News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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November 17, 2025 Voters decided this month to allow payroll taxes collected for Washington’s new long-term care program to be invested in the stock market. But they will have to wait a while for the decision to begin paying dividends. Nearly 58% of voters approved Senate Joint Resolution 8201 amending the state constitution to end restrictions on the types of investments that can be made with dollars flowing into the WA Cares fund. The state constitution generally bars investing public money in the stock of private companies, limiting state an...
There is no denying that our schools face challenges. Attendance, achievement gaps, and accountability are real, and we cannot shy away from them. But it is equally true that these challenges are not being ignored. Every day, across our district, dedicated educators and staff are working tirelessly to lift up students and move us forward. Teachers are finding creative and culturally responsive ways to close learning gaps. Paraeducators are in classrooms, side by side with students, offering encouragement and academic support. Administrators...
I appreciate our local towns working together on the massive chip seal street project. It looks great and was needed. Now we all need to work together with expertise from Ryan Fish, Nic Alexander and others knowledgeable to make our emergency services more efficient and effective. Also, thanks to the Coulee Dam Shop crew for cutting back the overgrowth at the corner to the police station. I have seen many close calls there and worried about vehicles colliding. Now visibility is better for traffic flow. I’m thankful for the tremendous l...
NCW Libraries will host the virtual Humanities Washington program “A Space For Black History” on July 31 from 6 to 7:30PM in partnership with NCW Equity Alliance. University of Washington professor Luther Adams – Free Man of Color will incorporate Black thought, images, poetry and local history to create an open space to ask questions about Black history and why it matters to all of us. In his program, Adams will talk about how anger against “critical race theory” and “wokeness” has led to new laws prohibiting what can and cannot be taugh...
Last month, I traveled to Anchorage, Alaska for a Maternal and Child Health Conference. This conference brought together maternal health experts and advocates to discuss the heart-wrenching maternal health crisis in our country and what we’re doing to promote better outcomes. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income countries. In 2021, 1,205 women died of maternal causes in the United States. In 2020, 861 women died of maternal causes in the U.S., a 40% increase in just one year, and some of our neighbors a...
The debate over how Washington reduces greenhouse gasses is headed for a showdown in November. To supporters, The Climate Commitment Act (CCA) is a "gold standard" environmental policy, because it sets carbon limits on polluters who must pay if they don't meet emission goals. To critics, the program is failing because it isn't really reducing emissions, is pushing up the cost of gasoline and much of the $1.8 billion it has generated isn't going to projects that reduce greenhouse gasses. This Nov...
Coulee Dam will get state and federal help planting new trees on a street it clear cut last summer. The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced this week it will award Coulee Dam $71,180 for the work. The project is designed to restore and enhance Ferry Avenue’s tree canopy. More than 30 90-year-old maples were removed unexpectedly during a sidewalk replacement project in 2023. City engineer Marisa Stevens, of TD&H Engineering, applied for the funding to plant 24 new trees along Ferry Avenue, which was stripped of more than 30 of...
School districts should be required to test all students to see if they qualify for more challenging classes. That is the message behind Substitute Senate Bill 5072, proposed by T’wina Nobles, D-Fircrest. It requires districts to screen all students during the school day for participation in a “Highly Capable Program (HCP). “With this model, every student in a grade level gets to be considered, and no student is overlooked.” Nobles said. “Districts that have implemented universal screening are seeing the results improve equity for advanced...
The good news is, despite higher prices, inflation and safety concerns, more Christmas shoppers are browsing on-line but making in-store purchases. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reported this year an estimated 166.3 million people visited stores from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday----an 8 million increase from last year. It is the highest estimate since NRF began tracking this data in 2017. The good news extends to on-line sales. E-commerce retail revenues this year are projected...
Communities in every corner of the country now struggle with a lack of affordable homes, an ailment long associated with fast-growing urban areas. A lack of affordable housing hamstrings rural towns’ abilities to attract workers and slows business growth. Quality housing is also linked to health and well-being, and home ownership remains a primary way working people build equity and ownership. Small towns need affordable, quality housing for people across the financial spectrum. Solving this shortage will require multifaceted solutions, c...
NCW Libraries is proud to partner with Confluence Health to offer a virtual Health Living Series this spring featuring an introduction to healthy living, weight loss, sleep, and cancer prevention and screening. This weekly series will run from April 13-May 25, each Wednesday evening at 7PM. A provider from Confluence will lead the presentation followed by a question and answer session. Next in the series is: May 4: A Healthy Approach to Weight Loss with Dr. Andrew Toth and Nutritionist Jess Tyrell. May 11: Better Sleep with Dr. Ankur Patel. May...
by Scott Hunter School leaders seemed open to a proposal Monday to add two positions to the athletics department at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School proposed by Athletic Director Tim Rasmussen, one needed to take programs to the next step, another needed to catch up to evolving trends. Girls’ wrestling has gained popularity to the extent that the statewide organization that oversees school athletics tournaments put them in their own state tournament this year, Rasmussen told the Grand Coulee Dam School District directors at Monday’s board meeti...
NCW Libraries is proud to partner with Confluence Health to offer a virtual Health Living Series this spring featuring an introduction to healthy living, weight loss, sleep, and cancer prevention and screening. This weekly series will run from April 13-May 25, each Wednesday evening at 7PM. A provider from Confluence will lead the presentation followed by a question and answer session. The series will include: April 13: An Intro to Health Living with Katie Mathews, PAC. April 20: Depression, More Than Just the Blues, with Kasey Grass, Behaviora...
NCW Libraries is proud to partner with Confluence Health to offer a virtual Health Living Series this spring featuring an introduction to healthy living, weight loss, sleep, and cancer prevention and screening. This weekly series will run from April 13-May 25, each Wednesday evening at 7PM. A provider from Confluence will lead the presentation followed by a question and answer session. The series will include: April 13: An Intro to Health Living with Katie Mathews, PAC. April 20: Depression, More Than Just the Blues, with Kasey Grass, Behaviora...
A report from the Okanogan School District determined that noises made during a basketball game were not racially motivated, but others, including Colville Business Council members, disagree. Reviewing game footage, Lady Raiders Assistant Coach Matthew Pleasants, himself an African American and Native American, took note of racist monkey noises being made while a Lady Raider, also an African American and Native American, shot free throws during a Feb. 18 basketball game in Okanogan. Pleasants reported the incident to the Washington Interscholas...
My name is Andrew Castrodale and I’ve been a practicing physician in Grand Coulee Washington for 24 years. Coulee Medical Center (CMC) is a 25 bed Critical Access Hospital in North Central Washington next to the 1.4 million-acre Colville Indian Reservation. Higher level of care is approximately 100 miles away making Family Medicine truly “full spectrum”. I grew up on the reservation and came home to practice 24 years ago after undergraduate and medical school training at the University of Washington followed by a Family medicine resid...
In life it is very important to make progress from being fully aware of current reality and learning from the patterns involved. We should always strive to improve and find balance from our mistakes. This is not happening at the highest levels in our school district. There are excessive fiscal requests and repetitive unanimous decisions that are not logical to me. We need servant leadership, a diversity of viewpoints with equity in mind. People need to be valued and heard with genuine collaboration so progressive solutions can be found....
Covid-19 cases have risen again over recent weeks to numbers not seen since early this year. This is largely preventable thanks to the vaccines discovered and developed in record time. All of us can do our part by getting vaccinated, and our nation’s employers have a unique role to play in this effort. Many of America’s largest companies, including Tyson Foods, Google, and Walmart, are taking critical steps by requiring that their employees get the vaccine. The White House is mandating vaccines for all federal employees and millions of fed...
Greetings to all concerned voters. My name is Kenneth “Butch” Stanger, and I am requesting your support for the Position No. 2, Grand Coulee Dam School 301J-GCDSD, Board of Directors-BOD, for the term 2022-2025. Through the continued support of the general voting community, it has been my joy and pleasure to represent the GCDSD going into my twelfth (12th) year at the start of school year 2021. I am a graduate of Coulee Dam High School, and a majority of my children, grandchildren, nieces-nephews, have attended and graduated from LRHS. I ser...
Lake Roosevelt High School is in the process of finalizing its 2021-22 LRHS School Improvement Plan (SIP) and would like feedback from community stakeholders. The SIP is required by the state and is to be developed and reviewed annually. It looks at academic outcomes and action steps that focus on improving school goals, community engagement, equity, and other important factors for school success. The SIP review will take place the week of April 26-30, with the specific day and time to be determined. The panel will look at the current draft...
Lake Roosevelt Schools are seeking a community review panel for their School Improvement Plan. “We are in the process of finalizing the LRHS School Improvement Plan (SIP) and would like feedback from our community stakeholders,” a description on the school’s website reads. The SIP is a document required by Washington State and “includes academic outcomes and action steps that focus on improving school goals, community engagement, equity, and other important factors for school success.” The SIP review will take place sometime from April 26-...
Outrage over deaths of citizens in police custody sparked efforts by lawmakers to address racial equity, hiring and training, and the use of force within law enforcement. Now, nearing the halfway point in the 2021 legislative session, the steps toward major reform of police tactics have gained support from both sides, though not without controversy. “I wouldn't argue that we have complete agreement amongst all of them but we're continuing to work to bring people together and to move the bills,” said House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, in...
Education looks far different today than when George LaPlace was in school, and he thinks its future is likely to see more amazing changes even though funding inequities currently in place still need work. LaPlace has served as a school board director in the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors since the 2014-15 school year. As chairman since January of this year, he answered questions from The Star over email covering topics ranging from the role of the board, education during...
MOSES LAKE - Boeing officials announced a $50,000 gift to Big Bend Community College's Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) and Commercial Pilot programs Dec. 1 as part of the company's Giving Tuesday initiative. Giving Tuesday is marked around the world each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The movement was created to promote charitable acts of giving. Statewide, Boeing gave $10 million in charitable grants to 95 nonprofit organizations on Giving Tuesday. The grants focus specifically...
Lake Roosevelt High School’s Associated Student Body will lose revenue from restrictions imposed from a new state law. House Bill 1660, which passed the state Legislature earlier this year and affects the current school year, will prevent schools from charging students who qualify for free or reduced lunches for ASB cards, as well as for admission into sports games. Their guests over the age of 65 might also not have to pay admission into sports events, or would pay a reduced entry fee. The bill aims to create more equity in schools, saying tha...