News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The Washington State Parks Winter Recreation Program announced today that the price of Sno-Park permits will increase when they go on sale again Nov. 1. This will be the first increase since 2009. The price increases reflect the rising costs of Sno-Park operations, which include trail grooming, plowing, clearing lots and roads, bathroom maintenance, fuel and staffing. In addition, the program has had to replace aging equipment, including snowcats. Finally, over the last 12 years, the program opened several new permanent Sno-Parks and created...
As public health authorities track cases of COVID-19, they worry that just as vaccines are rolling out faster, spring, sunshine and the yearning to breathe free could undermine progress on the fight against the virus and cause another surge of illness and death. As numbers come down, then stop dropping, they're tending to "plateau" at a level higher than earlier plateaus, Coulee Medical Center CEO Ramona Hicks told her commissioners at a meeting Monday night. She'd been on a weekly health care... Full story
Grant PUD, along with Energy Northwest and X-energy, announced they would be partnering on a nuclear power project. An April 1 press release from Grant PUD explained that the TRi Energy Partnership is “a mutual partnership to support the development and commercial demonstration of the country’s first advanced nuclear reactor.” The release says that “the partners will collaborate and share resources to evaluate their mutual goal of siting, building, and operating a Xe-100 advanced nuclear power plant at an existing Energy Northwest site north o...
The area comprising the Grand Coulee Dam School District has a 14-day COVID-19 incident rate of 263 cases per 100,000 population. The district’s website, www.gcdsd.org, includes a link to a Covid report compiling data from the five local zip codes within the district including 99123, 99133, 99155, 99124, and 99116. Updated on Friday, the report shows 11 cases within those zip codes making for the incidence rate of 283 cases per 100,000 population, as of March 26. In Grant County, the incident rate as of March 26 was 211. As of March 29, t... Full story
If awarded a grant, Grand Coulee’s Shane Proctor Park could have new playground equipment, a half-court basketball court, and more. The city of Grand Coulee applied for a $162,000 grant from the Ephrata-based Paul Lauzier Foundation to make improvements to the park located along SR-174 between the gas station and the Mexican restaurant. The grant would pay for new playground equipment and playground surface, a half-court basketball court, and to make the park compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “The last couple of years the...
The Colorama Rodeo this year will include a show put on by Jason Dent, also known as Whistle-Nut, and his pet bull that he can ride around like a horse. Whistle-Nut is an entertainer, barrel man, clown, and stuntman "all rolled into one," he told The Star over the phone on Monday. "We're the real deal. ... They can expect to really be wowed," he said about his show that includes comedy, stunts, and personal interaction with the crowd. Ole (pronounced OH-lee), now 15 years old, was trained as a...
A Nespelem man was sentenced in federal court earlier this month to two years in prison for threatening his already-battered ex-girlfriend over social media, US Attorney Joseph H. Harrington said. Davis Henderson Tatshama Sr., age 36, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, was sentenced March 17 after pleading guilty on December 17, 2020 to “Threats in Interstate Commerce.” In January 2020, over the course of approximately 11 hours, Tatshama sent a series of Facebook messages to his ex-girlfriend, who is als...
Grand Coulee Police 3/22 - A woman reportedly stepped into traffic near the Electric City Post Office and slapped a vehicle as it passed. Police had numerous complaints about her. An officer told her if she didn’t stop she would be arrested for disorderly conduct. After speaking with the woman, the officer found she was homeless and told her about other communities that may have more services for someone in her situation. 3/23 - A man on Williams Street reported a 100-watt solar panel stolen off his back porch. He said it was charging a car bat...
Town of Nespelem STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS REQUEST The Town of Nespelem is requesting Statement of Qualifications and performance information from qualified firms interested in providing professional engineering consulting services for the 2021-2024 calendar years in conjunction with city sponsored project with the potential funding in part through the Sate of Washington Community Development Block Grant Program with Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, USDA-Rural Development and Environmental... Full story
Students at Lake Roosevelt Schools will attend in person more than they have in a year, following the passage by the school board of a new schedule aimed at accomplishing increased face time with teachers and peers, even with masks. The new schedule will get kids in classrooms half a day Monday through Thursday, beginning April 12, nearly doubling their time physically in school but cutting time for those who wish to keep learning online. Fridays will be used to help students who need extra help catching up after a year of mostly online...
The annual spring cleanup will be free after all. The Regional Board of Mayors, after being awarded a grant, chose during a special meeting March 18 not to charge locals for dumping yard waste at the Delano Regional Transfer Station during spring cleanup week, which runs from April 3-16, with days depending on each town (see the ad on page 2). Originally, the mayors had chosen this year to charge a fee for pickup loads of yard waste taken to the transfer station to cover the costs of taking that waste to the landfill in Ephrata. They were previ...
A line of cars stretches from the parking lot of Coulee Medical Center, down Fortuyn Street, up Burdin Boulevard to SR-174 and down the highway Friday as people wait to get their vaccine shots. About 472 community members got their shots of the Pfizer vaccine, all of those scheduled and more. One person on a waiting list also got a shot, but the event could have provided about 100 more shots in arms, said Chief Nursing Officer Marlene Elliot. - Scott Hunter photo...
The Colville Tribes have been diligent in vaccinating their members against COVID-19 and members 18 years and older qualify to make an appointment for theirs. More than 4,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been delivered on the Colville Reservation, representing more than a third of tribal members who have received at least the first shot of the required two shots of the Moderna vaccine, and many who have received both doses, according to a March 18 press release from the Tribes. In the coming days, the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine...
With the Lions Club's annual Easter egg hunt canceled this year, kids can take part in an "Alternative Egg Hunt" next week in which 26 different homes in Electric City will participate. Those homes will display colored paper eggs with letters on them in their windows starting Sunday, March 28 until Saturday, April 3. It's organized by Shannon Hitchcock of the Faith Community Church. Kids can go around the Electric City area south of Coulee Boulevard and east of Gold Avenue to find all the... Full story
Pedestrians in Elmer City will be more footloose and fancy-free with a pathway project being completed later this year. In 2018, phase one of the pathway project built a path along the Lower River Road from Third Street to about halfway to Front Street, with two crosswalks connecting to the Downriver Trail across the Lower River Road. Phase two will finish the path down to Front Street. Front Street’s sidewalk, which currently stops short of the corner with the Lower River Road, will be completed and connect with the pathway. During their M...
Joah Nee looks over a sea of Easter baskets Monday at the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center, assembled by a crew of volunteers from many donations. They made 475 baskets for sale in the fundraiser, an amount that took until Friday a year ago to sell. Nee was shopping for her two sons. - Scott Hunter photo...
Electric City council members, Mayor Diane Kohout, and even the city engineer meet with constituents Saturday in a two-hour, open-ended meeting at the Vets Center to provide information and answer questions about city projects....
Scouts are staying busy with another food drive. “A food drive is always helpful,” said Carol Nordine, who manages the local Care and Share Food Bank located at the Nazarene Church on the outskirts of Grand Coulee heading east on SR-174. “It gets us a variety of things we normally don’t have.” The boys and girls in the local troops left bags at area residences last weekend with a flier explaining how to donate food. Residents are encouraged to place food in the bags and leave them outside their homes before 9 a.m. this Saturday, March 27,...
Grand Coulee Police 3/16 - A man on Bay Area Drive reported that a dark colored pickup was parked in his driveway. He confronted the driver who said he had been drinking. A Grant County Sheriff’s deputy and a Grand Coulee officer responded. By the time they arrived, the pickup had left. Both officers were both unable to find the suspect vehicle. 3/17 - A man claimed that a man at a business was falsely claiming to be a veteran and wanted him charged with fraud/stolen valor. Police were unable to find anything related on the business website, a...
Colville Business Council Vice-Chairman Joel Boyd of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation was placed on administrative leave on March 24 by action of the Executive Committee of the Colville Tribes, a press release from the Colville Tribes says. The leave is effective immediately and will continue until further action is taken by the full Colville Business Council in the next available Special Session, which is currently scheduled for April 8, 2021. Vice-Chairman Boyd will not conduct business of the Colville Business Council...
All counties are eligible for Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee's Healthy Washington reopening plan on March 22. Inslee made the announcement March 11 following a downward trend in COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations across the state over the past month. "The reason we are able to make this progress is because we have been safe, we have been diligent and we have cared about our loved ones and ourselves," Inslee said. The reopening of outdoor sporting events, increased vaccine eligibility, and... Full story
Anyone can now either sign up for a vaccination event in Grand Coulee this Friday or get on a list to get vaccinated against COVID-19 through a state website Grant County Health District made live last week. So far (11 a.m. March 17), about 576 appointments are already set up for the drive-through event in Coulee Medical Center's parking lot from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The website seems improved from an earlier version and is simple to navigate. It... Full story
Among those Lake Roosevelt High School students inducted into the National Honor Society March 10 were, from left: Chelsea Dudley, Landon Krohn, Tyson Nicholson, Tanner Whitelaw, Kawika Whalawitsa, Tanner Kiser, Britt Egbert, Hunter Whitelaw, Camryn Carden, Chase Clark, Bryn Chaffee, Elijah Rasmussen, Raven Clark, Audrey Hansen. Inductees not pictured were Penelope Antoine, Ashley Baker, Pyper Schmidt, and Aubrey Harris. The event was recorded and can be watched from a link on the school...
Whether they continue to share a wastewater treatment facility with Coulee Dam, or build their own, Elmer City ratepayers are looking at higher sewer rates, but how much higher remains to be determined. The Elmer City council watched a presentation from Project Engineer Nancy Wetch of Gray and Osbourne last Thursday night. Wetch’s report compared the estimated cost of building Elmer City’s own wastewater treatment facility to the costs of renegotiating their current agreement with Coulee Dam, which expires at the end of 2024. The report loo...
The need for a community basketball court was discussed at a parks district meeting last week. Commissioners for the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District met on March 10 via Zoom for the first time since December. Commissioners discussed pursuing grants for projects in North Dam Park, such as for new playground equipment, which was a top priority for respondents to a poll The Star conducted in December. Respondents to that poll also expressed wanting a full-size basketball court, with the current single basketball hoop at the park, on a...