News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Les Fossum 6/14/1932-11/18/2021 MaryAlice Fossum 6/21/1931-5/31/2014 Les and MaryAlice Fossum are back together after seven years of being apart. They were married July 10, 1958, at the Chapel of the Pines in Burien, Washington, and were together for 56 years prior to MaryAlice's passing in 2014. Les was born in Cheney, Washington, on June 14, 1932 to Lester and Grace (Swanson) Harr. Following the death of his father, his mother married George A.O. Fossum who adopted Les and his sister Joyce.... Full story
Helen Johnson, a long time resident of Electric City, died at home surrounded by family in Wenatchee on Jan. 22 2022. She was born in Sebeka, Minnesota, on Mar. 18, 1922. She was the third of five children born to Peter and Clara Ostlund and grew up on their farm near Sebeka. She had fond memories of growing up in a poor home with a supportive and loving family. She graduated from Sebeka High School in 1940 and attended a business school in Minneapolis for a year before taking a job at the Sebeka Post Office. Helen married Bert Johnson on May... Full story
Leonard (Len) Ralph Dumph, age 74, died suddenly on Monday, January 10, 2022, in Mesquite, Nevada. He was born November 8, 1947, in Gilman, Colorado, to Ivan Lon and Joy Mary Marfitano Dumph. He was the youngest of four children growing up in Red Cliff, Colorado, a small community in the mountains by Vail. When he was to enter the sixth grade the family moved to Grand Junction where he graduated from high school. On July 14, 1979, he married Sandra Kay Higginbotham in Hartline, Washington. He... Full story
After firefighters took care of hot spots inside Sunday night, some pull at siding material on the eaves outside as they work at venting smoke from a house at 705 Birch in Coulee Dam. A firefighter said it was described as a chimney fire. Much of the smoke in the photo actually may be steam in the frigid temperatures in the teens about 11:30 p.m. A young couple standing outside said they had help for the night. Firefighters were seen from the Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam and...
Grand Coulee Police 12/24 - Police responded to Burdin Boulevard where a truck was reported being where two men were yelling at each other. Police found the truck, watched it drive a little then stop. They spoke to the driver, who had been drinking, sad that his girlfriend had broken up with him, the report states. He was arrested for driving under the influence, with breath samples showing an alcohol content as high as 0.225, well above the 0.08 limit. A friend of his had been standing nearby where the truck was, and explained that he left...
Pumped storage hydropower projects that are in planning for the Coulee, as well as for Halverson Canyon north of Creston, may be aided by recent federal legislation. The road to bringing Columbia Basin Hydropower’s $1.4 billion Banks Lake Pumped Storage Project to fruition may have just gotten a little smoother. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was passed by Congress in November 2021. The act authorizes almost a billion dollars for hydropower projects over five years “committing the federal government to supporting hydropower as part...
Bertha Ruth Isherwood passed away peacefully on Monday, December 20, at Yakima Memorial Hospital at the age of 99. She was born March 4, 1922, in a sod house in eastern Colorado to parents George and Susan Schreiber. Ruth grew up on a farm. She was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church. Ruth graduated from Woodrow High School in 1940 and enlisted and served two and a half years in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. She was stationed in several places in the United States and in New... Full story
Major work on hydroelectric generating units has been completed on "one of the most coveted clean energy assets in the world" at the Grand Coulee Dam. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, along with the Bonneville Power Administration, announced Monday that "the major overhaul of hydroelectric power generating units 22, 23 and 24" inside the third power plant, now known as the Nathaniel "Nat" Washington Power Plant, at the Grand Coulee Dam, had been completed. USBR Public Affairs Specialist Erika A....
Grand Coulee 12/1 - Police killed an injured deer on SR-174 near milepost 20. A nearby citizen was allowed to “harvest” the animal. - Police responded to Silver Drive on a report of animal cruelty. Police spoke to a man who showed playful, healthy puppies to police. He said he disciplines the dogs but doesn’t beat or abuse them. Police didn’t see any signs of abuse. - A screen had been pried loose from an apartment door on Hill Avenue to gain access. The resident reported missing about $300 and a gold necklace. She named a possible suspect who...
Richard Lee Amenell passed away Monday, November 8, 2021, after a battle with Parkinson's. He was born January 26, 1935, to Verner and Violet Amenell of Mediapolis, Iowa. Dick grew up on a farm with his parents and three sisters. He learned a lot on the farm, was active in high school playing basketball and baseball, and was even a school bus driver at age 16. He went to Iowa State for two years and then joined the United States Air Force becoming a navigator on a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 11/9 - A Lincoln Avenue man reported finding his cat in his neighbor’s trap. The neighbor was confrontational when the reporting party confronted him about it. The neighbor told police that neighborhood cats spray where he parks his boat and RV. Police told the neighbor that what he was doing wasn’t illegal, but he should use caution as his neighbors do have pets. - A man was reported as staring inside the Lakeside Fitness gym windows, in one instance displaying a knife. The man was banned from the gym. 11/10 - Police loo...
Long lines were a good thing, with grinning kids and some contestants scrambling for more candy last Thursday at the PTA's Trunk or Treat event at Lake Roosevelt Schools. Crews on six emergency services vehicles and people with 10 individually themed trunks handed out candy to eager children chauffeured by parents. People could vote on their favorite numbered trunk by giving a monetary donation to the PTA. The trunk that earned the most votes (money) at the end of the night was awarded the...
Some workers in Washington state, faced with the ultimatum to get the jab or lose their jobs, have chosen to quit or retire instead of receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. With employees in various fields, including school, health care, and state government required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for their employment by Oct. 18, many workers in the state have opted to retire early or simply quit their jobs. Locally, council members for the city of Grand Coulee, as well as the mayor, expressed support for city employees to make...
Following the death of a city employee, Coulee Dam is considering requiring all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Councilmember Dale Rey raised the question during a council meeting last Wednesday. Rey remarked on the recent death of one employee and a positive coronavirus test of another, although he said he was speculating on the cause of death. “Our town employees not only interact with each other and with us, but they also interact with and communicate with and are around members of the community,” Rey said, so requiring vaccinat...
Grand Coulee Police 10/12 - A man and woman on Alcan Road and Yakima Street were arrested and taken to jail for burglary. The man was known to stay at a residence there, but the owner said he was not allowed in a storage shed where both had stored items without permission. The two had allegedly picked a lock to enter the shed and retrieve their own items. They were found there and arrested. Drug paraphernalia was also found. The man was adamant that the shed was unlocked, and that he didn’t break in. 10/14 - A man was cited for driving under t...
Following a year of work, the friendly merger of Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union and STCU will culminate this weekend. All five CDFCU branches will be closed Friday, then reopen Monday as STCU, though it will take a while longer to change exterior signage, a credit union press release said Tuesday. Nearly all CDFCU employees have chosen to make the move to STCU, meaning credit union members will continue to see the same familiar faces at their favorite branch. The employees are maintaining...
A friendly merger that has been in the works for a year will culminate in one month when CDFCU and STCU are joined, giving CDFCU’s 14,400 members access to a broader suite of products and services. In preparation for the merger, Spokane-based STCU mailed information to CDFCU members in late August, outlining how their accounts will transition into STCU accounts, and other need-to-know information. More detailed information, specific to each member, will be provided prior to the merger, a press release from STCU said this week. Other recent m...
William Douglas "Bill" Morger Sr., formerly of Elmer City and Coulee Dam,Washington, passed away after a long illness in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Wednesday, September 1, 2021. Bill was born in Fort Collins, Colorado, on August 23, 1937, to Marvin and Josephine Morger. Bill was one of 12 children. Bill spent his early life in Colorado, moving to the central California valley at the age of three years. Most of his youth was spent in central California, where his family owned many businesses... Full story
Grand Coulee 9/7 - A woman told police she would move her camper from Osborn Bay, where a person can only camp for four days, after a mechanical issue was solved in the camper. 9/8 - Police checked on a dog in a truck on McGovern Street that had been there overnight. The small dog did not appear in distress and a window was cracked. Police opened the door and left some water on the floorboard for the dog. A man said he would call police if the truck and dog were still there later that day. - Police responded to milepost 26 on SR-155 near...
The speed limit between Electric City and Grand Coulee, currently at 45 miles per hour, could drop to 30 with the construction of a new pedestrian/bike pathway. The Star would like to know whether you want the speed limit lowered. With pedestrians regularly traveling the stretch of road, a pathway is seen as a way to give them a safe place to walk or ride their bikes. In 2018, the project was accepted for a $672,410 grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation with a 5%, $35,390 match from Electric City. The original ped... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 8/10 - Fuel was reportedly siphoned out of a city vehicle parked at the city shop on Grand Avenue, as well as fuel siphoned out of a fuel pump. - A 2001 Ford F150 rear ended a 2017 Ford F150 near the intersection of SR-155 and the SunBank Resort turnoff. The information was turned over to a state patrolman who took over the situation. - A one legged, unlicensed man was allowed to move his vehicle which was partially blocking the roadway of Continental Heights. - A woman was advised by police to get a no contact order from...
Grand Coulee Police 7/29 - Police were unable to find a gold Nissan Pathfinder reported to have been speeding and passing cars on double yellow lines on SR-174 heading into Grand Coulee. - A wallet with an ID, credit cards, and about $100 was found at the Grand Coulee Dam Visitors Center after the laser light show and turned into police. Police were able to find contact info for the Idaho man, who retrieved his wallet. 7/31 - Police told people who had been shooting at Osborn Bay about burn restrictions that restrict target shooting in the...
A loud US Army training exercise on a hillside above town drew a different kind of fire at Coulee Dam’s city council meeting July 28, a small-caliber complaint compared to the big guns that alarmed citizens late at night July 22. Bob Hendrickson told the council he was disappointed that people had not been given any notice that a training was about to happen that might sound like a terrorist attack against Grand Coulee Dam. He said that he and many other people he talked to had worried about that as they listened to automatic weapons and w...
Loud gunfire that woke and frightened Coulee Dam residents Thursday night was part of a “routine military training,” a US Army spokesman said. The repeating racket that started about 10:30 sounded to some former military men like 50-caliber automatic weapons. Flashes from multiple gun barrels could be seen on the hillside above the Third Powerhouse on the east side of Grand Coulee Dam. And one caller reported seeing flames at the top of the north end of the powerhouse. The weapons fire, which continued until after midnight, woke at least one...
(Editor’s note: The writer asked that his letter to Bureau of Reclamation Power Manager Coleman Smith be included on this opinion page) Dear Mr. Smith: I am writing in regard to an incident that happened last night, July 22. At about 10:30 PM we were startled by loud automatic weapons fire up towards the top of the east side of the dam. I was extremely alarmed by this situation as the gunfire was coming from multiple locations. As you are aware the Grand Coulee Dam is considered a target and has lots of security in place. We all know this. T...