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 - 25 of 26
by Scott Hunter Following a shakeup in the Coulee Dam Fire Department that came to a head two weeks ago, town leaders last week stated their confidence that citizens are safe and that calls for emergency services will be met. “In terms of providing protection, we’re safe,” Mayor Greg Wilder said in an interview Wednesday, but he said there are definitely longterm issues that are being addressed. Within the week, Wilder had received three resignations of longtime fire department and ambulance personnel. First, the fire chief, Robert Jacks... Full story
Nespelem Elementary School students sing at the school's annual Christmas program Thursday night to a crowd of several hundred parents, friends and loved ones in the school gym. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
Grand Coulee and tribal police are looking for a 28-year-old Nespelem man who avoided capture after a 100-mile-an-hour chase Dec. 12, that ended up on the Colville Indian Reservation. Michael D. Desautel, Jr., was seen by Tribal Police Cpl. Harold Allan Oneal, at Coulee Gas and informed police dispatch of the incident. Oneal knew the red 2012 Ford Escape had been reported stolen from Melvin Zacherle, a Nespelem resident. Dispatch notified Grand Coulee officer Dan Holland, who saw Desautel get into the car at the gas station, across the street... Full story
Grand Coulee’s new police chief will have civil service protection because of action the city council took Dec. 16. The council undid work from its previous meeting when members had been persuaded by Mayor Chris Christopherson and city attorneys to remove civil service protection when the city hires its new chief of police. The back-and-forth council action came after the mayor previously had stated that he would let the Civil Service Commission do its work in advertising for and testing police chief applicants. A few weeks ago the council h... Full story
The Star will publish the annual volunteer of the year award in January this year. Readers have until 5 p.m. Jan. 12, 2015 to nominate a volunteer to honor by: • writing a letter to Volunteer of Year, P.O. Box 150 Grand Coulee, WA, 99133, • sending an email to star@grandcoulee.com with the subject Volunteer of the Year, or • posting to The Star’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GrandCouleeStar. Please include your contact information (not for publication). We’ll publish your comments and letters in print and online and post nominatio... Full story
A Grand Coulee woman who lost her life savings in gold Krugerrands has charged that police here show no interest in pursuing ideas she has offered on who might have taken them. Dorothy Harris reported to police early in June this year that someone had taken 200 gold African Krugerrand coins along with other coins from her home. At the time, the Krugerrands were valued at $1,308 each, with the total loss at $261,600. Harris said she has gone to the police here a couple of times lately to provide ideas on who might have taken them, but the... Full story
Star takes a long weekend The Star office will be closed for Christmas Dec. 25 and 26. News items and advertisements may be left in the dropbox outside the front office door along with contact information, or emailed to star@grandcoulee.com. The next issue will be published Dec. 30, a day early to avoid publishing on the New Year’s Day holiday. City hall closed, too Grand Coulee’s city hall will be closed Friday, Dec. 26, so staff can be with their families during the holiday. City hall will open for business Monday, Dec. 29. Ridge Riders elect... Full story
Damon Eric Harrell and his wife Kymberly will usher in the New Year at midnight twice next week, if they can pull it off, and they will post to The Star’s Facebook page as they go. The Harrells (he is the son of Melvin Harrell Sr. of Grand Coulee) plan to fly to Auckland, New Zealand to watch the midnight fireworks from the 1,076-foot Sky Tower, then head across the International Dateline to catch the New Year’s Eve celebration in Honolulu, Hawaii. They plan to leave Auckland the morning of Jan. 1, 2015, taking an eight-hour flight scheduled to... Full story
The Community Choir performs Sunday afternoon to more than 100 who came to hear Christmas songs and share in refreshments at St. Henry's Catholic Church. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
An Everett man was arrested Dec. 12, after allegedly damaging a number of cars in front of Banks Lake Pub in Electric City. Nicholas Swartz, 26, found himself in Grant County Jail on a first-degree malicious mischief charge for allegedly “keying” some nine cars in Electric City and fighting with witnesses who reported the incident to police. The report stated that Swartz had circled nine cars and key scratched them on both sides. Police stated that there could be as much as $5,000 damage to the vehicles. Police confronted Swartz, who ref... Full story
A 58-year-old man was found inside his vehicle in a ditch on “B” Street near the gate to the Bureau of Reclamation industrial area Friday night. The driver, Richard J. Wippel, was later pronounced dead at Coulee Medical Center. Police had to break a side window to gain entrance to the locked pickup, whose driver was then taken to the hospital. The police report stated that there was no sign of a pulse and it appeared that some type of medical condition caused the vehicle to leave the road. The vehicle was not damaged. Washington State Pat... Full story
The Lake Roosevelt High School gym roof is sealed and games there should resume in January when the Raiders have home games scheduled. Superintendent Dennis Carlson said Monday that workers had sealed the roof and reported only one tiny leak during a recent rain storm. “I expect the roof will be finished, weather permitting, within a few weeks,” Carlson stated. When workers initially started to put a new roof on the gym, they discovered asbestos, which delayed progress on the roof. Rain had caused some game changes when the roof leaked and lat... Full story
I have lived here for 65 years and I have never seen such quarrelsomeness among the entire community. In the past we have had our shares of disagreements between the towns and between the people of the towns. But now we seem to have reached a state where it seems like we can make no progress going forward, only backward. For example, Coulee Dam cannot go forward with their waste-water treatment plan until Elmer City decides whether or not it will join in a communal plan. Electric City is faced with a lack of police protection until it can... Full story
Was I that bad? Was I a spoiled brat? Sometimes in this world of selfishness and entitlement, I see it in our youth and I wonder those very questions. I see kids daily believing that they have a right to everything, no matter if they deserve it or not. The “What about me?” and “I will do what I want” generation seems to be in full force and living adult lives as 12- and 13-year-olds. We can sometimes give up on trying to teach humility, grace and patience to this group of young adults, but recently I saw a glimpse of a few things that melted... Full story
It’s that time of year when we count our blessings. In America, they are abundant, especially this year. For starters, the unemployment rate is down from 7 percent last December to 5.8 percent. Washington state mirrors the national average. Housing starts, retail sales and our gross domestic product are all up from last year, signs of an improving economy. Since consumer spending drives economic growth, low interest rates have helped. Home mortgages and auto loans hover in the 3- to 4-percent range. Contrast that to Russia, where interest rates... Full story
1 years ago Electric City Mayor Ray Halsey said the city will have a balanced budget in 2005, totaling nearly $5.8 million with $294,000 taken out of cash reserves to make it balance with most of those funds going for a new fire truck. And $65,000 will go to the operations-maintenance section of the budget to make ends meet. The law enforcement contract with Grand Coulee will continue at a cost of $58,780, plus just over $9,000 in other law enforcement-related costs. During the last meeting for... Full story
St. Dunstan’s of Grand Coulee will hold a Christmas Eve Service on Wednesday, Dec. 24, at 4 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Coulee Dam Community Presbyterian Church will hold its traditional candlelight Christmas Eve service on Wednesday, Dec. 24, beginning at 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Zion Lutheran Church will be holding a Christmas Eve service at 7 p.m. in Grand Coulee and at 9 p.m. at Bethel in Coulee City. A Christmas Day service will be held on Thursday, Dec. 25, at 11 a.m.... Full story
No Chamber until Jan. 8 The Grand Coulee Dam Chamber of Commerce will not meet until after the holidays. The next meeting will be held Thurs., Jan. 8, at noon at Pepper Jack’s Bar & Grille in Grand Coulee. Care and Share Food Bank Closed Dec. 26 The food bank at the Church of the Nazarene normal operating hours are every Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. It is located at the Church of Nazarene, hwy 174, Grand Coulee. The bank still can use clean plastic grocery bags. The food bank will be closed on Friday, Dec. 26 and reopen on January 2. Merry C... Full story
Sixty years ago, the holiday season in the community stretching from Electric City to Nespelem featured all kinds of parties, programs and events. Here's a sampling of some of them and the folks who were here in our towns back then. Floyd H. Phillips, Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent at the Colville Indian Agency, Nespelem announced that a $200 per-capita payment will be distributed to approximately 4,000 Colville tribal members, just in time for Christmas. The distribution of $804,000... Full story
After losing the first two games of the season, the Raiders rebounded back to .500 by winning both games last week. Both were at home in the Grand Coulee gym. Roof repairs continue at Lake Roosevelt's Gailord Nelson Gym. Lake Roosevelt's game against Bridgeport Dec. 16 was moved to Grand Coulee due to vandalism at Bridgeport. In that game against the Mustangs, the Raiders took a lead and held on to it, coming away with a 58-22 win, a big boost for the previously 0-2 LR. "Guys really bounced... Full story
The Lady Raiders picked up two wins in the Grand Coulee gym and are now in a three-game win streak. Head Coach Wallace Pleasants attributes the winning ways in part to what Entiat had shown the Ladies in their loss. He said they had “played horrible at Entiat, and that exposed the girls to what needs to be worked on, and we have been working on that ever since.” Last Tuesday, Bridgeport Fillies came to Grand Coulee for a game that had been moved due to the vandalism at their own school. The Fillies challenged the Lady Raiders, but in the end... Full story
Raider wrestlers earned success at the two outings they travelled to last week. Against the Tonasket Tigers, Oroville, and Pateros the three Raider wrestlers at Tonasket Dec. 17 split their matches 2-2. Octavio Alejandre and Oscar Pakootas won matches at Tonasket, while Oscar Pakootas and Reese Caddy lost theirs. “For the three that wrestled, they came up against good competition at Tonasket,” Head Coach Steve Hood said. “They are going to be a big factor this year in the B’s.” Hood said the stiff competition is part of the process toward th... Full story
Mon./Tues./Dec. 29/30 11 a.m., HS Basketball at Spokane Tournament Tues., Dec. 30 10 a.m., Wrestling - Power House Tournament here. Sat., Jan. 3 10 a.m., Wrestling at Warden Tournament.... Full story
TUESDAY HI LO’S TEAM W L Coulee Internet Serv. 43 17 Pepsi 37.5 22.5 Riverview Lanes 34.5 25.5 Fullers 31 29 Sunflower Graphics 30 30 Team 6 0 60 High Game: Pepsi 462; Sheila A. 193 High Series: Pepsi 1232; Sherry 470 Splits: Sheila A. 2-7; Bonnie 6-7-10... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam School District #301J AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY, OPENING FOR SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER - POSITION #5 A vacancy exists on the Board of Directors for the Grand Coulee Dam School District. The Board is seeking letters of interest from those citizens living within the district’s Director District #5 who wish to fill the vacancy. Candidates shall be United States citizens and qualified voters resident in the following described director district: Director District 5 Starting at the intersection of Spokane Way and Main St. Northwest on Main S... Full story