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 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is open to receiving any questions, comments, or concerns regarding security upgrades they are planning on making at the Grand Coulee Dam and related facilities. The bureau has identified eight areas where it says security upgrades are needed, from new or upgraded gates and fences to a new security department office. The bureau "invites the public to identify issues or alternatives for consideration in the development of an environmental assessment for the Grand...
Taking five minutes to use a new, free boat-cleaning station at Northrup Boat Launch could help save millions in dollars of damage that invasive species can cause. A new "Clean-Drain-Dry-Dispose" unit, also known as a "CD3" system, was demonstrated at Northrup Boat Launch Aug. 9 with representatives there from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which funded the system, as well as from the Washington Recreation & Conservation Office (RCO), Washington State Parks, the Washington Department of Fish &...
by Jacob Wagner Preventing the spread of invasive species can save millions of dollars, and boaters at Northrup Boat Launch can now use free equipment to help with that prevention. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and demonstration of a "Clean-Drain-Dry-Dispose unit, known as a CD3 system," will be held on Aug. 9 at 10 a.m. at Northrup Boat Launch. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife partnered last year with the Washington Invasive Species Council, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Washington...
North Dam Park can continue to be maintained, at least for a while longer, as more funding has been donated by the community to the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District. At their July 13 meeting, CAPRD commissioners were presented with a $5,600 check by Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachelle Baughman who started a page at the online fundraising site, GoFundMe.com. Commissioner Kevin Portch said that CAPRD also received $900 in private donations separately from that online donation site. The group voted to...
The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District will hold a meeting at the former middle school in Grand Coulee tonight at 6:30 p.m. Commissioner Kevin Portch said previously that the financial viability of the group’s ability to continue maintaining North Dam Park would be discussed at the meeting, with the group’s budget being in precarious standing as described in recent issues of The Star. Things have been looking up for the group, however, with a GoFundMe page having raised $5,600 towards the cause, and the group needing an estimated $7,...
William Merle Desautel Jr. was born on December 8, 1953, in Battle Creek, MI to William (Merle) and Matsue (Peggy) Desautel. On Sunday, July 3, 2022 he succumbed to his courageous battle with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington. On July 1, 1978, he married Carla Scallan in Coulee Dam, Washington. In the early years, they enjoyed playing organized community sports, participating in racquetball tournaments, camping, and many other outdoor activities with fa...
After lab workers mysteriously got sick last Tuesday, forcing an emergency closure, Coulee Medical Center started a phased re-opening Friday morning, starting first with its emergency department at 7 a.m. Tuesday afternoon Chief Executive Officer Ramona Hicks said CMC was back to full operations and that patients had been back in the building for four days with no problems. Widely reported as a "gas leak," Hick said that was in error, noting that there is no natural gas in the hospital. The deci...
A 102-acre fire began and ended on Saturday in the Peter Dan Road area. Local fire crews from the Grand Coulee Dam area, the Mt. Tolman Fire Center, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation were assisted by Department of Natural Resources aircraft in extinguishing the fire, which was first reported at about 4 p.m. and declared contained around midnight. No structures were lost in the fire. Rick Paris, of Grand Coulee’s volunteer fire and ambulance department, said the blaze was human-caused and still under investigation, with Mt. Tolman doing the i...
After lab workers mysteriously got sick Tuesday, forcing an emergency closure, Coulee Medical Center will start a phased re-opening Friday morning, when it will "move forward cautiously," opening its emergency department first at 7 a.m. The decision to re-open was made mid Thursday afternoon after a meeting with state officials. It had been 20 hours with people in the building following that shut-down and subsequent investigations looking for a possible cause of the noxious odor that caused half...
A number of community members who value North Dam Park are working to keep it afloat for the remainder of 2022. The park could close for lack of funding in August of this year, a result of the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District having been unable to renew a contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation before the end of 2021. The district is in the process of renewing their contract with the bureau for 2023, but in the meantime, is set to quit maintaining the park, including lawn care, water, power, and garbage services, in mid-August. Tha...
The Bureau of Reclamation is prohibiting fireworks on North Dam for the Independence Day holiday. Reclamation is taking precautionary measures to decrease the potential for wildland fire and is reminding the public that federal regulations prohibit the use of fireworks on Reclamation lands and water bodies, a press release Tuesday stated. The agency will allow the permitted fireworks display at Grand Coulee Dam to occur at the top of the dam for the Fourth of July festivities, the release said. “There is a low risk of fireworks reaching the s...
The Coulee Area Parks and Recreation District, which manages North Dam Park, is meeting tonight, June 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the former middle school in Grand Coulee in the former teachers’ lounge. The group is in a tough position as they haven’t secured funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the land at North Dam, for 2022, which means they can’t fund maintenance at the park such as watering the grass, garbage service, powering the lights, and general yard work. Commissioner Kevin Portch told The Star last week that the group...
Grand Coulee Police 6/13 - Security footage at Coulee Gas didn’t show anything helpful for a man trying to find his wallet, with the gas station being the last place he remembered having it. 6/14 - A woman on School Avenue reported a white man in a black hoodie captured on security footage walking through her yard with a flashlight. Nothing was missing from her property, but she wanted to warn police about the man prowling the area. - Police spoke to a man who admitted to urinating in the open near Continental Heights. The man said he really h...
North Dam Park, which hosts numerous events in the area, including Colorama, markets, softball tournaments, and more, is in danger of no longer being maintained, but funding could still be secured for 2023. A special meeting is scheduled for the local park district in charge on June 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the former middle school in Grand Coulee in the former teachers’ lounge there, which the public is welcome to attend. Years ago, the city of Grand Coulee had responsibility for the park, but relinquished control to the US Bureau of Reclamation, w...
Officials for the barely funded public agency currently responsible for managing the park that holds major events in the area said Tuesday they may have to close it down. North Dam Park, which is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation but managed by the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District (CAPRD) is the venue for events like Colorama, Run the Dam, summer softball and baseball games, a skate park, the Gehrke Windmills display, countless private events, and more. But CAPRD commissioners Brian Warneke and Kevin Porch said Tuesday that USBR...
The town council in Coulee Dam Wednesday night approved spending $3,020 to “move dirt” in an area just above the city hall, a residential neighborhood, and a motel so police can use it for a shooting range. Officer Josh Watkins introduced himself to the council as the firearms instructor for Coulee Dam’s two-officer police department and explained the need for such a space. Watkins said the biggest benefit would be the ability to get free training. Police have training requirements to keep up with, but scheduling time at the U.S. Bureau of Re...
The Bureau of Reclamation announced last Wednesday that the Grand Coulee Dam “One River, Many Voices” laser light show and the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant public tours would come back on May 28, in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Tours were not allowed in 2020 or 2021 due to restrictions under the health emergency due to COVID-19, and the bureau warned that those could be re-imposed if necessary. The light show will run nightly at 10 p.m. Pacific Time through July 31. Beginning Aug. 1, the show will start at 9:30 p.m., and beg...
Electric City is making the correct move in considering whether it should plan for expansion to its south. Like the rest of the country, the local area is running short of housing, and that’s a major obstacle to progress for a better community. Local employers have trouble recruiting employees to the area when they can’t find a place to live. Our largest employers in the Grand Coulee Dam area — the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Coulee Medical Center — run into the problem repeatedly. The hospital keeps eight rentals of its own just to have a...
You can see the world from a different perspective by flying a drone. Greg Behrens, a retired geologist from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, demonstrated his drone for The Star in April at his home east of Grand Coulee in the Spring Canyon area. Behrens got his drone in July of 2021 and his commercial license in October, but he didn't really need it; he just enjoyed the intellectual challenge of passing the test for certification and learning all there was to learn about it. "You have to...
The hulking shell of a construction project will be revived at some as-yet-unknown date, but a tangle of legal problems has been resolved to allow the Bureau of Reclamation's fire station project to move forward. The agency announced an agreement with the insurance company April 28. The bureau said in a press release that Berkley Insurance Company has selected J.S. Held LLC to coordinate the project with National Native American Construction, Inc. "The mobilization date is unknown but is...
Tours at Grand Coulee Dam should start at the end of May, following the end of masking and distancing requirements that made tours impossible last year. The Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center is currently open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Bureau of Reclamation plans to resume the “One River, Many Voices” laser light show and the return of the tours of the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant public on May 28, the Saturday before Memorial Day, the traditional opening of the season. Masks are no longer required inside the Grand Coulee Vis...
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation workers on Grand Coulee Dam perform maintenance on the drum gates while the level of Lake Roosevelt is low Tuesday, an activity often scheduled in the spring when Reclamation operates the lake lower to make room for runoff. - Scott Hunter photo...
If you’re still venturing out onto the ice of Banks Lake, be careful, as it may not be as sturdy as it looks, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation warns as they begin pumping fresh water into the lake. The USBR begins operating outlet works at Banks Lake/Dry Falls Dam on March 3 in preparation for the 2022 irrigation season, a Feb. 23 press release states. Reclamation started operating Potholes Reservoir/O’Sullivan Dam outlet works on Monday. To prepare Banks Lake for the March 3 operation startup, Reclamation began pumping water from the John W....
A man who was unconscious in his burning car gets to continue to live with his family thanks to local heroism. Three Jess Ford employees saved the Ephrata man's life in December. Joshua Bessette, 46, of Ephrata, was on his way to work at the Grand Coulee Dam on Dec. 3 at about 7 a.m. He was driving north on SR-155 at about milepost eight between Coulee City and Grand Coulee near the Million Dollar Mile, when, according to a report from Washington State Patrol Trooper John Bryant, he left the...
Fences were built last week to close a popular beach at Steamboat Rock State Park a year after the decision was made to close it. In January of 2021, The Star reported that a stretch of beach, located near the main boat launch in the park, was being closed due to erosion and to protect resources, according to employees from the park as well as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Originally, a fence was going to be built from a point on the beach near the boat launch, up to an access road, around a...