Newsbriefs

Port changes meeting time

Grant County Port District 7 is changing its meeting time, according to a vote of commissioners last Thursday. The Port District has been meeting at the airport at 5 p.m. the last Thursday of every month. Commissioners, by vote, changed the meeting time to 4 p.m., effective, Thursday, January 26.

Brrr!

With temperatures dropping as low as 0 in the next few days, don’t forget to leave water running about the width of a pencil in any sinks on an outside wall to help avoid costly pipe freezes and ruptures. The Grand Coulee Area Weather Watcher Forecast is on page 8.

Newhouse sworn in to Congress

Rep. Dan Newhouse was sworn in this week to resume his duties as Washington’s representative in Congress for the 4th Congressional District.

Newhouse immediately co-sponsored five bills in the House, first among them the Obamacare Repeal Act.

The Republican also signed on to:

• block a new federal rule, thus allowing states to block funds for abortions,

• cosponsor the ENLIST Act, which would allow “otherwise qualified undocumented immigrants, who entered the U.S. as children and who are otherwise qualified for enlistment, the ability to gain legal status through military service,” and

• sign on to an effort to propose a constitutional amendement to require a balanced federal budget.

Car theft foiled

Three minutes after Grant County Sheriff deputies got a report of a stolen car in Moses Lake, they spotted it on Larson Boulevard and gave chase about 8:45 a.m. Dec. 31.

When two suspects jumped out, the deputies followed them into a neighborhood where residents helped deputies track them down.

Two suspects, 18 and 28, were captured and jailed, and the owner of the 2005 BMW 325 got the car back.