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

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 group will start helping spruce up the historic little roadside attraction of scrap-created whirligigs during this school year and continue through summer. The group wants to put up a kiosk as part of the deal.

“I’m kind of excited about that,” Hansen said.

CAPRD took on maintenance of North Dam Park, where the windmills are, last year with the help of local towns and their hotel/motel tax funds.

Brewer to retire …

Terry Brewer is set to retire as executive director at Grant County Economic Development Council on May 15. Brewer announced his pending retirement to the Grant County EDC Board of Directors in July of 2011 so that they would have plenty of time to find a successor.

That successor visited Grand Coulee last week. New Executive Director Jonathan Smith and Alan Peterson attended last Tuesday night’s Grand Coulee city council meeting to brief members on the work that the EDC is doing. Smith, who has been working with Brewer for six years, was appointed to the post in January.

Peterson handles the small business activity for the EDC.

… But not from the PUD

Brewer also announced that he will be a candidate for re-election to Position 1 at Grant PUD this year. The first-term commissioner said he has enjoyed representing all customer classes at Grant PUD and looks forward to another term with a continued focus on keeping rate increases to a minimum and reliable customer service. Brewer continues to be a proponent of fiber optics connected to the home and he hopes to see the build out of the PUD's fiber network continue.

Wood waste goes to landfill

The Delano Regional Transfer Station is reportedly saving several thousand dollars by getting rid of its gigantic wood pile by sending it to the county’s landfill. In prior years, the transfer station hired a wood chipper to come in and chip the pile away.

Now workers are putting the wood into the landfill bins and hauling it out with the garbage.

Sloan seeks judicial post

Okanogan County Prosecutor Karl Sloan announced that he will seek election to Okanogan County Superior Court Judge, Position #1.

First elected prosecutor in 2002, Sloan was re-elected in 2006, and 2010. He began working in the Prosecutor’s Office in 1998.

Straw poll results from Grant County

The Grant County Republican Party reported a 400-percent increase at this year’s caucus last Saturday over turnout two years ago. “We had nearly 800 voters participate this year,” Chairman Dani Bolyard said.

In their straw poll:

Mitt Romney 351

Ron Paul 188

Rick Santorum 163

Newt Gingrich 86

Undecided 38

The county’s day-long Republican Convention will begin at 10 a.m. April 7, at Wallenstein Theater in Moses Lake with speakers, delegate elections and a platform debate.