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

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...

A health care provider of nearly 20 years at Coulee Medical Center is resigning from her full-time position, citing adverse health affects from working with what she calls an incompetent and hostile administration. Dawn Lovelace, a nurse...

Whether he believes he’s making all the right decisions as a manager or not, Coulee Medical Center’s CEO should resign if he cares at all for the community asset he’s tried to lead since 2009....

The chamber of commerce named two of its own to awards last Thursday night as the "Achiever of the Year," and "Business of the Year." The awards are made by the vote of members of the Grand Coulee...

Large groups wanting to use North Dam Park will be charged according to a new fee schedule approved recently by the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District Commission. Individual users and small family groups will not be charged, but organizations...

Both the girls’ and the boys’ Raider basketball teams will play Saturday in loser-out games for a shot at second-place in the league championship. They each beat their opponents in Wenatchee Wednesday to earn that chance. The Lady Raiders will...

This week's photos are now online. More than 80 photos taken in the last week, some we really wish we could have used in the paper, are ready to view. Here's a slide show: 2-12-14 Star - Images by...

Facing another litany of complaints about mismanagement, hospital commissioners Monday directed changes in two key policies that have angered community members and medical staff. The commission directed CEO Scott Graham to find a legal way to...

It’s times like these that make you wonder if there’s something to astrology. There is always turmoil somewhere in the world, but when it rears its chaotic head in local communities, it begs the profound question, What the heck? With months of...

With their constituents voicing impatience, hospital district commissioners took no actions after coming out of a closed session last week, but they voted in new leadership and streamlined committee...

A large majority of registered nurses at Coulee Medical Center have signed cards asking to be represented by a union, an organizer said Tuesday night. Austin DePaolo, of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1439, said more than 70...

Colville Members for Justice will meet Saturday morning in Elmer City to discuss the status and updates on their effort to sue the Colville Business Council over decisions on how much of a $193 million settlement with the United States government to...

People are understandably anxious about the lack of resolution of the issues embroiling Coulee Medical Center. While we feel obliged to report on the controversy, it’s not as easy, and much more technical, to report on the hospital’s progress. Al...

County sheriffs in the region have been collaborating on finding out who has been stealing from rural residents and getting their property back. Last week, the sheriffs of Grant, Lincoln and Adams...

On any given week, Star photographers take far more photos than can be used in the newspaper. But the best of the rest are included on a website anyone can explore, and it has just been redesigned....

Got some good shots at the LRHS Raider basketball game against Oroville Friday night and decided to get a slideshow up for you: _psEmbed("http://coulee.photoshelter.com"); To see photos larger, click on them at this site: http://o...

A worker burned in an accident at Grand Coulee Dam last November is due to be released from hospital today, the Bureau of Reclamation has informed an irrigation district. The Columbia Basin Development League reported to members in its email...

It was uncomfortable at first, but the nursing staff at Coulee Medical Center has made a cultural adjustment for transparency in the service of improvements to patient care at the hospital. So said...

Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers last week awarded Wilbur resident Seth Coffman for his role in the saving the life of a woman thrown from a boat near Keller Ferry Marina in 2011. Magers gave Coffman a letter and a “Lincoln County Sheriffs...

Authorities clamped down on a local fire chief this week, who said he didn’t know burning the kinds of materials he had in his burn pile was illegal. He’s not alone in a lack of understanding of this state’s laws regarding outdoor burning....

A majority of hospital district commissioners voted Thursday to immediately hire new legal counsel, then went into closed session with the new attorney. Commissioner Jerry Kennedy said the board’s reasons for changing attorneys had been compounded...

One of the doctors who felt his reputation was unneccessarily harmed by a notice sent to his patients and placed in the newspaper, last week explained the work he had been up to. In an interview, Dr. Andrew Castrodale said the “HIPAA” notice, mad...

by Scott Hunter A draft budget for the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District could be slashed in half, or not, depending on what other agencies do. The $57,005 bottom line for the agency with no direct revenue of its own would have to be altered...

A computer used by Coulee Dam’s former mayor is missing, and the new mayor has asked the sheriff to investigate the possible theft of public property and destruction of public records. Newly elected Mayor Greg Wilder said when he entered the...

A special meeting of the commission that governs Coulee Medical Center, originally called for last night, was postponed, likely until Thursday night, Jan. 9, because an attorney central to the agenda could not make it out of Spokane due to snowy...

An Omak woman was injured and flown to a hospital after the car she was driving hit black ice Friday morning. Maya Best, 31, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with unspecified injuries after the 2007 Ford Freestyle she was...

A fire that scrambled area fire departments to the Third Powerhouse at Grand Coulee Dam last week started in an air filter. It put out a lot of smoke, but, unlike fires in other power plants at the dam last year, didn’t affect power production. A...

A committee formed to try to heal a critical breach between health care providers and administration at Coulee Medical Center recommended hiring a consultant to investigate what the committee heard from staff and community members over the last five...

An Omak woman was injured and flown to a hospital after the car she was driving hit black ice Friday morning. Maya Best, 31, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with unspecified injuries after the 2007 Ford Freestyle she was...

A new mayor and two new council members were sworn in at Coulee Dam last Monday. Mayor-elect Greg Wilder, and council members-elect Gayle Swagerty and Duane Johnson all took their oaths of office at...

Four individuals with records of service to the community have been nominated for the annual volunteer of the year honor, and the community will now choose. It could be a difficult choice, but the one chosen will ultimately serve as an example, as...

Several people have taken the time to write out some great explanations as to why they believe their particular nominee deserves to be recognized as the 2013 volunteer of the year. We hope readers...

A special meeting for Tuesday night has been called of the commission that governs Coulee Medical Center. A majority of the five commissioners set the special meeting to consider, among other things, hiring a different law firm, a proposal that died...

The weather elsewhere is disrupting events in the coulee tonight. A special meeting of the local hospital district commission will be postponed until probably Thursday, Commissioner Geary Oliver said. An attorney central to the agenda can’t make...

We should expect inches of snow today, the National Weather Service says. Below is their winter weather alert issued this morning: . Urgent - Winter Weather message National Weather Service Spokane WA 432 AM PST Fri Dec 20 2013 ...Heavy Snow...

The Star is seeking nominations for the annual Volunteer of the Year honor to be awarded to one individual who deserves to be acknowledged for their unselfish efforts to help others or the community. To nominate someone you think is deserving of the...

Hospital District Commissioner Jerry Kennedy said Monday that a commission meeting that had been scheduled for Dec. 18 has been rescheduled for Dec. 26. Kennedy said the commission discovered that a regular monthly meeting can only be rescheduled...

A small group of parents with concerns about bullying, buses and more met Monday night to discuss ways to help the local school district improve. But if response to a posting on The Star’s Facebook page is an indication, the issues are a hot...

This week's photos, including those not used, are up on our photo site. Here's a slide show you can share: 12-11-13 Star - Images by Scott Hunter...

Doctors and other health care providers at Coulee Medical Center have vowed to quit if the hospital’s chief executive officer doesn’t leave, one frustrated doctor finally told The Star last week. Dr. Jacob Chaffee said the situation is critical a...

Only Wenatchee and East Wenatchee put more kids on NCW Youth Football fields than the local effort that fielded 60 kids from 8 to 12 years of age this year. "That's awesome, considering we are one of...

A semi loaded with cement crashed at the bottom of the hill below Grand Coulee Dam on highway 155 Wednesday morning. The big rig pulling double tanker trailers, reportedly full of cement (the dry...

Directions in the management of Coulee Medical Center are aimed at providing for the long-term survival of the hospital, despite shorter-term difficulties, its top administrator and board chairman said this week. Chief Operating Officer Scott Graham...

The top administrator at Coulee Medical Center narrowly avoided a vote of no confidence from his board Monday night, with a decision by the hospital district commission that clearly disappointed members of his staff. In a special meeting of the...

A Bureau of Reclamation employee was critically injured Monday as a fire started at a switch in the John W. Keys III Pump Generating Plant. Daniel McCulloch, 54, was flown to Harborview Medical...

The Lake Roosevelt Raider basketball players will play against each other on Tuesday to raise funds to feed families for the holiday season. They're hoping to raise enough to feed 50 needy families,...

Students and staff at Grand Coulee Dam Middle School were on pins and needles Friday morning, gathered for a special assembly with a secret subject ... Until they saw the TV camera and anchors....

Among the most frustrating regulations that citizens run up against when trying to fight city hall are zoning laws. But some of the most obvious problems this community faces result from a lack of them, or of their past enforcement. Zones in a city...

Three of four commissioners of the public hospital district that runs Coulee Medical Center have called a special meeting of the commission for Monday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. Special meetings must adhere...