News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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News media can present news about the coronavirus pandemic responsibly, without a constant drumbeat of doom even when it’s not called for. That doesn’t always happen. I call your attention to the editorial cartoon at right. Its author may seek to totally discount the integrity of news coverage on the pandemic, which wouldn’t be fair either, but its message urges us to pay appropriate attention to the good news along the way. That includes important news that often gets buried under the old observation that “if it bleeds, it leads.” Cartoonis...
With an infrastructure package on the books and the Biden administration’s $1.8 trillion “Build Back Better” measure preoccupying the Senate after passing the House, government spending is very much on Americans’ minds. In public meetings, I frequently hear people say that government’s share of the economy is too big, and it’s likely that voters’ feelings about federal spending will figure prominently in next year’s elections. If you look ahead, even beyond the current debate on Capitol Hill, there will be intense pressure to expand even furthe...
Christmas is the season of hope and joy, and as we look to the brightening days ahead, it is important we bring that same sense of love and generosity that has filled our hearts and homes over the last few weeks with us into the new year. For those of us who have the privilege of calling Central Washington home, there is much for which we are grateful. We are free to observe holy days as our conscience, not the government, dictates. We are blessed to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, with bountiful farmland and majestic...
It can be difficult to accept that someone else’s ideas might be valid if they directly conflict with your own experience. That’s where much of our public discussion on very important topics often falters. Going into a new year is a good time to re-assess our own assumptions, especially this year. Too often, certainty stands in the way of understanding. Very smart people, exceptional leaders, the brilliant among us can be certain they’re on the right track. We demand it of them, and sometimes that demand keeps them from serving us well. The f...
Elmer City folks were excited for the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Clause Monday night on the top of a Grand Coulee fire engine, along with other seasonal favorites of kids - Elsa and Anna, and even the Grinch. The visit was arranged by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. The firefighters in Elmer City were ready to receive their guests and had people warming up by a campfire while they waited. The celebrities visited Coulee Dam too, and Grand Coulee and Electric City got visits Tuesday...
Cheers. This is a festive time of year and I want to cheer on a few who make our community wonderful. First, I want to thank our Raider Cheerleaders. Almost two dozen students turned out and they are rockin’ our athletic events. I would love to have a cup of coffee with the head coach who’s been at the helm for almost four decades. Our local athletic director was voted Athletic Director of the Year and deserves it based on the challenges of the last two years. We are lucky to have him as a leader of two systems and a coach in our school dis...
A few weeks ago, I was speaking with former Defense Secretary General James Mattis about some of the lessons he’s learned over the years. One of his biggest takeaways? How incredible of a community Central Washington is, and that sometimes it takes leaving to know what you have. As I breathe in the clean, crisp air in Sunnyside this winter morning, I couldn’t agree more. Central Washington truly has it all, from majestic rivers that we’ve harnessed to power our homes to gorgeous national forests and public lands. In our communities, peopl...
I still remember a question I got years ago. It was at a public meeting in southern Indiana, where a young woman commented that I’d traveled throughout the US and wanted to know: What was my impression of Americans? I didn’t even hesitate: The American people are fundamentally decent, I told her. Why even mention this? Because at the moment, we live in a country where a lot of Americans don’t believe it. They think fellow citizens and public officials they don’t agree with are at best misguided and, at worst, evil. I don’t think this happened...
COVID Vaccine for Kids Federal health officials have cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children ages 5-11. It's the first COVID vaccine to be made available for this age group. About 28 million kids in the U.S. are newly eligible. Should kids get the shot? CHPW's Chief Medical Officer and board-certified pediatrician Dr. Paul Sherman answers this and other important questions parents and guardians might have. Q: Why should young kids get the COVID...
In a space of 7 miles Here’s a further perspective. Four communities, or neighborhoods, that have a combined population of 3,378 (current Census), a distance of 7 miles or 15 minutes from the southernmost to the northernmost town. Today, as Scott states, 20 council members and 4 mayors for a population of less than 3,400 people. Each town competes with the others, duplicating efforts for such things as grant dollars for various and important community needs and improvements. Fire protection, ambulance and police needs are contracts or a...
On Friday, the Labor Department announced that consumer prices increased by 6.8 percent in November compared to last year, the largest annual increase in over 39 years. If that doesn’t make apparent the impacts President Biden’s policies are having on American families to my progressive colleagues, I don’t know what will. Americans deserve fiscal responsibility. With the stranglehold the far left has on the Democratic Party, we’ve seen anything but that. Trillions of dollars in wasteful spending has been rammed through Congress over the las...
Coulee Dam’s town council approved a policy Thursday that full-time employees will be paid a $1,500 incentive payment for proof they’ve been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Part-time employees will receive a $100 payment. The written policy was presented as Resolution No. 2021-07 at a special online council meeting held specifically for that purpose alone after the council had requested it at a special meeting Nov. 29. City attorney Mick Howe had it prepared and ready by Thursday. The city plans to use some of...
A 46-year-old Ephrata man was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Friday after the car he was in crashed and burned about 8 miles north of US 2 on SR-155 along Banks Lake. The Washington State Patrol reported that Joshua J. Bessette, 46, had been driving north just after 7 a.m. when the 2008 Honda CR-V left the roadway to the right, struck a rock bank and rolled. The Honda ended up in the ditch on the east side of the highway, where it caught fire “as a result of the collision,” the WSP report states. Bessette was first taken to Cou...
The current runaround faced by the local Regional Board of Mayors points to a structural problem we’ve tried to work around before and failed. The RBOM, itself, was created as an end run around the reality that this is a community split by municipal boundaries drawn in a time when they may have made perfect sense but no longer do. That group of four mayors was formed so we could have and operate a landfill, with all four towns paying their fair share. It has worked for decades and might possibly work for decades more. But not well, and with f...
Coulee Dam plans to offer a $1,500 bonus to employees who have been vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a reversal of its direction two weeks ago when its council was leaning toward a mandate. The city council, meeting online Monday night, took up a proposal by Councilmember Keith St. Jeor to use some of the federal funds the town will get for Covid relief as an enticement for some reluctant employees. “We should probably reward those that are wanting to follow the rules and mandates,” St. Jeor said, contending that the move would qua...
For many of us, the holidays mean coming home. With all the joys of being reunited with family and friends, you might also be figuring out how to avoid certain topics of conversation with people you love but don’t always agree with. It’s okay if you change the subject when Uncle Ron starts telling you about his most recent alien encounter, but one topic that can’t be ignored if it shows up is impaired driving. If you’re at a gathering where someone intends to drive impaired, the greatest gift you can give them this holiday season is an alterna...
As talks of defunding the police ring through the halls of Congress, West-side legislators in Olympia continue to push through policies that are negatively impacting our communities, and this time, the consequences could be dangerous. Instead of empowering our law enforcement officers to protect our families and businesses, recent legislation passed by Democratic leaders in our state, in particular HB 1310, has tied the hands of our law enforcement officers behind their backs. Under this law, which went into effect in July of this year, our...
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is often misunderstood as favoring urban residents over rural. Formerly known as food stamps, a new study analyzing this program shows the opposite may be true. SNAP provides nutrition assistance payments to one in eight Americans every month. Approximately 16% of rural households use SNAP benefits, compared to 13% of metro households. In those rural households, a large majority of benefits assist vulnerable populations, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities. The...
City council members and officials expressed views at their last meeting on a proposal to require Coulee Dam’s employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. After the council’s third discussion on the subject in a month Nov. 10, not much clarity seemed to emerge. The city’s legal research on the subject shows it can require employees to follow such a rule, but the city must offer “feasible and reasonable” accommodations for qualified medical or religious reasons, Clerk Stefani Bowden said. “To me, the hardest par...
If you love the season but not the prep, winning an already-decorated Christmas tree might be just what you need. If so, the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center is aiming its next fundraiser squarely at you, and hoping you'll stop by for lunch too. The center has a variety of "tastefully decorated" trees on hand for viewing before it raffles them off Dec. Trees have been on display since Monday and will remain until Dec. 4, with a "Making Memories Bright" event set for Saturday, Nov. 27 from 10 a.m....
For Betty Davis, a day on the golf course isn't about keeping score, it's about getting to a place free of cares. "When I'm out here, I think of nothing behind me," she said recently beside a tee at Banks Lake Golf Club. "I mean, my house could be burning when I left and I probably wouldn't even think about it." At 96, Davis still golfs three times a week through most of the year with a group of friends, and there are stories. There's the one about she and Sally McDowell herding cows off the...
I would like to personally thank all of the veterans, auxiliary members and family members who showed up to honor all veterans at the Nespelem veterans’ monument on Veteran’s Day! We took the time to honor all veterans, past and present, on this special day. I would also like to commend the following businesses for recognizing and honoring the veterans by treating them to a meal on Veteran’s Day. At noon, the Rio Grande restaurant in Coulee Dam honored the veterans to a meal. Then in the evening, the Siam Palace in Grand Coulee honored the v...
As you read this letter, there may be only a week until the deadline of 12 pm, Nov. 29, for written public comments on the draft Okanogan County Comprehensive Plan. Fortunately, this revision supports our county’s need to form “More Completely Planned Areas” to address varying values and landscapes in different areas of the county. Citizen Advisory Committees would lead these efforts. If you’re interested in how land is used in your area of the county, write a letter to the Okanogan County Planning Department regarding the following situati...
Twenty years ago, the United States was intently focused on terrorism. The 9/11 attacks had killed 3,000 Americans and profoundly shaken our national sense of safety and security. President George W. Bush declared we were fighting a “war on terror” and vowed we would defeat terrorist organizations. Since then, we have taken important steps to keep our country safe, and they have been largely effective. News coverage of terrorism is relatively rare, and I suspect most Americans wouldn’t put it at the top of their list of concerns. But terro...
The newly passed infrastructure package approved by Congress last week promises to reach every corner of the country, and for rural America, funding for water and sewer, broadband internet, and electrical projects could have the most impact. An $11.7 billion annual increase for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds will assist small towns in making much-needed drinking water and sewage system upgrades. The federal-state partnership provides low-interest loans to eligible communities to improve their drinking water supply,...