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 Labor Day fires that consumed hundreds of thousands of acres around Washington over the last nine days were coming under control Tuesday, but not before killing one infant, burning dozens of homes and other structures in the local region, taking out hundreds if not thousands of utility poles and hundreds of miles of ranchers' fencing. The circle of fires at the center of which the Grand Coulee Dam community found itself, burned more land by far than all other fires in the state, tallied at... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors will be holding a special meeting via Zoom today, Sept. 22, at 5:30 p.m. "to review up to date information and discuss potential school re-opening options," a notice from the district reads. The link to join the meeting is https://gcdsd.zoom.us/j/677070515... Full story
Update 9/16 11:55 a.m. The state Dept. of Ecology has extended the Air Quality Alert until noon Friday, although locally the air seems a lot less chewy (not a technical term) than it was before Tuesday. And it is only unhealthy currently, as opposed to outright hazardous. Good news: The Natonal Weather Service has co-opted the data from PurpleAir.com, which uses cheaper, but plentiful, air monitors. They've put up a useful new fire and smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov/?la... Full story
A pedestrian/bike path along SR-155 that would connect the Coulee Playland area to Banks Lake Park is still in the works. With the path in the design phase currently, the path between the north end of Electric City and the south end of Grand Coulee would be completed in 2021. The vision for the pathway is a half-mile-long paved area less than 10 feet wide on the lake side of the guardrail along Banks Lake, where pedestrians and cyclists can travel comfortably. The $707,800 project will be paid for with $672,410 from a Washington State...
Park levy info coming Electric City councilmembers Brian Buche and Cheryl Hoffman volunteered to work on getting information out to residents explaining a $10,000 levy for maintenance of the city’s proposed Ice Age Park. The levy will be on the ballot for the Nov. 3 election. A flier and a public online meeting about the levy are possibilities for getting the information out to the public. The pair will work with the park committee as well, which includes Councilmember Cate Slater. “I’m not telling you to tell them yes or no, but to have the i...
A young family caught in the Cold Springs Fire apparently left their wrecked pickup in an attempt to get to safety Tuesday afternoon, but their 1-year-old son lost his life. The family was found on the banks of the Columbia River, the parents with third-degree burns and the baby already deceased, Okanogan County Sheriff Tony Hawley said in a press release Wednesday afternoon. Jacob and Jamie Hyland, 31 and 26, of Renton, Washington, and their baby were found before 10 a.m. Wednesday and were...
The incidence rates for COVID-19 have gone down significantly in Grant, Okanogan, and Douglas counties, while Lincoln County’s rate surged last week, and two additional cases have popped up in both Elmer City and Nespelem. Counties need an incidence rate of 25 cases or fewer per population of 100,000 in the past 14 days to move forward a phase in the Washington Safe Start Recovery plan. And to partially open in-person schooling locally, that rate must not exceed 75. Here are the latest data for COVID-19 in Grant, Okanogan, Lincoln, and D...
A 17-year-old barista in Okanogan tried to hide in the bathroom after a young man came into the Free Bird Coffee Stand on North Second Avenue, asked for water, then demanded everything they had. Okanogan County Sheriff Tony Hawley said the young woman was dragged out of the bathroom by the suspect, a man with tattoos on his face wearing a black jacket and white T-shirt. He left headed south, she told police. They were called at 3:10 p.m. Sept. 9, Hawley said. At 3:14, after Omak police, multiple sheriff’s deputies and the Washington State P...
Over the last decade, the area has suffered through several fire seasons that brought not only fire, but lots of smoke, often from elsewhere. This month, we got both, in huge amounts. The fires that burned all around us consumed more than 500,000 acres in our local counties alone, but the smoke that sat on the state (and hard on the coulee) gathered off the coast for many days before making its way inland. At sea, the massive body of smoke spanned an area larger than 900,000 square miles as measured from satellite images. We’ve had so much n...
During my college years I worked for the USDA Forest Service on fire crews and in the Red Zone at Mount St. Helens after the volcano erupted. These jobs were very time and labor intensive. I admire, appreciate and am extremely grateful for all of our firefighters during these unprecedented, challenging times. Your relentless, unwavering, courageous efforts to keep everyone safe are amazing. Many thanks, John M. Adkins...
With a heart full of gratitude I want to say thank you to Coulee Medical Center for blessing all school district staff members with a Voltage drink and delicious scone to start our first day of school. Thank you to Siam for lightening the dinner time burden for staff members during our first week of school. I love the support and partnering that happens in this community. It is a nice reminder that we truly are all in this together! Nicole Rasmussen Teacher and grateful community member...
This year’s fire season, in terms of severity and numbers of fires, is a scary and devastating reminder that we live in fire country. The Cascade mountain range and the normal summertime temperature differences between western and eastern Washington are underlying causes for our wildfire season. But, an equally important part is the temperature rise during this century. Whether you believe in climate change or not, we all know that our fire season is more severe than previously. Each “biggest fire yet” becomes eclipsed by the next year...
A few years ago my wife and I worked two fire seasons for OK Cascade, a firm that under contract provided food, shower and laundry services during major wildfires. The firm then was owned by John and JoAnn Keener, both now deceased, John having passed away just a few days ago. The Keeners were from Bothell, and their rolling stock was housed in Twisp. We signed on with them just after moving here. We had known the Keeners during our 25 years in Bothell. We were told that during fire season we needed to be packed and ready to leave at a phone...
Oscar Osborne had a pure-black, well-trained cattle horse he named Tommy. One hundred years ago Oscar ran the largest, arguably oldest, cattle ranches in the Grand Coulee, selling beef to far away places like Seattle and Spokane. His beef was featured at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, where a huge portrait of him herding cattle around the horn of Steamboat Rock hung. Word is that Texas Jack had stolen and attempted to sell his trained stallion Tommy, and the horse was nowhere to be found. Oscar gathered up a posse and waited for Texas Jack to...
Replanting the millions of acres scorched by wildfires in our western woodlands will be herculean task priced in the hundreds of billions. Thankfully, many businesses, such as Bank of America, Microsoft, and Salesforce, have joined with conservation organizations to fund planting a trillion trees in our public forests by 2028. B of A pledged $300 billion to fight climate change by planting young seedlings. Salesforce plans to “conserve and restore 100 million trees,” according to Fas...
City of Grand Coulee CITY COUNCIL MEETING CHANGE NOTICE The Council of the City of Grand Coulee, Washington has moved the regular council meeting for the month of September from September 15th to September 22, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. The reason for the change is that there is currently no internet access at city hall to conduct the meeting electronically. The meeting scheduled for September 22, 2020 at 6:00pm will be conducted via ZOOM. Information to join the meeting will be available Monday, September 21, 2020. Please contact (509) 633-1105.... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 9/7 - A shed door had been blown open from the wind and damaged. Police secured the door the best they could. A neighbor said they would tell the owner. 9/8 - Police checked on an open door on the second floor of Pepper Jack’s and found nothing of note. - The owner of property on Electric Boulevard said he didn’t want a woman staying there. The woman was banned from the property. 9/9 - Police assisted in getting an intoxicated man on Federal Avenue to his home. - A woman’s infant was locked inside of her SUV at The Coule...
William "Bill" Robert Trefry, age 75, of Selah, Washington, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. Bill was born to, Cecil and Eleanor Trefry, on January 19, 1945, in Grand Coulee, Washington. He was raised on a wheat and cattle ranch in Del Rio, Washington. Bill graduated from Grand Coulee High School in 1963. During his freshman year, his basketball team won the state championship. After high school he attended CWU. Bill had an entrepreneurial spirit, and was a... Full story
Lawrence J. "Larry" Whalawitsa, 68, born Monday, August 11, 1952, in Nespelem, Washington, to Lawrence E. and Sophie Dick-Whalawitsa, passed away Monday morning, August 31, 2020, in Spokane, Washington. A proud member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, Larry bravely served in the US Army, during which time he was awarded "The Purple Heart" after being wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy. He was then employed for many years with "Ethel M Chocolates" in Las Vegas, Nevada,... Full story
NCW Libraries is expanding hours and locations for its curbside pickup service starting Sept. 14. All libraries in Chelan and Douglas counties will begin curbside service and all libraries in North Central Washington will start offering a mix of morning and late afternoon hours each week to accommodate the needs of its patrons. The new updated hours and expanded locations will start the same day that the popular Mail Order Library service will resume. To find the new hours for curbside pickup at your local library visit www....
Ashley and Warren Conway of Wilbur, Washington, are proud to announce the birth of their son Jaxson Theodore Conway, born Monday, August 24, 2020, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee, Washington. He weighed 8 lbs., and was 20 inches in length at birth. Siblings include Delaney and Aydan Conway. Maternal grandparents are Debra and Ted Anderson and Kevin Borden. Paternal grandparents are Ron and Nicole Conway.... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam area residents may dispose of household hazardous waste for free on Friday, September 25 from 12 pm to 4 pm at the Delano Regional Transfer Station. Only hazardous waste generated by households will be accepted. To minimize the risk of transmitting Covid-19, additional requirements are in place. Do not attend if you are exhibiting any of the following symptoms: shortness of breath, fever, chills, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, or loss of smell or taste. To implement social distancing, all waste must be located in the car...
A porcupine that survived the largest of the wildfires in the state, has been recuperating in the care of its human neighbor. Riley Wisdom was driving Sept. 10 on the road leading to her home, along with her boyfriend and mother, when they saw the porcupine they had named Porky huddled by a tree in an area scorched in the recent Pearl Hill Fire which had burned nearly 234,000 acres, including right up to their home located about 30 minutes from Mansfield. "She has lived on our road for several y...
Electric City has a newly formed planning commission now. Mayor Diane Kohout announced at the Sept. 8 city council meeting that members were chosen for the commission: Chairman Don Redfield, Secretary Doug Lockard, Alric Miller, Steve McDaniels, and Ian Turner. The commissioners will be joined by Councilmember Brian Buche, City Planner Kurt Danison, and Hearing Examiner Andrew Kottkamp. The commission will "review and advise the City Council on public and private activities involving the...