News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Those excited for a park in Electric City will have to wait a while longer before park details and construction details are finalized. The Electric City council chose not to accept a bid on the proposed Ice Age Park at their Jan. 14 meeting, hoping to get construction costs down. The lowest bid for the project came in at approximately $465,000 from Spokane-based Terrabella, Inc., roughly $80,000 over the city’s proposed 2020 budget for the park. The project is to be paid, in part, with some of the $257,500 in grant money from the Washington S...
Lucas Bird has been racing since he started with go-karts at age 6 and has been winning championships ever since. The 2018 Lake Roosevelt graduate won the NASCAR WHELEN All-American Series Stateline Modifieds championship at Stateline Speedway in Post Falls, Idaho, Sept. 14, 2019. Throughout the season, Bird won two races, including the championship, placed second in two of the races, and didn't finish the other two. Bird and his team were surprised to be the point leaders and win the championsh...
Rupe chosen as mayor pro tempore Electric City Councilmember Bob Rupe was chosen as mayor pro tempore at the council’s Jan. 14 meeting. Rupe would serve as mayor in the absence of Mayor Diane Kohout....
The man in charge of sports in the local school district took on an extra volunteer role Monday night. Tim Rasmussen stepped into a vacant commissioner spot for the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District on Jan. 20 at a special meeting of the district commissioners. The spot had been vacant since September, when former commissioner Josh Vega joined the Air Force. "We've been looking for somebody to fill the shoes," Chairman Kevin Porch said. Rasmussen, who is the athletic director for the...
A federal court sentenced a man to two years in prison for beating his girlfriend, a U.S. Attorney’s office said last week. U.S. District Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson sentenced Louis Mark Clark, 28, Nespelem, to 24 months after Clark had pleaded guilty last September to “Crime on Indian Reservation - Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury,” a press release said. The sentence is to be followed by a three-year term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison. The case was investigated by Colville Tribal Police and the F...
A 41-year-old Almira man was booked into Lincoln County Jail on several charges stemming from a fraud investigation by the county sheriff’s office, Sheriff Wade Magers stated Saturday. David W. McCoy was booked into jail Friday on charges of first- and second-degree theft, money laundering and first-degree identity theft, jail records show. McCoy was still in jail on Tuesday with a bond amount set at $15,000. His arrest followed an investigation by Deputy Jon Evans, who had received a complaint from an Almira resident that nearly $10,000 had b...
Grand Coulee Police 1/13 - A woman reported losing her ID, kept in a cigarette pack, somewhere between the Electric City Bar & Grill and her home. She told police she’d already ordered a replacement, but wanted to report losing it in case someone found it and used it for bad purposes. 1/16 - Police were told about a Facebook post threatening towards the chief of police and other city employees. 1/17 - A suspicious person with a hoodie and bag was reported on Grand Coulee Avenue. Police were unable to locate anyone matching the description. - A...
As Initiative 976, the car tabs measure approved by voters in November, is held up in the State Supreme Court, Republicans proposed laws that would guarantee the $30 car tabs Washington voters approved. “It is just a clean $30 car tab,” said Sen Phil Fortunado, R-Auburn. “That’s what people voted for, that’s what we’re doing.” Unlike I-976, which is facing a court fight over its constitutionality, Fortunado said his sponsored bill, Senate Bill 6350, is simple in nature and will likely not be challenged in court. “It removes any ambiguity about...
The sale of the Banks Lake Golf Course to Rattlesnake Ridge, Inc. has fallen through. The terms of the $1.8 million sale of the golf course and surrounding land, as well as equipment and buildings on 189.3 acres, was approved by Port District 7, which owns the course, back in June of 2019. A $10,000 check for earnest money towards the sale is now forfeited to the district since a deadline of Dec. 31, 2019 has passed. Port District 7 Commission President Jim Keene told The Star that he wants to assure members of the golf course, and visitors as...
Bill Dunlap was appointed to the Elmer City council on Jan. 9 to a seat that had been vacant for over a year. Dunlap's term lasts until the end of 2021, when he'll be up for reelection. Dunlap told the council he had grown up spending his summers in Elmer City, and after retiring in 2015 from his job as a television engineer in Lewiston, Idaho, moved back to town. Councilmember Don Bonertz said he has known Dunlap since Dunlap was a kid. Immediately after Dunlap was sworn in and took his seat...
The Senior Meals Program wants you to know they have food to eat at the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center for people of all ages, and they'll deliver to seniors who qualify for delivery. The home delivery part of the program will deliver to those 60 and older and homebound in some way. There are no income restrictions for the program, which collects a suggested donation of $4 per meal for seniors and $8 per meal for everyone else, although seniors who can't afford a donation won't be turned down....
Recycling containers are now in place at the Delano Regional Transfer Station to take in plastics, paper, tin cans, aluminum cans, and even some electronics. One of the new containers placed outside the gates of the Delano Regional Transfer Station as part of Sunrise Disposals new contract with area towns accepts mixed paper, #1 and #2 plastics, rinsed out tin cans, and rinsed out aluminum cans. Another container placed outside the transfer station's gates is for "e-cycling," and accepts old TVs...
Dale Rey, along with the mayor and two other council members, took the oath of office and accepted a seat at the council table in Coulee Dam, Jan. 8. Rey was appointed by the council Dec. 11 to the seat vacated by Marcia Warnecke last fall. As of Jan. 1, the council is still short one member as long-time council member Ben Alling did not seek re-election last year, but he took a seat in the audience last week. Rey had plenty of questions during the 30-minute meeting, including about the town-own...
A new Electric City mayor, as well as four new city council members, were sworn into office on Jan. 4 during a retreat in Ephrata. City Administrator Russ Powers swore in the new mayor, Diane Kohout, and new council members Cate Slater, Bob Rupe, Brian Buche, and Cheryl Hoffman during their retreat, which was also attended by current Councilmember Aaron Derr. "It was a day full of information and everyone greatly appreciated it," Kohout said in a note to The Star. Kohout said that City Attorney...
Nespelem Community Center offering shelter from cold Those battling the cold in the Nespelem area can contact the community center there at 509-634-2370 or 509-978-9564 if they need a place to warm up. “The center is open until 8:00 p.m., but willing to open as needed!” a post on the community center’s Facebook page reads. Sgt. Gary Moore of the Grand Coulee Police Department recommends those battling the cold in the coulee area to contact local churches to see what kind of assistance they may be able to provide. Elmer City’s rates go up Elme...
It's a little easier in the Coulee now to get a Discover Pass to park at Washington State Parks. An automated pay station located at Northrup Point along SR-155, in the same area as Northrup Canyon and Steamboat Rock, accepts credit and debit cards to buy annual Discover Passes, day-use Discover Passes, as well as boat launch permits and more. The pay station is located in the parking lot at Northrup Point near the boat launch there. An annual Discover Pass cost $30 for the year; a day-use...
OLYMPIA — Residents and visitors will get a break if lawmakers approve a proposal to do away with Discover Pass fees for using state parks. Senate Minority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville and Sen. Randi Becker, R-Eatonville, have co-sponsored SB 6174, which would no longer require park visitors to pay $10 for a one-time parking permit, or buy the $30 annual parking Discover Pass. Sen. Schoesler is critical of the tax proposals voted in last year’s legislative session. He said the results of the tax advisory votes on last November’s ballo...
Grand Coulee Police 1/6 - A man and his aunt separated for the night after yelling at each other at their apartment on Hill Street. The aunt was mad he was smoking marijuana in the apartment. - A man and woman on Burdin Boulevard were said to be too intoxicated to make sense of why broken things were on the floor when an officer spoke to them following a report of a possible fight in progress. The man said he was just making dinner. 1/7 - A woman who was paying rent to live in a shed on Dill Avenue agreed to move into a motorhome the next day a...
The Colville Indian Reservation is banning single use plastic bags, and the state of Washington is looking at doing the same. A survey on the topic asks our readers what they think, results of which will be used in a future Star article. Take the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/L7YTQRD...
A group of intrepid individuals celebrated New Year's Day in the cold waters of Lake Roosevelt at Spring Canyon at noon. A dozen braved the water in polar plunge that lasted just seconds but generated a lot of shivering excitement. A few went all the way under, like Terry Owen, whose face upon surfacing says it all. Kayaker Ron Hardin joined in for his first float of 2020 after a quick launch from the boat ramp. - Scott Hunter photos...
Tourist and locals alike might learn a little history by stopping at North Dam Park. Framed by basalt pillars, a kiosk detailing the Coulee Corridor National Scenic Byway was placed at North Dam Park in late December 2019 and details some of the history of the Ice Age Floods, the Grand Coulee Dam, recreation in the area, and more. Birdie Hensley is secretary for the Coulee Corridor Consortium, which spearheaded the effort to get the sign installed, which she said they have been working on for...
Keller Ferry resumed service Monday Keller Ferry service, on SR 21, resumed service at 6 a.m. on Monday after a shutdown five weeks earlier for repairs. The M/V Sanpoil was removed from service starting Wednesday, Dec. 4 for repairs to strengthen the hull. During the course of that work, State Dept. of Transporation contractors discovered that both propellers and drive shafts on the M/V Sanpoil needed to be refurbished. Initially, the run had been planned to reopen Monday, Dec. 23. State to use helicopters to capture mule deer Starting in...
Local artist and Colville Tribes member Virgil "Smoker" Marchand is one of four recipients of a 2020 Community Spirit Award from a national organization. "These artists embody their People's cultural assets in their creations and their way of life," the the First Peoples Fund's website says about the award recipients. Marchand was nominated by Kenneth "Butch" Stanger, who has known Marchand for over 60 years. "Smoker may be local to us, but his talent should be shared with the entire country,"...
After organizing a search the day before the new year started, Colville Tribes authorties announced later that day that the body of the man missing since Dec. 24 had been found. Chief Henry Hix of the Colville Tribal Natural Resource Enforcement Department identified the body of 41-year-old Leonard “Junior” Simpson Tuesday afternoon. Simpson was found by two volunteers of the search and rescue team organized by Hix. “We are thankful to all the volunteers that showed up to help with the search and rescue,” Hix stated. “Although it was not the e...
EPHRATA — Three of the world’s top bond-rating agencies have affirmed strong credit ratings for Grant PUD, as the utility readies to pay down debt for long-term savings that will help keep electric rates low, the utility said Tuesday. The PUD’s $1.3 billion in debt was a point of contention in the 2018 commissioner election when one incumbent lost insisting it was reasonable level for the utility to carry that helped to keep rates lower. The high ratings enable Grant PUD to take fuller advantage of current market conditions to refinance $200...