News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Governmental agencies and some local people crowded into a meeting room at Coulee Medical Center Wednesday as agencies made presentations at the Electric City Pathway and Trail meeting. Representatives from Bureau of Reclamation; the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance; Washington State University Rural Communities Design Initiative; Grant County Health District; Washington State Department of Transportation; and Gray & Osborne, Electric City's engineering firm,... Full story
Regarding the Electric City trail, with the (Jan. 20) meeting being at 1:00 in the afternoon and I work for a living, I cannot make it. I wish for this letter to be my thoughts and my opinion on this matter. Now, I’m no letter writer, so I’m just going to use the format of listing my concerns and thoughts. 1. It seems to me it would make more financial sense to widen and fix the road to have this trail. We would only be dealing with the State of Washington (D.O.T.) and the cities involved, plus we would be fixing, like one stated in The Star, a... Full story
PUBLIC NOTICE Notice of the Availability of an Environmental Assessment USDA Rural Development is considering providing financial assistance to the Town of Coulee Dam for the upgrade of their 40-year old wastewater treatment facility. The replacement includes a new headworks facility, fine screening, an extended aeration/activated sludge treatment plant and UV disinfection with subsequent discharge via the existing outfall to the Columbia River. The treatment plant site is located downriver of... Full story
A proposed trail system in Electric City will get an airing from a number of organizations next Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 1 p.m., in the Coulee Medical Center conference room. The proposed trail would eventually reach from the entrance to Sunbanks Lake Resort to the city of Grand Coulee, and beyond. The trail idea was hatched by Electric City Councilmember Brad Parrish, who has been working on the idea since early spring last year. Coordinating the meeting will be Deputy City Clerk Russell Powers,... Full story
The demise of the Alcoa aluminum plant in Wenatchee has led to a change in the location of the union lodge for machinists and a Bureau of Reclamation worker is now president. Wallace "Peewee" Pleasants was appointed president Thursday night, Jan. 8, of the Grand Coulee local lodge of International Association of Machinists. "We're all nervous, but at the same time, it's exciting," said Pleasants, a hydromechanic at Grand Coulee Dam. The development could spur more participation locally on the pa... Full story
Almost all of the Bureau of Reclamation’s “green” vehicles, 27 of them, are sidelined while it is determined why they only hold battery charges for about 20 miles. Only four of the battery-powered vehicles are currently in use, according to Public Affairs Officer Lynne Brougher. The current weather is one reason a number of the vehicles are stalled, but a greater issue is the fact that the vehicles had only been holding a charge for about 15 hours, considerably less than anticipated. Brougher said that the bureau is currently gathering data for... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation’s new fire station will be built early in 2017, an official said Monday. Public Affairs Officer Lynne Brougher said current plans call for construction to start early in 2017, and that it would take about a year to construct the 21,500-square-foot facility. The bureau announced in mid-December that the fire facility would be built on land it already owns, near the intersection of B Street and State Route 155. The bureau made the announcement after an environmental assessment was completed recently. The purpose of t... Full story
A Grand Coulee driver was given a ticket for driving too fast for road conditions after he rolled his vehicle over where B Street meets the Bureau of Reclamation Industrial area Dec. 27. The driver, Igor Victorovich Kudas, 30, told police he was only going about 20 mph when his Toyota Tundra truck started sliding and made a slow rollover. Kudas said both side-panel air bags deployed. He was not injured. Kudas was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the mishap. Jack’s Towing helped get the vehicle back on its wheels. Police reported that t... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 12/2 - Police are still sorting out problems with a Cadillac that was pulled over because of a license tab problem. The driver also didn’t have insurance on the vehicle. The license tabs on the vehicle, which were expired anyway, didn’t belong to the vehicle. 12/18 - USBR Plant Protection advised police that there was a stalled vehicle at milepost 28 on SR-155. The driver said she had run out of gas and there was someone getting it for her. The officer found she didn’t have proof of vehicle insurance and she was cited for t... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation has selected its site for a new fire station. Bureau of Reclamation officials announced Friday that it will build its 21,500-square-foot fire station near the intersection of B Street and Highway 155. The site, which was the bureau’s preferred site, is on land already owned by the federal government and is outside the west administration/industrial gate area. A second site considered, managed by the National Park Service, was in the Crescent Bay area. The announcement came after the bureau had completed its e... Full story
The new year will kick off with the first major Electric City trail project meeting. Councilmember Brad Parrish, who is heading up the effort, said last week that he plans a stakeholder meeting Wednesday, Jan. 20, somewhere in the area. That’s about a week after the city council will consider a proposal to commit 150 percent of next year’s projected tourism-tax-fund balance on the pathway along Banks Lake. The meeting will include stakeholders like Coulee Medical Center; Gray & Osborne; the National Park Service; The NPS Rivers, Trails and Cons... Full story
Moose Lodge to offer holiday party for kids The Moose Lodge invites all kids to “Kids Holiday Fun” time from Saturday, Sept. 12 from 1-3 p.m. Activities include ornament making, karaoke, food, prizes and fun, plus having their picture taken with Santa. The Lodge is located at 216 Continental Heights in Grand Coulee. They lit the decoration You know it’s the Christmas season when you see the large, lit, seasonal sign at the south end of Electric City. With the help of Young’s Welding boom truck, the following worked several hours putting the sig... Full story
Tom and Kathy Skordas, of Coulee Dam, Washington, are celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary December 5. The couple were wed in Salt Lake City, Utah, on December 5, 1960. They lived in the coulee since 1967 when Tom began his career with the United States Bureau of Reclamation, retiring in 1995. They have two sons, Robert and Richard, and four grandchildren.... Full story
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation employees begin a Tuesday morning exercise that might have alarmed police scanner listeners not paying close attention. The hazardous material/explosives drill involved USBR security and emergency response, Grand Coulee's ambulance and Coulee Medical Center in a scenario that started with a security officer approaching two suspicious subjects claiming to enjoy the view and some coffee. Within minutes, a bomb exploded (on paper only) and the two subjects and the... Full story
Jack A. Hilson, 90, of Electric City, Washington, passed away on Thursday, November 5, 2015, at Coulee Medical Center, Long Term Care, Grand Coulee, Washington. He was born May 14, 1925, to Herman and Ethel Hilson in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. He graduated from Almira High School in 1943. On June 9, 1944, he entered into the U.S. Navy. He was a Radioman 2C, stationed on the USS Vincennes in the South Pacific. He was awarded the Asiatic Pacific Ribbon, American Area Ribbon and the Victory Medal. He... Full story
Warren Henry Byam, formerly of Electric City, Washington, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 7, 2015, surrounded by his family in Oregon City, Oregon, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Born March 12, 1927, in Billings, Montana, he was one of 10 children. He served in the United States Navy as a Seabees during WWII and worked for the United States Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam for 45 years. His hobbies were building trailers, rebuilding and selling cars and... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation is going green. You will soon see the all new electric-powered vehicles the bureau has added to its vehicle fleet. They are so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop. That is a fair description of the Bureau of Reclamation's new electric utility vehicle (EUV) fleet of 27 passenger and maintenance vehicles. The vehicles will be seen throughout the Grand Coulee Dam Project area soon and will save the government an estimated 10 to 15 percent a year in just gasoline...
In an exercise, Bureau of Reclamation emergency and security personnel stage a response to a possible hazardous waste contamination incident Tuesday morning. Scanner monitors can relax.... Full story
Three important steps are in the works for Electric City’s pathway project. That project would, if everything worked out, build a pedestrian and bicycle pathway from Sunbanks Lake Resort to North Dam Park, in different phases. Phase one would be from Coulee Playland to North Dam Park. No date has been set for the start of the project, but one meeting was held last Tuesday. That phase is estimated at $500,000. One of the first steps will occur next Tuesday when the city council is expected to provide $40,000 from its lodging tax money for a c... Full story
A run over the top of Grand Coulee Dam will be revived, even after its last organizers dropped it, if Kelly Buche has anything to say about it. Buche, a local accountant and active runner, is aggressively planning how to organize, promote and pull off a race that at one time in its long history drew 400 runners. Run the Dam can offer a lot to the running public if promoted the right way and set at the right time of year, Buche told the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District at their Nov. 2... Full story
A new project aimed at refurbishing very old structures atop Grand Coulee Dam, like so much of the dam, is likely to yield the largest such device ever built. The 11 drum gates used to control the lake level, at 75 years old, are in need of major refurbishing, not just annual maintenance, explains Public Affairs Officer Lynne Brougher. But that poses big problems without a way to plan long-term projects around the operation of a reservoir used to control the flow of the Columbia River, for... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam could get a new fixture for help in repairing the big gates at the top of its spillway, one of which has been leaking since last summer. The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking public comment to identify issues and concerns to be addressed in an Environmental Assessment for a proposed drum gate maintenance structure at Grand Coulee Dam. A major leak on drum gate three this year prevented the bureau from spilling water for a backdrop for the Laser Light Show. At that time, the agenc... Full story
Pride in their community was the overall theme of the town council candidate forum in Coulee Dam last Thursday night. Three of six candidates showed up and had an opportunity to connect with some 15 people who attended. One candidate, David Schmidt, spoke of maintaining the appearance of the town, one of its greatest assets. He proposed more attention to parks, sidewalks and trees. Schmidt serves on the Natural Resources (tree) board. Another candidate, Herb Sherburne, who serves on the town Civ... Full story
Some people are lucky and choose vocations that are also their hobbies. That's true with Dennis Buchanan, who owns and runs Buchanan Armory in Electric City. "I've always loved guns," he said Tuesday. Buchanan came to the area after applying for and getting a position with the Bureau of Reclamation. That was from 2007 to 2010. The new gunsmith (he has been open nearly a year) has a small shop on the highway across from the Vet Center. Got a trigger problem with your gun? He can fix it. He loves... Full story
The family of a woman killed while fighting a local wildfire 25 years ago is hoping a new fire station planned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation could be named after her. Toni Godsil died Aug. 6, 1990, while fighting a wildland fire in Douglas County with the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department when wind shifted and the flames caught up to her. “She was the first female firefighter to be hired by the government into a program to be a 24-hour firefighter,” said her daughter, Danielle Townsend. “I just think that she really deserves some... Full story