbrows, Muffin, Fruit Bowl, Orange Juice Tues., March 22 – Dinner Sunday Boil with Winter Veggies (Ham, Turnips, Potatoes, etc.), Fruite... Full story
A number of school elementary students are taking part in the Colville Tribal recycling program. The contest is on, with students from Nespelem, Lake Roosevelt, Keller, Inchelium and Paschal Sherman competing to see which school can collect the most plastic number-one and -two bottles before Earth Day, April 22. Tribal Recycling has placed bins in all the schools and asked students to collect and deposit plastic bottles.The school with the most bottles (by weight) will receive a $200 gift certificate during the Earth Day celebration at the... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam American Legion Post 157 is calling for all area graduating seniors (LHRS, ACH, and Wilbur) to apply for its $1,000 scholarships. Please see school guidance or scholarship counselor for an application, or call Jim Brakebill at 509-631-1839 for more information, or email gcdalpost157@gmail.com.... Full story
Okanogan County School Retirees Association is seeking applicants for their $1,000 scholarship. The applicant must be of at least a college junior standing from Okanogan County and committed to a career in an educational field. Applicants may apply now to the association. The application must be postmarked no later than Monday, May 2, 2016. The application is on the website at www.okanogancsra.com or may be received by contacting Homer Hedington at hedingtonhj@communitynet.org or calling 509-422-2954. You may also contact Bill Laws at... Full story
by Roger S. Lucas Need a one-eighth inch steel sewer rodder storage reel? Or five pole-hanging Christmas lights? If you do, or are in the market for a list of surplus items at Electric City, then you may find bargains galore. Just go to city hall. Every year municipalities and other agencies go through their closets and bins looking for items that they no longer need, to declare them surplus. That’s what Electric City’s council did last Tuesday night. Declared surplus in addition to items above were: • a Lincoln 240-volt welder (it works... Full story
Wed., March 16 4 p.m., HS Tennis here with Entiat Fri., March 18 4 p.m., HS Tennis at Pateros Sat., March 19 11 a.m., HS Baseball here with Bridgeport (DH) 11 a.m., HS Softball here with Bridgeport (DH) 11 a.m., HS Track at Oroville Invitational, Ben Prince Field... Full story
Banks Lake Golf Course is offering a special reduced price through its punch card program this season. Port District 7 officials, who manage the course, said last week that the new punch card program is designed to save golfers money and to encourage people to play the 18-hole course. The punch cards are good for both nine-hole and 18-hole play. Play six times for nine holes, and punch card users will get one free nine-hole play. Play 10 times for 18 holes and they’ll get two free 18-hole plays. Players ask for a punch card when they sign in a... Full story
Electric City will continue to fix up city hall this year. The city plans to paint city hall, add a stone wainscotting, put up a new logo sign and redo the air conditioning system. The city has put $49,000 in this year’s budget for the upgrades and repairs. In past recent years the city has put in carpeting, painted the inside, upgraded its council room, and made other repairs. City officials were not certain when work would begin on the upgrade project.... Full story
The Electric City council has moved forward on developing a parks and recreation plan for the city. The council authorized city planner Kurt Danison to move forward by voting up to $5,000 to develop the plan. Danison had noted that the development of the plan will include three public meetings to gather input from residents. He also outlined that a finished plan would put the city in position to seek grants for development of parks and recreation projects, including the proposed trail, inside the city. He wrote the council: “It not only lets a... Full story
Young local actors fill the stage at The Grand Theatre in Grand Coulee Saturday afternoon, following their performance in the Missoula Children's Theater production of Rumpelstiltskin. The production, sponsored by the Grand Coulee Dam PTA at a cost of some $3,500, gives local kids a taste of theater, one of the humanities not available in regular curriculum at area schools. Some 45 students took part, auditioning on Monday, then attending over two hours of play practice each night in the week... Full story