News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Capital levy dollars, with some assistance from grants, have helped upgrade the heating and air conditioning (HVAC), roofing and electrical systems at the gym, as well as to replace asbestos-based wall panels, and could upgrade school facilities further if renewed by voters next month. Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner took The Star and The Tribal Tribune on a tour of the Career Technical Education building, also known as what remains of the old high school, to show...
Three school district levies are expiring at the end of 2022, and two proposed levies totaling the same tax rate are on the ballot for the February 8 election to replace them. The levies have collected up to $4.20 per $1,000 of assessed value from property taxes. Two educational “enrichment” levies expiring at the end of 2022 are being combined into one proposed levy, the Educational Programs and Operations Levy, which would collect an estimated $2.50 per thousand dollars of assessed property value. The capital levy would remain at the sam...
Anita Eylar has been selected to fill Council Position #1 on Grand Coulee's city council. The seat was left vacant with former mayor and longtime Councilmember Tamara Byers choosing not to run for reelection in 2021, then the winner of that election, Ben Hughes, moving out of the city. The city received letters of interest from three applicants for the open seat, including Eylar, Kim Christensen, and Ruth Dalton. At their Jan. 18 city council meeting, the council asked Eylar and Dalton...
Five more COVID-19 deaths have been announced in Grant County during the current case surge, which hdas seen 33 additional cases in local towns in the past week, with a 25.5% positivity rate in tests performed at Coulee Medical Center. Grant County Health District announced the five additional deaths on Jan. 20 on their website. The deaths, which occurred in January, were all women from Ephrata and Moses Lake, ranging in age from their 40s to their 90s. Three were not vaccinated and two had an unknown vaccination status. All five had...
The year 2021 saw a higher-than-normal amount of ambulance and fire calls in the local area. Chief Ryan Fish of the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department shared the year’s numbers at Grand Coulee’s Jan. 18 city council meeting. In 2021, there were 555 ambulance calls, and 72 fire calls. This compares to 2019, when there were 485 ambulance calls and 42 fire calls, and to 2020, when there were 459 ambulance calls and 67 fire calls....
Grand Coulee Police 1/18 - Police responded to King Street and Dill Avenue where a man and woman reportedly were arguing loudly in a vehicle. Both said the argument was verbal only; no physical violence had occurred. They were going to separate places and police left. - Police responded to Kelso Avenue, where a woman had called 911 saying she would have a heart attack if her husband didn’t leave. She told police she was upset he was getting a car repaired, and would trust “some half-Indian guys.” Police asked how they could help before she clos...
Upcoming school levies in the Grand Coulee Dam School District don't have a lot of support among those who took a Star poll. The online survey, found in last week's issue of The Star and shared online, received 59 responses, with 15 (25%) saying they support the Educational Programs & Operations Levy, 39 (66%) saying they don't, and five (9%) saying they aren't sure. Those who support or do not support that levy tended to feel the same about the Capital Levy for Safety, Technology and...
Colville Tribes member Tony Louie is among a group of local tribal members working at carving out a niche in the California film scene. Louie had his film, "HIStory," screened at the 15th Annual LA Skins Fest film festival at the famous TCL (The Creative Life) Chinese Theatres in Hollywood in November. Louie's five-minute short "led the opening night screenings and set the tone for the entire festival," a press release from Louie's team reads. The film "is a spoken word piece poetically...
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office tapped into a grant opportunity through a state agency to get money intended to help offset impacts on local law enforcement from the passage of state laws last year that put restrictions on how police use force. Sheriff Wade Magers said that one such law, ESSHB 1310 addressed use of physical force, deadly force and less lethal alternatives such as de-escalation tactics. In response, the Washington State Department of Commerce asked for proposals from law enforcement agencies to procure “l...
Fourteen more COVID-19 deaths have been announced in Grant County as cases surge. Grant County Health District announced the 14 additional deaths on Jan. 13 on their website. The deaths, which occured in November and December of 2021, include 12 males and two females who were residents of Moses Lake, the Quincy area, the Wilson Creek area and Soap Lake and were in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. Of those who died, 11 were unvaccinated, two fully vaccinated, and one partially vaccinated. Twelve of the 14 had underlying health conditions. GCHD...
The Colville Business Council said it will meet this week to discuss the surge in COVID 19 cases and determine the necessary steps to address the surge. The CBC urged the community to be responsible and proactive to avoid contracting or spreading COVID 19 by getting vaccinated and wearing masks in public places, washing hands, and maintaining distance regardless of vaccination status. “This is a critical situation, and the Council and Tribes are working to ensure that everyone is aware of the most updated policies and procedures, as well as the...
Grand Coulee 1/11 - A man was allowed to push a Chevy Astro out of the roadway at King Street and Dill Avenue rather than police having the vehicle towed, while another man was said to be walking to get a gas can to fuel up the car which had run out of gas. - Police spoke to a man who has frequent run-ins with police about him looking in vehicles parked at the Mexican restaurant on Grand Coulee Avenue. The man said he was looking for a cigarette. The next day police told him not to knock on Hill Avenue doors at 3:30 a.m. to try to score drugs....
After firefighters took care of hot spots inside Sunday night, some pull at siding material on the eaves outside as they work at venting smoke from a house at 705 Birch in Coulee Dam. A firefighter said it was described as a chimney fire. Much of the smoke in the photo actually may be steam in the frigid temperatures in the teens about 11:30 p.m. A young couple standing outside said they had help for the night. Firefighters were seen from the Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam and...
With two school levies on the ballot for the Feb. 8 election, one teacher/parent/taxpayer weighs in, and you can too in an online survey. The two levies — the Educational Programs and Operations Levy and the Capital Levy for Safety, Technology and Facilities Improvement — would bring in an estimated combined total of $1.4 million and $1.7 million annually from 2023 through 2026. The Star reached out to a handful of teachers at Lake Roosevelt via email for comment. Pam Johnson, who teaches language arts at the high school and has been a tea...
Colleen Manley, who started her career as a teller and rose to CEO of the largest credit union headquartered in north-central Washington, died unexpectedly Monday from natural causes. Manley worked at CDFCU for 43 years, starting in 1979. She became president and CEO in 2008, and saw the credit union triple in size before last year’s merger with Spokane-based STCU. After the merger, STCU retained Manley as regional president, leaning heavily on her knowledge to continue meeting the needs of the communities in Okanogan, Ferry, Douglas and L...
There have been 13 new cases of COVID-19 reported in local towns since Dec. 30. Grant County Health District updates case counts on Thursdays, rather than every weekday. explained Public Information Officer Misty Aguilar. But cases seem to be up again, with at least 13 new cases in local towns reported in the past week. In their Jan. 6 update, GCHD reported 502 additional cases since Dec. 30. The Grand Coulee and Electric City area of the county shows 173 covid total cases since the pandemic...
School sports restrictions have been tightened up again with the Omicron COVID-19 variant becoming prevalent in the area. The Grant County Health District detailed the restrictions in a press release for "Region 7," which includes Grant, Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Adams, and Okanogan counties. The extra precautions include items like some limits on attendance at games, indoor masking requirements, eating in a designated area, and following the covid attendance rules set by a statewide school...
Whitney and Brandon Schmidt welcomed Selivia, the first baby born in 2022 at Coulee Medical Center, into the world on Jan. 6. Brandon on Sunday holds his newborn daughter at home. She joins her brother Collin, 7. Selivia weighed 7 pounds at birth and was 21 inches long. - Scott Hunter photo...
Grand Coulee Police 1/2/22 - Police went to E Street at about 5 a.m. where a man reported his neighbor had pulled up with loud music. He asked him to keep it down, which made the neighbor angry. The neighbor then reportedly was talking outside loudly on the phone. The man again asked him to keep the noise down, which prompted the neighbor to come onto his property in a fighting stance. Police were unable to talk to the neighbor. 1/4 - A woman on Roosevelt Drive reported feeling threatened by a neighbor’s pit bull being let out. Her husband s...
From left, Westlyn, Damon, and Victor Landeros, along with friend Paisley Chaney, use shovels and containers to fashion a snow fort in the Landeros' front yard in Coulee Dam Dec. 30. Forecasters say we're in for more snow. Keep watching forecasts for the latest. - Scott Hunter photo...
The National Weather Service just advised, just after noon Jan. 6, that we should expect continued heavy snow and freezing rain through this evening, specifically warning of another inch of snow and a tenth-of-an-inch of ice in the local area. From the NWS alert: HEAVY SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN TODAY CONTINUING OVER MOST AREAS THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH THE THREAT OF HEAVY SNOW CONTINUING OVER THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH FRIDAY... Moderate to heavy snow will continue to impact the parts of the Inland...
A stolen Cadillac that police stopped following because of a new state law was found at the Keller Ferry Marina the next day anyway. Grand Coulee Officer Matthew Gilbert began following a suspicious vehicle about 9:35 p.m. Dec. 27. The 1999 beige Cadillac with tinted windows was traveling along SR-155 near the Grand Coulee Dam, another officer had told him. The Cadillac was going about 10 miles per hour under the speed limit. Gilbert followed the vehicle onto Federal Avenue, watching it swerve side to side in its lane. The Multi Agency...
How many people are single or married in the local area? How many have a bachelor’s degree? And what is the average income here? On Dec. 15, The Star reported 2019 population data for local zip codes from the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, with that data not yet available from the 2020 decennial census. The Zip codes 99123 (Electric City area), 99133 (Grand Coulee area), 99116 (Coulee Dam area), 99124 (Elmer City area), and 99155 (Nespelem area), showed a larger population than just the towns themselves and i...
The Senior Meals Program, based out of the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center, is in need of volunteer drivers. The Monday-through-Friday program, which delivers to Electric City, Grand Coulee, and Coulee Dam, in addition to having a branch in Coulee City, has been delivering an average of 1,200 to 1,400 meals a month to those 60 and older or disabled. There are no income restrictions for the program, which collects a suggested donation of $4 per meal for seniors, although seniors who can’t afford a donation won’t be turned down. Nutritional Dir...
There have been eight new cases of COVID-19 reported in local towns since Dec. 7. Since new cases have declined in recent weeks, Grant County Health District has begun updating case counts only once a week, on Thursdays, rather than every weekday, explained Public Information Officer Misty Aguilar. Regarding the Omicron variant, Aguilar told The Star on Tuesday, “Right now we don’t have any results that say the cases are Omicron, but that doesn’t mean it’s not here.” She said the district hasn’t been notified of any cases sequence tested from...