News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Saturday morning, volunteers for the Trees of Sharing began delivering bags of gifts all over the community for kids who might not have presents waiting for them otherwise. People had submitted recipient names, which were represented anonymously on tree ornament tags around town. People picked up the tags, then shopped for those individual kids, dropping off the presents. It's been a local tradition for 40 years. At the Grand Coulee Community Church, Linda Black said 90 percent of the presents...
Coulee Dam's Ferry Avenue, now devoid of trees on the city-owned planting strips, may soon have a couple dozen new trees planted, a city engineer said last week. She's working with the state Department of Natural Resources to apply for a grant for the project. The street's 90-year-old maples were cut down during a sidewalk replacement project. - Scott Hunter photo...
Tyler Donn went out on 88 percent of the fire calls to which the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department responded this year. Fred Netzel responded to 88 percent of the calls the ambulance service answered. Donn and Netzel each were recognized with a certificate for their dedicated service and responding to the most calls, at the department's annual Award and Holiday Dinner on Saturday at the fire hall. They were among several award recipients at the dinner. "Ayden Donn received a special...
Grant County Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny alert the Grant County media and healthcare community last week that the 2023/2024 respiratory virus season has arrived in Grant County. The rates of influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have been reliably increasing. COVID-19 virus presence in wastewater is also increasing globally and statewide. Also, the Grant County Health District (GCHD) was recently notified of the first confirmed influenza-associated death in the county this season, which occurred in an individual with...
The National Park Service (NPS) at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area seeks public input on replacing and improving houseboat docks at the Keller Ferry Marina to provide a safer and more diverse visitor use experience. NPS moved houseboat operations to the already congested Seven Bays Marina in 2017 when the Keller Ferry houseboat dock was destroyed in a storm. NPS proposes to improve the Keller Ferry Marina by replacing parts of the aged docks with houseboat and potentially short-term and transient moorage, as well as grading the marina...
People look over the art on display at Frank Andrews' table at the NW Native Winter Art Show & Celebration at the Lucy Covington Government Center near Nespelem Friday. Andrews has been using skateboards as a canvas lately. He and Niki Wippel hosted the event, which drew more than 30 artists and was supported by local business with donations. - Scott Hunter photo...
Grand Coulee Dam's Nathaniel "Nat" Washington Power Plant is lit cheerfully lately with yellow, red, green, and blue lights that reflect nicely off the waters of the Columbia River, churning after coming through those Third Powerhouse generators. The completion of that plant in 1980 made Grand Coulee Dam the largest electric power producing plant in the nation, with a capacity to produce 17 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. - Scott Hunter photo...
Grand Coulee will offer a new police chief a starting salary range from $95,000 to $110,000 a year. That was decided at the Nov. 21 city council meeting to prepare for the coming retirement of Chief John Tufts, who is currently paid a salary of about $127,200 per year, the mayor said. That outpaces salaries for chiefs in many other cities of similar size in Washington, according to Councilmember Anita Eylar, who looked up several with populations around 1,000 currently paying in a range of $4,800-$6,100. Others pointed out that population size...
Elmer City residents should look in their utility bills for a link to a survey that is the first step in the town's planning efforts toward coming up with a plan to improve its park or outdoor recreation offerings, and apply for funds to make them real. In addition to the online link, paper copies will be available at the town hall. "It is important that the Town receive a high return rate in order to accurately assess community desires," a press release on the subject states. "It is fine for...
Six local municipalities will receive nearly $3.9 million in funding help for street projects in 2024, having been selected by the state Transportation Improvement Board, the agency announced this week. Coulee Dam will get more than $1 million for two projects: $546,185 will go for chip sealing many streets in the city. Another $486,406 will go to wheelchair ramp upgrades in multiple locations. Electric City will get $155,000 for street maintenance. Grand Coulee will get $126,875 for Spokane Way improvements from Alcan Road to East Grand...
From left, Grand Coulee Fire Chief Ryan Fish, Ambulance Chief Rick Paris, Santa Claus (Chris Holman), Firefighter and EMT Merlee Liberty, and officer Matt Gilbert at the Coulee Wall Variety Store during last week's Shop with a Cop event, organized by Gilbert to help kids see police in a supportive, non-threatening setting. It was part of a day spent with kids. "We started the day at the Library, with GC Police and GCV Fire Fighters reading with the kids and showing off our Truck," the fire...
A plan to aid the police department in Grand Coulee was awarded a large federal grant that may help pay for a school resource officer, training, community engagement, and more. It’s the plan that officer Matt Gilbert pitched to his city council last week after learning the Justice Department grant he’d applied for last May had actually been awarded, the same plan he put forth to the Grand Coulee Dam School District board Nov. 13, a plan for which they would each have to significantly adjust their budgets. Gilbert told both the council and the...
Sticking their necks out in a "turkey trot" at Steamboat Rock State Park on Thanksgiving morning, Samantha Thomsen, left, with Natalie Dennis and Tarina Mott sport inflatable turkey outfits (OK, they're chickens, but close enough) at the 5K (3.1 miles) race/walk where 50 or 60 participants enjoyed a perfectly blue sky and good weather. The event was organized by Run the Dam as a fundraiser and also accepted donations for a local cancer-support charity. - Scott Hunter photo...
Ken Stanger is retiring from the school board after 14 years and received official thanks for his service at Monday night's meeting. Rich Black, president of the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors, presented Stanger with a framed letter of commendation Monday night at their regular meeting. "Your service has had a lasting, positive impact on the local community, the Grand Coulee Dam School District staff, the parents of district students, and most importantly, the students that...
BEES, BEES, BEES. When you think of bees what do you think of? Honeybees? Bumble bees? Or maybe yellow jackets? I refer to native bees. The ones you usually don't think about that do the major pollinating work for us on native plants and cultivated ones, too. This year, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) initiated the first-ever Washington Bee Atlas and the second Bee Atlas in the United States. The first Bee Atlas is in Oregon. The Washington Bee Atlas is an ambitious...
Electric City’s council last week raised questions and concerns about the funding and staffing of the only ambulance service for the area. The service is run by the city of Grand Coulee’s volunteer fire department, which depends on voluntary staffers responding to calls. The city council’s attention was drawn to the question a month earlier when Grand Coulee City Councilmember Tom Poplawski visited to ask Electric City to consider contributing toward the costs of calls that Grand Coulee can’t bill for because it doesn’t result in a patient t...
A police officer pitched to the school board the idea of writing grants to get a “resource officer” into Lake Roosevelt Schools. Matt Gilbert, an officer with the Grand Coulee Police Department, spoke to the Grand Coulee Dam School District directors Nov. 13 after having met with Superintendent Rod Broadnax earlier. Gilbert said he’d actually written a grant application earlier that could have paid for new locks the board had just learned, in previous presentation that night, would cost the district about $28,000. “We were denied it based upon...
A deer settled down for a morning nap on the median of Coulee Dam's Douglas Avenue watches a man with a noisy leaf blower cleaning up leaves from the city's trees last week. Leaf pickup has been going on most of the month in the city. - Scott Hunter photo...
A local chef approached the school board last week about the possibility of using a school classroom to teach cooking classes to the public for a fee if it wouldn’t go against a district policy. Patty Oliver, owner of PK’s Culinary, told Grand Coulee Dam School District directors she would start with one-day cooking workshops on “endless topics,” including, for example, cooking pastas, sauces, sushi, appetizers and more. “I’m just looking for a space to do it,” she said, and teacher Susan Duclos’ room at the school is the best she’s found in...
Average gasoline prices in Washington have fallen 7.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.36 Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 2,666 stations in Washington. Prices in Washington are 41.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 22.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 6.9 cents in the last week and stands at $4.28 per gallon. According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Washington was priced at $3.43 Sunday, while the most expensive was $5.62, a d...
Mist rising off Lake Roosevelt is backlit by the sun rising behind Grand Coulee Dam Tuesday morning. - Scott Hunter photo...
Construction work at the Grand Coulee Dam Fire Station is closing in on the final few months of construction activities. As of Oct. 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said Monday, the bulk of the electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and the fire protection systems had been installed. The exterior concrete masonry veneer and the polished concrete floors also had been completed. Focus areas for November will be the remaining interior work, terrazzo floors, exterior...
A local lending business is looking for a larger space to operate and is eyeing Coulee Dam’s “Community Building” as a future possibility. Jordan Ruiz, the newly appointed executive director of the Northwest Native Development Fund approached the city last week about the building that houses, a closed movie theater, an operating bowling alley, the Rio Grande restaurant, and the city’s fire department. She said NNDF wouldn’t need any of the occupied spaces but would like to explore altering the space the theater used to operate in to accommoda...
Northwest Native Development Fund (NNDF) announced Monday that Jordan Ruiz is the non-profit lender's new executive director. "I am honored to have been chosen as the Executive Director of NNDF," Ruiz said in statement issued Monday. "I will work tirelessly to uphold the integrity of this organization. I will lead NNDF with empathy and compassion. The amazing staff at NNDF will continue to work toward and never lose sight of our mission." NNDF's mission is to foster economic and financial...
Oakleigh Dice makes her best 4-year-old smile with "Elsa" Sunday at a party for her at Siam Palace before her next-day departure for Disneyworld in Florida. The Make-A-Wish foundation made that happen at her request, and she wanted to be able to dance with Elsa, the Disney character from the animated movie Frozen. Just in case that would not be possible in Florida, Elsa came to the Siam on Sunday. - Scott Hunter photo...
