News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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I’m gonna need Democrats to stop cosplaying as conservatives. It’s not funny anymore. It’s not useful anymore (if it ever was). Conservatives play a real and vital role in American society. They’re the ones who hold onto the past, who grip the edges of our traditions and say, “This is who we are. Don’t forget where we came from.” That instinct isn’t always right, but it’s valuable. It keeps us connected to our roots; to the stories, lessons, and boundaries that give us identity. But progressives, often Democrats, are supposed to do the opposite...
Seven Lake Roosevelt Raiders traveled to Pasco to compete in the WIAA State XC Championships last week, which has not occurred with a Raider team since this one's oldest athlete was in first grade, Coach Matthew Timentwa said. At a school assembly the day before they got on the bus for Sun Willows Golf Course outside Pasco, Timentwa praised the team. "They worked so hard this year," the coach said. "They all ... put in their best effort, every single one of them, and every single day." Timentwa...
An important institution celebrated its 90th anniversary Saturday, when the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department members gathered at the fire station on Spokane Way, which was built in the 1970s. The modern fire department was consolidated from two earlier, separate departments for the different parts of the city, Rick Paris recounted as people gathered at the station for food and drink, and to honor the department's work and role in the community. Before there was a city or an ordinance to...
Even in an election year when most races were for often uncontested local offices, several were too close to call last night when county election offices stopped counting ballots after 8 p.m. In Grand Coulee, Mayor Ruth Dalton wasn’t getting too nervous yet about barely trailing by 52-48, Chantel Crowe, the city’s deputy clerk who decided to run for the mayor’s office. Neither was Crowe, reached on her way back from a leadership class in Ephrata. She also said it was too close to call. “As of now, I’m excited and I’m certainly honored,” she sai...
Please renew my subscription to The Star. The editor has won national and local awards; the paper provides important community news and a variety of insightful perspectives that entertain and enlighten its readers. The editor prints editorials from perspectives with which I sometimes disagree and perhaps which the editor himself has reservations over as well. Yet, consistently, his belief in permitting his community to speak through The Star overrules whatever his own political perspectives might be. The community is fortunate to have such an...
We are now in the sixth week of the federal government shutdown, and Senate Democrats still refuse to vote to reopen the government. The latest victims of what will ultimately be the longest shutdown in history are recipients of benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. On November 1 funding for SNAP expired, meaning that nearly 42 million Americans — and over 900,000 here in Washington state — will not receive their full benefits. In response to a federal court order, the Trump Administration announced it would fun...
The Raider football team capped their season Thursday night with a big win at home on senior night. Lake Roosevelt hosted the Tekoa-Rosalia Timberwolves in an 8-man game that took the place of an originally scheduled contest with the Okanogan Bulldogs. Head Coach Geary Oliver said the Raiders forfeited to Okanogan because it would have been a mismatch, going against one of the primary safety guidelines coaches in the state are supposed to follow: don't mismatch teams. He indicated this year's...
Lake Roosevelt’s boys’ cross-country team took sixth place at the District 5 meet Thursday and qualified seven athletes to compete at the state meet in Pasco Nov. 8. Senior Caden Portch set a personal record to take seventh out of 93 competitors on the district’s 3-mile race at Apple Ridge last week in 16 minutes, 33.4 seconds, beating his own 3-mile time at Oroville last month by 13.5 seconds. Each Raider set a personal record on the 3-mile course. After a send-off assembly at the school on Thursday at 10:15 a.m., the team will board the b...
by Scott Hunter The Care and Share Food Bank, like many others, is getting ready to meet the needs of people who will be caught in the midst of the fight in Congress that has shut down much of the nation’s federal government, including food assistance. “Thanks to our government budget, local support and prudent management, we will be able to support all those in need with basic food support,” Shawn Neider wrote in a note to The Star about what the local food bank expects. “We may have to spread our food thinner but nobody needs to starve.” Neid...
by Scott Hunter It wasn’t for a far-off cause that people gathered to walk through brilliant fall foliage on a perfect afternoon last Thursday. It was to help local women get a mammogram, a screening that can detect breast cancer early and thereby save lives. It was Walking Together for Mammograms. Kelly Buche said she is “a survivor, nine years strong, nine years grateful and nine years blessed” because she had good health insurance. “But I was lucky,” said the local accountant just before aw...
Village Cinema is officially resetting its operations as the Village Cinema Performance, Events & Recreation Center, expanding what we do and how we serve our community. This next chapter opens the door for more than just movies. We’re building a creative, flexible space for performances, events, recreation, and community gatherings and all under one roof. This change allows us to bring even more diverse programming to the area while maintaining compliance with our updated public performance licensing. You’ll continue to see free and aff...
I want to remind our GCDSD upper brass that our schools belong to the community. Community members will continue to question dysfunctional, reactive actions that you make. Intimidation, retaliation or vindictiveness will not be tolerated. GCDSD ballot measures should not be supported when the upper brass continues to show zero responsibility with the funds involved. They need to quit boasting they are good stewards. They only have themselves to blame for the on-going crisis the organization is in. Over time, as I’ve shared thoughts, I’ve nev...
Last week, rumors of a proposal by the Trump Administration to import large quantities of beef from Argentina took the agriculture industry by surprise. The alleged plan suggests the United States will quadruple the amount of beef imported from the South American nation as a means of lowering beef prices for American consumers. While it is no secret beef prices are higher than years past, a decision to import beef from Argentina would be disastrous for American producers. The U.S. is already at a trade imbalance for beef with Argentina. In the...
As over 7 million people reportedly took part in No Kings demonstration around the United States Saturday, a group of about 100 of them walked on Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee, waving signs and chatting, dancing to music, and wearing inflatable suits. The crowd was several times the size of what has become the usual 20-35 on a weekly basis in downtown Grand Coulee each Saturday. Started by a single person, Sheri Edwards (my wife) who decided last February she had to do something to speak up...
I’m proud to share that the 501(c)(3) paperwork came in and officially established the Village Cinema Foundation, a nonprofit I started to help preserve and improve the historic Village Cinema building in Coulee Dam. The Foundation’s focus is preservation, restoration, and capital improvements as a gift to the Town of Coulee Dam and the surrounding communities. Small towns like ours don’t always have the resources for major projects, so I’m working to bring in grants and outside support at no cost to local taxpayers. My first priority is the...
The Pacific Northwest is blessed with strong hydroelectric infrastructure that makes it a prime region to establish a national system for hydrogen production. With over 150 hydroelectric projects producing affordable, reliable, and clean energy, at times we are left with excess hydropower that can be readily available to supply hydrogen projects, which in turn, can fuel heavy transportation and manufacturing projects. In April of this year, I wrote about the importance of the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub and how it will help boost energy and...
The outcome of the game with Liberty Bell was even more lopsided than the numbers of players on each football team, but not much. The Mountain Lions mauled the Raiders 70-46 in only the second home game of a "weird" season for the Raiders, and their second to last game of the year. For the Lake Roosevelt team, the challenging schedule comes in part from decisions to play 8-man ball when too few players on either team were eligible. Out of a total official roster of 21, Raiders in the game often...
Lake Roosevelt’s soccer players ended their regular season and their winning streak last night with a 5-0 loss to Tonasket, but a win-loss record of 5-3 in the Central Washington 2B League and 9-5 overall. The LR team finished 15th out of 48 teams in the 2B classification in Washington with a 0.5184 RPI. Now seeded third, the Raiders will play Saturday at home at 11 a.m. in game one of the District 5 tournament for the start of postseason play in a loser-out game. They'll host sixth seed Liberty Bell. This story was updated....
An elementary school teacher was arrested Monday on a charge of “Communication with a Minor for Immoral Purposes.” Kittitas County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Ross Ashenfelter, a fourth-grade teacher at Lake Roosevelt Elementary School at 11:55 a.m. Ashenfelter, 42, of Coulee Dam, was arrested at the school, where he was doing some administrative work while the school was closed for the holiday, the sheriff’s department said in a statement. The sheriff’s office said the arrest resulted from investigations by detectives with the Washington taskf...
The Trump Administration on Friday reportedly fired the entire staff of an office in the Treasury Department that runs a broadly popular program that helps local loan funds in places that are typically underserved by banks, including Native American reservations. The Community Development Financial Institutions that get the funds loan them out to small businesses to help develop local economies, often for higher rates than a bank might charge if they were interested. Those CDFIs include the... Full story
Coulee Dam will not be providing a school resource officer for Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School this year as was earlier expected. Mayor Bob Poch said at the Oct. 8 town council meeting that the town didn’t have enough police officers to cover the duties at this point. The town just swore in a new officer last week. Police Chief Paul Bowden said there was not enough time to get everything done before sending an officer to that duty. Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Rod Broadnax said the delay actually helps the district with a b...
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...
Even politically engaged constituents of our Republican US Representative Michael Baumgartner may have been puzzled by his abrupt referral to the “Working Family Tax Cuts” bill in his recent Friday Emails. Weekly since September 19, identical sections began with “As part of the Working Family Tax Cuts bill, applications are now open for states to apply for funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a historic $50 billion investment aimed at strengthening rural health care across America.” If you’ve never heard about the “Working...
Trump floats plan to deny back pay to furloughed federal workers after shutdown by Jennifer Shutt, Washington State Standard October 7, 2025 This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — The Trump administration may try to interpret a law enacted during his first term in office differently than it did following the last government shutdown, potentially denying back pay to hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers. The change in stance, outlined in a memo from the Office of Management and Budget that was first reported by Axios on T... Full story
by Scott Hunter The Lake Roosevelt Raiders won their football game against the Chewelah Cougars 56-12 at Jenkins High School Friday in another journey into 8-man play. The team, and some opponents, has had to adjust all season to illness, injury or ineligibility, making it tough to plan on their regular 11-man game. "It has been a crazy season," Coach Geary Oliver said. "Over a third of our players are freshmen, and they have made significant progress since August. "Each game this year players...