News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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• Congratulations to local firm Taylor Enterprises, LLC for landing a $4.2 million contract to provide the Grand Coulee Dam with janitorial services. • Electric City’s planning commission should think carefully if asked to alter what kinds of buildings are allowed within the city. Understanding why restrictions are in place should be the first step in either removing them or keeping them. Decisions like that affect everyone’s property values. • In our special triathlon section this week, read about a remarkable young athlete who registere...
The city of Grand Coulee approved its latest law enforcement contract with the Bureau of Reclamation at a special meeting of the council last week, while another local police department didn’t get a similar extension of the program. The new contract with Grand Coulee -- for one year with extensions possible for two more years -- was essentially the same as the bureau’s just-lapsed contract with the city. Police Chief Mel Hunt said his department is one officer short, and the city’s civil service board has just advertised to fill the position. C...
Winners of the pet costume contest, part of the chamber of commerce’s Harvest Festival last weekend, pose for photos at the North Dam skatepark, just as first-place winner Lavender Moon, a fairy-dressed dog at right, realized the critter next to her was a cat, causing owner Savannah Robinson to hold her enthusiasm. Crazy the cat got the bravest animal award, protected by Serenity Berry. At left, Mikayla Higgins and Aiyana Picard hold third-place winners Brick and Indy, dressed as sports fans. I...
Want to work for the government? The Bureau of Reclamation will put on two workshops to teach people how to apply for federal jobs. The first session will be held at the Nespelem Community Center from 10 a.m. to noon, Sept. 30. Sign up by calling Lorna Mills at 509-634-2717. The second session will take place at Lake Roosevelt High School, Oct. 2 from 5-8 p.m. Sign up with Kaitlin Delmer at 208-378-5049 or email jdelmer@usbrgov. Middle school athletes can play The school board approved a cooperative arrangement that allows Nespelem School’s m...
It appears that the weatherman might cooperate for Saturday’s 10th annual Grand Columbian Triathlon, organized by Tri-Freaks, an endurance sports organization. The forecast is for a high of 68 degrees and a low of 48, with partly cloudy skies, a 20-percent chance of rain and winds out of the southwest at 10 mph. This is good news for those competing and finishing up with the triathlon, or a part of it, during the heat of the day. Swimmers will splash off in what race officials say will be a...
Larry Holford sees the delay of Coulee Dam’s proposed wastewater treatment plant rebuild as a good thing. “It will give everybody time to refocus their efforts and put together a better project than the one proposed,” Holford stated this week. Holford is a town council member at Elmer City and has been following the project for quite some time. He has been in the middle of discussions with the Colville Tribes, Indian Health Services, and Elmer City in exploring ways to build a cost-effective plant and locate it where it will do the most peopl...
The Bureau of Reclamation awarded a $4.2 million contract for janitorial and maintenance services at Grand Coulee Dam to Taylor Enterprises LLC, a Grand Coulee firm. The contract is for a five-year period. The work involves janitorial and maintenance services of several buildings and facilities at the Grand Coulee Project, the bid award press release stated. The release said it was for five years, assuming satisfactory performance each year. The work requires detailed attention to janitorial services to office buildings, tourist facilities,...
Two Electric City residents found out it isn’t going to be easy to change the city’s comprehensive plan so they can build larger accessory sheds than the code allows. Mark Payne and Mike Dennis along with others, appeared before the city’s planning commission hoping to convince its members to allow larger and taller steel buildings than currently allowed in R-2 zoning. Members of the planning commission stated they didn’t have any problem with that and it motivated the two to come to the council with their interest. Dennis had appeared before...
Hoping to make a bigger impact for local business and jobs, the chamber of commerce told Coulee Dam leaders last week of its more ambitious plans for marketing the area in 2014. Peggy Nevsimal, the manager of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber wants to buy more advertising on the west side of the state to market the area, but it takes a lot of money. Coulee Dam, like Electric City and Grand Coulee, collects hotel/motel taxes on every room rented in the town, the funds from which must be used to promote tourism....
Two issues that came out of the Regional Board of Mayors has cleared all four community councils, but not without some tough comment from Elmer City. Elmer City, meeting last Thursday night, finally cleared a seven-quarter contract with URS, the mayors’ engineering firm. The second issue, a repair job at the dump site at the transfer station, got a lot more attention. This issue introduced by Mayor Mary Jo Carey brought a comment by her that “I wouldn’t vote for it.” At the mayors meeting, which she chairs, two of her council members attende...
Liz Marcolin, of 23582 Granger Avenue NE, stands by a large tree that fell on the family van during Sunday night’s wind storm. The Marconlins had just returned from a trip to Pullman when the storm hit. One limb went through a window, but because of the debris field, the couple couldn’t tell how much damage their vehicle suffered. The couple, Felix and Liz, planted the spruce tree about 40 years ago, just four years after they moved into their home in Grand Coulee. — Roger S. Lucas photo...
Thrivent Financial and Zion Lutheran Church are teaming up for a fall free food 2nd Harvest event, Sept. 27. The two-hour event will be from 10-12 noon at Zion Lutheran Church parking area, 348 Mead Avenue. The mobile food bank will provide fresh produce and perishables, free, to anyone who wants them. Those coming are advised to bring their own boxes to put the products in. No appointments or documentation is required to receive the free food, officials stated. Those picking up food for others should bring a note stating this. The free mobile...
An Electric City man brought proof of brown water and the damage it caused to the city council meeting last Tuesday night. Dan Nagle, who lives on Grand Avenue West, pulled two plastic bottles from a cooler and showed city officials that there was a brown water residue in each. Then he opened a gym bag and showed council members two T-shirts, one a tattletale gray, and the other one white. He said the grayish T-shirt had been washed in Electric City water and that it had been as white as the clean looking shirt he held up. He said that he took...
Coulee Dam and Elmer City are only a couple of miles apart, but one woman is trying to get them closer together. Apparently her efforts have shown fruit, because a potluck get together planned for Saturday has been cancelled. Glo Carroll, who lives on Stevens Avenue, in West Coulee Dam, said Tuesday that people are talking and getting along better. “That’s what we were trying to do when we scheduled a potluck lunch at Douglas Park for Saturday for residents of the two towns.” She attended Coulee Dam council meetings when there was conte...
I have lived here since before we had a city government, under the rule of USBR. When we formed our first government we were very lucky to have a group of people whose sole goal was the good of the town. Through the years we have continued to have able, hard-working citizens who considered it as part of their duty to give the town their best. I have watched the towns around us over years of acrimony, name-calling and just plain mischief making while our mayors and council members gave their time and energy to give Coulee Dam a stable and...
As the general election nears, I’m more than ever intent on a community dialogue. I know of many changes that need to be made based upon over 40 years’ of experience in municipal government … those things that make us more efficient, accessible, responsible, and responsive. There are the equally important things you want changed and addressed and I want to be your agent for that change. You already know how you are treated by Town Hall; that’s an obvious given for most of us. You already know how decisions are made that impact your lives a...
I am writing to ask the community to help in finding a way to have a veterinarian on call on the weekends. As most of us know, if our beloved pets get sick, they are probably going to do it on the weekend. I owned two Yorkies and on different occasions, each one got very ill on a Friday night. By the time I could get them in, it was too late to save them. I also have a dear friend that just lost her cat; it choked to death over the weekend with no help to be had. I work in Grand Coulee at a store, and, especially in the summer months, we have...
Just my opinion ... but I still adamantly say strict oversight by the peoples is necessarily ‘there’ against a still dysfunctional council ... and, further that we the concerned membership fighting for council reform truly and necessarily need “more” support from the general membership to enact once again constitutional governance, as non-transparency from council is still the rule rather than the exception. A ‘new’, third CCT corporation? NO! NO! NO!...it will only be one more corporate to siphon off of our CCT fiscal sustainabil...
Manly men doing manly things! I went to the men’s retreat this past weekend with other men from Faith Community Church. We went to the Peniel Ranch on the lower river road between Omak and Agency Campus. I have been there a few times with this group of men, and it is always a special time. Fellowship is always a key component to this retreat, and this year seemed to have a great mix of ages in the men who came. One man in his 90s and one in his 20s and an even mix of the rest. I got to know some...
Welding in progression the installation of an 18-foot diameter steel penstock liner section. The scaffold is used by the welders to make the circumferential seam joining this section with the one previously installed. — Dec. 1939...
Vera L. Hardung, a long-time resident of Mesquite, Nev., passed away at home on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013. She was born on April 21, 1920, in Leigh, Neb., to William and Marie Ehlers. She was married for 56 years to Lavene H. Hardung who preceded her in death. Together they had three children. Raised on a cattle and wheat ranch in Eastern Washington, Vera learned the value of hard work, a love of land and the outdoors. One of her life goals was to own her own ranch. She worked diligently and was able to buy a ranch near Grand Coulee, Wash., befor...
Services for Mamoru Rock Ar-sikh Hewitt will be held Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m., at the Nespelem Community Center and Friday at 10 a.m. at the same location. Hewitt passed away Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013, in Manson. A complete obituary will be in next week’s Star. Strate Funeral Home of Grand Coulee is honored to be serving the family....
Senior Meals Wed., Sept. 18 - Dinner Seasoned Baked Chicken, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, Bread Sticks, Fruit Parfait. Thurs., Sept. 19 - Dinner Chay’s Special Tuna Wrap, Pea & Cauliflower Salad, Seasonal Fruit Platter, Apple Upside Down Cake. Shopping & Errands with Sara. Fri., Sept. 20 - Breakfast Denver Omelet, Country Potatoes, Toast, AppleSauce, Orange Juice. Mon., Sept. 23 - Breakfast Sausage Link & Egg, French Toast, Pears, Orange Juice Tues., Sept. 24 - Dinner Chicken Salad Sandwich, Veggie & Fruit Salad Bar, Potato Chips, Sugar Cream P...
Alissa Mansker, Grand Coulee, has been awarded a $5,000 New Horizons scholarship by Royal Neighbors of America, the organization announced last week. A one-time payment will be made to her college of choice and will be used to help fund tuition, room and board, and books. Since its creation in 1961, the Royal Neighbors of America Scholarship Program has awarded more than $4 million to its members to assist with the costs of continuing education. The program accepts applications from its...
Brandi Marchand and Vaughn Swimptkin of Elmer City are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Taree Shyne Swimptkin on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee. She weighed 8 lbs., 3 oz., and was 20 inches in length at birth. Maternal grandparents are Ben Marchand Sr. and Taree Marchand; Paternal grandparents are Shane Swimptkin and Lisa Swan. Great-grandmother is Lucille Pakootas....