News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1 - 23 of 23
Readers have until next Wednesday, Jan. 21, to make their wishes known on choosing the person to be honored as the 2014 Volunteer of the Year. All letters nominating eligible volunteers are published in this week’s Star, starting on page 3. The letters are also online here. In all, nine people were nominated this year. Two other writers named persons who had already received the honor in years past, which makes them ineligible to receive it this year. Readers can make their preference known through an online poll, which will be linked in t... Full story
If you've ever found yourself wondering if it might be more efficient to have one city instead of four to govern the local area, you're not alone. The local chamber of commerce offered Monday to head up efforts to look at the question of consolidating at least two local cities. Their overture met with encouraging words from the mayors of both cities - Chris Christopherson, of Grand Coulee and Jerry Sands, of Electric City. "I'm encouraged by this," Christopherson said. "I think it would work,"... Full story
A couple of immature bald eagles sit on the edge of the ice on Banks Lake's Osborne Bay Monday as a flock of waterfoul gather on the water. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
Grand Coulee’s volunteer fire department responded to 216 ambulance calls within its jurisdiction in 2014 and the department made an additional 51 ambulance calls in Coulee Dam, Fire Chief Richard Paris told the city council recently. The ambulance crews were busy with 112 transports from Coulee Medical Center to other hospitals or to the airport where patients were picked up by MedStar and flown to other sites for treatment. Four additional transports were made for other jurisdictions, Paris reported at the council’s Jan 6 meeting. Fir... Full story
The park district that struggles to find ways to pay for maintaining North Dam Park will have an easier time financing the effort with a new grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners learned Monday night the district will get a five-year matching grant from the USBR, totaling up to $149,703. “We can spend as much as we can match,” Commissioner and Treasurer Phil Hansen told the commissioners. Maintaining the park costs about $30,000 a year, Hansen said. The grant will help pay for tha... Full story
School district patrons will vote on a four-year $1.13 million replacement levy, Feb. 10; one that reduces the current rate of $4.55 per thousand to $3.95 per thousand of assessed valuation for taxpayers. Locally, a levy committee is meeting weekly to see that information gets out to taxpayers. The levy committee meets again today (Wednesday) at 4 p.m. at the library at Lake Roosevelt Junior and Senior High School. Volunteers are encouraged to attend and assist in the levy campaign, said chair Karen Depew. The levy replaces the current four-yea... Full story
Students from the second to sixth grades are getting an extra boost in art history and training by a volunteer who continues to provide help and information for students who are interested. Kathy LaPlace, who had a similar program at the middle school last year, continues the program in the new art room at the high school once a month, on Mondays, from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. This week, students learned about Frida Khalo, a surrealist artist from Mexico. Students, about 10 in number who are signed up for the class, learned about the artist and her... Full story
Chief candidate exams Grand Coulee’s Civil Service Commission will conduct oral exams for six candidates who filed for the position of police chief. The top three candidate’s names, test scores and resumes will be given to the mayor for selection, and the selection will go before the city council for confirmation. City sets salaries Grand Coulee council approved monthly salaries for department heads at its meeting last Tuesday night: Acting police chief, $8,568.61; utility foreman, $5,090.46; and city clerk, $3,923.06. The council also for... Full story
Grand Coulee Community Library, a branch of North Central Regional Library, will be offering E-book training on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Registration is needed so the available time slots will be able to reach everyone. Each slot will feature just one type of device (Kindle, Nook/Reader, or iPad/ Tablet). There can be three people with the same type of device during each time slot. Register at the library in person or by phone by calling 509-633-0972. The library is located at 225 Federal Ave. in Grand Coulee and offers books, music, DVD’s, magazines... Full story
The Regional Board of Mayors contracted with URS, an engineering firm, to do its quarterly and annual groundwater testing and reporting for 2015. The firm has been doing this service, and the RBOM’s agreed to a new contract for the current year at its meeting Monday. URS will prepare groundwater monitoring reports presenting data for the four quarters and an annual report. The firm also will provide, if necessary, negotiations with the Department of Ecology and the Grant County Health District. The estimated cost for the quarterly and annual r... Full story
Grant County Health District was notified this week that a Grant County woman has died as the result of influenza complications. “Since the beginning of December, there has been a significant increase in influenza cases in all age groups in Grant County,” said county Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny. According to the Washington State Department of Health, 16 other Washington state residents have died this flu season. The county health office declined to name the recent death of the county resident. The symptoms of the flu include tem... Full story
Below we present several well-thought-out nominations for Volunteer of the Year for 2014. Karen Depew for Volunteer of the Year I would like to Nominate Karen Depew as Volunteer of the Year. I know I only know a very small part of Karen Depew’s volunteer activities, but hope others will fill in the blanks. This past year, Karen has been one of the Coulee Pioneer Museum’s most active volunteers, and, along with Constance Wilson, has organized several displays at the museum, not only bringing the ideas to the museum but rounding up the thi... Full story
This is a story of a real account that happened in the Coulee recently. I will change some of the names to protect the innocent. A husband and wife ride together to work every day. Except today the wife will be going alone because her husband is home sick. She made the trip to work with little trouble but her day at work was horrible. She was mad, sad and overwhelmed as she left work after putting in even more time at the end of the day. It was dark out already as she made her way to her car. She was not looking forward to the drive home but... Full story
Thaddeus D. "Pete" Moore (81) was born December 29, 1933, in Spokane, Wash., and passed away during the evening of Saturday, January 3, 2015, in Spokane. Raised in the Elmer City, Wash., home of his parents, George and Lois "Hank" Walling-Moore, Pete attended Elmer City Elementary, Mason City Junior High and high school in Nespelem, Washington. During his senior year Pete left high school to serve his country with the US Navy, his favorite port of call being Japan. During the Korean Conflict,... Full story
Jim Musser passed away January 10, 2015, at his home in Grand Coulee, Wash., following a short and challenging battle with cancer. Jim was born in Hillsboro, Ore., on February 3, 1934, to Joe and Henrietta Musser. He graduated from Vancouver High School, Vancouver, Wash., in 1953. While serving in the military as a paratrooper in Germany from 1954-57, Jim played football for the Army. After graduating from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor Degree in Science in 1960, Jim married his college sweetheart, Karen Proctor. Additional graduate... Full story
Big Bend Community College is offering classes to meet three education goals during winter quarter. Adult Basic Education (ABE), GED prep classes and HS21+ competency-based high school diploma classes are for adults 21 and older who are lacking a high school diploma. For information on how to participate in these programs locally, please contact Linda Black at lblack_ged@yahoo.com or 633-3611. Class sessions began Tuesday, January 6 at 3:30 p.m. in the old Grand Coulee Dam Middle School Annex. A minimum number of students is required for these... Full story
Ian and Cara Turner of Electric City, Wash., are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Linnea Aliza Turner, born Sunday, January 11, 2015, at Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee. She weighed 7 lbs., 10 oz., and was 19 inches in length at birth. She joins sister Kinley, 18 months, at home. Maternal grandparents are Dale and Doris Erickson of Hunters, Wash. Paternal grandparents are Paul and Brenda Turner of Tonasket. Great-grandparents are Dave and Barbara Bauer and Lavelle Turner, all of Priest River, Idaho, and Shirley Dashiell of... Full story
Chamber at Pepper Jack’s The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce will meet at noon this Thursday, Jan. 15, at Pepper Jack’s Bar & Grille in Grand Coulee. The program will be an update on the Senior Center by senior center president Birdie Hensley. Demos to Meet Okanogan County Democrats are meeting on Saturday, Jan. 17, at El Paraiso Restaurant next to Okanogan Inn off of Highway 97. The meeting will begin at noon. Consortium to Meet Coulee Corridor Consortium will meet Friday Jan. 16, at noon, at Corral Restaurant, 120 S. Main St. , War... Full story
The Raider boys capped last week with an intense overtime victory at home, one of two wins of the three games played and a lesson in pressure. The week left them at "2-1 overall" and "moving in the right direction," Head Coach Matt Simpson said. "We wanted to go 3-0 this week for sure; however, we played well when it needed to happen and grew as a team in multiple ways." The week started off with a trip up to Tonasket for a league matchup against the Tigers Jan. 6, the Raiders came away with a... Full story
The Lady Raiders won two of three games last week to set themselves up in fourth place in Central Washington 2B North standings. At Tonasket Jan. 6, Lake Roosevelt defeated the last-place Tigers, 43-27. Jan. 8, the LR hosted Brewster, which was not the juggernaut of the past but is still a tough foe. LR took an early lead in the first quarter of the low-scoring contest, 9-4. In the second, the Lady Bears came back to tie the game at 16. LR took the lead in the third quarter, when Brewster was co... Full story
Raider wrestlers won 10 of their 11 matches at Wilbur last week, then took home three medals from a tournament, north of Spokane, full of big-school talent. “Another good week of wrestling,” Head Coach Steve Hood said “The guys are working their rears off to compete at the very high level week in and week out.” Last Wednesday the Raiders travelled to Wilbur for a mixer where the Raiders won 10 of their 11 matches. Oscar Pakootas continued his run of victories, pinning both Connor Beattie of Davenport and Cole Swanson of Lakeside. Jacob Smith w... Full story
City of Electric City Planning Commission NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY that the City of Electric City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at 7:00 pm on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at the City Hall located at 10 Western Avenue to take public testimony on proposed amendments to the Zoning Code, Title 18 of the Electric City Municipal Code. The amendments to the zoning code have been developed by the Commission and staff to address: definitions and increasing height and size regulations in 18.40.020 for accessory structures... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 12/28 - There was a report of a vehicle stolen from a residence on 2nd Street. The owner of the vehicle said it had been locked and the transmission didn’t work. She stated that she told a man he could have it if he transferred title to his name. The man in question has been incarcerated for sometime. Police are investigating. - A man on Young Street said that two cars parked in front of his home had been prowled during the night. Taken were several dollars and loose change. The man said he followed tracks in the snow but l... Full story
