News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Legislators from the state's 7th Legislative District, which now includes most of the Grand Coulee Dam area, are inviting constituents to participate in a telephone town hall on Monday, Feb. 13, from 6-7 p.m., to discuss the current 2023 legislative session. Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy, Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, and Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber, R-Republic, will talk about legislation they are sponsoring, as well as their priorities for the legislative session. In addition, they will take...
Several Lake Roosevelt students will head to Spokane for the statewide competition in April, following their qualifying presentations in the Future Business Leaders of America regional meet in Wenatchee Jan. 28. Students qualify for state by placing in their competitions, with online testing or presenting to judges. LR had several middle schoolers and first timers compete in Wenatchee. State will be held in Spokane April 19-23. In the regional, Kailah Leadhingham took first place in Journalism...
The Bureau of Reclamation said Monday that parts of its fire station construction project should be complete by the end of February, but the entire project will take over another year to complete. "Progress on previous structural, electrical, and mechanical installations at the Grand Coulee Dam Fire Station are ongoing and slated for completion by the end of February 2023," a bureau press release stated. "The next phase of construction involves initiating unfinished construction activities in th...
Coulee Dam will accept a $906,000 bid by a contractor for work on a sewage lift station if funding and that award is approved by a federal agency. The city council voted last week to accept a bid from Strider Construction for $906,716 to update its west side lift station, which sends wastewater from the neighborhood on the west side of the Columbia River, across the bridge to the town’s new treatment plant. But that acceptance is contingent on the federal Dept. of Agriculture’s Rural Development Fund (RD)approving extra funding for the imp...
The Grant County Health District (GCHD) has investigated three confirmed, and one probable, flu-associated deaths during the 2022-2023 flu season thus far. The confirmed deaths occurred in a woman in her 80s, a woman in her 60s, and a man in his 60s. “These deaths are a painful reminder of the high influenza activity seen in our country and also in our area, especially at the end of the year. We offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends who lost their loved ones,” said Dr. Alexander Brzezny, Grant County Health Officer in a pre...
The Grand Coulee Dam and Nespelem school districts came to agreement Friday on terms of a "tuition" agreement they've been negotiating for the current school year. A solution for the next school year is still under discussion. The districts had until Jan. 31 to file applications with the U.S. Dept. of Education for "impact aid" funds that are meant to replace tax levy money they can't get because of non-taxable federal land within their boundaries. They've had an agreement since 1995 on sharing...
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and Gov. Jay Inslee say they are backing a package of new laws aimed at protecting workers, pedestrians and commuters. New bills would include reducing the blood alcohol concentration limit for operating a vehicle when driving, imposing more restrictions on high-risk drivers, and requiring a skills course for young and older drivers. Amber Weilert, a mother from Parkland, described how her son was struck and killed in a crosswalk while riding his bicycle. “I am here to be Michael’s voice to support him and...
Walkers across North Dam take advantage of sunshine Sunday next to frozen Banks Lake, where ice fishermen have been falling through spots where the ice is too thin. That happened again Thursday afternoon, when three reportedly fell in next to a log boom off Coulee Playland. All were OK, but a witness said two of them had to hang onto the logs until another fishermen could carefully push his sled to them and pull them to thicker ice. The Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department reportedly...
The Lions Club, which owns Spring Canyon Cemetery, is hoping to form a group to keep the operation going. “Like many other organizations, the Spring Canyon Cemetery board are few and aging, and are unable to do several of tasks needed to keep up the cemetery,” a statement from the club said this week. “The Lions do not want to see the Cemetery become a ward of the state like many other cemeteries in the State are.” The 4.5-acre cemetery was dedicated March 30, 1959, a year when 24 more people were buried there, after seven were the year be...
Virgil “Smoker” Marchand passed away Jan. 13. Smoker was currently serving in the Colville Business Council as an elected representative from the Omak District. The Chairman of the Colville Tribes, Jarred-Michael Erickson, said, “The Colville Business Council is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our colleague, Smoker Marchand. Smoker was a strong voice for his people and he brought a unique perspective to tribal government. We will all miss him.” The Chairman continued, “There will be time in the future to discuss Smoker’s life and ac...
Noah Hunt, a sophomore from Coulee Dam, was a page for the Washington State Senate in Olympia during the opening week of the 2023 legislative session. Hunt was sponsored by Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy, who represents the 7th Legislative District. This is the first time in two years pages have been back on the Capitol campus since the pandemic. Hunt was among 10 students who served as Senate pages for the first week of 2023 legislative session. The Senate Page Program gives Washington high school...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District will help fund a lawsuit against the state intended to have a far-reaching effect on funding school facilities and programs. School board members voted unanimously Monday to chip in $5,000 to to the Wahkiakum School District in the endeavor. Wahkiakum Superintendent Brent Freeman attended the meeting and filled the board in on progress on the suit, which will be heard by the state Supreme Court. The suit claims the state is not meeting its constitutional...
A young eagle flies toward the sunset over Banks Lake near Steamboat Rock Thursday. Another one was standing on the ice near an open spot of water, just offshore from the playground area at Steamboat Rock State Park, eyeing the Canada geese on the other side of the open water. - Scott Hunter photo...
Consumers will be able to purchase more low-THC liquid-infused products in a single purchase if a bill in the Legislature wins approval. “HB 1249 is necessary to ensure that the evolution of consumer preference, and access to an increasing variety of these products, reflects those preferences and is aligned with the law,” said Douglas Henderson, Painted Rooster Cannabis Company CEO. Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, introduced the bill. He said he recently became aware of new products in the market, including a low-THC infused beverage made and sol...
Twice last weekend people wanting to fish through the ice of Banks Lake found out it was thinner than they'd figured. On Saturday afternoon and amphibious motor vehicle designed for ice fishing headed out on the ice from Coulee Playland with three men inside. When they tried to drive the four-wheeled vehicle over the off-shore log boom, the vehicle, a Wilcraft amphibious ice fishing vehicle, high centered on the logs and it broke through the ice at both ends, leaving it unmovable. But it was bui...
Update: SR-155 is now open, as of 7:30 pm, Jan. 18th. State Route 155 is blocked at Mile Post 59, just west of Disautel Summit due to a semi across both lanes, according to Okanogan County Emergency Management. To detour, use Columbia River Road or highways 97, 17 and 174 if traveling between Omak and Coulee Dam area. Unknown ETA to open. Wednesday, January 18, 2023 2:45 PM... Full story
Coulee Dam officials had hoped they’d get some of the funding in the form of free grants for work to replace an aging sewage lift station on the west side of the Columbia River, but learned last week the funding agency intended to only offer a loan for the near million-dollar project. Clerk Stefani Bowden said she’d gotten a call right before Wednesday’s city council meeting. “I was a little disappointed to see this news today,” she told the council about 20 minutes later. The lift station has been on the back burner for years while the city...
Elmer City utility customers will pay about $13 a month more for water and sewer service beginning in March, but garbage rates will remain the same. The town council passed a new utility rate ordinance last Thursday to set the increase in motion. The increases include a $5 jump for water and $8 for sewer, plus some increases for fees such as for being late paying the bill, or ordering a start or end to a service. Mayor Jesse Tilman said the bump puts the town more on par with other area towns. “Years ago, when I first came on council, we w...
Sporting officials and umpires are in short supply locally, and the association that schedules those workers is looking for interested people to fill the roles that keep sports going. "The shortage of umpires for high school baseball and softball in the Central Columbia Basin may cause disruptions in local games this season," stated Bruce Shields, the assigning secretary for the Central Columbia Basin Umpires Association (CCBUA). The group assigns umpires for seven high schools and five middle... Full story
Four dogs sat in a House hearing room and two more watched the room over Zoom as a legislative committee discussed rules dog handlers must follow in courthouses for dogs to assist people who are providing testimony, including youth with disabilities. "I can't say how amazing these dogs are when something bad has happened to your kids, my kids. Really, they're our kids. All these kids belong to us," said Ellen O'Neill-Stephens, founder of the Courthouse Dogs Foundation. "To be able to provide...
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...
