Star to close for holiday

The Star will be closed for the Labor Day holiday Monday, Sept. 4. Deadlines for announcements and advertisements move to Friday at 5 p.m.

Run volunteers to meet Tuesday

A special meeting for “Run the Dam” volunteers is planned for 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the Chamber of Commerce/JR Newhouse offices, 17 Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee.

The “Run the Dam” event is scheduled during the Harvest Festival celebration, Saturday, Sept. 16. A good number of volunteers is needed to supply the support necessary for the run.

Toxin detected in Rufus Woods

An unsafe level of a naturally occurring toxin was detected in algae blooms at Rufus Woods Lake, prompting U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ officials to post Washington State Department of Health warnings against swimming, water skiing and other in-water activities at the lake near Bridgeport, Washington.

Rufus Woods Lake remains open to the public.

The toxin of concern is anatoxin-a, a nerve toxin produced by some blue-green algae blooms found in water bodies throughout the state. The toxin can be lethal to animals if ingested at high enough concentrations.

While it’s safe to eat properly cleaned and gutted fish, the water should not be consumed and steps should be taken to keep livestock and pets away from the water. Boaters are advised to avoid areas where algae blooms are present.

Test results indicate that concentrations of anatoxin-a in the floating algae were as high as 923 micrograms per liter. The recommended guideline is one microgram per liter for recreational uses of the water.