Newsbriefs

Shoulder

work to

delay traffic

Drivers should expect delays of less than 10 minutes starting yesterday morning, Tuesday, Aug. 4, on SR 174 toward Bridgeport as road crews work on the shoulders, the DOT said late Monday.

From the Four Corners junction with SR 155, a Department of Transportation spokesman said, a crew will be reshaping and paving shoulders for eight miles west.

Flaggers will be directing traffic.

The work should be complete Aug. 11.

Donate

blood

August 17

The Inland Northwest Blood Center, in conjunction with Grand Coulee Community Blood Drive volunteers, will hold a blood drive Aug. 17.

The drive will work from the community room at Coulee Medical Center from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The INBC needs an average of 200 blood donors every day to meet the needs of more than 35 hospitals in the Inland Northwest.

Big fire

continues

The greatest source of smoke in the area had grown to about 25,634 acres and was under a red flag warning for gusty winds and low humidity Tuesday. Crews on the Wolverine Fire near Lucerne and Holden Village above Lake Chelan were expected to continue to try to open the road to Holden Village and mop up operations around Lucerne Tuesday. A Pacific Crest Trail detour heading into Holden Village and out of Stehekin is currently closed, as conditions are rapidly changing on the ground.

Learn to use your telescope

The National Park Service will offer an event “for those who want to learn more about astronomy and using telescopes” tonight Wednesday, Aug. 5 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Spring Canyon day use area. There will also be astronomy events this coming Friday and Saturday.

Those who want to learn more about telescopes in the special class can register for it with a link in the online version of this story at grandcoulee.com.

You can join local astronomers and National Park Service “Sky Rangers” for an evening of learning and exploration. Bring your own telescopes, spotting scopes and binoculars if you have them, and chairs or blankets to lie on so you can look up, suggests Janice Elvidge, education specialist with the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.