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 San Poil ferry, which crosses Lake Roosevelt between Keller and Wilbur on SR-21, temporarily went out of service Sunday about 1 pm with mechanical issues, the state Transportation Dept said. It’s out of service until further notice.... Full story
The National Weather Service says drivers should watch for black ice this morning: “Areas of light snow are moving through northeast and east-central Washington and the northern Idaho Panhandle this morning. Although little more than a dusting is expected in most locations, sub- freezing temperatures have allowed for areas of black ice to develop on untreated surfaces. If traveling this morning, be prepared for slick spots.... Full story
Tension simmered last week during a discussion of what staffing direction Grand Coulee will ultimately take in staffing its wastewater treatment plant. Council members Anita Eylar and Ruth Dalton pressed others on which direction the council was leaning: filling the need with the city’s own employees or continuing to contract it out. The latter was the course the council took earlier this year, but only on an emergency basis. The city’s current contract with a union allows for contracting out city jobs in an emergency only, city officials sai...
From left, Anita Eylar, Marie Anderson, Stan Cass, Lonna Bussert are pleased with the Moose Lodge's entry into the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce's Scarecrow Trail. The chamber is asking people to vote for their favorites. Maps for the entries are on page 10, along with a website and QR codes. We found most of them and include photos in this issue, plus a few more not entered but worthy of it. - submitted photo...
Brian Buche sees himself as a voice for the community. Running for re-election to the Electric City Council seat he's held since 2020, full-time UPS driver and now part-time farmer says he takes pride in talking one-on-one with people. "Anybody can approach me and tell me what it is they think or they don't like or whatever," he said. "I'm an open book." Elected when council members at the time were taking considerable heat for some controversial projects, Buche said listening to people is...
Levi Johnson sees public safety as the most pressing issue facing Electric City. So do his fellow officers. Johnson is a police officer in Grand Coulee, as are two other candidates running against incumbents for Electric City council seats. Johnson, who joined the Grand Coulee Police Department in 2015, says that's no accident. When the Electric City Council decided to change its police services contractor, choosing Coulee Dam over Grand Coulee last year, they took notice. "I think that's kind...
Masonry workers in Elmer City Tuesday work on the walls of a new garage to house fire engines that Okanogan County Fire District 2 has been working to get out of the weather for at least two years. The new 2,268-square-foot, cinderblock building with three bay doors will cost nearly $1.3 million, mostly state funds. Okanogan County commissioners also kicked in $143,000 of American Rescue Plan money to get the project fully funded. - Scott Hunter photo...
Most streets in Electric City could be in for some upgrades if the grants come through, a long-hoped-for waterfront trail should be built by late next summer, and the city’s corroding sewer pipes might be saved with a lining for over $1 million, a small group of citizens attending a meeting at the fire hall learned Tuesday night. Trent Ward, of Century West Engineering, the city’s consultant, said the 8-foot-wide trail along SR-155 from Coulee Playland to North Dam Park will cost about $870,000, including a two-foot gravel pathway on each side...
If you were planning to rent out a shipping container or RV on your property in Coulee Dam, or use it for events such as weddings, sounds like you’re out of luck, but the town council heard last week exactly how short rentals will be allowed and under what circumstances. Mike Manning, of SCJ Alliance went through a long list of requirements Wednesday night during a public hearing before the regular council meeting, seemed like common sense, but some added restrictions you might not think about. Among those are an annual requirement to pass a...
Maddy Babler pulls the cart with sister Lillian and cousin, Jackson Alling, helping to gather pumpkins Saturday at the Full Circle Acres Pumpkin Patch north of Almira on Old Coulee Road. The patch contains giant sunflowers and corn, too, in an effort to add a bit of a maze experience to outings, said April Pinar at the farm. She said the coming weekend will be their final one open this season. - Scott Hunter photo...
An obsolete recall sign and that one about the ugliest town in the west came up as subjects of poor taste at last night’s Electric City meeting. A woman asked if the city might be able to encourage a sign seeking a recall of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to be brought down now that he’s not running for re-election. She said she’d had company recently who commented on it. “It’s just bad taste,” said the woman, who did not identify herself. Mayor Diane Kohout said the city could contact the property owner to ask about it. The woman also asked about...
A local gas station and convenience store is listed as the retailer that sold a winning lottery ticket in September. Coulee Gas, on Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee, sold one of two tickets that drew $50,000 prizes Sept. 20, according to the state Lottery Commission’s website. That ticket, however, is not listed on a separate page of unclaimed prizes, suggesting the lucky winner has already cashed in. From Sept. 16 through October 11, Washingtonians won 21 large prizes ranging from $50,000 to $1million, according to the site. “While the $1.76 bill...
The good news is “we have good people in the right place” at Lake Roosevelt Schools, a consultant hired to coach principals in the school district told the board of directors Tuesday night, but “we have our work cut out.” Mike Horn had been working in the district for a 10-day period of coaching principals, also talking with staff to get input. In the course of discovering the district’s needs, he said, he’d learned that 78 percent of students at the school miss 10 percent of classes. “That’s daunting,” he told the board. Hiring Horn was one of...
A discussion on a persistent problem with vaping at school turned into an opening conversation on how to solve that and other discipline problems for some students at Lake Roosevelt Schools. Layla Flett, a student representative on the board of directors for the Grand Coulee Dam Area School District, cautioned the board and superintendent Tuesday night that some measures may not work as intended. The subject came up when Superintendent Rod Broadnax asked Flett how she thought the school year was going so far. Flett said the only real issue she...
A poplar tree glows on the edge of Banks Lake with its brilliant fall color under the bright blue sky of Oct. 4. See our weather forecast on page 3 for what to expect this week. - Scott Hunter photo...
Gone are the days when the area was served by two volunteer ambulance services, one in Coulee Dam, one in Grand Coulee, which now is the only one left. That’s getting to be a big job for the few volunteers left on the crew. And the city of Grand Coulee knows it’s picking up the whole tab. Grand Coulee Councilmember Tom Poplawski told local mayors at their Regional Board of Mayors meeting last week that the city would like them to start thinking about helping out with a specific portion of the cost. Every time an ambulance rolls out of the sta...
An agreement that lets the local community send trash to the local transfer station is in question because some of that trash comes from outside Grant County, where it ends up. The problem has to do with how state money is allocated down to counties for solid waste disposal. The Regional Board of Mayors first learned of the problem last month. Chairing the Oct. 4 meeting, Electric City Diane Kohout gave an update. As Grant County Solid Waste department was preparing a plan, they noticed that Coulee Dam was in their written plan, but Elmer City...
From left, Riley Ayling, Lola Yazzie, Carly Neddo, Raeley Portch, and Madelynn Carman pose in the school in their Barbie movie-themed clothes for "Dads versus Chads" day during spirit week, which wrapped up Friday at homecoming. More photos of homecoming are on page 6. - Natalie Kontos photo...
The Colville Tribes announced Monday it had released nearly two dozen buffalo onto the open range on the reservation "to live in the wild" and that they planned to release all 30 they were receiving from the Kalispel Tribe. The animals once lived by the millions, primarily in the central plains for North America, until they were nearly driven to extinction through uncontrolled hunting and a U.S. government policy of eradication tied to intentional harm against, and control of, tribes, according...
Old cars are becoming a problem in Coulee Dam, just one of many that are increasing because the city’s ordinances don’t wield enough clout, according to one city council member. Councilmember Keith St. Jeor said he gets complaints from people who know the city has laws on the books to keep unlicensed cars from accumulating on the streets but they see no enforcement. “We don’t have a fee or fine schedule,” St. Jeor said, urging the city to create one to blanket many ordinances with a progressively increasing cost per violation. St. Jeor said...
Running and kicking the ball can seem more important than putting it through a goal when you're 4 or 5 on soccer night. These kids in that age category in the Grand Coulee Dam Youth Soccer League demonstrated that at the former middle school Tuesday evening, where the kid-size goals sometimes got in the way. Parents watching from the sidelines seemed content to watch the energy get burned. - Scott Hunter photo...
Just after midnight Friday morning, campfires will be allowed on Lake Roosevelt again as the summer ban is lifted. Campfires will be allowed in established fire rings in campgrounds and day-use areas and on lakeshores below the high-water mark throughout Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. Charcoal grills will also be allowed, LRNRA said Tuesday. Regulations require beach campfires to be less than 3 feet in diameter and at least 10 feet from the nearest beach logs, structure, or vegetation. “In addition, do not use or create rock rings f...
The Washington State Department of Transportation and contractor crews will close a section of I-90 near Snoqualmie Pass for approximately one hour starting at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 5. During rock blasting closures, eastbound travelers will be stopped at milepost 63 and westbound travelers will be stopped at exit 70 near Easton....
James A. Fox, of Delano, said last week that he’d gotten a call from a number supposedly in Loon Lake asking for information on his Medicare card. He didn’t give it to them, which is what anyone should do who gets an incoming call — or any kind of contact — asking for such personal information. The call came through on his unlisted number and appeared to be coming from a number supposedly in Loon Lake, Washington. Fox reasoned that there likely was no place in Loon Lake big enough to be handling such business, and he noted the caller spoke w...
Rider Daisy Whitelaw leads Boss with an empty saddle but a hat on the saddle horn and a boot in the stirrup during the "Gathering of Life" for George Kohout Saturday at the Ridge Riders' arena as Marines fold an American flag up front. The memorial included a live "last call" from the dispatch center in Moses Lake for the former Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department chief, military honors, and remembrances of his dedication to the Ridge Riders and the Colorama Rodeo, and to the Rocky Mountain...