News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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It's smoky outside, not as smoky as last year, but health experts advise being mindful of the amount of smoke in the air and how it affects you. Here are some tools to help with that. On the Air Quality Index on purpleair.com, which uses a color-coded gradient that measures air pollution on a scale from 0-500, the Grand Coulee Dam area ranged from 139-153 as of 11:30 a.m. on August 6. AQIs of less than 100 are generally considered to be healthy. The Environmental Protection Agency's Particulate...
KELLER – Keller Ferry users will get a two-week reprieve on a terminal repair project closure, with work now starting in September. Initially, the 14-day closure and repair was scheduled to be complete by Aug. 30, but delays in obtaining materials have pushed back that work.The ferry vessel M/V Sanpoil will now be out of service for two weeks in mid-September. The closure dates have tentatively been set for the evening of Friday, Sept. 13, through Friday, Sept. 27 - but those could be pushed back if any fires in the area restrict first r... Full story
A fire burning on the Colville Indian Reservation, upstream from the Keller Ferry in the Hellgate Game Reserve area has scorched 18,000 acres and was 25 percent contained, as of Tuesday night, as firefighters have contended with snakes, bears and smoke too thick for airplanes to help. The Williams Flats Fire started Aug. 2, after a band of early morning thunderstorms with lightning moved across the eastern portion of the Colville Indian Reservation, according to Inciweb, a government-run...
Is technology bringing us closer together, tearing us apart, or just sucking up our time in general? A recent poll shared to The Star’s Facebook page just scratched the surface of the complex issue of smartphones, tablets, and their roles in our lives, gathering responses from 23 people on the topic. Respondents were evenly spread out between ages 25 and 65-plus, with no one 24 or younger responding. Four people claimed to look at their phone immediately after waking up, while the majority, 14, said they first looked at their phone from half a...
Jill Fraser has been passionate about dogs her whole life, grooming her first one at age 10 when she decided her aunt's cocker spaniel could use an upgrade. Since then, she's pursued a career around dogs, showing breeds at 16 after leaving Spokane for California on her own, then getting into the grooming business in Portland, Oregon that year when she worked for a veterinarian as the boarding and grooming manager, she says. "I know what dogs are supposed to look like, regardless if it's a show c...
The Colville Tribal Museum in Coulee Dam is hosting a series of events. Bill Layman will be at the museum on Aug. 24 at 1 p.m. Layman has written three books that delve into the history of the West’s mightiest river. In addition to the books, he helped curate museum programs about the Columbia River, helped form groups to protect it, and worked to bring river-related sculptures to Wenatchee. Colville tribal member Julie Edwards will host a basket weaving training Sept. 14 and 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both dates. The events are presented in p...
Someone illegally flew a drone into the temporarily restricted airspace over the Williams Flats and Lundstrom Butte Fires Tuesday, forcing a stop to all flights by firefighting aircraft. “The incursion caused all firefighting related aircraft — helicopters, Fire Bosses and large retardant planes — to suspend operations and return to the airport,” Northwest Interagency Incident Management Team 8 said in a late fire update Tuesday night. No flights were allowed in the area until it could be verified that the drone had left it. “During the suspe...
In this week’s Star, we offer a short feature on a person relatively new to the area under the heading One of Us. We’d like to do more of this kind of story, those that help bring a new face to the community, or just tell us something many might not have known about someone who may be more familiar. If you know of someone who might make a good subject for One of Us, give us a call at 509-633-1350, or email star@grandcoulee.com with the details. Stories that tell us about each other can help bring us together as a community. We hope tha...
Who will stand up for geezer privilege? Without the benefit of definable organization, geezers are at a disadvantage. They lack status to call for a press conference or to issue position statements. The only recourse at present is to submit articles to local newspapers for publication. With no platform to speak from, public opinion seems to fall on deaf ears. There seems to be little or no interest or consideration offered by local politicians, or public officials. The apparent lack of traction on this issue may be attributed to apathy. People...
As global temperatures rise (June 2019 was the hottest June ever recorded) they tend to sustain wildfires. Earlier this summer, in June and July, hundreds of long-lived, intense wildfires burned within the Arctic Circle. Most of the fire activity was in Alaska and Siberia. Alaska alone had over 400 wildfires. There were also large fires in Greenland. Associated with these large-scale fires is the release of tiny particles — megatons of particulate matter. Black carbon particulates, also known a...
As we traveled around the state this summer and others asked where we were from, they would always get a look of excitement when we said Grand Coulee. Some had memories of long ago and others had fresh, exciting tales of all things Coulee. Here are the top things people mentioned when talking about Grand Coulee Dam area. Of course, the great concrete structure was always brought up and would unanimously be the number-one thing on this list, so I am going to just skip that one and give you the...
Congress is responsible for funding our country, and we have some difficult decisions to make. I came to Washington D.C. to advocate for the priorities of my constituents, and I have heard loud and clear that the people of Central Washington want to ensure we aren’t further saddling our future generations with crippling debt. The Budget Control Act (BCA) set spending caps for Congress to abide by. Under this law, if the spending caps are exceeded, a government-wide sequester of both mandatory and discretionary funding would occur. This would me...
For decades, Big Pharma has raised drug prices with impunity. Here in Washington state, the average annual cost of brand name prescription drug treatment increased 58% between 2012 and 2017, while the annual income for Washingtonians increased only 9.9%. Prescription drugs don’t work if patients can’t afford them. That’s why the Senate needs to pass the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act when they return from August recess. It’s time. We thank Sen. Cantwell for her support of this bipartisan bill in the Senate Finance Committee. We urge...
Spring Canyon and Keller Ferry are two National Park Service sites listed Tuesday for possible closure next week during a project to redo or upgrade all asphalt surfaces in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. The project is part of a national paving maintenance effort led by the Federal Highway Administration. Last spring, the NPS announced it would stop taking reservations for the park because, beginning July, contractors would be resurfacing and restriping all National Park Service-managed asphalt surfaces within the boundaries of...
Man drowns in Lake Rufus Woods A 26-year-old Bridgeport man drowned Sunday near Chief Joseph Dam while swimming with friends, Douglas County Sheriff Kevin W. Morris said. Responding to the call, deputies found Manuel De Jesus Galarza-Martinez lying on the shore unresponsive. Deputies attempted lifesaving measures, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Martinez had been swimming with friends when he went under the water. After he did not resurface, friends dove in, found him unresponsive, pulled him to shore, and then called for help. No flame...
Chamber Taking a Break Chamber will not be holding meetings through the month of August. Mosquito District Meets The Grant County Mosquito District #2 will hold its monthly meeting at 5 p.m., Thursday, August 7, at 210 W. Coulee Blvd., in Electric City....
Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will meet at 7 p.m., Tuesday, August 13, at the Wenatchee Valley Museum, 127 South Mission, Wenatchee. Erratics’ favorite, Dr. Vic Baker, Professor of Planetary Sciences and Geosciences U. of Arizona, will talk about these World-Wide Ice-Age Megafloods. We have learned much about processes and ages of megaflooding, but controversies remain, including: areas of flooding now under the oceans; subglacial megaflooding; and details of a vast network of megaflood landscape features in...
OLYMPIA – Aug. 5, 2019 – In recognition of the National Park System’s 103rd birthday, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is offering free entrance to state parks on Sunday, Aug. 25. Day-use visitors will not need a Discover Pass to visit state parks by vehicle. State Parks free days are in keeping with 2011 legislation that created the Discover Pass, which costs $30 annually or $10 for a one-day visit. The pass is required for vehicle access to state recreation lands managed by Washington State Parks, the Washington Depar...
A local athlete will be competing in the Babe Ruth World Series in Bismarck, North Dakota this week. Tyson Nicholson, who will be a sophomore at Lake Roosevelt High School this coming school year, plays for the Columbia Basin Riverdogs as one of their starting pitchers. The Riverdogs compete in the 13- to 15-year-old category and beat Glacier, Montana 7-1 in the regional tournament championship game. Nicholson pitched four innings, striking out seven batters to help advance the team to the...
Coulee Hartline School District CALL FOR BIDS Construction of Pole Storage Building and removal of existing container The Coulee Hartline School Board of Directors are requesting bids for the construction of a two level pole storage building, 16’ x 36’ x 20’. The bid packet may be obtained by contacting the Coulee Hartline District office, 509-632-5231, ext. 1, or at 410 W. Locust St., Coulee City, WA 99115. Sealed bids must be submitted to Supt. Jim Evans by Tuesday, August 27, 2019 by 3:00 p.m. The Coulee-Hartline Board of Directors reser... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 8/1 - A gas station attendant at Jack’s Four Corners turned in a brown paper bag found in the parking lot by a customer. The paper bag had a plastic bag and a small condiment container inside, both containing crystal-like substances. One substance tested negative for methamphetamine, and resembled sugar. The other substance tested positive for methamphetamine. Everything was destroyed as per department policy. - A man gave a pistol he deemed unsafe to police, wanting it to be disposed of property. The weapon was cleared, r...