News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Area AA Meetings AA meetings are held Monday through Saturday at the Vets Center in Electric City. A noon meeting is held on Wednesdays. Call Paul at 631-4551. New Hope Group meetings are held Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at the Vets Center. These are open and non-smoking. In Nespelem, the group Bound and Determined holds its meetings Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the Catholic Church. Contact Myrna at 634-4921 for more information. Food Bank Open Care & Share Food Bank regular hours are Fridays 1-3 p.m. Questions call Pastor Shawn at 633-2566. Attention...
Snapping in place some of the final panels, Workers for WTI Inc. near completion of a new roof on the Grand Coulee Dam School District's CTE building in Coulee Dam Monday. They will start on another job on the Alternative Learning Environment building at the former middle school in Grand Coulee within a few days. - Scott Hunter photo...
After 26 years in Las Vegas law enforcement and another five in the in security and investigations at a resort there, Mike Eylar feels "It's good to be home," he said. Now retired, he'd like to see if he can make a contribution, so he's running for the mayoral seat being left open by Mayor Paul Townsend's decision not to run again. Eylar is one of three candidates for the job hoping to make it through the primary election ending Aug. 1 to make it to the general in November. He faces Kim...
American Rescue Plan Act money will round out what had been another shortfall in funds intended to get a new building constructed for the fire department in Elmer City. The final $150,000 was pledged by Okanogan County commissioners last week after Jimmer Tillman, public works superintendent, and Kelly Ross, the town clerk, had appealed to them June 26 to ask for help overcoming the shortfall. Okanogan County Fire Protection District 2 parks some fire trucks outside, which is bad for the equipment. Two years ago, they started seeking funding...
The new superintendent at the Grand Coulee Dam School District has set a schedule to be available on one Tuesday a month for either morning coffee or evening pizza to sit down and chat. It’s something he has done in other districts with some success, Superintendent Rod Broadnax said when he dropped off a flyer at The Star with a schedule through next May. “Parent & Community Engagement Opportunities with the Superintendent” will offer coffee at 10 a.m. for an hour. The first one is set for Aug. 29. Broadnax said it will likely take place at Vo...
Two local police departments will hold separate events to get together with citizens for some fun on the same date. “National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live,” explains the website that promotes the event that started in 1984. It’s always on the first Tuesday in August. Coulee Dam Police Department will hold their event at Mason City Memorial Park on Mead Way Aug. 1 beginning at 5 p.m. Mead...
A local group made it their mission last month to teach people in Zambia how to put on what many in this country grew up taking for granted: Vacation Bible School. The team of 15 from the Coulee Dam/Almira Community Church left for Lusaka, Zambia June 13, led by Mike and Michele Dowlen and Danny Stone, and included Ethan and Rachel Harris, Derrick Johnson, Isaiah Marconi, Pepper Magoon, Kosumi Carson, Rachael Dowlen, Billie Wheeler, Megan Dowlen, Shawna Dowlen, Cassy Douglas and Kenia Orth....
Due to extreme conditions, all fires at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area were prohibited as of 12:01 am, Friday, July 14, until further notice, the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation said last week. No open flames are permitted, including all fires in National Park Service-provided fire rings and boxes, shoreline fires, charcoal fires, tiki torches, incense burners, candles, pellet smokers, and propane campfires. Only self-contained propane or gas stoves and lanterns are allowed during the full fire ban. For the most current information...
Rod Broadnax concluded a busy week at his new job with a report to the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors, when he was sworn in as the new superintendent of the district. Broadnax told the board he’d met with several teachers and other staff members during the week at their request. “All meetings were very collaborative and very supportive,” he said. The administrative team will be studying a book this year, he informed the board. “Is my School Better Because I lead it?” by...
The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a Red Flag Warning for much of this region for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect from 2 p.m. Sunday to 11 p.m. Monday. A Red Flag Warning means critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will be shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. * Affected Area: Fire Weather Zone 705, the foothills of the Central Washington Cascades;... Full story
Sewer rates will likely go up in Electric City after the city council approved a funding package obtained by Grand Coulee to redesign and refurbish the wastewater treatment plant they both use. A grant/loan package from the Washington State Dept. of Ecology will fund the final design stage of the project for $1.452 million in engineering bills from Gray & Osborn, Inc., Electric City’s share of which is about $268,620. The total project cost is projected at over $12 million. The cities are looking at a completion date of 2027 or 2028. Loan p...
At the conclusion of Saturday afternoon's Grand Entry under the arbor at the Colville Tribes' Celebration Grounds, royalty and honored dancers in regalia stop at the center pole with the eagle staff bearing an MIA flag at center, an American flag at left and the flag of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation at right, flanked to its right by Joy Abrahamson, Miss Colville Confederated Tribes and visiting royalty. About 300 dancers took the floor that afternoon, one observer...
To enforce or not to enforce was the question Tuesday night as Electric City officially entered the dog days of summer. The city, it seems, has been sending letters to several residents about the city’s pet code, many of whom have been ignoring them, some by a wide margin of error. The city gets complaints, has tried to persuade owners into compliance through other means, and it’s now down to writing tickets, but city employees wanted some guidance on how hard-nosed they should be about it. City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal gave the council exa...
It began with a roadside fire July 5, along SR-155 south of Electric City where a small blaze burned grasses both sides of the highway near jeopardizing homes. In the following days, various agencies in the region would call for immediate evacuations of areas where a wildfire had started quickly. Thunderstorms with multiple lightning strikes didn't help amid conditions the National Weather Service had predicted would include low relative humidity with stiffer winds, calling for a "Fire Weather...
An Elmer City man has been sentenced to five years in prison for selling drugs from his home to a young woman who was found dead from an overdose the next day. Andre Pierre Picard, 67, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to Distribution of Heroin and Distribution of Methamphetamine, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington announced June 29 in a press release. United States District Court Judge Thomas O. Rice imposed a sentence of 60 months in federal custody to be followed by five years of supervised r...
A fairly heavy rain storm, with lightening is head into the area right now. Staying inside and unplugging electronics are good advice. Here's a screenshot of lightning strikes in the area a few minutes ago.... Full story
The crowd watches the fireworks off the top of Grand Coulee Dam, culminating the Festival of America Tuesday night, July 4. — Scott Hunter photo...
Coulee Dam doesn't do enough to get property owners to control weeds, and neither does Okanogan County. That's the assessment of Councilmember Keith St Jeor, who complained about no enforcement despite a recent increase in his property taxes, which he said supposedly includes payment for weed control. "That place across the street from me ... has been treated by the town like a joke" for the 21 years he's lived in his home," St. Jeor said at the June 28 council meeting. Thinking he paid...
Coulee Dam’s city council unanimously passed a resolution June 28 intending it to put a hold on any enforcement against so called short-term rentals of private property, following a plea from the owner of one such property two weeks earlier. Coulee Dam doesn’t have an ordinance specifically making such an enterprise illegal, but it’s also not specifically allowed in its zoning codes either, which distinguish between residential and commercial zones. At least two houses in east Coulee Dam are advertised on Airbnb, a site that handles the trans...
A wildfire 10 miles southwest of Twin Lakes on the Colville Reservation had burned 33 acres since Thursday, while 97 firefighters are working on it. The Gold Mountain Ridge fire was first reported at 3:23 p.m. June 29th. Crews responded to initial reports and resources have been added to the response as the situation has developed. The fire is burning in steep, uneven terrain with high numbers of hazard trees. The Northeast Washington Interagency Type 3 Incident Management Team #2 assumed command of the incident at 9 p.m. July 2. The Colville...
Retiring superintendent Paul Turner models a cap given him by the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors at Turner's final meeting June 26. Turner has served as superintendent since 2016 after a year as assistant principal. His tenure has not been without controversy, and the words on the cap reference a derogatory remark made in a letter to the editor. - Scott Hunter photo...
The Colville Tribes is saddened to announce the passing of Colville tribal descendant MaryJayn (MJ) Louise LaPlante. She was 16 years old, born on January 3, 2007. MaryJayn LaPlante was a junior at Wilbur High School. She served as the Vice President of the Keller Youth Council and demonstrated great leadership in her position. Some of her notable accomplishments were organizing the Back to School Clothing Drive for the Keller school and the Colville Business Council candidate forum. MaryJayn...
Early Monday morning, someone stole a tractor from the Spring Canyon Cemetery. The thief was there for at least 40 minutes, apparently breaking into one building through an old, wooden panel covering a door window, then probably taking keys found inside to open another building that housed the tractor, a 1996 John Deere 1070 loader with a backhoe attachment. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is hoping the pickup may look familiar to someone, so they put photos on a Facebook page and asked for...
Dry, windy weather expected for parts of the region on Saturday prompted a “Fire Weather Watch” from the National Weather Service in Spokane. The caution was issued Wednesday afternoon for Saturday in the Okanogan Valley, Central Washington Cascade Foothills, the Waterville Plateau and Western Columbia Basin areas. Winds are expected to reach 15 mph with gusts up to 25, but relative humidity will be low in the 10-20% range. That combination means fires can easily start and rapidly spread. “A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weath... Full story
A man who has been operating his house on Central Drive as a short-term rental took exception to a cease-and-desist letter from the city that said that activity is illegal. Danny Wiyrick didn't back down at a city council meeting June 14, had his arguments ready to go point by point, and had council members wanting to find a way to make it legal before the end of the meeting. But tonight (June 28) they consider a draft resolution declaring a moratorium on such rentals as Wiyrick's Airbnb...