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Articles from the September 4, 2024 edition


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  • Bureau police contract may expire next spring

    Renata Rollins|Sep 4, 2024

    Citing its current "security posture," Bureau of Reclamation staff has told the Grand Coulee city clerk the agency does not intend to renew its $750,000 annual contract for law enforcement services with the city. The agreement, which has been amended and renewed since it began in 2017, is set to expire May 31 of next year. "As of now, we will not be renewing unless our security posture changes, and it is required," the Bureau's contract specialist wrote to the clerk last month. Although that...

  • Coulee Dam bridge now open after person helped down from top

    Scott Hunter|Sep 4, 2024

    Update A young man came down from the top of the Columbia River Bridge in Coulee Dam Thursday evening, coached down by a Nespelem Valley Electric worker with a bucket truck. Police had called for the truck earlier in the day from the Rural Electric Authority utility, which also contracts to do line repairs for the city utility in Coulee Dam and was nearby. Police were looking for a way to communicate with the man and planned to have a cell phone delivered with the bucket truck. But the man in...

  • Super subbers stepping up

    Sep 4, 2024

    Owners Neshia and Jesse Billups work on adapting the soon-to-be new home of their Billups Sub Co. business Tuesday. They hope to have it up and running at 227 Main Street by early next week, pending the official OK from Grant County Health District staff. The couple opened their sandwich shop on Spokane Way last October, hoping to start slow and get a sense of baseline demand during the winter months. Instead, things took off quickly and they decided to purchase the new building with its bigger...

  • Sen. Schoesler arrested for DUI

    Roger Harnack - The Journal|Sep 4, 2024

    This story has been corrected to reflect a witnesses statement that Sen. Schoesler backed into the same vehicle twice, not into two separate vehicles. An additional sentence was added, noting the legal blood-alcohol limit is 0.08. RITZVILLE - The local 9th Legislative District senator was released on his own recognizance Saturday night, Aug. 31, after being arrested for allegedly driving drunk and striking another vehicle twice. Sen. Mark Schoesler, 67, of Ritzville, was arrested by citation...

  • "Swing for the Good" to support park development

    Scott Hunter|Sep 4, 2024

    This Saturday’s Swing for the Good Charity Scramble at Banks Lake Golf Course will help the cause of developing a new park in Electric City. The event, sponsored by Jess Ford and the Columbia Basin Foundation offers teams of four a fun tournament Saturday morning with an 11 a.m. shotgun start. The $400 registration fee for the foursome includes green fees, cart fees, lunch, goodie bags, and prizes — plus that chance to win a new vehicle. Run the Dam, the local non-profit that puts on the annual Run the Dam race coming up on Sept. 21, will get...

  • New program off to a "great start"

    Scott Hunter|Sep 4, 2024

    A new Alternative Learning director at Nespelem School told its board of directors Aug. 26 he was excited for the program. “I just wanted to thank you all for the opportunity of bringing an alternative program to Nespelem,” said Mark Herndon, who made the move to Nespelem this fall after heading the ALE program at Grand Coulee Dam for several years. Nespelem’s program is integral to the startup last year of its emerging high school offerings, designed to develop a Career and Technical Education component, working with the Colville Tribe...

  • Gas prices falling in state, nation

    Sep 4, 2024

    Average gasoline prices in Washington as of Tuesday had fallen 2.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.10, according to GasBuddy's survey of 2,666 stations in Washington, nearly a dollar lower than a year ago. Prices in Washington are 8.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 94.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, GasBuddy stated in a press release. The national average price of diesel has declined 0.2 cents in the last week and stands at $3.65 per gallon, a fresh...

  • Student mental health update

    Sep 4, 2024

    Last week, The Star covered Lake Roosevelt students who petitioned the school board for more mental health support, including full-time counselors and a crisis intervention program like Only7Seconds. We also said a comprehensive follow-up story on student mental health would appear in this week’s paper. We have not heard back from school staff to discuss the topic further – understandable, given the start of the new school year. However, a student body representative told us she would like to talk more about student mental health for a fut...

  • Understanding the dangers of fentanyl this school year

    Dan Newhouse Congressman 4th District|Sep 4, 2024

    The new school year is beginning for many, but before the bell rings, I want to address the increasing dangers we see from opioids in our schools. Fentanyl is sadly the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45, and it only takes a 2-milligram dose—the size of a grain of rice—to cause an overdose. As it becomes increasingly available, it is crucial for parents to understand the risks that their children are facing. According to the Washington State Department of Health, over 300,000 people have died due to drug overdose deaths nat...

  • Where did you get your sense of humor?

    Roger Lucas|Sep 4, 2024

    Ever wonder where your sense of humor came from? I got mine from my dad. He was always pulling pranks on the family, sometimes in a very creative way. When we lived on the farm and my dad came out of the house, all five of us kids in unison shouted, “Can we go with you?” That was a sore spot with my dad, so he told us to go in and get cleaned up. We raced inside because we thought we would be headed to town. We came out raring to go, but then my dad went to the outhouse. It taught us a lesson about asking to go all the time. That little trick h...

  • Is there a hole in our educational system?

    Bob Valen|Sep 4, 2024

    Are we failing to teach students about the nation’s history, it’s Constitution and civics? Are graduating students truly prepared as citizens, fully understanding how our federal democratic republic form of government operates? The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center annually conducts a survey of public knowledge of our nation’s Constitution. The 2023 results of the annual Constitution Day survey are out. The title of the survey: “Many Don’t know Key Facts about the U...

  • This week in history

    Sep 4, 2024

    Jesse James was born on September 5, 1847. As a teenager, he was a guerilla fighter for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. At war’s end, he returned to Missouri and became the leader of an outlaw gang. With his older brother, Frank and several ex-Confederates, including the Cole brothers, they robbed their way into the hearts of many; romanticized by eastern journalists. It all ended abruptly when a bullet was fired into James’s head by Robert Ford, a fellow gang member. Ford hoped to claim a bounty of $10,000 for his deed. He only got...

  • Household hazardous waste collection event

    press release, Grant County Solid Waste|Sep 4, 2024

    Grand Coulee Dam area residents may dispose of household hazardous waste for free on Friday, September 8 from 12 pm to 4 pm 13at the Delano Regional Transfer Station. This event is for waste generated by households only. Containers will not be returned. Hazardous products have labels with words such as danger, caustic, flammable, and poison. Examples include oil-based paint, used automotive oil, paint thinner, rechargeable batteries, solvents, brake fluid, aerosols, spot removers, drain openers, insecticides, herbicides, pesticides, mercury...

  • Meetings

    Sep 4, 2024

    Wastewater Treatment Facility Joint Board of Operations Meeting Wastewater Treatment Facility Joint Board of Operations meeting will be held Thursday, September 5, from 7-8pm at the Electric City City Hall. Fire Dist. #14 to Meet Grant County Fire District #14 will hold it’s regular monthly meeting Monday, September 9, 2024 at 6:00pm at the Electric City Fire Department....

  • Coulee Cops

    Sep 4, 2024

    Coulee Dam Police 8/28 - Police were asked to check on the welfare of a Central Drive man and learned he had gone to the local hospital and then to Spokane. Police relayed that information to the concerned person. - A report was filed related to a burglary on Miller Avenue in Electric City but further details on the circumstances were not included in the report. - An officer counted over 30 dogs at a Coulee Boulevard residence. The officer was unable to reach the owner at the time, but left 11 citations for her. The ongoing issue hasn’t c...

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    Sep 4, 2024

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  • Othello man indicted for rolling back, replacing odometers

    press release, US Attorneys Office in Eastern Dist. of Wash|Sep 4, 2024

    OTHELLO MAN INDICTED FOR ROLLING BACK AND REPLACING ODOMETERS News Release from U.S. Attorney's Office - Eastern Dist. of Wash. SPOKANE – On September 4, 2024, a federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Washington returned an indictment charging Reynaldo Valdez Garza Jr., of Othello, Washington, with five counts of Odometer Tampering. Garza made his first appearance in Federal Court on September 9, 2024. The indictment alleges that beginning in May of 2023, Garza carried out a scheme to a...

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