News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Okay, maybe I’m approaching this from a position of privilege. One of my earliest memories is of tagging along to my mother’s former grammar school when she voted. Social Studies was one of my favorite elementary school classes. Mr. Lowry’s junior high Civics class taught us about polling, current events and debate skills. I made straight A’s when I minored in Political Science in college. So I’m a wee bit prejudiced when I applaud the arrival of the book “Restoring the City on a Hill: U.S....
How about making an effort to visit a national park this year. It’s a great way to rebuild your appreciation of our country. We have three great national parks in our own state and a couple of others within a day’s drive. One of my favorites is Olympic National Park. It’s a day’s drive away but will take you to our coast, and inside the park offers a unique experience. The Rain Forest is unique and a bit scary with the moss hanging from the trees. Allow time to go into the Rain Forest for at least a couple of miles. Quite often you will ru...
Tom Smothers wasn’t the first performer to weaponize comedy for political purposes, but he was perfectly suited for it. During the height of his career with brother Dick in the ’60s and ’70s he took on Lyndon Johnson over his Vietnam policies and Richard Nixon over, well, just about everything. When news came that Tommy died of cancer on Dec. 26, many of us immediately recalled the playful jibes exchanged by the brothers as hosts of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” on CBS. “Mom always liked you best,” was Tommy’s favorite bit of bait for...
It was half-past second coffee and darn near to French toast time and it had been very quiet at the round table, that general headquarters of the World Dilemma Think Tank. “Heard something interesting yesterday,” said Herb. “Kids were talking on the sidewalk and I couldn’t help but hear parts of it. I had to stop and ask them about it, even if it seemed rude to them. “Seems somebody tipped them off that there was a thousand dollars in gold coins buried beneath the stepping stone going into Jenkin’s cabin.” Dud looked up, “But nobody knows wh...
Remember the Coulee Card. It was handy and fun and I wish it would make a comeback. It is awesome to call the Coulee home. Here are a few people and places I’m proud of that make the Coulee area so special – Caden Portch represented Lake Roosevelt well at the State Cross Country Championships. Kasey Garvin did an amazing job with the high school Volleyball team. She’s always been a winner! “Clap for the Wolfman” Edward Wolfe and his staff have the top ranked Raider Boys Basketball team rolling with the 1000-point club member Chase Marchand...
It is the season of giving, forgiving, renewal, and hope. If you could give a gift to America, what gift would you give? We all appreciate our country, and we are grateful for all that it offers. But we also know that there are things that could be better—and should be better. If we identify some of those issues, perhaps we can then focus on making the improvements. The rulers of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt gave their citizens the gift of survival by collecting grain, as a tax, during years when the harvest was good, storing it, and d...
As we wrap up a very inflationary 2023, pet shelters across the country are at maximum capacity and they don’t have room to house the pets people are turning in. ABC News reports that animals entering shelters began to climb in 2021. During the covid pandemic, you see, many people adopted pets, but as they began to go back to the workplace, some decided they no longer wanted to care for a pet, so they turned them back in. The past year was significantly worse for pets because adoptions are falling far short of the increase in sheltered pets. ...
In the 1990s, “Things go better with Coca Cola” was the catchy slogan that dairy farmers dreaded. At the time, milk producers were in a head-to-head battle with soft drink giants and losing market share. Milk consumption had steadily declined over the previous two decades. One key reason was aggressive advertising by bottlers of iced tea, water, and soda pop. By 1993, nationwide milk consumption declined 20 percent and was down to less than one cup per person per day, Savuer.com reported. So,...
We have to remember how to act in a democracy if we expect it to last, and for a while there, it seemed we might not be able to do that. But it could be that those troublesome signs are waning, even if our troubles aren’t. Maybe it’s just that the day’s news is not quite so relentlessly pessimistic, or perhaps the rhetoric of our national politics has cooled off a degree or two. Or maybe it’s just that much of the nation is focusing more on local issues, the one’s more of us can actually do something about. That can be both a good thing, fo...
The Grand Coulee Police Department is critically understaffed, yet the city council has declared a hiring freeze for an unspecified length of time. Currently, the department has six full-time officers. A fully staffed local police force would be eight officers. Interestingly, mandatory overtime has become the norm as the city refuses to search for qualified candidates. Presumably, the reason behind the hiring freeze is an unbalanced budget. However, typical monthly overtime for our officers averages 30-40 hours per month, and we all know...
My love for flying in a small plane came gradually. The first small plane ride was when I lived here the first time, in 1954. I was a lumber grader at the small planer mill above the dam. There was a guy working on the crew who had been a bush pilot in Alaska who had his own plane. The guy invited me to go along with him on a Saturday flight. We flew to Spokane, Missoula, Orifino, to the Pullman-Moscow airport, and then home. We took all day. That was my first experience in a small plane. The next time was when I started writing for the Idaho...
For 2024, Lincoln County will be paying over $1,500,000 in risk insurance premiums. This represents a drastic increase of over 83% from just two years ago and 53% over 2023. And … these rates are expected to escalate next year as well, with no end in sight. Next to wages and benefits, risk insurance represents the second largest expense for the county. One might wonder why such dramatic increases are happening. There are multiple factors at play, such as the state Legislature passing laws that de-criminalize property crime, joint and several l...
America has a love affair with ghost towns. I’ve visited several, but the most memorable is Silver City, Idaho. Silver City is about 75 miles south of Boise and is probably the most significant thing in Owyhee County. This county is in the southwest corner of Idaho. We lived in Nampa at the time and used our weekends to explore the area. We had read about the ghost town and headed out that way. The county seat of Owyhee County is Murphy. Barely 100 people call it home. Not many buildings there. In front of its courthouse is a lone parking m...
It is that time of year when people put up their outside holiday lights and displays. Judging from our neighborhood, they are decorating more than usual. In our country, 90 percent of individuals say they plan to celebrate the holidays this year. Total retail sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas are projected to reach $957 billion. The setting for the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is reminiscent of bedecked suburban communities. Clark Griswold decorates every foot of his home and f...
Fire Dist. 14 to Meet Grant County Fire District #14 will hold its regular monthly meeting Monday, December 11, 2023, at 6:00 at the Electric City Fire Station. Area AA Meetings In Electric City, the New Hope group holds its meetings Monday through Friday evenings at 6pm at the Vets Center. There is also a noon meeting every Wednesday. These meetings are open and non-smoking. For more information, contact Paul 631-4551 or Phyllis 631-1187.I In Nespelem, the group Bound and Determined holds its meetings Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the Catholic...
At the close of World War II in Europe, the Allied Forces closed on Berlin from the west, and the Russians closed from the east. Control of Berlin became an issue. In 1948, the Russians blockaded Berlin, disallowing the U.S. ground access to the city. Memory of the recent war that claimed 50 million lives prevented a direct military confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. But the U.S. found a solution, an airlift. During the next 11 months, the U.S. and allies conducted an airlift that saw cargo planes bringing supplies and landing in the...
Good morning Scott and thanks for your coverage of the discussion at the last Electric City Council meeting concerning possible changes in the operation of the Grand Coulee Ambulance. I have cleared this with [Grand Coulee Fire Chief] Ryan Fish. The ages for the ten most active Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire and Emergency Medical Service EMT’s are 75, 72, 64, 50, 44, 43, 40, 38, 37 and 25 years old. Respectively, two old goats and a bunch of kids. Fred Netzel Editor’s note: Netzel, who works on the ambulance crew, is responding to a comment mad...
First Lady Rosalynn Carter died last week. She was 96 and under hospice care at her home in Plains, Georgia. Her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, 99, is also under hospice services in his home in Plains. The Carters have made a legacy of service to others. Who says you can’t be of service and make important decisions when you begin to age. Try keeping up with President Joe Biden for a week or so. Some are giving aging a bum rap. So if he wins reelection he will be in his mid 80s. You do stumble a bit when you get in your 80s, but if t...
Over a month after Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel and her people, both parties have agreed to a deal on hostage and prisoner exchanges, and a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. While civilians will receive food, water, and emergency care amid the exchange negotiations, Hamas’ radical indoctrination of antisemitism will continue to spread. “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: O’ Moslem, there is a Jew h...
I have waited approximately eight years for a determination on when we, Colville Tribal Members, were going to be compensated for the 2015 North Star fire. Since I haven’t heard of any compensation, I decided to file a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request with the BIA Regional office in Portland, Oregon. I filed this request on January 13, 2023, and I have received two answers as of this writing and will receive a final third response in the near future. I am going to share a portion of what I received because I believe it is in the b...
According to a recent State Department-funded study, China leads the globe in 37 out of 44 critical and emerging technologies, including many in defense, robotics, energy, artificial intelligence, and quantum tools. The United States ranks first in just seven, and comes second in most of the rest. To maintain national security, the United States needs to strengthen its technological capabilities -- and to do that, we need to incentivize innovation, fast. Technological progress requires not just smart people, but a framework of laws that protect...
As we prepare for the upcoming holidays, we must be grateful for what we have and focus on our needs rather than fixate on what we want and crave. Being thankful starts with an appreciation of why our families came to America in the first place — our freedoms and opportunities. Legendary singer-song writer Neil Diamond hit single “America” was performed in 1981 to help welcome home 52 American hostages that Iranian militants held for 444 days at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran. All they neede...
The behavior of individuals and nations sometimes challenges our belief that we are a civilized species. When we feel dismayed by what is happening, it is time to remember the good things we do. Americans donated $484 billion to charities in a recent year. We Americans also volunteer between four and five billion hours of our time each year doing things that make life better for other people and for our community. In 1917 when young men were drafted to serve in World War I, authorities discovered that the typical draftee had only a sixth-grade...
Thanksgiving is about family. Without family Thanksgiving is just another holiday. This year, Kim, our youngest daughter, is coordinating the Thanksgiving dinner. She lives in Louisiana and arrived here on Monday. Each year the menu changes a bit, depending on the collective mood in family members. Nathan and his wife Karen will be here from Portland. He recently announced retiring from teaching at a private school in Portland. We will get to see the new book he published with pictures of all the courthouses in Oregon, about 35 of them. The...
Yes, it’s that glorious season that so many pumpkin-spice addicts claim to be their favorite. I must admit that, I, too, succumb each year to the autumnal charms of fall, except for my seemingly never-ending battle with leaves, or, as I like to call them – tree dandruff. So what is it that ironically draws us to a season that marks the end of long, carefree summer days when the sight of a shirtless dad bod outdoors is slightly less disturbing? Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first, the aforementioned king of all seasonal seasonings, pu...