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Articles from the April 22, 2020 edition


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  • Lights turned on for seniors

    Apr 22, 2020

    Joining somewhat of a movement to recognize this year's high school seniors in a spring that has been deformed by the coronavirus pandemic, Lake Roosevelt High School turned on the lights at Greene Field Friday night with nobody in the stands. Drivers going by honked in salute, fire engines, police cars and ambulances turned on their emergency lights, and cars shown their headlights onto the field from the parking lot. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association encouraged the...

  • School board meeting tonight held via Zoom

    Apr 22, 2020

    The Grand Coulee Dam School District is holding their regularly scheduled board meeting electronically via Zoom tonight at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is accessible to the public by clicking on this link: https://gcdsd.zoom.us/j/677070515...

  • Tribes lay off hundreds temporarily

    Jacob Wagner|Apr 22, 2020

    The Colville Tribes and the Colville Tribal Federal Corporation have temporarily laid off nearly 600 employees as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a letter from the Colville Business Council to their tribal membership explained Tuesday. The letter, shared on The Tribal Tribune’s website and Facebook page late Tuesday afternoon, explains the reasoning behind the decision. “Due to unprecedented challenges our tribe is facing due to the coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic, we regrettably made the decision to place 178 employees on temporary lay...

  • Lake Roosevelt starts online "distance learning" this week

    Jacob Wagner|Apr 22, 2020

    “Distance learning” is getting its moment in the sun, starting this week, for Lake Roosevelt students and teachers. With students and staff “social distancing” during the coronavirus pandemic, educators, told by the state they still have to teach, have had to figure out how to teach without actually being in the same room as their students. “Sometimes good comes out of a difficult situation,” Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner wrote in his April 16 email update to parents and the community. “Although social distance is...

  • Mental health important during coronavirus pandemic

    Jacob Wagner|Apr 22, 2020

    The coronavirus pandemic comes along with various types of stress for various types of people, including anxiety about health, the economy, and the future of the world. Throw the depression, boredom, or restlessness due to social distancing on top of it all, and it's easy to see why mental health is important during these times. We contacted Dr. Marilyn Holman, a psychiatrist at Coulee Medical Center about how such times can affect mental health. "This is a difficult time for everyone," Holman...

  • The food bank is still open

    Jacob Wagner|Apr 22, 2020

    During the coronavirus pandemic, the Care & Share Food Bank has been open on the second and fourth Fridays of the month at its usual location at the Nazarene Church along SR-174, where food is brought out to patron’s cars. The food bank operates from 2-4 p.m. on those days. Manager Carol Nordine said that on Easter weekend 103 people came to get food; two weeks prior, 93 used the service. “For only being open every other week, it averages out,” she said. “We’ve had a few new people but not a whole bunch.” New clients should bring a driver licen...

  • Okanogan County restricts overnight accommodations

    Jacob Wagner|Apr 22, 2020

    Hotels, motels, and campgrounds in Okanogan County have been ordered to operate under restrictions following the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order from the state, until at least May 4, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. An April 14 resolution by the county commissioners and the county public health officer said that the closure applies to hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts, timeshares, campgrounds, RV parks and other short-term rentals. Commissioners passed a new resolution April 21 to amend that language to say those businesses were...

  • Rodeo called off due to state stay home order

    Scott Hunter|Apr 22, 2020

    The Colorama Rodeo will not be held this year, a decision Ridge Riders President George Kohout said it pained him to make April 15. Kohout, who worked to bump the rodeo up to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association this year, had been looking forward to a season that would bring in more cowboys than ever and more recognition to the event and the community. But after making calls, he realized Colorama wouldn’t be alone in the disappointment. PRCA told him they’d already had over a 100 cancelations for the season, with more calling every hou...

  • CD Police to get fingerprint scanner

    Apr 22, 2020

    Coulee Dam police will get a new fingerprint scanner, following the city council’s award of a bid at a special council meeting Thursday. Meeting via conference call, the council voted to give the bid to DataWorks Plus for the LiveScan Fingerprinting system for $15,245. The equipment was funded with a federal grant through the Washington State Patrol, Clerk Stefani Bowden said....

  • We need to get through this time and tighten our belts, just as we have through two World Wars, terrorist attacks and other epidemics

    Matthew Adelman, National Newspaper Association|Apr 22, 2020

    Newspapers in the United States have traveled rough seas to the First Amendment freedoms we enjoy today. From the colonial Stamp Act through wartime censorship to today, when thousands of newspapers were slammed with the public health emergency known as COVID-19, people who work for newspapers have never had completely smooth sailing. Now most of the businesses that advertise with us are shut down. The pipeline to make our payroll shut down with them. People are restlessly waiting in their locked-down homes for us to bring the news...

  • Thank the truckers

    Don Brunell|Apr 22, 2020

    As we get deeper into the COVID-19 pandemic, we are finding more Americans to thank. Until recently, truckers have been behind the scenes just doing their jobs, but as shoppers learn how groceries and necessities reappeared on shelves, they join the list of unsung heroes. Business Insider (BI) reported truckers are the reason America’s grocery stores, online retailers, hospitals, gas stations, and even ATMs have remained stocked. They number 1.9 million. It’s estimated that grocery stores wou...

  • A different kind of moment

    Jess Utz|Apr 22, 2020

    The way we celebrate different events during this isolation time is, well, to put it bluntly, strange for us a family. We are a family much like many of you that gather together for birthdays, holidays, weddings and funerals. During this Covid-19 time we must distance, isolate and be very smart, and that in itself can make for hard-to-swallow moments as events come upon us. My sister had to cancel her wedding. She had been planning, prepping and preparing for a long time. Like every little...

  • A WWII ship named the "SS COULEE DAM"

    Bert Smith, Them Dam Writers online|Apr 22, 2020

    With the advent of World War II, Kaiser Industries, part of the Consolidated Builders Inc. that completed the Grand Coulee Dam, began building ships. Kaiser Shipbuilding Company established seven ship-building locations on the West Coast, including one at Swan Island near Portland Oregon. Here they would build the T2-SE-A1 oil tanker. On May 16, 1944 the 62nd tanker was delivered and christened the "SS Coulee Dam." The ship sailed on May 20, 1944 and returned from service on February 10, 1945,...

  • Spring Sports Teams 2020

    Apr 22, 2020

    Even though Lake Roosevelt Raiders spring sports were canceled due to the Coronavirus, The Star, along with area businesses felt the 2020 teams should be recognized. These area businesses support Raider sports: • Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce • Bird’s Auto Glass & Body Shop • Strate Funeral Home • R&A Café • Flowers & Sons Construction LLC • Coulee Wall Variety Store • Jackson’s Chevron • Coulee Construction • H&H Grocery • North Cascades Bank • Moomaw Hearing Center • Siam Pala...

  • Legals for April 22, 2020

    Apr 22, 2020

    Public Notice Town of Coulee Dam To the citizens of the Town of Coulee Dam, Washington, due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic the Town Council of the Town of Coulee Dam, Washington will be conducting all Regular Council Meetings via teleconference during the Governor’s “Stay at Home” order or until further notice. Information regarding access to meetings can be obtained by visiting the Town of Coulee Dam website at townofcouleedam.org, emailing cdclerk@couleedam.org, calling Town Hall at (509) 633-0320 or by viewing notices posted on To...

  • Coulee Cops

    Apr 22, 2020

    Grand Coulee Police 4/17 - A city employee reported a vehicle blocking a fire hydrant near Dill Avenue and King Street. The owner was warned and moved the vehicle. The owner was also one of a few people at a Dill Avenue address who said that a man left lumber stolen from the city on their property. The people all conveniently couldn’t recall the last name of the man nor how to contact him, the police report noted. 4/18 - The sound of a man yelling was reported near Burdin Boulevard. A party was located and people were told to keep it down. T...

  • Teacher gets grant

    Apr 22, 2020

    Misty Krohn is one of six teachers in the 29 school districts of the North Central Washington Educational Service District awarded a grant related to the study of the Lower Grand Coulee recently. Krohn, who teaches kindergarten at Lake Roosevelt Elementary, will get the $300 for her project to create a science center in her classroom. The Friends of Lower Grand Coulee (FLGC), in partnership with the North Central Education Foundation (NCEF), provided the opportunity to encourage study of the Lower Grand Coulee area this spring. Because of...

  • Thomas Moses Wolf Head (Wilson)

    Apr 22, 2020

    On Thursday April 2, 2020, the sun rose above the Nespelem Valley as Thomas Moses Wolf Head (Wilson) La-pit-he-sham-tusesh (Two Moons) started his journey to be with his ancestors. Thomas aka Bugs was born in Nespelem on June 14, 1950, to (late) Thomas "Wimpy" Wilson Sr. and (late) Catherine P. Francis. He was raised by his late grandmother Sadie Moses Williams at the family home on Owhi Flats until moving to town. He attended grade school in Nespelem and continued to be a Proud Nespelem Savage...

  • Meetings & Notices

    Apr 22, 2020

    Grant County Fire Dist. 14 Meeting Canceled The Grant County Fire District 14 will not hold its April 27 meeting due to the Corona Virus outbreak....