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

Electric City’s council decided last Tuesday night to stick with its policy, at least for now, on how it spends its hotel/motel tax revenues. Its current policy puts half of its hotel/motel revenues in a reserve fund and makes the other half...

City of Electric City Notice of Public Hearing The City of Electric City will hold a public hearing to consider revenue sources for the 2014 budget, including consideration of possible increases in property tax revenues on Tuesday, October 8, 2013,...

Hoping to make a bigger impact for local business and jobs, the chamber of commerce told Coulee Dam leaders last week of its more ambitious plans for marketing the area in 2014. Peggy Nevsimal, the manager of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of...

Ten Years Ago Singing, fireworks and the dedication of Coulee Dam’s Douglas Park have all been planned this weekend for the ceremonial end of summer. The Labor Day weekend activities include 14-year-old singer Jared Wagner at the Grand Gallery...

Star office to close for holiday The Star newspaper will be closed Thursday and Friday, July 4- 5, in observance of the Independence Day holiday. The office will be open at 9 a.m. Monday, July 8, for normal business. The deadline for classified and d...

Okanogan County announced a special three-day filing period, June 26-28, for a variety of positions not filed for during the regular election filing period. In Nespelem two council positions will be open. Council position 2, currently held by Dennis...

Proctor retiring Longtime teacher and coach Gordon Proctor will be honored tonight, beginning at 5:30, for his 35 years with the Grand Coulee Dam School District. Proctor has been at Lake Roosevelt High School since 1978, and retires at the end of th...

Commissioner: Golf course not closing “It is not our intention to close the golf course in July,” O. J. Scharbach said Friday at The Star. “I’ve heard this three or four times. I don’t know who is starting that stuff.” The chairman of...

A special three-day election filing period in Grant County turned up two candidates for Bob Rupe’s position 1 seat in the Electric City Council race. Filing for that position were Birdie Hensley, a former member of the council, and Aaron Derr. In...

Dozens of local elected positions are among more than 3,000 in the state for which people interested in serving the public filed intentions to seek or keep office last week. Incumbents in Electric City fared best in primary election filings with no...

Ten Years Ago The possibility of bringing a swimming pool back into the Grand Coulee Dam area seems to be closer to reality after several county governments are encouraged by it. Sean Hess, chair of the Coulee Area Recreation Effort (CARE), and...

They’re not the Frisbees you’re used to tossing around on Saturdays, but they’re similarly shaped and heavier, and disc golfers will travel to courses set up for playing with them. Disc golf is a growing sport that Josh Rabe thinks would catch...

So you always wanted to hold public office. Here’s your opportunity, as a host of city council, school board, hospital and port district offices will be up for grabs this year. Four mayor positions are up for election this year. Those mayorships...

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL The Colville Tribal Federal Corporation is seeking proposals from Colville Tribal Members, for the fabrication and installation of a 3-D steel sculpture of a traditional Kettle Falls fisherman. The fisherman will be installed at...

NOTICE OF STATE’S INTENT TO NEGOTIATE LEASES Department of Natural Resources will begin negotiation of expiring leases with existing lessees on the following parcels. All leases are subject to third party bids by interested parties. Lease terms and...

For Rayne Rabe, a distinct connection exists between belting out a tune and barreling through your opposition. Practicing one has given her the ability to do the other. Before moving to Coulee Dam in...

January New mayor takes over Chris Christopherson became the mayor of Grand Coulee Jan. 3. after winning the popular vote in November. He and former mayor Tammara Byers traded seats, as she took his old spot on the city council. Sewage plans...

Electric City shot the rest of its hotel/motel budget for 2013, at its meeting last Tuesday night. The city council Dec. 11, held to its policy of budgeting just half of what it took in during 2012, and putting the other half into its hotel/motel...

A group that has been studying the feasibility of building a community/wellness center in the area decided Thursday to push ahead with the effort, citing a very favorable feasibility study and a growing need in the area. Full disclosure: Readers shou...

The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners passed a budget for 2013 Monday night totaling $73,000. It includes revenues of $36,500 from a Bureau of Reclamation grant, and $6,000 from each of three local cities that collect...

The Coulee Area Park & Recreation District’s efforts to obtain tax revenue failed at the polls by about 44 votes. The district’s final vote count gave the measure 57.42 percent favorable votes. It needed a 60-percent yes vote to pass. Voters...

The Coulee Area Park & Recreation District’s effort to get public funding was looking like it would fail as of Tuesday afternoon. By Friday, the combined yes votes from the district boundaries in the four counties showed that it had 1,036 yes...

The Coulee Area Park & Recreation District appeared to be on its way to victory in Tuesday’s election, in which it is asking voters to approve a levy of 15 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. Election totals from the four-county area...

The three municipalities that collect hotel/motel taxes have a combined total of $434,000 in reserve, even after spending over $100,000 this year to promote tourism through a variety of ways....

The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce and the Coulee Area Park & Recreation District each approached Electric City for money from its hotel/motel tax fund last Tuesday night. New chamber Manager Peggy Nevsimal made the pitch for her...

For the pennies the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District is seeking in their levy on this election’s ballot, the area stands to gain back much more than the maintenance the money is for — a real beginning. A beginning to an era of unified, pi...

Ballots delivered Ballots for the Nov. 6 general election were mailed last week. If you haven’t received one, you should call your county auditor’s office. One very local issue asks voters to decide on a tax levy for the Coulee Area Park and...

The park and recreation district formed in 2003 has accomplished much, and with minimal tax support could provide much more to the community in the future, its chairman said last week. Coulee Area Park and Recreation District Chairman Phil Hansen...

by Scott Hunter On Nov. 6 voters will be asked to support a tax levy for the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District, and comissioners spent time last week discussing that upcoming vote and ways to get the word out about the issue. The district,...

Hansen to Speak on Parks Levy At the chamber of commerce luncheon at noon Thursday at La Presa, Commission Chairman Phil Hansen will speak on the proposed levy for the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District. The district has put the question on...

City of Electric City Notice of Public Hearing The City of Electric City will hold a public hearing to consider revenue sources for the 2014 budget, including consideration of possible increases in property tax revenues on Tuesday, October 8, 2013,...

Here's the latest update just in. Most of the Buffalo Lake Road Fire was quiet yesterday, giving firefighters the opportunity to continue improving containment lines and mopping up throughout its perimeter. In the southeast section, near Swawilla...

Bullish time starts tonight Pack the kids in the car and head out to the Rodeo Grounds tonight (Wednesday, Aug. 15) for the Ridge Rider’s bull riding event. A beer garden opens at 6 p.m. and action out of the chutes begins at 7 p.m. Some 36 bulls...

Park district commissioners heard concerns from a taxpayer Monday night on their hopes to collect taxes after a vote next November. Dave McClure, a rancher with a lot of property north of Nespelem,...

Ten Years Ago Ryan Hunt completed Marine Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va., July 3 with two distinguishing awards; one for finishing in the top 10 percent of his class and one for superior physical performance. The Marconi brothers, Corporal...

Primary ballots out this week Ballots for the Aug. 7 primary, will be mailed to voters today, Wednesday, in Grant County and Thursday in Okanogan County, their respective elections departments noted. If you don’t get a ballot by July 25, you can...

• We hope the community will support the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District’s bid for tax support. Since the early 1990s, community leaders saw a park and rec district as a tool that could...

The local park district through which North Dam Park was rescued in a joint community effort last year, will seek tax support at the ballot come November. Commissioners of the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District voted Monday to seek a levy to...

Money OK’d for park district Mayor Jerry Sands at Electric City got an OK from the council to sign an agreement for the city to provide $10,000 to the Coulee Area Park & Recreation District, to help fund maintenance activity at North Dam Park. The...

Park district commissioners Monday accepted a 10-year management agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and prepared to pass a supplemental budget that would allow the district to spend more...

A $50,000 grant through the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will help with operating and maintaining North Dam Park, officials announced last week. Phil Hansen, chairman of the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District, and Lynne Brougher, public affairs...

Oasis Lawn Care was awarded the contract to keep up North Dam Park and the softball fields, Coulee Area Parks and Recreation District Chairman Phil Hansen said last Thursday. Two bidders submitted proposals, Oasis and Mr. E’s. Hansen said the...

Ten Years Ago Many Grand Coulee Dam area kids spent spring vacation trying to learn how to swing golf clubs bigger than they are. The kids were swinging clubs last week as part of the second annual Banks Lake Youth Clinic at the Banks Lake Golf and...

With the support of a $30,000 grant from The Regence Foundation, a study by the local hospital district and park district has the potential to reshape community wellness for residents, the foundation says. The Douglas Grant Lincoln & Okanogan...

SHARP Kids to help at park The after-school and summer program for kids will take on some maintenance tasks at the Gerkhe Windmills, a parks official said Monday. Coulee Area Park and Recreation District Chairman Phil Hansen told commissioners the...

The chamber’s own president, Scott Hunter, was named “Achiever of the Year” during a special luncheon last Thursday. Annually, the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce names both a...

A grant-funded study will determine the feasibility of each aspect of a community/wellness center for the region following the award of a contract to Gary Leva, director of the Benewah Wellness...

Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners heard a proposal to use North Dam Park as a venue for a regional karaoke contest this summer. Electric City Mayor Jerry Sands proposed a contest...

The Coulee Area Park & Recreation District got the $11,000 it asked for from Coulee Dam’s hotel/motel fund as a result of discussions last Wednesday night. While talking about how vague some of the detail was in developing North Dam Park as a...

Hotel/motel tax money flowed freely in Electric City last Tuesday night when the city council voted to provide the Ridge Riders $4,000 and the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce $13,000. The money collected as a tax on motel rooms and...