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 top administrator at the organization that has been providing vaccines at Coulee Medical Center said Wednesday that existing appointments for a first-round vaccine against Covid-19 are to be canceled due to lack of supply. "We don't have enough," said Theresa Sullivan, chief executive officer of Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake. She told county leaders on a scheduled Zoom call this morning that nearly 2,100 appointments for the first vaccine must be canceled in order to make sure they...
A meeting held by the city of Electric City on Jan. 23 to engage with its citizens and get their input on various issues was a success, the mayor says. “We had a pretty good event,” Mayor Diane Kohout later told The Star. People representing the city included Kohout, herself, Councilmember Cheryl Hoffman, Planning Commissioners Al Miller and Ian Turner, City Engineer Steve Nelson of Century West, and Public Works Director Jared Armstrong. “We all felt it was a good start to bring our residents information about potential projects and needs...
The current plan for fan attendance at Lake Roosevelt sporting events is to allow each player to give two tickets to fans, be they family or friends, for home events only, with no opposing team visitors allowed. Athletic Director Tim Rasmussen updated the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors on the matter at their Feb. 8 meeting. Rasmussen said some schools won’t even allow home-event attendance, something he wanted to avoid. Additionally, the school is purchasing cameras and partnering with a company to livestream sports e...
Lake Roosevelt Schools could get new sports facilities built if they are "shovel ready" when and if grant money becomes available. Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner spoke to The Star on Monday about plans to issue a Request for Qualifications soon for an architect to work with on facilities projects. Turner said the school board needs to look at the "bigger picture" of the district's facilities and decide what their vision is. "When we built [the new school] we had...
Washington’s governor last week defended his plan to phase in the opening of businesses by region, saying he knows it goes too slow for some people. “Everybody can have a rational argument against what we’re doing, but you can’t argue with the results,” Gov. Jay Inslee said, “which is that we are ahead of 45 other states.” According to Inslee, that translates to an extra 8,000 saved lives in the state with more than 700,000 individuals already vaccinated. However, many Republicans remain unsatisfied with Inslee’s approach. Several hours b...
Grant County Health District reporting four more confirmed COVID-19 associated deaths Monday, bringing the county’s pandemic toll to 109. None of the deaths announced Monday were associated with a long-term care facility. All four residents had underlying conditions putting them at higher risk of severe complications due to a COVID-19 infection. Three men in their 70s, one from Coulee City, one from Moses Lake man and another from Quincy, plus another man from Moses Lake in his 80s, all perished. Grant County Health District delays the a...
Okanogan Behavioral HealthCare (OBHC) has been notified by Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office that the agency has been selected to receive almost $453,000 in federal aide to allow the organization to expand access to and improve behavioral health services in Okanogan County, including services for substance/opioid use disorders. “We are especially grateful for this funding because it comes at a time when we are seeing increased need for behavioral health services, especially with the added stressors of Covid-19,” said Dennis Rabidou, chair of the O...
Grand Coulee Police 2/2 - After an E Street woman reported fraudulent charges on her credit card, the credit card company contacted Adult Protective Services on her behalf. Police spoke to the woman’s son and girlfriend who explained the charges, showing that they have permission to use the card to help pay the woman’s bills and other expenses. The matter was cleared up. - Police looked into a report of animal neglect regarding a horse on E Street whose ribs are showing. The owner of the horse showed the officer that she has food for the hor...
The highway to Omak is closed from there to Nespelem due to a serious traffic accident near the closed mill in Omak, the state Dept of Transportation says. There is currently no estimated time for reopening SR-155....
Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union is seeking approval of regulators to merge with Spokane-based STCU, a joining that would rebrand the local institution but retain jobs and offer more services, both credit unions say. The move, approved by both institutions' boards of directors in December, will require the approval of state and federal regulators - and a majority of CDFCU's members. It's a change following dominant industry patterns, as smaller banks and credit unions find it increasingly challen...
A man driving a Grant Transit Authority bus out of Moses Lake was pursued by police on Wednesday morning, with the chase ending in Electric City at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and SR-155 where the driver hit a stop sign and came to a stop. The bus had been reported stolen at about 7 a.m., and Moses Lake Police and other agencies were watching for it when a Grant County Sheriff's deputy spotted it about 30 minutes later. The driver, 62-year-old Richard D. Manley of Grand Coulee, was on...
Tentative dates for spring and winter sports seasons have been set by athletic directors of the North Central Region, which includes Lake Roosevelt High School. The high school athletic season starts with sports traditionally played in the fall, for which a schedule was already set. For fall sports, football practice starts Feb. 16, while cross country, soccer, volleyball and cheer practices start Feb. 22. All of those sports run through April 3. A tentative schedule presented in Athletic Director Tim Rasmussen’s report to the Grand Coulee D...
With case counts rising and hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 shooting up, the North Central Region of Washington remains in Phase One of the two-phase Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan for handling the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Puget Sound and West regions both moved to Phase Two. Grant, Okanogan, Douglas, and Chelan counties are grouped into the North Central Region, which currently only meets one of the four requirements to move to Phase Two, which has less stringent restrictions on individuals, businesses, and s...
An addition to the local airport that would make it safer and more usable is on the horizon and may land if a major grant comes through to pay for it. A new Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) at the Grand Coulee Dam Airport would offer various aviation advantages, specifically by increasing safety and ease of landing. The estimated $274,000 AWOS project should be paid for in part with a 90% Federal Aviation Administration grant, and a 5% Washington Department of Transportation Aviation...
Electric City's tourism fund appears to have benefitted during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Grand Coulee has brought in more sales tax this year, reflecting different areas of strength in each city's economy. The Star looked at data provided by city clerks, which show that Electric City's revenue from lodging tax, collected on motel and campground stays, went up in 2020. That revenue category went down in Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam last year, which may reflect the fact that Electric City has...
There are six positions in local fire districts up for election in November, according to current county records. Those interested must file their intention to run for office between May 17 and May 21 with their county election authority in the county auditor’s office. The positions are for: Grant County Fire District #14 — a two-year term for Position #1 (no incumbent listed); Okanogan County Fire District #2 — six-year terms for Position #1 (Lloyd Olbricht incumbent), Position #2 (Shelly Black incumbent), and Position #3 (no incumbent liste...
Grand Coulee Police 1/25 - Police checked on a woman on Second Street about whom friends were concerned. While checking a second day, police talked to the woman, who said she had been sick but was fine. 1/26 - Police spoke with a tribal officer who said he had helped push a car off the roadway near North Dam. The car had run out of gas. The driver said she needed to get gas money in Delano and would move the vehicle as soon as possible. 1/28 - A man on Boulder Avenue reported that two local numbers tried calling him to gain personal...
Washington high school students wrestling with remote learning programs cobbled together as COVID-19 gripped the state in 2020 and now struggling to meet graduation requirements may well get some help from lawmakers. The state House of Representatives on Jan. 27 passed a proposal that would allow school districts to waive requirements for students they feel deserve to graduate. The bill, HB 1121, won wide bipartisan support in the House and is on a fast track to the Senate. It includes an emergency provision, meaning it would take effect...
A popular beach at Steamboat Rock State Park, located northeast of the boat launch, is being closed permanently due to erosion, authorities say. "The Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with Washington State Parks will permanently close a beach area located in Steamboat Rock State Park in order to provide resource protection," a legal notice published throughout December 2020 in the Columbia Basin Herald states. "The closure will take place on January 1, 2021. Washington State Parks will...
US 2 is closed in Pine Canyon, just above Orondo, due to a rock slide, Washington State Department of Transportation is warning. There is no detour available, and no time estimate for when the road will reopen. A rock slide in the same area closed the route to Wenatchee from Waterville several years ago for many weeks....
Superintendent Paul Turner told the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors on Monday that an investigative report should be ready later this week concerning an incident in which someone left religious/political propaganda on the desks of 11 teachers at Lake Roosevelt Elementary School. Sometime during the weekend of Jan. 5-6, someone left black-and-white copies featuring the writings of Kim Clement on the teachers’ desks. Clement’s prophecies are for sale in several books on Amazon.com, and a “House of Destiny” website offers,...
Lake Roosevelt Schools have continued in-school teaching even when local infection rates of COVID-19 crossed a threshold set by the school board, a teacher showed its directors Monday night. A committee that will be tasked with informing school staff and the public about the latest Covid developments in the area is one result from Monday's meeting of the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors. Teacher Pam Johnson, during the public comment period of the meeting, presented facts,...
Seven more people have died of COVID-19 in Grant County, the public health district said Monday. A Coulee City woman in her 70s was among five who died who were not in a long-term care setting. Others were two men in their 60s, one from Moses Lake and the other from Soap Lake; and two Moses Lake men in their 70s. Two more confirmed dead from the virus had been residents at Lake Ridge Center in Moses Lake, which was hit with the illness in November. The woman in her 70s and the man in his 80s bring the total dead from that infection to 20. The C...
Grand Coulee Police 1/19 - A woman returned home to her Hill Avenue apartment to find a note written in Crayon by a child that said, “shut yor dog up.” The woman’s dog had caused some damage inside the apartment, such as ripping up carpet and drapes. She believes the dog was being harassed by the child who left the note. 1/20 - Police were told of a patient at the hospital who was in a traffic accident at an unknown location. Police spoke to the patient who explained he was in a single-vehicle rollover somewhere between Grand Coulee and Bridg...
Just when residents of Washington will have access to a COVID-19 vaccine depends on how many doses the federal government delivers and how many the state can administer in a day. Currently, the state is receiving 100,000 doses per week and administering 14,000 doses per day, but Gov. Jay Inslee acknowledged Jan. 18 there have been major bumps in the road so far. "I have to be forthright with Washingtonians," Inslee said. "Patience is going to be one of the most important assets for us in the...