News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Electric City voters will be asked on November’s ballot whether they support an extra tax to go toward funding maintenance of the planned Ice Age Park, the city council voted last week. After a brief special council meeting held only for that purpose Thursday evening, council voted to submit a proposal up for a vote of the people that would levy a tax of a little over 14 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation on property in the city. The resolution passed states the money would be used for maintenance and operation of the park and c...
The Grand Coulee City Council is looking into upgrading their tech with federal coronavirus relief money. At their July 21 council meeting held via Zoom, City Clerk Lorna Pearce presented the idea of using some of the city’s qualified amount of $31,650 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funds to buy tablets for council members, which they could use for their council meetings now held electronically because of the COVID-19 pandemic, relieving them of having to use their own personal devices to conduct city b...
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Plenty of boaters on Banks Lake play on the water Tuesday evening and show a summer activity often coupled with camping, both of which can be safe and fun, even amid a pandemic, if distancing is followed as public health officials are urging. Camping get togethers can also spread the illness if people are not careful, as detailed in some stories this week. - Scott Hunter photo...
According to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, 85% of all wildfires in Washington State are caused by humans. Already this summer the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area has had five wildfires started on National Park Service lands, the NPS says. One of those was caused by a lightning strike, the other four were caused by humans — either through the illegal use of fireworks or unattended campfires. “There is not much land between the park and our private neighbors,” an NPS release notes. “Fires can quickly spread...
Okanogan County’s treasurer Tuesday said she will not be selling real estate in foreclosures this year. “After everything the County Treasurer’s office had to consider regarding this year’s Real Estate Tax Foreclosure Sale due to Covid 19,” said Treasurer Leah Mc Cormack in a release, she made the decision to cancel the sale for this year. “If you have questions regarding this decision,” she said, “please do not hesitate to contact our office at 509-422-7180 or e-mail us at treasurer@co.okanogan.wa.us. Hopefully, in 2021, we will be back on...
The local area has now seen more than 20 cases of COVID-19, according to statistics offered by local county health authorities. Okanogan Public Health reports two in Coulee Dam and 11 in Nespelem. Grant County Health District reports seven cases in the Grand Coulee area, plus one in Coulee City they have not been able to confirm is a resident. Okanogan County has seen a total of 782 cases, 297 of them in the last 14 days, including eight deaths. Grant County has seen 1,343 cases, including 10 who have died. GCHD counts 688 of those as... Full story
Here are the unofficial election results as of Tuesday night after the 8 p.m. close of voting. Grant Okan. Lin. Doug. State Governor Tim Eyman in Grant Co: 832; Okanogan Co.: 356; Lincoln Co.: 246; Douglas Co.: 420; Statewide: 88,177 Raul Garcia in Grant Co: 1271; Okanogan Co.: 294; Lincoln Co.: 332; Douglas Co.: 278; Statewide: 63,093 Jay Inslee in Grant Co: 2,449; Okanogan Co.: 2,830; Lincoln Co.: 570; Douglas Co.: 1,540; Statewide: 649,074 Loren Culp in Grant Co: 4,228; Okanogan Co.: 3,854; Lincoln Co.: 1,259; Douglas Co. : 2,561;...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District is asking for more money as they enter the uncharted territory of beginning a new school year during the COVID-19 pandemic. The district board of directors Monday night approved a budget for the 2020-21 school year, as well as a resolution authorizing a new enrichment levy that will ask property owners for an additional dollar per $1,000 of assessed value on their property. Voters will decide in the November general election whether the district gets that extra dollar. The history of local school levies in...
A fire that started Thursday afternoon near the tribal greenhouses near the Columbia River east of the Colville Indian Agency moved rapidly over dry hills to Schoolhouse Loop Road about two miles away, burned the tribal recycling center and threatened the correctional facility, the school, the tribal archives and the town itself, the Mt. Tolman Fire Center said. By evening, the blaze had burned about 1,200 acres of grass, sage and bitter brush as winds pushed it quickly across steep slopes...
The superintendent of the Grand Coulee Dam School District will answer your questions related to reopening school for the 2020-21 school year during the COVID-19 pandemic in weekly question-and-answer sessions held online. Superintendent Paul Turner sent an email on July 22 to parents, staff, and community members detailing the meetings. “In light of all the COVID-19 uncertainty about school reopening, I would like to schedule weekly Q&A sessions online,” Turner said. “At this point the district has developed some re-opening strategies with mor...
Even cities have to deal with electronics becoming obsolete. The cities of Grand Coulee and Electric City need to buy a new computer for their arsenic treatment plant, which treats the water that comes from Electric City wells and is used by both cities. Both city councils discussed the issue at their respective council meetings held earlier this month. The computer is not your average at-home computer. It may cost in the vicinity of $20,000, unless a cheaper option is found. Electric City Mayor Diane Kohout threw some numbers out to the Electr...
A Grand Coulee woman died last week when the car she was driving crashed in Douglas County. Maureen K. Horrobin, 63, was found deceased at the scene of the collision when local emergency personnel responded to a reported injury accident on Pendell Road, about seven tenths of a mile off Crown Point Vista Road. Her vehicle had rolled about 200 yards off the roadway, Douglas County Undersheriff Tyler I. Caille reported. The crash occurred about 8:19 p.m. July 21. The preliminary investigation showed speed was a contributing factor to the...
Grant County Health District has seen 168 new cases of Covid-19 since July 21. The county as a whole has had 1,177 people get the illness, 10 of whom have died. The Grand Coulee area of Grant County has six confirmed cases. State Secretary of Health John Wiesman updated his statewide Face Covering Order Friday to include anytime you leave your home. “If you are leaving your living space, even temporary living spaces, you should be wearing a face covering to protect those around you!” Grant County Health District explained on its website. Acc... Full story
Grand Coulee residents can now rent out their homes for a weekend if they want to. The Grand Coulee City Council approved an ordinance July 21 allowing short term rentals in residential zones within the city. The ordinance says that short-term rentals will “allow for increased tourist accommodations,” and that there is a need for that in the city. Short-term rentals are defined as rentals for less than 30 days and are also referred to as “vacation rentals,” or “nightly rentals.” The council discussed that Electric City doesn’t allow short-t...
A fire in the "Wilbur Hill" area, called the Neal Canyon fire, burned about 70 acres of grass brush and light timber on July 24. The fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, started on a hill near milepost 27 on SR- 174 at roughly 11 a.m. on July 24 and had "high spread potential," according to Veronica Randall, public information officer for the Colville-based Northeast Washington InterAgency Communication Center. The fire had been moving toward wheat fields above the hill, where...
Grand Coulee Police 7/18 - A man reported that someone had spun “brodies” in the parking lot of his Coulee Boulevard storage units, leaving marks in the gravel. - A 21-year-old man was reported to be overdosing at Coulee Playland, and CPR was being performed on him. The man was said to have possibly taken Percocet mixed with Fentynal. An officer administered two doses of Narcan, which brought back a pulse to the man and helped him start breathing again. Emergency medical services arrived to take the man to the hospital. -While looking into ano...
A family of kayakers paddles past the beach at Steamboat Rock State Park. This is Washington State Parks' "Paddle Safe Week," emphasizing safe practices in paddle sports, which are growing rapidly in popularity - especially kayaking and stand-up paddling. Only 23% of kayakers and 31% of stand-up paddlers have considered taking formal training to further their skills, something State Parks strongly recommends. - Gwen Hilson photo...
A wildfire burning in the "Wilbur Hill" area, near mile post 27.5 on SR-174, is mostly contained, fire fighters say. The fire, which started roughly at 11 a.m. today, July 24, had been moving towards wheat fields above the hill, where firefighters concentrated their efforts. The fire is also approaching the highway, and firefighters are keeping an eye on it, with traffic being stopped and one lane of travel being allowed at a time. Grand Coulee Fire Chief Ryan Fish, serving as incident command... Full story
Update 3 p.m. 7/24/20: Level 3 evacuations have been lifted in the Nespelem-to-agency area today, but Level 2 Evacuation has been issued for the area north of Nespelem from the Catholic Cemetery to the Jackson Ranch off SR-155. People in that area are warned of “significant danger” and asked to “consider voluntarily relocating to a shelter or with family/friends outside of the affected area.” There’s a Red Flag Warning for fire weather today until 8 p.m. for gusty winds and low relative humidity...
The Grand Coulee Dam area has had an additional three cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the past few days. A July 20 update from the Grant County Health District said they received an additional 59 cases between the evening of July 17 and 5 p.m. on July 20, including one in the Grand Coulee area of Grant County. “There is widespread community spread in Grant County,” the district wrote in its daily report online Monday. “It is not limited to one employer, community or household.” They then received another 20 cases by 5 p.m. July 21, including ano... Full story
The upcoming school year will be a hybrid mix of online and in-school learning for most students, if plans in development at Grand Coulee Dam School District come to fruition amidst current uncertainties about timing and COVID-19. That was the topic of discussion at a Zoom school board meeting Monday night, which was well attended by staff, parents, and more. The superintendent and board of directors met in the library at Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High, passing a health screening before entering the building, wearing masks, keeping a... Full story
High school football, volleyball, and soccer will be played in the spring, rather than the fall. The executive board of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association made the decision July 21 in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The school year will break down into four WIAA seasons, with lower-risk sports able to occur earlier in the year, and higher risk sports starting later in the hopes that Washington counties by then will have moved into later phases in the Washington State Safe Start Recovery Plan. Depending on what phas... Full story
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
Two proposals for drive-through coffee stands are being considered by the town council in Coulee Dam, each by different would-be entrepreneurs who must navigate the murky waters of city and tribal regulations and interests. Dan Moomaw and Casey Garvin each attended a call-in city council meeting July 8 and may again be at tonight’s 6 p.m. call-in meeting (July 22). Moomaw has attended several this year, expressing frustration at not being able to meet in person and lay out plans for discussion. Garvin last week pulled out a 2018 business p...