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 $20 car tab charge proposed in Electric City is just the latest swing of a very large pendulum. We love services, we hate taxes. Government tries to meet our needs, then gets shot down for spending too much. That’s how initiative king Tim Eyman makes a living, as he was doing when he convinced voters to hack off the huge excise fees we used to pay for our car tabs. Yes, they could be excessive, but they did pay for stuff, including some of Electric City’s (and others’) road work. By the way, at a newspaper conference in Yakima last we...
The St. Mary’s Mission Road Fire had consumed 9,655 acres by 2 p.m. Friday, but was 15 percent contained, an update from fire authorities said Friday. Saturday at 10 a.m. those evacuated from homes near Paschal Sherman Indian School will be able to return, but advised to be ready to leave again, their evacuation levels officially reduced a level for Level 3 to 2. The same goes for the school, around which fire fighters were mopping up Friday. “Be aware,” an information update said, “there may be possible road blocks due to temporary flare u...
From 150 to 200 firefighters continue to battle a wildfire around Omak Lake that has closed a school and evacuated homes. Two homes and eight other structures have been lost in the St. Mary’s Mission Road Fire that started Tuesday night east of Omak. Fire officilas said Thursday night they have no containment on the fire, which has consumed some 4,900 acres in the rocky grass and timber area south of highway 155 and mostly bordered by the Columbia River Road, which is closed from Cameron Lake Cut Off Road to Kartar Valley Road. Only r...
A wildfire has forced evacuation of Paschal Sherman Indian School and nearby homes and had burned approximately 1,000 acres of grass and trees and several structures, as of late Tuesday night. A press release issued from Mt. Tolman Fire Center at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday stated structures had been lost, and that it was not known whether any homes were among them. The fire started at approximately 4:40 p.m. near highway 155 and St. Mary’s Mission Road, about two miles northeast of Omak in high winds. SR 155 remained open, but the Columbia River R...
Port district officials were cautiously optimistic last week about the 2013 golf season. Chairman Orville Scharbach said at the Port District 7 commission meeting Thursday that through a combination of increased membership dues and volunteer labor at the course, the season likely would get underway. He was optimistic despite the $100,000-plus contribution the port district made to this year’s operation and the lack of any reserve funds for next season. Scharbach noted that Banks Lake Golf Course is in much better condition now than it was w...
Students and helpers handle reeds at a basket-making station during the Cultural Awareness Gathering Thursday, as students and teachers from several schools, Colville tribal members and helpers met at the Grand Coulee Dam Middle School to explore aspects of the Indian cultural heritage of the local area. — Ralph Rise photo...
New ferry set to arrive in March A new ferry, the Sanpoil, which will replace the Martha S ferry at the Keller Ferry crossing, will be delivered to Grand Coulee in three pieces for assembly in March, 2013, Laura Johnson of the Washington State Department of Transportation Ferry Division said last week. The new ferry is being constructed by the Foss Maritime company in Rainier, Ore. The ferry will be transported by truck in three pieces to Crescent Bay boat launch, where it will be assembled and undergo final testing before being put into...
The town of Coulee Dam is looking at about $75,000 in power pole replacement costs, public works director Barry Peacock told council members last Wednesday night, The Barker Canyon blaze of about three weeks ago severely burned 10 poles and damaged another 15 to the extent that they will have to be replaced. Peacock said the 25 poles are part of the 55-pole line that extends from near the Bonneville Power Administration line at the top of the hill overlooking the town to the river. The cost to replace one pole, including labor, Peacock told...
Will the chickens come home to roost in Electric City? A resident of 56 Sunset Drive, Jeremey Miller, asked the city council last Tuesday night to permit chickens in the city. The idea got a good review from at least two council members. Bob Rupe, and newcomer to the council, Brad Parrish, both had favorable comments. Miller said that some communities, including Seattle, allow residents to own four chickens … no roosters to disturb the peace there. He said that four chickens could supply enough eggs for a four-member family. Miller stated t...
North Central Washington is about to get what local Rotary Club members believe will be the first handicapped-accessible fishing pier in the region. The club’s board of directors voted last Wednesday to add $4,197 from the club’s general funds to finish the project, which a successful fund raiser and a grant put within reach Sept. 15. That’s when community members and triathletes ate their fill at the club’s spaghetti feed, contributing over $2,000 to the cause, and when club members learned...
About a dozen people showed up for Electric City’s public hearing on its proposed “transportation benefit district.” Most got answers to their questions, but all they won was a delay in action by council members. The delay, in part, was because the city didn’t have all the answers. An explanation of what a transportation benefit district is and how it operates was elusive. If, or rather when, the city votes for the special district, it will mean that city residents who renew their vehicle license tabs will have to pay an extra $20, which w...
You can hear some of the old cowboy classics made famous by western matinée idol Gene Autry, and put on by the “Grand Dames”, Oct. 11-13. It’s all part of the chamber of commerce’s “Coulee Fall Festival” that includes a wide range of activity for both young and old. The “Short History of Western Music with a Salute to our Hero Gene Autry” will bring back special memories, particularly to the older set who paid a nickel or a bit more to get into Saturday matinées some 50 or more years ago. The younger set also has been touched by the singing cow...
The Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center temporarily moved operations to the John W. Keys III Pump Generating Plant Monday. The move was made for safety reasons while new high-power electrical lines are strung across the Columbia River, some passing over the VC. Tourist operations will remain at the pumping plant at the top of the dam until mid-December. Traffic is also being slowed or stopped this week, as workers on towers and in helicopters bring the big 500 kilovolt lines across the river from the Third Power Plant. “The safety of our v...
Electric City council approved $10,520 in change orders on the arsenic treatment plant project. Among the change orders, was a $5,536 item to place compacted crushed material four inches deep over an area that had earlier called for hydroseeding. Another change added a new computer and the cost of sending it to a firm that would program it and set it up. This prompted one council member to say, “our present computer is only six years old and already obsolete.” One of the other major changes was $1,809, to modify the electrical installation ass...
Look for Virgil “Smoker” Marchand’s latest wildlife sculpture overlooking Omak Lake off the river road. The two mountain sheep are located on a ledge overlooking the lake and right along the highway. The mountain sheep sculpture was sponsored by the Colville Tribes Fish & Wildlife Department. Marchand placed the two mountain sheep on Sept. 23. — Roger S. Lucas photo...
… that the the ambassador to Libya, Mr. Chris Stevens, was an enrolled tribal member of the Chinook Indian Tribe. Chairman Ray Gardner said, “To all of the Chinook Members and all the friends of the Chinook Nation I am hopeful that you will include the family of Chris Stevens, the former Ambassador to Libya, that lost his life while working towards lasting peace to the region, in your prayers.” … that the FBI was looking for my brother, Verdan L. Marchand, and found him in Seattle? They needed to know how to “spell” his name! They are going t...
I am a teenager. I stay up too late; I wake up too late. I get emotional. I don’t want my parents circling me like hawks, and I definitely don’t want them to try to tell me what to do, especially behind the wheel. However, now that students are falling back into the school routine, it’s time for everyone to pay attention to teen safety on the road. Daily, young people get behind the wheel to go to class, work or extracurricular activities, but if you’re a teen driver like me, your odds on the road aren’t good. Young drivers are the most dang...
Ten Years Ago Larry Curtis is a lucky man. That is, if you can call it lucky that he managed to have a massive heart attack while in a recovery room after cancer surgery. Curtis does not remember that day, July 15, except that he recalls someone asking him if he had pain. (In photo Larry Curtis displays the bucket given to him by the “Udder Girls”. Safeway Employee of the Quarter is Norene Kosloski. The Lake Roosevelt football team dominated North Beach High School in a game Friday that had the team travel all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The...
Zion Lutheran Church is busy preparing to celebrate it’s 75th Anniversary. Pastor Hugo Guerney came to town in 1935. Zion was incorporated on October 4, 1937, and has been a part of the community ever since. The 75th Anniversary celebration will be on Sunday, October 7 with former Pastor Dan Wurster preaching at the regular morning service at 11 am. Pastor Wurster served Zion from 1973 to 1976 during the building and dedication of the currrent building. Pastor Ken Goodfellow, who served Zion f...
Coulee Community Choir will be holding a free concert Sunday, Oct. 21, at 3 p.m. at St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Grand Coulee. Come listen to old-time songs. Refreshments to follow....
Grant County residents can get food worker cards online The Grant County Health District is pleased to announce the availability of food worker card classes on the internet for Grant County residents. Residents will need a credit card and printer. To get your food worker card over the internet go to: http://foodworkercard.wa.gov or www.granthealth.org With the convenience of the internet class, the Moses Lake Health District office will no longer be offering the 5 p.m. class on Thursdays. The remainder of health district in-person classes will...
How stressful has it been with these fires? Have you looked around yet? It is amazing how close the fires came to friends and neighbors. Would you be ready to leave your house NOW? Do you really have what is important? An informational day is being planned for this month on how and what to take to be ready in case of an emergency. The CMC Guild is planning this event soon. Keep watching the paper for a date and time. For more information, call Patty Taylor, cell 509-860-6583....
GCD Chamber to Meet at La Presa The regular monthly meeting of the GCD Chamber of Commerce will be held at noon at La Presa in Grand Coulee. On the agenda is general business and fall festival updates. Douglas County Fire Protection Dist. 3 Commissioners Meeting Douglas County Fire Protection District 3 fire commissioner meeting will be held Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. at the Douglas County Shop, highway 174 and mile post 14.4. Grant County Mosquito Dist. 2 to Meet Grant County Mosquito District 2 will hold its regular monthly meeting Wednesda...
Grand Coulee Police 9/17 - A woman on 2nd Street in Electric City told police that she was in the process of moving out of a house and that when she went there the next day the front door had been broken into. She asked for special patrols so it wouldn’t happen again. - Whitley Fuel advised police that a customer reported that a man was harassing customers at their Grand Coulee station. After hearing a description of the man, police recognized who it was and asked if the station would like to have the man banned from the property. The c...
The Ephrata Raceway Park Motocross Series Schedule ran from March through Sept 2012. Dakota Seylor(nickname Kodman) raced 2 divisions: 1st class 7-11 year old, bike size 85cc to 150cc (Suzuki); 2nd class Super mini’s 7-16 year old, bike size 85cc to 150cc. Dakota took 1st place in both events becoming the series champ in both divisions, he rides a 85cc Suzuki. Hayley Seylor raced in 1 division, Woman’s 19” front wheel and took 1st in the last race of the season and she was 2nd over all in the s...