News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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A slide of rocks and mud covered Peter Dan Road about a half mile from SR-155 Tuesday morning, forcing a detour until mid-afternoon and recalling a massive effort to keep the hillside from sloughing off. Okanogan County Emergency Management texted an alert at 6:40 a.m. to its subscribers, letting them know of the road closure as people got ready to go to work or school. Peter Dan runs between Elmer City and Keller, plus the Buffalo Lake area. The road remained closed until about 2:15 p.m. The sl...
Looking at something from a different angle can reveal much that hadn’t been noticed before. That principle may have been evident at a school board meeting Monday night. School leaders made plans Monday to systematically consider student opinion in coming meetings, the result of advocacy on the school board by two new student representatives. Appointed as ex-officio representatives in October 2022, Juniors Layla Flett and Celeste LaPlace have been discussing with other Grand Coulee Dam School District board members ways to get student c...
After two years of an online and hybrid Legislature that severely restricted legislators' direct contact during the pandemic, the House and Senate chambers were full of people reuniting and greeting each other. at the opening of the state Legislature Jan. 9. A main issue at the start of the session was moving past the COVID-19 pandemic and adopting new rules and procedures that allows for in-person and remote participation. President of the Senate Denny Heck, the lieutenant governor, said...
About three dozen people fish through the ice near the feeder canal that fills Banks Lake Friday afternoon about 4 p.m. Although the cold weather that formed the ice had been gone for days, it had remained strong enough to attract the crowd. They made the trek across the lake from Coulee Playland to set up their camps. - Scott Hunter photo...
Washington’s ‘tripledemic’ is far from over. As COVID-19, flu and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) continue to surge, hospitals and health care providers are reaching capacity. In Washington State, flu deaths are at higher rates than are usually seen at this point in the season (40 people, including three children, as of December 10). High levels of respiratory illnesses could continue for a while. As a physician with Community Health Plan of Washington, I urge you to consider the following tips to ward off illness this winter and sprin...
New rate will add approximately $3.24 to the monthly household bill In a measure to help Grant PUD withstand the impact of inflation, Grant PUD’s commissioners on Dec. 13 approved a plan for new electricity rates in 2023. The new rates take effect April 1. This is the first power rate increase for Grant PUD customers since 2018. The overall increase of 3% will be allocated partly on Grant PUD’s cost to serve each rate group. The 3% increase and careful financial planning will help the utility withstand the 8.7% impact of inflation to its 202...
Update: The road has reopened, an update from the county said at 2:15 p.m. Peter Dan Road is blocked by mud and rocks about a half mile off SR-155 this morning. At 6:40 a.m., Okanogan County Emergency Management sent out a text message advising drivers to take Buffalo Lake Road as a detour....
In 30-degree weather New Year's Day a larger group of intrepid people gathered than at last year's annual Polar Plunge event at Spring Canyon when the temperature was in the single digits. Five plungers and five kayakers braved the water with looks on their faces ranging from startled to determined. - Scott Hunter photos...
Park district commissioners last month approved a proposal for vendors to address in bidding on the maintenance work for North Dam Park for the year. The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District maintains and manages the park on about eight acres of land that belongs to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation below North Dam. Commissioners Dec. 14 approved as to form a document that lays out the scope of work they expect will be done for up to $25,000 in 2023, including everything from mowing the lawns...
Here’s a look at the most popular stories in The Star over the last year. January Stolen car found abandoned at Keller Ferry after chase A stolen Cadillac that police stopped following because of a new state law was found at the Keller Ferry Marina the next day anyway. Washington State House Bill 1054 took effect in 2021 and limits, among other things, the circumstances in which an officer can pursue a vehicle in a chase, including circumstances related to probable cause, weather conditions, the safety of others, and more. A local officer h...
Covid is apparently on the move locally. Coulee Medical Center cautioned community members Monday that although all services are still available, covid-related staffing problems may cause delays in service. “We are now in the midst of a COVID 19 outbreak in the community which is affecting the operations of Coulee Medical Center,” CMC posted on their Facebook page Monday. CEO Ramona Hicks said CMC has had nine staff members out in just four days after testing positive, far more than they’ve had in months. “I think there’s just a lot more covi...
With temperatures near 0 last Thursday, two leaks on one drum gate on top of Grand Coulee Dam build ice formations as they spray. Ice built up on much of the dam during recent frigid weather but was crashing to the river below on Monday when temperatures were in the high 30s. See our upcoming weather chart on page 2. - Scott Hunter photo...
Grand Coulee’s city council passed its budget reluctantly last week, with one council member warning that the city would need to find another $50,000 by year’s end or layoffs would be necessary. “I wanted to have a balanced budget that we could vote on,” said Councilmember Tom Poplawski at the council’s meeting Dec. 20. “But after all the discussions and all of the meetings, looking at numbers and analysis of it all, we can’t get there unless we were to lay people off. That’s the bottom line. We’ve chosen not to do that.” The city’s 2023 bud...
Utility crews for Grant County PUD worked through the extreme weather last week as power outages affected their customers from Royal City to Grand Coulee. With temperatures plunging to the well-below-zero range, then frozen rain falling across the region, the National Weather Service warned people to prepare for power outages. One hit the Electric City-Grand Coulee area on Christmas night, apparently around 8 p.m. and took until morning to repair. Customers on the PUD Facebook page asked for...
STCU has committed to a $56,000 investment in Almira School District as part of its recovery from a devastating 2021 fire. In an agreement with the school district, STCU will cover full costs of an external reader board and two gymnasium scoreboards at the rebuilt Almira Elementary and Middle School. The building, which is set to open in September 2023, is a replacement for the 80-year-old school that burned on October 9, 2021. Immediately following the fire, school districts, agencies, nonprofits and individuals rushed to respond. Within...
Several people reported hearing a loud boom Monday night in west Coulee Dam, some speculating an electrical transformer may have blown in the town’s electric system. Not exactly. But City Superintendent Mike Steffens said that’s what it sounds like when two big fuses blow at the same time, which is what happened at the end of Stevens Avenue Monday about 4:30 p.m. “Turkeys in the line again,” Steffens said. A flock of about a dozen wild turkeys roam the west side of town, often roosting in trees in nearby Fiddle Creek or Cole Park. When they mi...
The Care and Share Food Bank last Friday gave out Christmas baskets of food to bout 150 clients, including families and a lot of elderly folks, said manager Carol Nordine. That number indicates need is up from past years. Last year’s big Christmas giveaway drew 115. A story in The Star recently reported that Second Harvest, a major food distributor to local food banks, is cutting back deliveries in Okanogan County. Care and Share is on the same route, but Nordine noted they only supply about 10 percent of the locals pantry’s supplies. Con...
An angel on high delivers a Christmas message to pilgrims through the Coulee Dam Community Church's live nativity scene Dec. 17. It included a brief movie about the Christmas story, stops to visit shepherds and sheep, a choir of angels (or at least they sounded like them), and, of course, the baby Jesus in the manger - plus a toddler Jesus meeting the three wise men when some say they actually would have arrived after following the path set by the Christmas star - for a year-and-a-half. - Scott...
STCU employees once again showed their passion for community service by documenting a record 10,000 hours of volunteerism in 12 months. The volunteers including 18 employees who served at least 80 hours of volunteerism for a single organization. Scores of others exceeded the 16 hours of paid time off that every STCU employee receives annually for volunteer activities. In response, STCU is providing a record number of year-end Volunteers Count grants of $25 to $1,000. Those grants go to every organization where an employee reported at least 12...
While his mom takes a photo, Josue gets to tell Santa his wishes for Christmas at the Eagles Lodge Saturday afternoon during a party the club threw for kids. - Scott Hunter photo...
Ninety-four children in 43 households had wrapped Christmas packages delivered to their homes Saturday, Dec. 17 thanks to Trees of Sharing 2022 volunteers who supported the project by making cash donations or purchasing gifts for children who might not have otherwise received one this season. Trees of Sharing began in the Coulee in the mid-1980s with the express objective of assuring each child enrolled in the local school district would receive a gift at Christmastime. Every year since the...
Children talk and stare at Santa and Mrs. Claus, who stopped at Mason City Memorial Park in Coulee Dam Dec. 14 in an event arranged by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. It also featured other characters popular during the season, such as Elsa. Cocoa around the fire was popular too. Firefighters helped by making the place look like daylight with big lights on their fire trucks. - Scott Hunter photo...
NCW Libraries is planning to upgrade its facilities around its district with a $10 million investment, including the library in Grand Coulee. NCW Libraries has selected Library Forward and Forte Architects as the design lead for the "Reimagining Spaces" project. The NCW Libraries Reimagining Spaces Project represents a $10 million, multi-year redesign of 27 community libraries. In funding the project, the NCW Libraries Board of Trustees hopes to make a visible and impactful investment in...
The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a wind chill advisory for this region warning that skin should be covered outside to avoid freezing or frostbite. Below is the complete text. URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Spokane WA 231 AM PST Mon Dec 19 2022 ...SNOW AT TIMES THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING PLUS COLD WIND CHILL VALUES... Light snow will slowly wane this morning across southeast Washington and the lower Idaho Panhandle. A second storm system will arrive...
School board directors will study whether to allow weighted grade point averages to be considered for graduation. Considering whether to pass a recommended policy on high school graduation requirements Monday night, Chairman George LaPlace and Superintendent Paul Turner each spoke in favor of tabling that discussion to give time for more discussion with students and staff. Weighted GPAs can add more points for higher-level courses. An honors course might gain half a point on a regular class in the same subject area, for instance. “It takes a li...