News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Local media were notified (Feb. 21) that “By a 8-6 vote, the Colville Business Council (CBC) today approved the expulsion of CBC Andrea George.” CBC expulsions are authorized by the CBC Ethics Code and the Colville Tribal Constitution. Is the Ethics Code implemented ethically under the Law and Order Code? For instance, can a council member be expelled for promoting the passage of the Ethics Code itself? A few years ago, a tribal trial judge had already drunk the kool aid of consent-complicity by ruling to violate the Colville Tribal Law and...
I feel compelled to express my concerns to our four Nespelem District Representatives. I would like to remind our district representatives you are seated on council by a vote of the eligible Nespelem District voters; therefore, ANY decisions you make at the council table should be what the majority of our people want, not by your own personal opinions or feelings. I grew up at the old longhouse, which was very strict, “unwritten laws.” I appreciate our sacred teachings from our cherished elders of the longhouse. Our elders held our tra...
The Silicon Valley engineers who design our tech gadgets won’t let their kids anywhere near those devices, according to a shocking New York Times profile. These workers are convinced too much time in front of smartphones and iPads is rotting kids’ brains. Technology “is wreaking havoc on our children,” warned one former Facebook employee. These parents need to relax. It’s true that allowing kids to browse social media until the wee hours of the morning isn’t a good idea. But it’s also true that smartphones, iPads, and other gadgets are p...
Sometimes life throws us situations that make us feel like we are being burned alive from the inside out. A situation happens and it seems that our life has just been set ablaze, never to return to the way it was. But maybe that is just my point. If we truly are walking through the fire, then maybe we should be changed on the other side. When a wildfire rages through the area, as we have all seen and experienced, it can be scary in the beginning. A fire raging out of control, uncontained, threat...
Electric City’s proposed “buffer zone” between homes and Osborne Bay might have been an enhancement of safety for those homes back when they actually bordered the city limits, but now it would, in fact, decrease their safety. The fact is that hunting and discharging firearms in the proposed buffer zone is already illegal under city code. The buffer zone would, however, restore an earlier hunting privilege allowed on state-owned lands that were annexed into the city several years ago. Since discharging firearms within city limits is illeg...
Regarding Councilwoman George: Our council members have violated many codes. Ethics charges should be filed against those members that are the driving force, and Councilman Kheel should be released of his duties until this mess is cleared. Feel free to publish this comment. Thank you for writing the article. Kathy Ensminger...
I have been bombarded with a litany of Facebook posts, copies of letters to the editor from the Tribal Tribune and the Star newspaper, and telephone calls/texts regarding a handful of supporters of a self-proclaimed “victim” currently serving on the Colville Business Council. I have heard many concerns regarding the misinformation, untruths, and failed logic presented by these supporters, and also concerns about the authoritative tone which these untruths have been presented and the effect that may have on the average person reading these “fa...
Since 1938, we have been blessed with electricity delivered to our homes and businesses for all of our needs. Currently, we are experiencing the benefits of all of the efforts by hundreds of people that have built our Public Utility District, and I, as one, want to express my appreciation to them. Just 90 years ago we had to heat our homes with wood and use lanterns and candles for light! Today we heat our homes with renewable, cheap, electrical power from our two dams that the people of Grant County own on the Columbia River. Also, we have...
This news thing that I have been doing started for me back in 1958. I had a number of successful journalism classes behind me, and my professor, Helen Wilson, had talked Idaho Free Press managing editor Jack Scudder into interviewing me for an open position on the Nampa, Idaho five-day daily. I arrived at the appointed time and found Scudder to have a soft and pleasant voice, a kind of man that you might be encouraged to buy a bridge or small island from, if it was offered. We got along well, and he asked all about me, and I gave him honest...
Those in power are trying to steal my vote by kicking Councilwoman Andrea George off the Colville Business Council. When oppressive schemes like this are not checked, the People’s rights are at risk. The CBC’s Executive Committee used new so-called “emergency” powers on Feb. 7 to place Ms. George on paid administrative leave. The basis? They declared that she “poses an immediate risk to the health, safety, welfare of Colville Tribal members, and/or threatens to disrupt operations of the Tribal government,” according to the CBC’s news release. R...
I am outraged by the announcement of the Colville reservation roundup of 1,000 wild horses! This is a nefarious decision and constitutes a depraved betrayal of these magnificent presences. The horses are natural healers and restorers of life, but it is people who thwart their role in this capacity. I consider this decision a real sin of the most serious order, and such a hypocritical and morally slovenly judgement. It neither coincides with conscience nor factual science. I pray this wrong decision will be canceled and provision made for these...
The United States Constitution secures to the American people certain inalienable rights: · The Right to Bear Arms (2nd Amendment) · The Right to be Free from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures (4th Amendment) · The Right to not be Deprived of Life, Liberty and Property without Due Process of Law (5th Amendment) · The Right to a Speedy and Public Trial by an Impartial Jury, to be Informed of the Nature and Cause of the Accusation, to Confront Witnesses and to be Represented by Counsel (6th Amendment) to name but a few. These privileges con...
I will always remember the day the Reyes twins were born. Karrie and Levi went to visit these two in the hospital at then-Coulee Community Hospital. I took Nickel to her softball game and was on the mound pitching when I saw Rick Paris walking across the field toward me. He waved me over and told me my house was on fire. But that is another story, this one is about Cassidy and Chazz Reyes. I recently sat down with the two of them and we spoke about their final year at Lake Roosevelt. Both of them, not quite at the same time, answered the first...
I was going to tell you all about Alianna Rose this week and how she came into the world. As I thought about it, I realized that it was not my story to tell. It is the parents’ story; it is for Levi and Davida Seylor to share with all of you. As much as I want to tell you all about being a brand-new grandparent of a little angel, I am going to refrain. But what I am going to share with you is about a wonderful facility and the people that work in this place called Coulee Medical Center. This p...
Thank you for the update on the Colville Business Council’s Jan. 24th decision to send over a thousand majestic wild horses to slaughter in direct violation of their own Tribal Code Chapter 4.14. It appears to me to have been a rushed decision without allowing enough input from the tribal membership and experts’ views. It sickens my heart to think of the helicopters breaking up the highly structured social and emotional groups among the wild horses, not to mention threatening the genetic viability of the herds. The fact that they will ine...
Twenty Years Ago Last Tuesday night about 8 p.m. John Nelson heard a racket outside his trailer in Delano. When he went outside to find out what was going on he told police he saw three dogs being attacked by a cougar. Coulee Dam citizens voted to join the North Central Regional Library District Tuesday, voting 193-66 to allow the district to annex the town. John Fruchtl, 87, bowled a 279 at Riverview Lanes, the highest game for the year. The level of Lake Roosevelt has locals concerned for the tourism season, with the level to lower to 1220...
If you have not already filled out your ballot, which you should have received in the mail by now, you should do so now. Grand Coulee Dam School District is proposing yet another levy, which won’t raise your taxes any higher than they already are. That’s because it’s just part of a two-levy remedy the district is hoping to implement to make up for money lost in the wake of new school funding structures put in place in the wake of the state Supreme Court’s McCleary Decision. The levy you’ll find on the ballot for the Feb. 5 election would kee...
When living in Bothell, we belonged to FIUTS (Foundation for International Understanding Through Students), a program through the University of Washington where you could sponsor foreign students. Through the program we sponsored students from Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. You were expected to share time and your home with them, and they, along with others we met, spread a lot of good cheer to us and our family. We also belonged to a group that raised money to provide supplies for Dr. Pat Smith, a Seattle doctor who had opened a hospital in...
This past weekend was a powerful weekend for Karrie and me. I thought I had my column all worked out with exactly what I wanted to share with you all. I was going to give you a glimpse into divine appointments, miracles, listening for the voice and where it can lead you. But things changed before I sat down to write, and my heart took me somewhere else. Or did it? I want to write a column of hope to you this morning. I don’t know exactly who this is for or why exactly I was prompted to change m...
The good news is Washington’s cherry crop is projected to be as good as 2018; however, absent tariff relief from the ongoing U.S.-China trade tiff, a key market will remain limited. When China’s tariff went from 10 percent to 50 percent last July, right in the middle of the harvest, exports to China went from the most profitable to the pits, Fox News reported. “Growers in Washington State, by far the largest producer of sweet cherries in the U.S., saw their bumper crop lose $86 million in value...
Twenty Years Ago When the local community turns out to vote on the Grand Coulee Dam School District levy Feb. 2, Coulee Dam citizens will also decided whether they want to annex the town into the North Central Regional Library system. Miss Grand Coulee Dam Area Junior Miss Brita Montes placed in the top 10 in the state competition this past week. Shoe also won scholarships for placing in the top three in categories: Fitness, presence and composure. The GCD Area Chamber of Commerce will be holding a Vintners & Brewers annual wine and microbrew...
A few years ago, I found a small box in my mail from Bill Thompson, a classmate of mine from Palouse. Bill and I, along with 13 others, spent all 12 years together out of a class of 24. Needless to say, we were tight, and very close friends. I opened the box when I got home, and inside was a small agate marble, and a note. The note said, “As God is my witness, this is a marble that I got from you a long time ago when we were kids.” When we were young, we played marbles for keeps, and I had, over the years from about 1940-42, accumulated abo...
I am writing in response to the Tribal Tribune article “CBC Votes Against Wild Horse Aerial Capture Contract,” to the Colville Tribe Wild Horse Law 4-14, and to the January 8 Council meeting. I was present at this meeting when a vote on the contract was intended. Fortunately, the vote wasn’t held, let alone passed. More importantly, the half million dollars of tribal money requested for aerial capture by a non-tribal contractor can be put to better use in long-term benefit of both tribal members and horses — as well as for the land itself....
Pretty much any decision made by our state, on anything, our legislation spends a lot of time in Olympia bouncing things from the House of Representatives to meetings in the Senate, back to meetings and round and round it goes until there is a vote and then they vote again on the other side of the building. But no matter what, it either lives of dies on the Hill. I spent the weekend with Public Schools Employees, around 400, as we met with representatives and senators from every district and...
Interesting opinion by Roger Harnack. That article is much too brazen for the Tri-City Herald to print. One aspect is missing, relative to the following: Between now and July 1, let’s hope more residents, officials and businesses stand up and oppose the onerous regulations encapsulated in the text of Initiative 1639. Let’s hope more law enforcement agencies and municipalities nullify the unconstitutional measure. Let’s hope Matt’s message continues to spread. Our culture, economy and way of life here east of the Cascades depend on it. Unless...