News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The first time I met Guillermo Guzman he had just done the butterfly stroke across Crescent Bay and back in September. I had taken his photograph for possible use in the paper and so introduced myself and asked his name. His thick Mexican accent was compounded by the fact that he was shivering terribly, his teeth chattering, yet he politely entered conversation as if he weren’t dying to get dried off from the frigid lake water. I’ve had little interaction with him since that 2009 encounter until this spring, when he hit on the idea of rai... Full story
At an arraignment hearing for his brother Monday, Carlos Guzman Romo anxiously showed a reporter a portfolio stuffed full of evidence he thought showed that his brother is a “really good guy” who had put himself through the University of Washington by working hard as a technician. Guillermo Guzman Romo, 43, a teacher at Lake Roosevelt High School since 2008, is accused of fraud and identity theft. Police say he was using another man’s Social Security Number to stay in the country illeg... Full story
Life changed for Charli Knight after her sister was murdered by her husband in 2009. Charli was a freshman in high school at the time, and her dream was to become a chef, an ambition that lost its luster after Collette Pakootas’ death at the age of 23. Charli needed to make a difference of a another kind, to help bring justice to the world. She’s a senior at Lake Roosevelt High School now, and that meant deciding on some sort of senior project. A walk to benefit a women’s shelter sounded like... Full story
A California woman arrested last Thursday who allegedly made a bomb threat while on a tour at Grand Coulee Dam, was booked into Okanogan County Jail and released the next day on her personal recognizance. Christina Frisvold, 33, was arrested by Coulee Dam police officer Michael Sullivan after she told him two times that she had a bomb, according to police. She was on the tour with her boyfriend, Robert Marty, also from California, who, according to a police report, had told her to stop talking about a bomb. She later told officials that she... Full story
Science teacher Ralph Rise was presented with a statewide award last week, an example for educators across the state. Sonia Siegel Vexler, co-director of LASER, the Pacific Science Center’s Leadership Assistance for Science Education Reform, presented Rise Wednesday with a check for $5,000 and a trophy in the form of a Galileo thermometer with a special inscription. Rise will give the money to the school to further the science programs that have built him a reputation over the last several y... Full story
Grand Coulee is going to make an effort to get a daycare center in its Central Business District zone. The public interest in a daycare center has attracted the attention of city officials, and the ways and means of making a zoning change was discussed last Tuesday night with Vivian Ramsey of SCJ Alliance, the city’s planning group. The city’s planning council, made up of council members and city staff will have to be reconvened and a recommendation will have to be made to council. When this is done the recommendation goes before the State Env... Full story
The K-12 school project is underway. It started at 9 a.m. Tuesday with a formal groundbreaking, and immediately Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson met with builder representatives from Walker Construction to get the project moving. Four members of the school board, Joette Barry, Ken “Butch” Stanger, Carla Marconi and Ted Piccolo, all turned the initial spades of dirt over to declare the near $23 million project started. Members of the Colville Business Council also tu... Full story
Grand Coulee officials are trying to get a sidewalk project on Spokane Avenue changed to the same kind of improvement on Federal Avenue. A sidewalk on Spokane Way lost its main focus when city officials realized that Center School would no longer be in use after the 2013-2014 school year since students would move to a new building in Coulee Dam. The project’s main intent had been to provide sidewalk service to Center school. Now the city is checking with the State Transportation Improvement Board, the source of the funds, to see if the a... Full story
Electric service went down in the town of Coulee Dam just after 7 a.m. Wednesday, morning and would not be restored until late afternoon. Lake Roosevelt High School dismissed for the day, and businesses in town were closed. It’s unusual for the whole town of Coulee Dam to lose power at once, since it has redundant power feeds coming into the town’s utility. Or at least it normally does. That was the problem. Last year’s big fires took out wooden power poles that carry the town’s “Feeder... Full story
The Chamber of Commerce will host a beer tent during the Colorama Festival celebration at North Dam Park. Chamber Manager Peggy Nevsimal said a 1500 square-foot tent will be located on the tennis court at North Dam Park and staffed by volunteers. Nevsimal said that people’s IDs and age will be checked at the entrance to the area and that beer and wine will be available. She said the beer tent will be open from 4-9 p.m. Thursday, May 9; 4-9 p.m. on Friday, May 10; and Saturday, May 11, from 4-10 p.m. Live music will be featured both Friday a... Full story
The Lower Crest Drive project in Coulee Dam will begin Monday, public works director Barry Peacock reported. The quarter-mile road project will go from River Drive to the city limits at the bottom of the hill. Granite Construction, from Wenatchee and Omak, won the bid to do the project and it could take about two weeks or more to complete. The town received a federal grant of $302,750, for the project, and the State Transportation Improvement Board is paying the town’s matching share of $47,250, Peacock stated earlier in a council meeting. M... Full story
I have known Guillermo for many years, ever since he was a student of mine at the University of Washington. So I am very, very surprised to read this story. There must be some gigantic misunderstanding. Guillermo was not only a brilliant student in all my classes, but he is one of the most wonderful, compassionate, thoughtful, and dedicated students I have had in thirty years of teaching. His own personal story of overcoming hardships and challenges growing up, and then his passionate commitment to education, has been an inspiration to all his... Full story
I am a former graduate of Coulee Dam High School and read with interest the article on lack of housing or activities for employees at the dam. In the 1950s this was a problem, too, and the USBR provided a dorm for the single employees. Many of our teachers boarded there. As for activities … everyone in the community attended all the school games, concerts, plays, the movies changed three times a week, there were tennis courts (six of them), a swimming pool, plus all the water recreation behind the dam, sledding in the winter and ice skating o... Full story
If Mark Jenson, the Bureau of Reclamation power manager sees it as a hardship living right here presently, he should have tried it before we got our Variety Store. A lot of us enjoy life in Coulee Dam because each morning, Iris, our town’s mail carrier, walks up to my house; she says with a smile, “Good morning Frank.” It’s that simple. Frank Ward Coulee Dam... Full story
Last summer, news reports broke that the U.S. Department of Labor was effectively holding hostage the crops of blueberry farmers in Oregon until they signed documents agreeing to alleged violations to federal labor laws. Since then, similar cases have popped up on the west side of our own state of Washington. Agents from the Department of Labor accused these farmers of a variety of labor violations and invoked an abusive tactic known as the “hot goods” provision — impounding the farmer’s crops until they agreed to sign a form admitting to break... Full story
Ten Years Ago Plan finalized for water sharing. Grand Coulee and Electric City will soon share another resource when a pipe joins one water supply to the other. Last night, the Electric City town council approved a contract that promises to lead to the eventual connection of the town’s water supply to Grand Coulee’s water supply. Old west shootout possible for Colorama. The traditional Colorama theme of the old west may be taken one step further this year. Several Okanogan County residents plan a shootout before the grand parade. A com... Full story
Dorothy Louise Young Clark, 91, Grand Coulee, passed away Monday, April 15, 2013, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Wash. She was born December 23, 1921, in Centralia, Wash., to Odin and Claudia Young. She moved to Grand Coulee with grandparents in 1933. She attended school in 5th grade in a one-room school; in 1934 the main school was built and she finished school there. She married Bill Walker in December, 1941; they had two daughters Terri and Tana. She married Jay Clark in October, 1948,... Full story
Nancy Lou Rosco passed away on April 14, 2013. She was survived by her husband of 52 years, Vernon D. Rosco; five children: Russell, Lynn, Gail, Gary, Tom; and five grandchildren, Tim, Paula, Landon, Scott, and Lindsey. She was preceded by her parents, Doug & Colleen White. She was born on August 28, 1944, in Salmon, Idaho. She attended Bonners Ferry High School where she met her husband. She continued to reside in the Bonners Ferry area for many years until moving to Ione, Washington. After... Full story
Surrounded by her adoring family, Mary Ann “Mare” McNeilly, 77, peacefully passed into the arms of her loving savior from her Coulee Dam, Washington, home Thursday morning, April 11, 2013. Born Mary Ann Meyers on June 8, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, Mary Ann happily spent much of her early childhood at the home of her dearly loved great-aunt and uncle: Mary (Mayme) and Otto Goellner. In 1944, nine years young, Mary Ann moved to Grand Coulee, Wash., with her family. As a teenager she sang in the... Full story
Graveside services for Jean Campbell will be held Saturday, April 27, 2013, at Spring Canyon Cemetery at 1 p.m. Dress is casual but the family is wearing pink in her honor. Jean passed away November 14, 2012, in Spokane.... Full story
It was a warm sunny morning in the Wenatchee Valley, the pink blossoms of the cherry trees and pink dogwood trees along with the sunshine yellow forsythia with white apple blossoms blooming among the others like bits of cotton on the trees, Mom loved the Wenatchee Valley. Jean Nicholson passed away peacefully during a day described above. She had been working so hard to come home. Just as the doctor came around the corner, she gave her last breath. At Jean’s request cremation has taken place. A... Full story
Coltan and Kelsey Hoppe of Wilbur are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Kendall Jo on Friday, March 22, 2013, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee. She weighed 8 lbs., 5 oz., and was 21-1/2 inches in length at birth. Maternal grandparents are Wade and Traci Starzman of Wilbur. Paternal grandparents are Gail Hoppe of Harrington and Lon Hoppe of Post Falls, Idaho. Great-grandparents include Dale and JoAnn Portch of Wilbur, Shirly Groh of Odessa and Ralph and Mick Starzman of Stevenville, Mont.... Full story
Marcella and Charles Jennett of Grand Coulee are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Riley Eden Jennett on Friday, March 22, 2013, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee. She weighed 6 lbs., 6 oz., and was 21 inches in length at birth. She joins Kaia Jennett at home. Maternal grandparents are Paul and Kathy Braun. Paternal grandparents are Chuck Jennett and Patty Richardson.... Full story
Karrie Denise Delafield of Electric City is pleased to announce the birth of her daughter Zoie Mae Sommers on Monday, March 25, 2013, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee. She weighed 6 lbs., 6.5 ounces and was 18 inches in length at birth. Maternal grandmother is Wanda Hauser of Newport, Wash.... Full story
Derek and Alicia Pulsifer of Brewster are proud to announce the birth of their son Nicholas Lee on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee. He weighed 7 lbs., 9 oz.,nand was 20-1/2 inches in length at birth. Siblings include Kara 8, Emily 6 and Matthew 3. Maternal grandparents are Tad and Peggy Loutzenhiser of Newport. Paternal grandparents are Katy Pulsifer of Washougal and Dan Pulsifer of Battle Ground, Wash.... Full story
