News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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More local events that have become traditions have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Run the Dam running event, as well as the Harvest Festival, have both been canceled this past week. Both were originally scheduled for the third week in September. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce announced on July 17 the cancellation of what would have been the ninth Harvest Festival on their Facebook page. Their board of directors "have explored all possible options to keep this... Full story
A new multimillion-dollar hotel in Grand Coulee is being planned with optimism towards the area growing. Blackfly, LLC, owned by Bill Stevens, a farmer from Soap Lake, and Caleb McNamara, a contractor from Moses Lake, bought property along Midway Avenue that includes Pepper Jack's Bar and Grille, another nearby building, and surrounding lots. The property consists of three parcels of land along Midway Avenue purchased from Norman and Carlene Worsham for $285,000 and a fourth purchased from...
The cause of the wildfire that burned in Coulee Dam June 30 is still under investigation. That fire burned around 21 acres on the northern outskirts of town near 12th Street and Central Drive and up towards the sandhill, according to Debbie Caudell, lead dispatch at Mt. Tolman Fire Center. The fire was first reported to Mt. Tolman at about 7 p.m. and resources were called back in at about midnight. Those resources included four type-6 engines, two dozers, a hand crew, and more. Workers returned the next day to mop up the scene of the fire,...
Fireworks caused one fire on Independence Day and another Monday afternoon. On the Fourth of July, a fire across from the Northrup Point boat launch burned about a tenth of an acre, Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ryan Fish told The Star in an email. That fire was put out by the Bureau of Land Management, which had had about 20 firefighters stationed near North Dam and ready to answer regional fire calls. The Bureau of Reclamation contracted with BLM last year to handle wildfires...
Don’t play with fire! Two agencies have issued restrictions on fires as of July 3. The Bureau of Land Management Spokane District has issued a fire restrictions order on public lands administered by the BLM and the Bureau of Reclamation with which the BLM has an agreement to assist with wildland fire suppression on USBR lands. And Okanogan County’s burn ban is in effect and will continue to be enforced until official notice is made rescinding it by the county commissioners. This burn ban is county-wide, affecting all private and county pro...
As I have said in the past and will continue to vocalize in our nation’s capital: Hydropower is truly the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest. From the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest power producing hydroelectric dam in North America, to the dams along the Columbia and Snake Rivers, Central Washington has come to rely on the clean, affordable, and reliable power these dams produce. We should be encouraging innovation and expansion of hydropower as the United States moves toward a clean energy future. These critical water infrastructure p...
It's the Fourth of July weekend, and there's no fireworks show at the Grand Coulee Dam this year, and very few places to light them locally. - Fireworks are not allowed at North Dam Park due to no one applying for a permit from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. -The city of Grand Coulee allows no fireworks in city limits. -Electric City follows state law which allows fireworks to be lit within the city limits from noon to 11 p.m. from June 28 until July 4, when they’re allowed from noon to midnight. -The city of Coulee Dam forbids fireworks y... Full story
The Fourth of July fast approaching, but don’t plan on setting off fireworks from North Dam again this year; it’s still unavailable as a launching location. The chamber of commerce’s Festival of America event, typically held below the Grand Coulee Dam, with fireworks launched from it, also will not be held this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lighting of personal fireworks from North Dam, a popular spot for years, will not be available, as it was not last year. “Last year on July 4, fireworks were not allowed on top of North Dam bec... Full story
Robert (Bob) John Abel, 81, of Medical Lake, Washington, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, surrounded in love by his children. Bob spent his formative years in Spokane and attended St. Patrick Catholic School, where he met several of his lifelong friends who still gather once a month. He was a proud member of the Coast Guard before marrying Dorothy O'Connor in 1971. He worked for Diamond Drilling, which took him all over the Pacific Northwest, the Bureau of Reclamation at Grand... Full story
The Grand Coulee City Council approved a $3.57 million, five-year contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Thursday to continue to use the Grand Coulee Police Department to provide additional security services at the Grand Coulee Dam. The contract, approved and effective as of May 22, expires on May 31, 2025. The city’s old contract with the bureau expired in November 2019, which led to a six-month extension while a new contract was negotiated. The Star was unable to obtain specific details of the new contract but reported in February t...
In the face of uncertainty during the COVID-19 restrictions, the chamber of commerce board of directors voted May20 to cancel any planning for the Festival of America over this year’s Independence Day holiday. The annual event, which normally includes vendors and performers in the park below the visitor center at Grand Coulee Dam, draws thousands each year, most to watch the fireworks off the top of the iconic dam. But all of that takes planning and a timeline that has run out. And the host federal agency, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, has n... Full story
There is no known timeline yet for opening the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s visitor center at Grand Coulee Dam, or for the restart of what is normally the nightly Laser Light Show that begins Memorial Day weekend and plays all summer and most of the fall. The COVID-19 pandemic has kept the Visitor Center closed and postponed the laser show and tours of the dam, said Lynne Brougher, public affairs specialist at Grand Coulee Dam. “The impacts to the schedule resulting from COVID are unknown and still developing at this time.” “The reopeni...
A crew of workers makes progress on the new fire station under construction for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation off SR-155 Monday. Two cranes were active on the site, lifting materials to the top of the structure. - Scott Hunter photo...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Jim Costa (D-CA) last week led a letter to congressional leadership urging the inclusion of critical water infrastructure in the upcoming COVID-19 economic and infrastructure recovery package. Signed by 24 bipartisan members of Congress, the letter outlines the importance of Bureau of Reclamation water infrastructure projects in addressing water storage, conservation, and delivery to rural areas and municipalities across the country. “As we begin debate on how to restart the American eco... Full story
Joseph (Joe) Martin Mitchell's journey of life ended Saturday April 4, 2020 at home in Phoenix Arizona. Joe was born on December 9, 1935 in Denver, Colorado to Martin H. Mitchell and Margaret E. Mitchell. In 1944, the family moved to Boulder City, Nevada. He graduated from Boulder City High School in 1953 where he met Susan L. Dickens, they married on August 21, 1956. Upon graduating High School, Joe continued his education and matriculated from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.... Full story
Local state parks areas such as Steamboat Rock, Osborne Bay, and Northrup Canyon are closed, while Spring Canyon remains open but without services. Steamboat Rock, Northrup Point boat launch, and Northrup Canyon are all closed to the public until at least April 30. Steamboat Rock State Park Park Ranger Jared Liening told The Star on Tuesday that the spots are closed to discourage the spread of the coronavirus. Liening said people have still been using Northrup Canyon despite a sign on the kiosk... Full story
Charlie Long has been a member of the American Legion for 60 years! Greg Behrens, vice commander at Post 157 in Electric City, presented the Coulee Dam man with a 60-year certificate March 25. Behrens said he had wanted to do a formal presentation but wasn't able to because of the coronavirus social restrictions. "It was kind of surprising," Long told The Star over the phone on Monday. "I didn't realize it had been that long." Behrens provided a description of Long's tenure in the army:...
Grand Coulee 3/16 - The driver of a truck with a badly damaged windshield was reported by multiple people, and pulled over near Jess Ford. The man was intoxicated, and was cited for driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, and being in possession of a stolen Bureau of Reclamation sign. 3/17 - A woman reported that her vehicle had been prowled at her Boulder Avenue residence. She heard the faint sound of a car door closing and noticed her car door wasn’t fully closed. The registration, which expires in a month, was the o...
The Grand Coulee Dam will continue to operate as usual, but its visitor center will be closed to the public, and tours of the dam, which had been scheduled to start April 1, will be delayed until further notice. “Today, the Bureau of Reclamation temporarily closed public visitation to the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center in support of the recommended guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”, a March 19 press release from the bureau reads. "The health and safety of the public and our employees is our number one pri... Full story
The Coulee Dam Service Station at the southeast corner of what is now Roosevelt Way and River Drive had been a Standard Oil station; but after my parents, Henry and Margaret (Seaton) Taschereau bought it at the end of 1942, it became Texaco. They sold it and moved to Coulee City in 1953. Just up and across the street, where the Coulee House Inn & Suites is now located, was a Ford garage, and just east of that was a theater owned by Oliver Hartman, who had moved to the area about 1936, when his...
A potential new, big hydro-electric project for the Coulee area, could be more likely to happen sooner than later if legislation being considered by the Senate in Washington D.C. passes. The $1.4 billion Banks Lake Pump Storage Project, proposed by Columbia Basin Hydropower, would bring in an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 workers to build a gravity-fed, pumped-storage system that would drain water from Banks Lake back down to Lake Roosevelt, turning generators in the process, and later pump the...
The city of Grand Coulee is on track to sign a new contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to provide law enforcement services for the federal agency. The city is currently operating on a six-month extension on a contract that expired in November 2019, a contract in which the city’s police provide additional security at the Grand Coulee Dam. That contract adds four additional officers to the Grand Coulee Police Department, which serves Grand Coulee and Electric City, for a total of eight officers, plus a reserve officer. The bureau pays th...
Glenda "Lynn" Higgins, daughter of the late Neal and Francis Turner of Coulee Dam, passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by her loving family on Friday, February 7. Lynn was born January 4, 1946, in Mason City Hospital, Coulee Dam, Washington. The Turner family moved from Coulee Dam to Hungry Horse, Montana in 1951. Lynn joined the local rifle club in Hungry Horse and enjoyed sharp shooting with her marksman father. In 1955, the Turner family moved back to Coulee Dam. Having enjoyed Mont... Full story
Coulee Area Park and Recreation District (CAPRD) SEEKING VENDOR Coulee Area Park and Recreation District (CAPRD) is seeking a vendor for grounds maintenance at North Dam Park, Grand Coulee, WA The time frame for 2020 contract runs from mid-April through the end of October. The selected vendor will provide maintenance of the park in the areas listed below. The budget for this seasonal project will not exceed 22,000 dollars. We reserve the right to extend this contract for up to two years. • Mowing of all cultivated lawn areas -- picnic s... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 2/4 - A Dill Avenue resident reported a man on his porch, dancing, yelling, and pounding on the glass door. An officer told him to go home and that the resident didn’t want him there. The man did so without incident. - A Spokane Way homeowner said her maintenance person told her a sliding glass door was broken and wanted the incident documented. Police noted there was nothing inside to be stolen. 2/5 - Police responded to an accident on SR-174 near Crown Point Road where a semi truck and a Ford Fusion had collided. There w...
