News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 288 - 312 of 1458
Five more people have died from COVID-19 in Grant County, including the county's first death of someone in their 20s. The deaths, announced in a May 18 press release from Grant County Health District, include: two Moses Lake women in their 60s, a Soap Lake man in his 50s, and two Moses Lake men - one in his 80s and the other in his 20s. The deaths bring Grant County's total Covid death count to 125. "COVID-19 continues to kill people from our community," Grant County Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny said. "These reported deaths are not... Full story
Campgrounds in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, including Spring Canyon, have increased their fees. The LRNRA says camp fees are now $23 a night, up from $19, and that all vehicle-accessible campgrounds are now reservation only. Reservations must be made at recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777, with LRNRA recommending making reservations ahead of time from home because cell phone service can be spotty along Lake Roosevelt. Boat-in campgrounds and shoreline camping are still available on a first-come, first-served basis. The...
Lady Raiders finish with no-hitters and home runs The Lady Raiders softball team dominated this past week in the final five games of the season to finish with a 9-3 win-loss record. In Oroville May 11, the Lady Raiders shut out the Lady Hornets 16-0 in the first game of a doubleheader. Emma Marchand pitched a no-hitter and seven strikeouts. "Marchand was too much on the mound for the young team in Oroville," Head Coach Jaci Gross said. Offensively, Halle Albert and Sawyer Steffens each hit a hom...
With poll and absentee votes both now certified, twenty-six candidates have been narrowed down to 14 in the primary for seven seats on the Colville Business Council, with only one incumbent knocked out of the running. There are seven out of 14 total positions up for election to the Colville Business Council, the governing body of the Colville Tribes. Primary polls opened May 8, with poll votes certified on May 10, and absentee votes were certified May 13. The top two candidates in each race will move on to the general election June 19 with...
Sara Kennedy will be Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School's new principal starting with the 2021-22 school year. Kennedy, who has worked as the school's dean of students since 2019, was approved as the new principal at the May 10 Grand Coulee Dam School District board meeting. After 40 minutes of the board being in executive session, and prior to the board's approval of Kennedy, Superintendent Paul Turner said, "I wholeheartedly recommend Sara Kennedy to take over the position. She's done...
Although there will be no tours of the Grand Coulee Dam this year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is working on a plan for the return of the Laser Light Show and for opening its visitor center. USBR Public Affairs Specialist for the Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region Erika A. Lopez told The Star that tours will not be conducted this year at Grand Coulee Dam “because of CDC–recommended COVID-19 restrictions.” “Visitors will be unable to safely maintain social distancing of six feet on the tour buses and dam elevator,” she said. Lopez also said...
During a Grant County Leadership ZOOM meeting May 5, people from various organizations discussed how to market COVID-19 vaccines more effectively. Misty Aguilar, public information officer for the Grant County Health District, said that Grant County’s numbers continue to increase. “We get several cases every day,” she said. “The majority of the cases are coming from ages 19-40.” She said that if Gov. Jay Inslee hadn’t paused the phases of the state’s Covid recovery plan, Grant County would have been rolled back to a more restrictive p...
You may learn a thing or two about local history if you pick up a copy of a new book titled "Dry Falls and Sun Lakes" from Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series, which includes early and rare photos of that area. Local man John "Jay" M. Kemble compiled the book following his 2020 publication titled "Steamboat Rock" in the same Images of America series. "I hope I am presenting several stories that tie together to create a larger whole," he said about "Dry Falls and Sun Lakes," which...
Voters will decide on about 30 positions up for election in the 2021 elections for local town councils, school boards, and more. Candidate filings of intent to run for these offices are open from May 17-21. Grand Coulee Three seats on the Grand Coulee City Council are up for reelection this year, all to four-year terms. At their Jan. 19 council meeting, it was announced that three council members’ terms expire on Dec. 31 and are up for reelection in November: Council Position #1, currently held by Tammara Byers; Council Position #2, c... Full story
Local counties remain in Phase 3 of Washington's COVID-19 recovery plan, which means that the local Colorama Festival with its variety of activities in the area can go on as planned despite Grant County, for one, not meeting the requirements to stay in Phase 3. Grant County's incidence rate is 50 percent higher than current guidelines calling for it to be rolled back to Phase 2. "This is our wakeup call," GCHD Administrator Theresa Adkinson said in a statement Tuesday after Gov. Jay Inslee... Full story
Lake Roosevelt High School intends to hold a high school prom this month to give its students a sense of normalcy. “We believe as a district that students need a sense of normal and that traditional events should continue during this pandemic,” Superintendent Paul Turner said in a statement to The Star. “We understand that this event will look different from years past but are adapting to the current guidelines.” “Other schools in our area have opted to let parents host prom,” the statement continues. “If we host Prom as a district, we have mor...
The city of Grand Coulee is considering installing electronic speed limit signs on both ends of the city limits along SR-174 and paying for it with money brought in from a public safety tax. The signs would potentially be placed near East Heights, and the hospital and canal area. In both directions, while approaching town, the speed limit changes from 60 miles per hour to 35 mph. The public safety tax was started as a result of Grant County's Proposition 1, which passed in 2019. The proposition...
You may be able to spot a Grand Coulee Police car more easily if the department gets new badging for their cars. The topic of "rebadging" eight Grand Coulee Police patrol cars was discussed at Grand Coulee's March 16 council meeting. "Apparently, people think the wave is weird," Mayor Paul Townsend said about the current logo that is on the side doors of the police cars, a version of the city's logo which shows a drawing of the Grand Coulee Dam with a wave flowing from it. City Clerk Lorna...
Lady Raiders win three of four close games The Lady Raiders fastpitch team lost a close one to Omak before winning both games of a double header with Almira-Coulee-Hartline last week. LR led Omak up until the seventh inning April 27 when "Omak's bats came alive and our defense did not respond," according to Head Coach Jaci Gross. LR lost the game 6-5. "Their pitcher garnered 17 strikeouts, which didn't help our cause," Gross said. LR offensive highlights include Emma Marchand going 3-4 at the pl...
Community members aren't happy with library-related decisions made at the administrative level that have affected the local library and that have led to the resignation of branch librarian Lisa Moore. The topic was brought up at Grand Coulee's April 20 council meeting, where the council discussed workers at the library being required to "have some kind of degree," a requirement Councilmember Alan Cain called "elitism B.S." City Clerk Lorna Pearce said that a representative from the North...
Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School is in need of a new principal again with current Principal Kirk Marshlain resigning to take a special education director position in Okanogan. The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors accepted Marshlain’s resignation, effective June 30, at the April 26 board meeting. Marshlain has served as principal for the past two school years at LR. “It’s a decision that came based on family needs and trying to raise my family and provide what they need,” Marshlain told the board. Marshlain said hi...
The continued closure of a city emergency route during a long-stalled federal construction project is worrying the city council in Grand Coulee. During their April 20 meeting, the Grand Coulee City Council discussed the continued closure of B Street during construction of the US Bureau of Reclamation’s fire station located along SR-155. The bureau awarded the $13.6 million construction contract in 2016. Construction began in April of 2017 and was originally scheduled to be complete in the first half of 2018. Numerous delays, including c...
The Colorama parade will be held like normal along it’s Midway Avenue route, but button raffles will be held online with multiple prize drawings held over multiple days. “The parade is on!” Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachel Haven told The Star in an email. Haven received official word that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will be opening B Street, which runs near the fire station they are constructing, as an alternate route which allows Midway Avenue to be used for the parade. Colorama buttons are also out and f...
School leaders chose NAC Architecture as the district’s new architect during their April 26 board meeting. A week prior, the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors had interviewed both NAC and Design West Architecture and had the week to review each of their statements of qualifications. The board’s decision was made without much discussion. Superintendent Paul Turner explained last week that once the architect was chosen, the district could then move onto the next step, which is to collect community input on what they want to do...
Softball loses to Brewster, splits DH with Tonasket The Lady Raiders' fastpitch team won one and lost two this past week. Lake Roosevelt lost the April 20 road game against Brewster 13-7. "Defensively, we had too many errors, racking up nine!" Head Coach Jaci Gross said. "It was a great first game" with "a lot of positives" as well as "a lot of things we need to work on." "It felt great to have the athletes back on the field after a long absence," she continued. "I think we are all just grateful...
The Colville Tribes are interested in purchasing the community building in Coulee Dam that houses the old movie theater, bowling alley, restaurant, fire station, and more. At Coulee Dam’s April 14 city council meeting, the Colville Tribes Natural Resources Director Cody Desautel, who also oversees the tribes’ Real Estate Services program, asked the city council if they were interested in selling the building. Asked by Councilmember Merv Schmidt how the tribes might use the building, Desautel replied that it would be used similarly to its curren...
Receiving no response from the contractor that built their wastewater treatment plant, nearly to completion, has led Coulee Dam representatives to consider taking a trip to the contractor’s office across the state so the city can close the books on the cost of the plant and tell Elmer City what its share will cost. The wastewater treatment plant being built by McClure & Sons, based out of Mill Creek, Washington, is almost entirely complete, and is functioning, but some details are not finished, including installation of a handrail and some p...
Next Monday the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors will choose an architect to help design the future of their facilities. On April 19, the board interviewed two architectural firms: Design West Architects and NAC Architecture, and will choose one of them on April 26. "The board this week is looking at the material, looking through their Statements of Qualifications, so they can be ready," Superintendent Paul Turner told The Star on Tuesday. "Either one of them will be very...
The Community Crab Feed and Triple Fish Challenge events held this past weekend and sponsored by the local chamber of commerce were judged a success, especially by the angler who has been trying to win that tournament since he was 7. “The Community Crab Feed went great!” Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachelle Haven told The Star in an email. “The meals were delicious. We heard that many people were planning at-home crab feeds, which sounded like a lot of fun.” She said 300 pounds of crab from Pacific Seafood...
The school district will be interviewing, then selecting, an architect who could eventually design new athletic facilities, as well as options for what to do with the former high school and middle school. The Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors voted Monday to interview two architectural firms out of five applicants to a Request for Qualifications to design options for school facilities. The interviews of Design West Architects and NAC Architecture will take place at a special Ap...