News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School students will start returning to in-person school on Dec. 7 with a phased approach. The Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors again discussed reopening in person school to 7th- through 12th-grade students at their Nov. 9 board meeting. Just two weeks ago the board chose not to bring back Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High students until maybe the second semester, which starts Feb. 1, 2021. Kindergarten through sixth graders are already going to in-person school part time. During Monday’s m...
After Washington families were asked last week not to gather with people outside their households over the coming holidays, the governor added more details and broader restrictions in a modified order Sunday. If you get together for Thanksgiving with people not living with you, you'll be going against that ask, - unless you had already begun to quarantine by Friday and you keep it up until Thanksgiving, or keep it up for seven days prior and get a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours... Full story
All four local counties: Grant, Okanogan, Lincoln, and Douglas, have seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. As of Nov. 10: Okanogan County has had 1,188 total cases, including 13 deaths. There have been 15 cases in Coulee Dam, five in Elmer City, and 34 in Nespelem. The county has had 33 new cases in the past 14 days, making for an incidence rate of 77.2, up from 37.4 on Oct. 27. Grant County has had 3,809 total cases; 28 deaths; 15 cases in the Grand Coulee Dam area, nine in Coulee City; and an incidence rate of 279, up from an... Full story
Parents and students at Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School who prefer distance learning to in person school for whatever reason have a choice in what style of distance learning they choose. Now called the LRHS Virtual Academy, the school is asking parents to sign up at a website that explains two options for the Virtual Academy, both the APEX online curriculum, and a live/virtual synchronous instruction. The synchronous instruction includes attending, from the internet, a teacher’s live classroom classes happening in real time , while A... Full story
SOAP LAKE, WA – Grant County is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak in one long-term care facility (LTC), McKay Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Soap Lake, WA, with over 30 cases reported in residents and staff. At this point in time all COVID-19 residents have been moved out of the facility. Unfortunately, one resident has recently died due to COVID-19 complications, which was reported in yesterday's press release. McKay had remained COVID-19 free since the on-set of the pandemic. F... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District's Supplemental Educational Programs and Operation passed with 51% of the vote last Tuesday. Results of the Nov. 3 general election show that Okanogan County voters liked the levy more than voters in Grant, Douglas, and Lincoln counties, and liked it enough to help it pass. A majority of school district voters in Grant County voted against the levy 544-481; in Douglas County said no by a 98-89 vote; and in Lincoln County 55% voted no, 105-86. But in Okanogan...
Voters hung the fate of Electric City’s proposed Ice Age Park in the cold November breeze as a levy for funding maintenance for the park failed to pass last week. The levy failed with 303 (62%) against it, and 182 (38%) for it. The one-year levy asked for 14.2 cents per $100,000 in property value, or $14.22 for a $100,000 property, and would have gone towards maintenance of the park estimated at $7,000-$10,000 a year. The levy itself costs about $5,000 to get on the ballot for the Nov. 3 general election. Now that the levy has failed, the c...
The group that puts on popular events such as Colorama and the Harvest Festival is seeking to raise funds in a virtual auction and dinner to help them to keep functioning and hosting these events. With a slew of events canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce has lost out on a lot of revenue to pay expenses such as rent and wages for its lone employee. “We really want the chamber to survive into the future when we can do live events again,” said board member Solveig Chaffee, who is wor...
When Robert Moïse was sent home from work last March as the federal government responded to the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic, he had a long way to go to his east Coulee Dam home. He was in Africa at the time. Moïse, a consulting anthropologist, has spent a lot of time there, and he's been tapped to share his insights, derived from a career of helping big organizations trying to do good in small communities, in an upcoming Rotary meeting open to the public via Zoom. Moïse will be the guest sp...
A Lake Roosevelt Schools tradition will take an online route Wednesday when students honor veterans with a program to honor them over a Zoom presentation. The Lake Roosevelt Associated Student Body and Chorus will offer the event on Veteran’s Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. The program will include the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, songs by the chorus, a PowerPoint presentation of local veterans, personal testimonies and the playing of Taps. The event is free to everyone and can be reached either by an online Zoom connection o... Full story
Locals want to attend public meetings both online and in person, recognizing the benefits and drawbacks of each, a quick survey of readers over the last several days seems to indicate. A short survey posted in The Star online Thursday asked respondents what they thought of public meetings, such as school board and city council meetings, being held online, and how those compare to meetings held in person. The survey only received 18 responses, but those responses show a variety of perspectives, with only one respondent saying they haven’t a...
We have to get back to normal sometime, it’s true. But when? The Grand Coulee Dam School District directors voted last night (Monday) to implement a plan for a phased-in restart even for the seventh- through 12th-graders. They’ll be back in physical classrooms just one day a week starting in early December. The phase in is planned out as far as April, when they will be back in classrooms four days a week, according to the plan. The district is beginning this path just as the nation and this state are posting record infection numbers rates for... Full story
This week I would like to recognize and honor service personnel, past and present. I came from a military family. My father was in the army in World War I. I still have his papers from when he was called up, and his discharge. My three brothers served in World War II, one in Navy, one in the Air Corps and the other in the Army. All were in the fighting, two in the Pacific and the other in the African and German theaters. I remember how proud my father was when my oldest brother was home on furlough midway in his Army career. He had just...
Through his entire life, Donald Trump has been a SLAPP master. What is SLAPP, you ask? Good question. It stands for “strategic lawsuit against public participation.” For our purposes, it means frivolous legal action, usually by someone with deep pockets, designed to use the court system to intimidate someone else who doesn’t have deep pockets. SLAPPs are against the law in 30 states and D.C. But how does one prove that the litigation crosses the line? The misuse of the legal system is one of the sleaziest tactics available to lawyers and their...
Pending the outcome in a few key states, Donald Trump may be leaving the White House, but he’s not exiting the room. The fiercest Never Trump critics hoped for -- and wishfully predicted -- a cleansing landslide that would wipe out every trace of Trump and his enablers from the GOP. That’s not happening. Trump’s poll- and pundit-defying surge toward the cusp of a second term vindicates Trump’s approach enough to give him and his potential successors continued traction, if not a dominant voice, in the party. Trump’s possible loss is nothing like...
Kristi Kay Wilson, 39 of Nespelem, WA, left this world on November 3, 2020, at her home. Born to the late Thelma "Teila" St. Paul and Eldon Wilson July 20, 1981, in Omak, Washington. She attended Nespelem Elementary School home of the "Savages". She had her schooling from Lake Roosevelt High School and received her diploma June 5, 1999. She enlisted in the U.S. Army where she was 62E (Heavy Construction Equipment Operator). She went to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for Basic Training and AIT.... Full story
Noel Hans Gunderson, 77, of Electric City, Washington, passed away Tuesday morning, November 2, 2020. Noel was born Christmas day, Friday, December 25, 1942, in Hannah, North Dakota to Hans and Beatrice Gunderson. The great event in Noel's life occurred on a Saturday, December 9, 1961, just 16 days before his 19th birthday, when he married Miss Edna Owens, at the "Hitch'n Post Wedding Chapel" in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. A proud member of IUOE Local 302 for 50 years, Noel was a master of his... Full story
Ima Jean Gordon passed away in the early morning hours of October 24, 2020. She was 93 years old and lived a full and beautiful life. As she always said, "it's been a good run." Ima Jean was born in Bull Creek, Oklahoma on September 9, 1927 to Frank and Penelope Wilson. She was one of five children. Ima Jean was raised on the family homestead and attended school in Maud, Oklahoma. It was there that she learned her strong work ethic, fierce independence, and a bit of stubbornness. These life... Full story
Trees of Sharing 2020 is here to help struggling families provide a Christmas gift for their children. Since the early 1980’s, the Trees of Sharing program has been a pathway for Grand Coulee Dam area residents to be a blessing to needy children living in the area. If you know a family with children under age 18 and living in the Coulee as far north as Belvedere that could use some help, please take time to fill out Trees of Sharing slips for their children. The slips and collection boxes are located at Safeway, Coulee Family Medicine, and H... Full story
New Cancer Support Group Cancer patients, caregivers, and survivors have been gathering semiweekly to talk, in a safe environment with honesty about the physical, emotional and spiritual impact of cancer. The group meets the first and third Thursdays of the month at 6 p.m. in the multipurpose area of the Nazarene Church. Face masks and social distancing are maintained. New AA Group in the Area A new Alcoholics Anonymous group is meeting each Saturday at noon at the Grand Coulee Community Church, 405 Center St. Meetings are open. More...
The Inchelium Red Garlic project is part of a larger Food Sovereignty/Food Security project. A grant was received from NAAF (Native American Agriculture Fund). This grant is to provide outreach education for reservation residents to learn about Food Sovereignty/Food Security. The title of the grant project is "Healthy Food for Healthy Generations". The main idea is to connect youth with knowledgeable adults/elders so that they may learn about traditional/cultural foods and harvesting and...
Chinook salmon have successfully spawned in the San Poil River for the first time in decades after Chief Joseph Dam and Grand Coulee Dam have "prevented the migration of salmon into the northern reaches of the Columbia River and its tributaries for nearly seven decades," The Tribal Tribune reported Oct. 29. In August, Colville Tribal Fish and Wildlife trapped and hauled 100 adult chinook salmon from Wells Fish Hatchery and released them into the San Poil River, a tributary of the Columbia, at...
Bestselling author will be virtual guest at NCW libraries NCW Libraries and Wenatchee Valley College will host bestselling author Tommy Orange on Thursday, November 12, at 4 p.m. for a virtual author talk as part of the NCW Virtual Reads author series. Tommy Orange is the author of There There, a multi-generational, relentlessly paced story about the lives of urban Native Americans. Future NCW Virtual Reads authors include Madeline Miller, Lisa Wingate, Kate Quinn, and Imbolo Mbue. For more information: www.ncwlibraries.org...
Grant County Port District No. 7 NOTICE OF MEETING CHANGE We are changing the November Meeting Date from Thursday, November 26th to Thursday, November 19th due Thanksgiving Day falling on the 26th. Prior to the regular meeting we will be holding our 2021 Budget Hearing. The Budget Hearing will begin at 3:45pm and the Regular Meeting will be held immediately following the Budget Hearing. Both will be held by a Telephone Conference Call. Anyone wishing to join the meeting may contact the Port Secretary at portdistrict7@gmail.com prior to the... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 11/5 - A woman reported that kids may be throwing rocks at her Spring Canyon Apartments window. An officer didn’t locate any kids but noted strong winds at the time. - A wallet found near Safeway was turned into police, who drove to the Elmer City address on the driver’s license but found no one home. Another officer recognized the driver as an employee from Coulee Gas. An employee there contacted him and he retrieved his wallet from the police. - A woman on Miller Avenue reported that she thought someone stole her cat. Pol...
