News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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by Scott Hunter Nespelem School District ceremonially broke ground on construction of their new CTE building Monday morning as the whole school looked on. Nespelem's high school closed in 1956 as the state consolidated schools, sending local students to high school in Coulee Dam. The district's board of directors has long expressed their current dissatisfaction with the arrangement, thinking some of their students were not thriving in the neighboring system. Board President Jolene Marchand said...
The city of Grand Coulee will be able to fix a lot of dilapidated sewer lines with funding from the state of Washington’s Public Works Board for $4 million, the board said in a press release Monday. The city’s sewer improvements project will replace or rehabilitate approximately 10,200 linear feet of deteriorating sewer mains and manholes, PWB said. Planning for the project has already been started while the city engineer has been working with city leaders on updating its wastewater treatment plant, a job that will cost more than $10 mil...
Anyone following state news lately may have observed the following “bridge events”: 1) SR 165 has been closed permanently at the Fairfax bridge over the Carbon River due to bridge support failure. This has closed the northwest entry into Mt. Rainier National Park. 2) The bridge on SR 410 between Buckley and Enumclaw has been closed for bridge truss repair after a Vac Truck struck the bridge. 3) The SR 169 bridge over the Green River gorge area between Maple Valley and Enumclaw has been closed for girder repair. The latter two have resulted in...
Every time I turn on the news, I hear that nothing gets done in America because “we’re so divided.” Meanwhile, I have neighbors, family members, and friends of all political persuasions, and we are perfectly able to collaborate and communicate. Blaming division in the country sounds like BS to me. That line gets repeated so often it’s practically a lullaby; soothing, familiar, and completely misleading. Yes, Americans are entitled to disagree. That disagreement is part of the dynamism of this American experiment. It’s precisely why we elect...
by Jennifer Shutt, Washington State Standard September 30, 2025 WASHINGTON — A government shutdown could have significant economic consequences, though an analysis released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it’s difficult to pinpoint ramifications without knowing the length of a funding lapse or how exactly the Trump administration will try to reshape the federal workforce. Director Phillip L. Swagel wrote in a four-page letter the agency projects about 750,000 federal workers would be furloughed, leading to a $40...
I tip my hat to a job well done by Kelly and her entourage who make the Run the Dam so successful each year. They make a complex task seem simple. Our local prep talent Caden Portch won the 5K race with family members in tow. I’m not sure how Randy Spotts and Rick King passed through security. Locals tell me they see me running. I appreciate their kind words, but let’s get real, at best it is not even a jog. It is an old-man trot. I’ve had people walk past me — embarrassing! Recently, a girl and her little brother with training wheels on his bi...
As we barrel towards a government shutdown due to Senate Democrats’ refusal to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR), essential programs and services here in Central Washington are now at risk. Congress has the responsibility under our Constitution to fund the federal government, and allowing a shutdown is a disservice to the American people. If the government shuts down, farmers and ranchers in the Methow and Yakima Valleys will lose access to Farm Service Agency employees due to furlough. Farm operating loans, conservation and crop d...
The Raider football team played the closest thing they've had to a home game so far this season on Saturday in an exhibition game against ACH at the Warrior's Brickhouse Athletic Field in a version of football for which they had one day to prepare. Almira Coulee Hartline, a 1B team, plays 8-man ball; the 2B Raiders play 11-man, which may not sound too different. The game proved otherwise, leaving a 92-44 ACH imprint on the Raiders' backsides. The game replaced a canceled Soap Lake home game for...
The Raider varsity football team will have a game this week after all. It starts at 5 p.m. Saturday in Coulee City against ACH. A Friday game scheduled against Soap Lake was canceled due to a lack of eligible players at Soap Lake, Athletic Director Casey Brewster told the school board Monday night, not long after learning of the cancellation. He was trying to fill the slot, for what had been a home game for the Raiders, by Wednesday but apparently was unable to do so. Lake Roosevelt and Soap... Full story
The town of Coulee Dam gained its fifth police officer, completing the department last week. Following his graduation from the Washington State Police Academy, Phillip Ogren was sworn in as an officer Sept. 15 and took the Law Enforcement Oath of Honor in a brief ceremony and reception at the Town Hall Ballroom. Chief Paul Bowden administered the oath of office. City officials, and Ogren's family and friends attended. Coulee Dam's police department also provides policing services for Electric...
The Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation have been planning on launching fast fiber-optic internet access, including for Elmer City and Coulee Dam. Elmer City’s town council at its last meeting didn’t have objections to a plan for the buildout, including adding some utility poles in town. The town took plans for review and will likely be ready to sign a franchise agreement with the tribes at the October council meeting. That likelihood is a turnaround from a few months ago, when council and staff took exception to a plan presented wit...
Several local businesses came together to arrange for weekend snacks and meals for certain local kids who might otherwise go hungrier over the weekend. A Second Harvest van rolled up to Lake Roosevelt Elementary School Thursday with about a month's worth of supplies for feeding 55 kids who can use a little extra help on the weekends. The delivery was the start of Second Harvest's Bite2Go program that partners up local donors with school staff who know which students would seem to benefit from...
The city council in Grand Coulee voted Tuesday to get started adopting a new ordinance intended to encourage commercial property owners to use their property, clean it up or sell it. Councilmember Tom Poplawski said he’s had no contacts from the owners of what he estimated were 10-15 local properties that are deteriorating instead of housing some business. Poplawski in July had brought to council examples of similar programs in other cities, including an actual ordinance from Medical Lake. A study undertaken in Blaine, Washington was also inclu...
We are just one month away from the start of hot commissioning at the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at Hanford, a milestone in the cleanup effort more than 20 years in the making. Throughout my time in Congress, I have supported the Hanford mission and helped deliver resources to the project through my role on the House Appropriations Committee. While federal spending levels and policies change over the years, one thing remains true: Hanford will make history with the vitrification of radioactive waste this fall. Last week, reporting on the U.S....
by Scott Hunter The driver of a late model car left Spring Canyon Road after apparently losing control Saturday afternoon about 3, landing in dry brush and starting a fire. The crash happened right in front of a home at 4550 Spring Canyon Road. Firefighters got there quickly, according to Coulee Dam Police Officer Josh Watkins, who was at the scene for traffic control. No injuries were reported, other than financial. Only a metal hulk was left of the apparently late model car. Firefighters...
Electric City will shift dollars from a project city council members decided to give up on after years of setbacks, spending it instead on a popular park project that is taking shape but needs a financial boost. The city park being built just uphill from the fire station, but will eventually need more funding that what was currently available, despite fundraising efforts. Mayor Diane Kohout said a vote was taken at a special council meeting Aug. 28 to drop the Shoreline Waterfront Trail project that now would cost about $1.4 million to...
Since Lake Roosevelt School are now on a four-day school week, students won't be there for Friday meals, which is a problem for many students. The school district directors agreed Monday to change that with an amendment to their contract with Chartwells, the company that provides the food service, which noted they lost 20 percent of their revenue under the contract when the district went to a four-day week. Superintendent Rod Broadnax said he told Chartwells the district would not pay full...
Over 700 firefighters are battling two blazes on the Colville Reservation that have burned more than 23,000 acres of forested land. The Rattlesnake Fire started Sept. 1 from lightning and had burned 19,367 acres as of early Wednesday morning in the southeast corner of the reservation. It's 33% contained. The Lynx Mountain Fire has burned 4,226 acres since its Sept. 2 start from and undetermined cause. It is 5% contained. There are 762 firefighters on the fires. Evacuation levels have been set...
I began a Prayer Vigil for peace and forgiveness in 2010 after I watched a self-proclaimed preacher preaching hate and violence against Muslims. I believed his actions were contrary to the Way of Christ Jesus and dishonored the victims of 9/11 and their loved ones. On Thursday, Sept. 11, we are coming together once again in the spirit of peace to honor those who were killed on 9/11 in 2001 by men who believed that hate and violence are the answer to God’s calling. Vengeance is Mine, sayeth the Lord. And as Christians we must understand that G...
Both at President Trump’s inauguration and at a recent meeting with him, we have seen the richest men in the world from our country cozying up to Trump to be in his good graces. They have all sold their souls for 30 pieces of silver, as Judas did, pushing the less fortunate people in our society to suffer and tough it out. Where is their guilt to go with it? Sincerely, Roz Luther...
In July, Congress passed an unprecedented Working Families Tax Cut, delivering tax relief for families and small businesses while making reforms to Medicaid to ensure the program’s long-term sustainability. Two months prior, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed the biennial state budget which included over $780 million in cuts to Medicaid over the next two years. In fact, the Governor held a performative press conference in Kennewick calling my position on H.R. 1 “morally bankrupt,” even though his signature on the state budget reduc...
Kids playing Monday night in the Grand Coulee Dam Youth Soccer league took up the last rays of sunlight at dusk with enthusiasm, even if it was for somersaults during the game instead of what their coaches are trying to instill in them. Makeup games, canceled earlier due to smoke, were underway at the former middle school in Grand Coulee. Ruth Randolph, of the league, said she has 168 kids signed up for the sport this year. Coach Trent Turner said he is surprised at how far many of the...
After a relatively easy early fire season, September started with a rash of new fire starts amid high temperatures and thunderstorms, resulting in thick wildfire smoke socking us in for a time on the first day of school in Coulee Dam. The Grant County Health District issued a warning that the smoke was thick enough across much of the county as to be "unhealthy" and warrant limiting time outside. "Poor air quality conditions are expected to continue as wildfires in Washington and neighboring...
Rod Broadnax has goals for Lake Roosevelt Schools. He wants Lake Roosevelt students safe and learning, in a school that is recognized for its academic rigor, as well as its athletics programs, and is fiscally solid, while increasing student enrollment and parental engagement. That's a lot. And big changes have been made to address the challenges ahead. The Grand Coulee Dam School District superintendent took time to speak with the Rotary Club Thursday, the same day he was explaining new...
Sept. 1 marked five years since the devastating Labor Day Firestorm of 2020 swept through Washington State — one of the most destructive wildfire events in our state’s history. And a day I will never forget. In just 72 hours, over 600,000 acres burned. Entire communities like Malden and Pine City lost 80% of their homes and structures in just a few hours. Hundreds of homes were lost. Families displaced. Lives forever changed. And we lost a little boy’s life as his family tried to outrun the Cold Spring fire. It was a wake-up call. But it was a...