Newsbriefs

New time

for council

Grand Coulee’s city council voted last Tuesday night to start its meetings at 6 p.m.

Prior to the new time, the council had been meeting at 6:30 p.m. The council regularly meets on the first and third Tuesday each month.

Petitioner

pushing for stops at 4-corners

Ray Wells, an Electric City resident, asked Grand Coulee’s council for support for a petition drive to get the Department of Transportation to put in a four-way stop at Four Corners intersection. He told the council that he has collected 1,100 names on the petition drive. He has also appeared before the Coulee Dam and Elmer City councils. Police Chief Mel Hunt explained that the DOT usually conducts investigations of its own before making such decisions.

Sheriff hosts

citizens academy

Nine students attended the Douglas County Sheriff’s “citizen academy,” where law enforcement officials get to demonstrate some of the work they do. The academy, held last Wednesday, covered patrol operations, investigations, tactical operations, records maintenance, budget, and marine patrol. The session ended on the firing range where students got to fire some of the weapons.

Gang member

convicted

A known member of the Sureno gang, Marcos Avalos-Barrera, 24, of Quincy, was convicted of custodial assault, and assault in the fourth degree, as a result of an incident that occurred at the Grant County Jail May 7, according to county Prosecutor Angus Lee. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 7, Lee said.

Highway

cleanup set

Coulee Corridor will adopt a Highway 17 cleanup effort Saturday, Sept. 27, meeting at the rest stop near the pit toilet at Lake Lenore. Participants are asked to wear closed-toe shoes and bring water, a hat, gloves and a picker if you have one.

Kudos to

Moose

members

Dale Baty was named “Moose of the Year” and Bill McCarty, local Moose administrator as “Administrator runner up of the year” by Moose Lodge officials. The local lodge got the “membership of the year” award.

Assessor

wins appeal

Grant County Assessor Laure Grammer announced her victory in an appeal of property tax valuation with $7.6 million at stake. REC Solar Grade Silicon of Moses Lake had appealed Grammer’s 2013 assessment that set its property value at $904,065,000. The State Board of Tax Appeal decision came down Sept. 12, and Treasurer Darryl Pheasant sent the company a bill for $7,639,518.32 in additional taxes, assessments and interest for the 2013 tax year.

Grammer sent out the next batch of “change of value” notices, for 2014, last Wednesday, for taxes payable in 2015.