The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

The massive Carlton Complex fire has destroyed 300 homes, and regional and nationwide response has been in some ways "overwhelming," says Okanogan County Frank Rogers. Here's is his latest update, including what vicitims currently need: Members of th...

When a storm system moved across the region July 14, lightning started multiple fires just as temperatures would reach into the 100s for days, feeding what would become the largest wildfire in state...

The degree to which the people and their elected representatives get involved in the day-to-day details of governance depends on how keenly the results are felt and on the relative opportunity for corruption. Our Constitution sets up a purposely...

It's difficult to grasp the size of the fires burning in Washington when some says they've burned 168,000 acres. But most of us are familiar with our area on maps. Here's a map of the area, with red...

A brush fire that started south of Leahy Junction Wednesday afternoon had consumed nearly 7 square miles of grass and brush by this morning after some short-range jumping and fast movement late...

As the local chamber of commerce got ready to host thousands of people in the area to its annual Festival of America last Friday and Saturday, members became aware of misperceptions among the public...

A number of small fires marred the busy July 4 holiday weekend, Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Chief Richard Paris reported this week on behalf of several responding agencies, and one large fire near Keller was still being battled Tuesday morning. At...

A civic minded man made a big contribution of labor Saturday, helping to clean up the top of North Dam after Fourth of July fireworks the night before. But no one knows who he is. The young man, say Bureau of Reclamation officials, was walking by...

The two letters below on separate problems at nearby state and national parks illustrate a larger problem with a policy stance the entire nation has adopted through its politics. For decades now, the...

As absurd as it is starting to appear, the current discussion between Grand Coulee and Electric City regarding their police services contract at least serves to illustrate why an area with a tiny population continues to burden itself with four...

Nespelem School District is searching for a new principal and superintendant after accepting the resignation last week of John Adkins. Adkins has held that office for five years. He has accepted the superintendent job at Wellpinit School District on...

Spending more than a million dollars to reside and reroof old school buildings, construct stares and fix tennis courts shouldn’t have to happen, but it’s a good thing that it will. Apparently,...

With two key health care providers working on a very limited basis and revenues limited as a result, Coulee Medical Center is losing money and faces yet another challenge: a physician will leave for a year, starting in January. Dr. Jacob Chaffee...

Lake Roosevelt High School pushed 31 of its students into the world last Saturday. The graduating class of 2014 celebrated the accomplishments of all, taking special note of its top scholars,...

Apparently, the mayor of Grand Coulee does not want his police department serving Electric City. That seems the most reasonable way to interpret his proposed tripling of the cost Grand Coulee charges Electric City for answering calls to Electric City...

Firefighters from the Mt. Tolman Fire Center on the Colville Reservation battle a blaze last week that consumed some 700 acres of brush and grass. Fire Management Officer Ike Cawston said they’re still patrolling the area to watch for hot spots....

After several years of collaboration, two local school districts will go their own way next year as they seek to augment students’ education with after-school programs. Nespelem’s school board last week voted to follow a different path, leaving t...

Coulee Medical Center's hospital district commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. tonight (Monday, 6/9/14) for their regular monthly meeting. They will meet in the CMC Medical Arts Building (old clinic...

An airplane accident killed a man on Banks Lake near Steamboat Rock Saturday. Kenneth A. Berger, 60, of Monroe, Wash. was an accomplished pilot, attorney and longtime city councilman who built his...

Following the change in Coulee Medical Center’s top manager last month, three more high-level executives will be leaving the hospital, Interim Chief Executive Officer Debbie Bigelow announced last week, and more changes are coming. In the medical...

In the wake of state inspections and allegations of harassment and retaliation, the mayor of Coulee Dam has ordered immediate changes in the town’s paid volunteer ambulance service, some of which have sparked threats of EMTs purposely not...

An airplane accident has killed a man on Banks Lake near Steamboat Rock. Kenneth A. Berger, 60, of Monroe, Wash. had already put down his Searay amphibious plane at about 5 p.m., witnesses said. They...

The American Legion Post in Electric City will cook breakfast during this holiday for any who would like to help support local veterans while having a nice meal in a community setting. Saturday, the...

A special meeting of the commissioners that govern Coulee Medical Center will occur this afternoon, but will not take any action other than adjournment following a closed session, according to revised agenda the hospital district published Sunday...

Coulee Medical Center staff pulled together a recruitment booth for a medical conference in Spokane last month where Dr. Andrew Castrodale was a featured speaker. Chief Executive Officer Debbie Bigelow told hospital commissioners Monday night that st...

In 1964, the average annual salary in the United States was $5,880. It cost 5 cents to mail a letter. You could buy a fine house for $20,000 and a brand new Ford Mustang cost a whopping $2,400. And when Merv Schmidt came to run a gas station in...

State Sen. Linda Evans Parlette said she is still looking for ways to get federal help with Grand Coulee Dam school construction needs, and she has just two years to get it done. Speaking at the...

Until 6 p.m. today, anyone taking a test drive can get Ford Motor Co. to send $20 to the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District, plus your name gets entered into a drawing for a barbecue grill....

One of several traits that I owe overwhelmingly to my mother is a little understood love of argument. In that way, my mother touches you today. Mom was a very intelligent woman, who instilled in me...

As you enjoy Colorama this week, be thankful for the place where much of it comes together — North Dam Park and Event Center — and think about the sand dunes that would replace it if ceases to exist, which it could. This community asset is just...

A video has been posted on Youtube of a man being arrested after fishing in a restricted area below Grand Coulee Dam and allegedly resisting arrest. The Wilbur man's arrest was the subject of a police reports brief in the April 30 Coulee Cops. Taken...

I've uploaded three weeks worth of photos on our photo site today. Enjoy!...

A group of friends trying to scratch their own itch for faster Internet connections have been almost forced into opening a new business to answer the same growing need for the local community. Coulee...

The Nespelem School District Board set the school’s calendar for the next school year and changed the date of their regular monthly meetings last Wednesday. School will start next fall on...

Coulee Medical Center's chief executive tendered his resignation with a required 90-day notice last Thursday, offering to stay on until the end of that time but stating his intention to seek "liabilit...

The statewide 911 outage has reportedly been mostly corrected. The problem reportedly occurred in Sheridan, Ore. but affected 911 centers across Washington. Officials will be looking into the reason no backup systems kicked in. --- The State E911...

Grand Coulee is gaining a reputation among University of Washington students interested in rural medicine. Coulee Medical Center is among the smallest of a handful of facilities used by the...

"Are you fed up?" asked Dave Wilson of chamber of commerce members last Thursday. "I'm still waiting to meet the first person that's not fed up" with "the disfunction in Congress." Wilson hopes to...

A room full of teachers and staffers addressed the Nespelem School Board last week, declaring that Principal Superintendent John Adkins is doing a very good job. Board Member Pat Morin said it was the biggest crowd he’s seen in five years. Teacher...

A young father and son drowned March 30 in an accident in the canal above Summer Falls, and the father's body still hasn't been found. This morning, Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones issued a media advisory on the matter. In 25 years of journalism, no...

A corner was likely turned this week in the months-long hospital controversy that saw Coulee Medical Center’s healthcare providers and other employees pitted against administration. Public Hospital District 6 commissioners Friday afternoon...

The chief of staff at Coulee Medical Center was given a statewide award at the annual Washington Rural Health Association’s Northwest Regional Health Conference in Spokane Wednesday. Dr. Andrew Castrodale was awarded the Dr. John Anderson Memorial...

Public Hospital District 6 commissioners will gather in a special meeting Friday at 3 p.m. to consider the tendered resignation of Commissioner Greg Behrens. Commission President Jerry Kennedy confirmed that Behrens had given his letter of...

The local chamber of commerce will offer three runs and a walk on Colorama Saturday, all featuring a route over the Grand Coulee Dam. The Run The Dam will take place the Saturday of Colorama weekend, May 10. It will feature 5-kilometer, 10K and half...

Voters in the Colville Tribes’ Omak District Sunday voted in a longtime member to fill a vacancy on the Colville Business Council, seating him next to his son, whom they had voted in for another vacancy March 1. Mel Tonasket, a one-time chair of...

For nearly three decades, Coulee Dam has benefited from the reliably calm and deliberate approach taken by Councilmember Bob Poch, who announced his resignation last week. While it’s understandable that after 28 years he’s decided to step away,...

Revelations and rancor dominated a two-and-a-half-hour hospital commission meeting that culminated with steps taken toward the possible ouster of Coulee Medical Center's CEO and for an independent...

An accident and resulting fire that put the John W. Keys III Pump Generating Plant at Grand Coulee Dam out of commission last fall has cost the Bureau of Reclamation $990,000 for cleanup, fire response and incident investigation alone, and will lead...

Here is an interesting video that highlights a technology that will soon begin to impact our community, our lives: 3D Printing. Someday, you'll "print" the sweater you plan to wear the next day. Or,...

An investigation, or lack thereof, of missing public records and a town computer has been to Olympia and back via Waterville, where it may soon end up anyway. Coulee Dam Mayor F. Gregory Wilder, finding nothing but a brand new, unused computer in...