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 Star's online edition is late this week with our major weekly update. It's going up now, so keep checking back. Our apologies for any inconvenience. We're short-handed today. Thank you for your patience. If you're actually saying unkind things right now because you're not patient, try this: If you've clicked into this story, there is a tiny blue link at the upper right that says View PDF. Click it, and it will open a virtual newspaper just like the printed edition (but with more color)....
A wildfire that broke out Tuesday evening scorched thousands of acres of brush and timber and two barns -- but no homes, thanks to the quick response of local fire districts working together. The Buffalo Lake Road Fire started near the intersection of Buffalo Lake Road and Peter Dan Road just north of Elmer City about 8:30 p.m. Aug. 14. During the night, high winds would spread the fire at a fast pace with winds this reporter estimated at 20-30 mph at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. One firefighter said...
During the third inning of the Mariner’s game on Aug. 14, we saw smoke coming from the north of our home on Peter Dan Creek. We thought the fire was somewhere around Rebecca Lake, but within minutes flames were coming over the hillside North of Peter Dan Road. With the wind blowing from the North, we realized we had better prepare for an evacuation. Since this is the third fire at our home, we had preparation down to an art form. Larry gathered up the cows, opened gates, saddled up his horse, p...
Colville Tribal members by referendum voted overwhelmingly to approve distribution of another 30 percent of a $193 million settlement with the federal government. The vote was 3,497 to 303. The referendum went before voters following a petition drive. Votes were counted Friday. That money will be distributed Oct. 12, Colville Business Council Chairman John Sirois announced Tuesday. “The membership has spoken decisively on this matter and we applaud their voice on the issue,” Sirois said. “The Colville Business Council will now proceed accor...
Residents of Electric City will soon be in a new Transportation Benefit District, which will cost them $20 per vehicle owned. The measure was voted in last Tuesday night by the city council. The new provision was developed by Senate and House Bill 1858, which empowers cities, towns and counties to collect the fee. The money will eventually go into Electric City’s street fund, running short on funds ever since Initiative 695 in 1999 removed the huge vehicle licensing fees charged by the state. Those fees also supported local street funds. M...
Three people were pulled from the water in Lake Roosevelt between Crescent Bay and Eden Harbor last Wednesday evening after their boat had capsized. When word of the incident reached boaters at Spring Canyon, Javier P. Baca from New Mexico, took off in his boat to try to locate the capsized boat. He reached the boat and pulled two women from the water. A third person, the operator of the boat, was pulled from the water by Levi Seylor and Chester “Chip” Baer, who towed the small, partially submerged, flat-bottom boat to Crescent Bay. The two...
A Community Watch group in Electric City will hold an organizational meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, Aug. 27, at the city’s fire hall. The meeting agenda calls for the group to organize block captains and telephone lists. The group had a previous meeting a couple of weeks ago with 31 residents showing up. Concern has been growing among some residents about the amount of crime being reported in the Electric City area. A discussion on future training needed and community watch funding will also be on the agenda....
The series of summer concerts at North Dam Park and Event Center continues this Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. Friday, a Christian rock band from Coeur d’Alene, Thirsty Perfect, will perform, along with “Beyond Moral”, another band of the same genre. Saturday, local band Mister Meaner will play again. The classic rock band opened the series on Aug. 17....
Residents will have the last opportunity to see A. E. Wright Elementary School intact next Monday before the wrecking ball strikes. The school district plans a little farewell party for the old school, built in 1949, before contractor Elder Demolition begins the process of knocking the building down. School Superintendent Dennis Carlson said anyone interested in swinging a sledge hammer or saying a few words about Wright, should show up Monday, Aug. 27, at 10 a.m. The school was declared surplus several years ago with students moving to Center...
On Monday, workers dug up what they thought would be a time capsule at the condemned A. E. Wright Elementary School. However, it really was a copper plaque that was placed at the school near a spruce tree planted April 27, 1976, in honor of the country’s bicentennial. The district had heard that a time capsule had been placed at the school. Workers dug up an area near the flagpole and later dug near the spruce tree after Brady Black, a summer employee, had found the plaque with a metal d...
The idea of creating a new Electric City logo cropped up again at the city’s last council meeting. A new logo has been on the slow burner for over a year, and it appears that it is going to be a committee invention. Mayor Jerry Sands distributed a fistful of ideas of what a new logo would look like. Ideas, he said, he took from a site on the internet. The current logo, a lightning bolt coming out of a cloud, was put together by city staff members. Sands noted that council members should make suggestions about the logos he showed at the m...
There will be a household hazardous waste collection at the Delano Regional Transfer Station from noon to 4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 7. Officials state that you can bring oil-based paints, stains, thinners, batteries, solvents, antifreeze, brake fluid, cleaning products, spot removers, insecticides, weed killers, fluorescent tubes, swimming pool and hobby chemicals. Those bringing hazardous waste are asked to keep products in original containers with labels, pack items so they won’t tip over and keep products away from children, pets and p...
Rex, a brindle mix canine, avoided being named a “dangerous dog” when Electric City council members refused to acknowledge that it bit a city resident, Amanda Lyn Button on May 13. The dog is owned by Michael Lowry, who appeared at last Tuesday’s council meeting, along with a handful of neighbors who spoke of the positive virtues of the animal. The council tabled the issue for the second time. The first time, Lowry pled with the council to delay naming Rex a dangerous animal so he could take the issue before a municipal judge late in July....
We would like to thank the many people involved in fighting the Buffalo Lake/Elmer City/Coulee Dam Fire that started on August 14, 2012. With the long hours of help from volunteer firefighters, emergency crews, tribal members, and law enforcement officials, no lives were lost or homes destroyed. That is an amazing statistic. We take the volunteer firemen for granted until we need them. We want to thank them all for their countless hours and bravery in the face of danger. Sally and Ken McDowell...
A heartfelt thank you to all of the fire fighters from all the jurisdictions that covered our close call on August 15, at Lone Pine Tracts of Coulee Dam. We can not thank you enough. Please stay safe and may God bless you all. The Boyds, C. Corpe, Fifields Sr. & Jr., F. Broers, Shirley Pytlak, Jim Westfall, T. Sanger, Peppmillers, Shermans & Sue Wilson....
Do the math. Elmer City and Lone Pine have 20% of the hookups for the Coulee Dam sewer treatment plant. Elmer City has 25% of the metered flow into the plant. Elmer City officials have been told they will be paying about one-third of the planned plant upgrades. The 1975 contract between Coulee Dam and Elmer City says the portion Elmer City will pay for any upgrades is based on the previous 12 months metered flow. It is uncertain why Coulee Dam is requesting 5-8% more. No other customer has metered sewage flow. What will the Elmer City...
When America’s frontier was officially declared closed in 1890, the country scrambled for a new identity. For hundreds of years, we had been a nation with seemingly limitless borders. The stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific felt endless and the people of our nation proudly embraced the idea of their pioneering character. But when the frontier closed, the nation stumbled to find a new backbone. Expansionism was over and the world wars that brought our modern nation into global dominance w...
It is easy to forget how important the dams are to our everyday lives in the Pacific Northwest. Without these dams, our energy bills would be higher, the Columbia Basin wouldn’t have the thousands of acres of green fields and orchards that feed millions of people around the world, and it would be more costly for our wheat farmers to get their products to market. Unfortunately, extremists – mostly from outside of Central Washington – have been trying for decades to remove these dams under the guise of salmon recovery. Their radical agenda threa...
Ten Years Ago Wind and dry brush fueled a fire early Friday that burned a home and a barn and many acres of land before firefighters could contain it. Electric City Volunteer Fire Department Chief Bob Boll said the fire started at 3:19 am on Friday near the Banks Lake Golf and Country Club. Firefighters did not leave the area until around 5 p.m. Butch Comer and his wife Brenda lost practically everything. When a flurry of last-minute registration was done, the area’s first three-on-three basketball tournament grew from a dozen teams on M...
Dale Steven Hilson, 52, passed away suddenly Monday, August 20, 2012 in Grand Coulee. A complete obituary will be in next week’s paper. A celebration of Dale’s life will be held on Saturday, September 15, at 3 p.m. in the banquet room of Pepper Jack’s Bar & Grille, Grand Coulee. The family requests in lieu of flowers memorials be made to Cast for Kids, 297 S.W. 41st, Renton, WA 98057 or www.castforkids.org...
Janice (Hayfield) Wright passed peacefully with both her daughters at her side on Saturday, August 11, 2012. Janice was born on September 4, 1929 in Spokane, Washington to Phil and Ruth Hayfield. The family resided in Tekoa, Washington until they moved back to the family ranch outside Dusty, Washington. The ranch held many wonderful memories for her. Even following Janice’s family relocation to Oakland, California when she was 11 years old, every summer vacation through high school found J...
Helen Berniece Kuehne, 82, of Keller and Okanogan, WA., passed away August 20th, 2012, at the home of her daughter, Billie Timm, in Okanogan, WA. Berniece was born on December 8, 1929 in Spokane, WA. To Arthur H. And Helen E. (Larson) Thiele. She attended school in Tyler, WA. to the eighth grade. Then the family moved to the Republic area. There she worked at the Bailey Hotel as a waitress. In 1948, Berniece and her best friend Joyce (Maycumber) Nee went to Seattle and worked for an insurance...
Anyone in the community experiencing the loss of a loved one is invited to come and share support! There are two groups meeting during the summer: one the last Wednesday evening of each month from 7-8 p.m. and the other on the first Thursday morning of each month 10:30 - 11:30 a.m., both at the Coulee Dam Community Church....
A headstone setting and memorial for Tracey Valandra Buffalohead has been cancelled until further notice....
Jared and Rebecca Avey of Sherwood, Ore., are delighted to announce the birth of their son Jesse Andrew Avey. He was born Saturday, August 11, 2012, on his mother’s birthday, weighing 8 lbs., 5 oz., and was 20 inches in length. Brother Gabe, Timmy and sister Emma are happy he’s joined their family. Proud grandparents are Jan and John Avey of Electric City and Cecille and Bruce Shull of Myrtle Point, Ore. Great-grandparents include Sonja Everett, Carolyn Pachosa and Cliff and Phyllis Avey....
