News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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In Grant County, the two-week incidence rate was at 238 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents as of July 21, up from 227 on July 7. The case rate was at only 26 cases per 100,000 residents on March 31. A rate lower than 200 used to be the metric for whether a county could have fewer restrictions on businesses and events. Official case rates are widely viewed as undercounted due to home testing kits and an associated lack of reporting. According to the Grant County Health District, the Grand Coulee/Electric City area of Grant County has seen...
Oroville Mayor Jon Neal would like to be an Okanogan County Commissioner. Neal has lived in Oroville his entire life, taking over his family's auto body repair business in 1992 and working in the industry for over 40 years, he described in a Facebook page for his campaign. He has raised three children in Okanogan County and has six grandchildren, along with wife Traci. Neal has been involved in city government for 21 years, including six years as the mayor of Oroville and, along with that role,...
A contestant in the senior girls' cow riding competition hangs on Saturday afternoon during the Ridge Riders' Junior Rodeo. The two-day event drew more than 200 young cowboys and cowgirls from all over. - Scott Hunter photo...
Hot day, cool scene Plenty of people populated the beach and picnic areas at Spring Canyon Tuesday as temperatures reached into the 90s. Check our weather forecast on page 2. - Scott Hunter photo...
The Colville Tribes has a new executive director, the tribes announced Thursday night. "The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation has appointed Cody Desautel to serve as the Tribes' new Executive Director," stated CBC Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson in a press release. The executive director is the administrative head of tribal government and reports directly to the 14-member governing Colville Business Council. "Cody is well known to us and to tribal membership due to his prior...
Electric City is moving with caution as they consider an ordinance to allow short term rentals just three years after banning them. During their July 12 meeting, the city council discussed the pros and cons of allowing people to rent out residences for short stays, less than 30 days, as made popular by websites like Airbnb. Mayor Diane Kohout noted that the previous council had voted down the idea of allowing short term rentals. That happened in 2019, after more than a year of discussing the issue. At that time, a Lakeview Avenue couple noted t...
Colville Confederated Tribes Natural Resources Director Cody Desautel is one of 47 people, selected from 500 applicants, appointed to the new federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. The U.S. Departments of Agriculture, the Interior and Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced the selections on July 7. The commission will “play a key role in recommending ways that federal agencies can better prevent, mitigate, suppress, and manage wildland fires. It will also recommend policies and s...
North Dam Park can continue to be maintained, at least for a while longer, as more funding has been donated by the community to the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District. At their July 13 meeting, CAPRD commissioners were presented with a $5,600 check by Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachelle Baughman who started a page at the online fundraising site, GoFundMe.com. Commissioner Kevin Portch said that CAPRD also received $900 in private donations separately from that online donation site. The group voted to...
Affordable housing, good jobs, good schools are just a part of Kari Alexander's vision for Okanogan County as she runs for county commissioner. Alexander would like to see youth more involved in the local government. "Our youth are the future of this county," she wrote in an email to The Star. "I think we all want to ensure that Okanogan County is the kind of place our kids want to come back to and raise their own families - which means we need affordable starter homes, good jobs, and good...
Attention may be the most valuable thing a county commissioner can do for issues, and Aaron Kester, if elected, wants to give his attention to a multitude of issues facing Okanogan County. Mental health, housing, and industry maintenance and growth are among what Kester listed to The Star as issues facing Okanogan County. "Each issue needs direct inspection and attention," Kester wrote in an email, "and although I hate to see it, some issues will not receive needed attention when our most concer...
The Elmer City council will be meeting earlier from now on in their monthly meetings. The group voted to make their meetings earlier, now at 5:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month, rather than later in the day. No one in the group had a problem with the time change, which had come up as a topic because new City Clerk Kelly Ross lives in Keller and her commute is made easier with the earlier monthly meeting time....
Elmer City has hired Kelly Ross as their new clerk this month following the resignation of Gary Benton from that position. Ross lives in Keller where she has a small farm with her husband, she told The Star. She has over 30 years of administrative experience and was the clerk in Nespelem for the past year and a half. She also has a water distribution manager license....
The parking lot at Grand Coulee City Hall was off limits for days in the last week as sewer line work needed to be done. City Clerk Lorna Pearce explained that sewer line failure resulted in needing a replacement line for the city hall building on Midway Avenue. The work is anticipated to be done and the line made operational sometime this week. City Hall has remained open, although parking wasn’t available in their parking lot. A cost estimate for the repairs was not yet available....
Due to compounding conditions, all fires at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area are prohibited effective 12:01 am, Friday, July 22 until further notice. No open flames are permitted, the National Park Service said Tuesday. This includes, but is not limited to, all fires in NPS provided fire rings and boxes, shoreline fires, charcoal fires, tiki torches, incense burners, candles, and propane campfires. Self-contained propane or gas stoves and lanterns are still allowed during the full fire ban. For the most current information regarding the...
After two school levies failed in February for the Grand Coulee Dam School District, school board directors are looking to run just one levy election in November. Roughly 56% of voters voted against two levies the district proposed in February — the Educational Programs and Operation Levy, and the Capital Levy for Safety, Technology and Facilities Improvements. The board of directors, in their July 11 meeting, told Superintendent Paul Turner they would like to pursue a $2 educational levy for three years, a significant drop from the $4.20 t...
Staff at Lake Roosevelt Schools say that student cell phones have been a major issue in the classroom, and options for addressing the issue were discussed at the latest Grand Coulee Dam School District meeting. On Monday, school board directors discussed the issue of cell phones in the classroom when the topic of student and staff handbooks came up for discussion. The current cell phone policy in the elementary school’s handbook states that students can bring their phones to school, but can only use them before 8 a.m. or after 3 p.m., before a...
There are some who have what it takes. I'm not talking about outstanding pro athletes, astronauts, or mountaineers. I am talking about weather forecasters. I recently visited the Spokane National Weather Service office and spoke with Steven Van Horn, a forecaster a that office. He has what it takes. Van Horn shared with me the requirements needed to become a weather forecaster. "I went to University of California, Davis to get my bachelor's degree in atmospheric science." He explained that...
The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District will hold a meeting at the former middle school in Grand Coulee tonight at 6:30 p.m. Commissioner Kevin Portch said previously that the financial viability of the group’s ability to continue maintaining North Dam Park would be discussed at the meeting, with the group’s budget being in precarious standing as described in recent issues of The Star. Things have been looking up for the group, however, with a GoFundMe page having raised $5,600 towards the cause, and the group needing an estimated $7,...
Lake Roosevelt's new principal, Natalie Kontos, has worked in the Grand Coulee Dam School District for several years and plans to be here for several more. Kontos had taught elementary school physical education and health at LR Elementary for the past eight years before being approved by the school board as the new junior-senior high school principal in June. "During this time, I have had the privilege of teaching and building relationships with every student in our school," she wrote to The...
Vacant positions are getting filled in the Grand Coulee Dam School District. Natalie Kontos, who previously taught physical education at Lake Roosevelt Elementary, was hired as the new principal of the junior/senior high school. Taking on the athletic director and facilities coordinator positions is Nancy Kuiper, who is also the director of the SHARP Kids programs. Wade Magers, who just retired from his position as Lincoln County Sheriff, will serve as the school safety officer. “We’re excited to get him on board as our safety officer,” Turne...
Joey Kriete knows the ins and outs of Grant County law enforcement, having worked in multiple aspects of it for 29 years, and now he wants to be sheriff. "I'm very passionate about the county," Kriete told The Star, describing his history in the county dating back to his great grandparents who ran a dairy in Ephrata. "I believe I put myself on the career path to becoming the next Grant County sheriff and my track record shows for that," he said. That track record includes serving as a patrol...
With COVID-19 rates slowing down in recent months, The Star hasn’t published an update on local conditions since April 6, but the disease certainly hasn’t gone away. In Grant County, the two-week incidence rate was only 26 cases per 100,000 residents on March 31, but on July 8, that number is up to 178, and was 227 on July 7. Official case rates are widely viewed as undercounted due to home testing kits and an associated lack of reporting. Four covid deaths occurred since March, bringing the total Covid death count in the county to 261, wit...
The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a Red Flag Warning for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect from noon today to 8 PM PDT this evening. * Affected Area: Fire Weather Zone 703 Okanogan Valley (Zone 703), Fire Weather Zone 705 Foothills of Central Washington Cascades (Zone 705) and Fire Weather Zone 706 Waterville Plateau (Zone 706). * Winds: For the Foothills of Central Washington Cascades and Waterville Plateau, northwest 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. For the Okanogan Valley, south-southwest 10 to 20 mph...
After lab workers mysteriously got sick last Tuesday, forcing an emergency closure, Coulee Medical Center started a phased re-opening Friday morning, starting first with its emergency department at 7 a.m. Tuesday afternoon Chief Executive Officer Ramona Hicks said CMC was back to full operations and that patients had been back in the building for four days with no problems. Widely reported as a "gas leak," Hick said that was in error, noting that there is no natural gas in the hospital. The deci...
People watch the main event at the Festival of America below Grand Coulee Dam July 4 after the laser light show, despite havoc created by bad weather a little earlier in the evening. A thunderstorm drenched the park, causing most people to leave, even though many came back. And the headline entertainer's set was canceled in favor not electrocuting the band. Jesse Quandt still sang one song, accompanying himself only with an acoustic guitar: Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American." People...