News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 2961 - 2985 of 3285
In the last few weeks, Congress has been focused on keeping taxes from increasing and putting the U.S. government on a sustainable path toward growth and prosperity. Over long days and late nights, including New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, we worked on plans to avert the “fiscal cliff” – automatic tax increases (more than $3,000 for the average family in Eastern Washington) and spending cuts – that economists predicted would push the country back into recession and higher unemployment. The good news is that we didn’t go over the cliff — we p... Full story
The Star newspaper has launched a new Community Calendar of events that will make schedule coordination across the community easier. Cities, churches, ball clubs, service organizations and more can all add their upcoming events to the calendar, which can be accessed by anyone, anytime online and at least once a month in the newspaper. It’s on page 8 today. To see the calendar online, go to The Star Online at grandcoulee.com. Just under the date at the top of the home page, click on Calendar in the green menu bar. The GCD Community Calendar w... Full story
The new 113th Congress are now seated. The 112th Congress failed to recognize veterans of the Vietnam War. House Bill HR-3612 and Senate Bill S.1629, to restore The Agent Orange Equity Act did not make it out of committee. In all probability, these bills are dead and must be re-introduced. There are 439 members of Congress, 100 members of the Senate. In the 112th assembly of both houses, only 126 representatives co-sponsored the house bill and 14 senators co-sponsored the Senate bill. What does this say about those legislators who ignored the... Full story
by Scott Hunter A Tonasket man, impressed with the behavior of Lake Roosevelt’s students at a restaurant, asked the principal to find and thank one of them for his honesty. Randy Middleton wrote to Principal Brad Wilson this week, asking him to find the young man who had stopped Middleton from leaving the restaurant without his dropped credit card, then politely refused any monetary reward. “I’m a great believer in what I call the HICK mentality, which stands for Honesty, Integrity, Courteousness and Knowledge,” Middleton wrote. “This y... Full story
Raider wrestling had a busy Christmas Break wrestling at the Othello girls and JV tourney Dec. 22, Selkirk on Dec. 29, and last Saturday at Warden. The Othello Tourney was a late add and the Raiders who went impressed Head Coach Steve Hood. “Guys really stepped up and wrestled well at Othello,” he said. Alexia Hanway continued to place in the money at tourneys as she came away with the third-place medal at 106 pounds. Hanway was the only Raider girl at the Othello girls tourney. Raiders James Monaghan (at 120), Josh Jim (132), and Andrew McClur... Full story
by John R. McNeil II The Raiders travelled to White Swan last Friday for the season opener of the Central Washington 2B League against the Cougars. It was close all the way, with the 0-8 Cougars leading by only four points most of the time on their home court. But in the end, the Raiders’ low shooting percentage allowed White Swan to pick up their first win of the season, 49-39. “We missed a lot of shots,” said Raider Head Coach Jeff Brisbois. “We could have won if we just made 50 percent of our shots.” He noted the Raider defense and rebou...
After cutting their opponents’ lead in half in the third quarter, the Lady Raiders still accepted a 68-39 defeat in White Swan Friday. Lake Roosevelt was down by 24 at the half, but came back hard in the third quarter to cut the Cougar lead to 12. But after the start of the fourth quarter, “We swapped baskets and then, after two possessions, they took off, and the air went out of our sails,” Head Coach Wallace Pleasants said. “We did not transition to defense well and had trouble fighting through and setting screens,” Pleasants said. “All of t...
After just completing the compilation of “A look back at the year that was 2012” on page 2 and looking back through a year of front-page stories, I have to say it was a year of great highs and real lows, both of which could forecast our future as a community. The high side was peaked by the unexpected news that the state would provide the funds needed to build most of a new school complex, thanks to the leadership of Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, R-Wenatchee. $31 million in a budget year when the final passage came in a second special session of... Full story
I would like to apologize to the people of the Grand Coulee Dam Area and the wonderful people that were willing to volunteer their time to honor the victims of the Newtown shooting. I realize it was cancelled with very short notice due to the increasing hazardous weather conditions. I contacted the parties that I had been involved with, and it was my understanding that the other parties would be contacted as well. My apology to the people that showed up only to find that it had been cancelled. It is my understanding that it is in the process... Full story
The Lady Raiders went three for four over the Christmas break, recording wins over Waterville, Omak, and Liberty Bell. In the Waterville game at home Dec. 21 the Lady Raiders had to contend with a determined Lady Shocker team who kept it close as the first half score showed LR up by only five points. But LR came back in the third quarter with a faster pace that threw the Lady Shockers off their rhythm for a time. Waterville still refused to give up and the Lady Raider lead was only 6 points at... Full story
Raider Wrestling took on Omak in a dual match Dec. 18 and came away with the home win 48-33; then hosted 10 teams in their annual Powerhouse tournament Friday. Against Omak, the Raiders recorded forfeits for the lightweight matches (106, 113, 120 and 126 pounds) and at 170 pounds. The Pioneers received forfeits from the Raiders at 285, 195, and 160. Andrew McClure wrestled two matches, showing skill growth against tough opponents. Orrin Gross continued his dominance at 152 and also wrestled the... Full story
The Raiders bounced back from a loss to Pateros by defeating the Mansfield Kernels Dec. 18. LR led the whole game, outscoring the Kernels 4-1 in the second quarter to lead at halftime 31-14. Maintaining the first half momentum, the Raiders left with a 55-41 win over the 1B Kernels. At home against the Waterville Shockers Dec. 21, LR was looking to finish the 1B portion of North Central League play with a win, but started slow, only scoring six points in the first quarter to the Shockers 12. The... Full story
Statement issued by Colville Tribes Chairman John Sirois on loss of longhouse: Our community, especially the Longhouse Community, stand in a state of shock a day after Christmas. At approximately 12:30 a.m. this morning, a fire broke out at the Chief Joseph Nez Perce Long House and it completely burned to the ground despite a valiant effort to save the structure. It is reported the fire response team arrived minutes after the blaze started, however the flames were such that the fire rendered the building a total loss. Tribal Police are...
I am writing to counter Yvonne Swan’s statements in The Star newspaper and advise that many, many Colville Confederated Tribal Members were quite happy to receive the first 50 percent of the Salazar Settlement funds and want the remaining 50 percent to remain with the Tribal Government. More than 9,400 Tribal Members received more than $10,000 each in the past three months. Most of these funds were well spent to help improve the conditions of our membership. While another $10,000 would be a boon to our personal incomes, our Tribal Leaders p... Full story
The recent deaths of three Washington teens--a 14-year-old Bellingham girl, a 17-year-old boy in Shoreline, and an 18-year-old Washington State University student -- remind us just how dangerous alcohol is for minors. As parents and co-chairs of the Washington State Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking our hearts go out to the families and friends who are suffering these terrible losses. Before we lose another child, grandchild, student, and friend, let’s ask ourselves what we as adults are doing to encourage or discourage underage d... Full story
Ceth, Charlene and Craig Leonard, along with their St. Bernard Crystal, stand in front of their Aspen Street home in Coulee Dam Wednesday night. “I really wanted to do it for the kids,” said Ceth, who remembers the lighting tradition making a much bigger local impact during his childhood....
Update: WSDOT issued this statement after 4 p.m. Christmas Eve: With dozens of snow-laden trees still slumped over the highway, the Washington State Department of Transportation is keeping US Highway 2 closed from Stevens Pass to the west end of Leavenworth. Skiers can still get to the summit from the west side, but cannot continue east toward Leavenworth. Through traffic must detour via US 97 Blewett Pass and Interstate 90 Snoqualmie Pass. “At least four more large trees crashed to the r...
The holidays and accompanying scheduling conflicts seem to throw off normal schedules for every organization in town. The same goes for the newspaper, especially with Christmas falling on our normal Tuesday deadline day. So here’s what’s happening with our publication schedule. You’re holding the Nov. 19 issue. On Friday of this week, you can pick up the Nov. 26 issue. That’s when we’ll get it in the mail. That issue will include the community’s choice for The Star volunteer of the year, Christmas cards by third-graders and more. We’ll be ba... Full story
by John R. McNeil II The Raider wrestlers took fifth at the Cashmere tournament last Saturday in a field that featured mostly larger schools and only two 2B schools, LR and Kittitas. “We wrestled well,” Head Coach Steve Hood said. “Felt good to finish ahead of Kittitas and Omak.” The tourney winner was 1A Mount Baker from the Northwest Conference with 181 points. Teams finishing ahead of the Raiders included Caribou Trail League representatives Quincy in second and host Cashmere right on their heels at third. Medical Lake of the Northea... Full story
The Lady Raiders lost to the 1B Pateros Nannies in a close league game Friday 53-43. When asked what needs to improve, Head Coach Wallace Pleasants said, “Everything, mostly how to play through fouls and the girls not to get us to hard physical play.” The Nannies attacked the Lady Raiders from the start with hard physical defense. But LR kept the score close as Danielle Laramie, Katelynn Schilling and Rickyna Sam led the scoring in the first half with the Lady Raiders behind by only four points, 26-22. At the beginning of the second half, the... Full story
Chance Garvin scored all three of the Raiders’ first-quarter points at Pateros last Friday as LR went on to lose to the Billygoats in a low scoring affair, 47-38. Head Coach Jeff Brisbois said the team’s overall game effort was down. “We came out flat and never got back into the game,” Brisbois said. “It’s like we lost what spark we had from the win Monday,” referring to the LR victory over Entiat, who had beaten Pateros. The first quarter finished with the score Pateros 5, LR 3. The scoring heated up in the second quarter as the Pateros shoot... Full story
Eight candidates have been nominated for The Star’s annual volunteer of the year award. The nomination deadline was Monday night. Voting will cease on Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. The honoree will be announced in the following week’s newspaper. Nominees are: Hillary Carriere, Carol Estrada, Fern Blaylock, Earl Cole, Bob Hendrickson, George Kohout, Eloise Bowman and Andy Trader. All nomination letters are included below. To make your preference known, do one of the following: • Take the online poll at bo... Full story
A group that has been studying the feasibility of building a community/wellness center in the area decided Thursday to push ahead with the effort, citing a very favorable feasibility study and a growing need in the area. Full disclosure: Readers should know I’ve been a member of that group since its inception and have been one of many considering the idea since long before that. After deciding by consensus to move ahead, the steering committee for the effort decided where it should be located and gave it a temporary name. The Coulee Regional We... Full story
The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners passed a budget for 2013 Monday night totaling $73,000. It includes revenues of $36,500 from a Bureau of Reclamation grant, and $6,000 from each of three local cities that collect hotel/motel taxes. The budget anticipates spending $18,000 on a master plan for North Dam Park and $50,500 on operations, maintenance and construction in the park.... Full story
The same day tribal members submitted a 2,600-signature petition, the Colville Business Council rejected the petitioners’ plea to pay out all of a $193 million settlement with the U.S. government. The council will stand by an October resolution on the use of the half of the settlment that remains after already having put $96.5 million into the hands of some 9,600 members. The Qwam Qwmpt’ Plan was adopted by unanimous resolution Oct. 5, a statement from the tribes said Monday. It “allocates the remaining 50% of the settlement money for activ... Full story