News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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A 385-acre wildfire burned on Washington Flats across the Columbia River from the Seaton's Grove area near Elmer City last week, and was handled by crews from the Department of Natural Resources and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as local firefighters. The fire, first reported at about 2 p.m. on July 11, had helicopters scooping water from the river to dump on the fire, as well as four single-engine air tankers and one air-attack aircraft. People watched the action from the parking...
A human-caused fire that burned 2,773 acres 45 miles southeast of Keller is 100 percent contained, a July 17 press release from the Colville Confederated Tribes Department of Natural Resources stated. The Rattlesnake Fire, which started on July 12, was within the Hellgate Game Reserve on the Colville Indian Reservation, and west of the Lincoln boat launch near Creston. Named after Rattlesnake Canyon, firefighters did have to watch out for the venomous snakes. A crew of about 100 people, down from 200, will remain with the fire to quell hot...
Snyder Hill residents raised a rousing ruckus at the July 10 Electric City council meeting on the agreement made with the city concerning their 2010 annexation to the city. During a public comment time slot on the council meeting agenda, complaints from citizens of Snyder Hill ranged from the city not treating the roads of the area to the failure of the city to plow snow to certain points of the roads, something understood by residents there to be conditions of the annexation. A solution for the snow plow issue is in the works as the city...
Rodney Cawston was named the new chairman of the Colville Business Council July 12 after a ceremony in which seven recently elected council members were sworn into office and positions were assigned to the 14 members of the CBC. At the Lucy Covington Government Center near Nespelem Thursday morning, the oath of office ceremony started with traditional native American songs and drumming, and a prayer from Cawston. Six out of the seven recently elected CBC members are new, with only Joseph...
Electric City Councilmember Rich McGuire addressed the issue of the city’s appearance at the July 10 council meeting, and the council may form a committee to improve its appearance at their August meeting. McGuire said he was responding to a Star newspaper opinion column by Roger Lucas, headlined “Ugliest town in the west can do better.” “The many eyesores along the entrance to the city stood out like sore thumbs,” Lucas wrote, describing the city in his column. McGuire agreed with the sentiments of the Lucas piece. “I walk and I walk and I wal...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District will invite public comment on its 2018-19 school year budget at its July 23 board meeting at 6 p.m. in the high school library in Coulee Dam. Sally Ryan, the district’s business manager contracted from Educational Service District 171, will present the budget, and people will be able to comment on it if they wish. The budget, estimated at $12 million, will not take funds that would be generated from the proposed capital projects levy into account. “We have to build a budget on facts,” Superintendent Paul...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board Monday night approved the hiring of Ronanda Liberty as the new interim high school principal. Hired for a year, Liberty will serve as the principal while the search continues for the right fit for the long term. “I feel real strongly that her presence with the staff; they know her, it’s not something new. ... She’ll be a great asset for us,” said Superintendent Paul Turner. Liberty, whose home is in Ritzville, served as principal in the 2015-16 school year, the first woman to fill the position in the...
A guy who had brightly colored hair in his youth, but wears a tie to work now, would like to see the local skateboarding scene grow to include more features at the park, local competitions, and more, and would like all the support he can get from local skaters. Ben Hughes, a commissioner on the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District since February, has a background in skateboarding himself. "I started skating in 1985 on a bright orange banana board (now called Penny boards)," Hughes says, and...
Pronghorn antelope, native to the area before being wiped out, were transplanted on the Colville Indian Reservation by way of Nevada in 2016, and again in 2017, and appear to be doing well. With 51 of the animals wearing tracking collars, there are at least 89 adults and 29 fawns, according to an aerial headcount by Colville Tribal Fish & Wildlife Biologist Sam Rushing. "I know there's more out there," Rushing said. The animals have been roaming as far south as Wenatchee and Quincy, and as far...
Kathrine Marchand has been hired as the new business manager for the Grand Coulee Dam School District, chosen out of five applicants for the position. “She brings a lot of expertise and experience,” said Superintendent Paul Turner. “She has worked in quite a few different areas with the tribe. She has a lot of experience in financials and how to manage and look at budgets and the whole picture of enterprise.” The district has previously gone through Educational Service District 171 for such duties. Although hiring Marchand will not save mo...
Some mothers get a card or flowers for Mother's Day, others get a customized granite walkway in the backyard. Ron Williams, who owns Guaranteed Welding, made his mother, Alice Jimeson, a deck-of-cards themed walkway for her home in Electric City, complete with a large spade, club, heart, diamond, and, for the coup de gras, a joker. Jimeson loves to play cards. The joker's face alone took about 12 hours, Williams said, and the surrounding pieces, such as the jester hat, took another 15 to make.... Full story
The official vote counts for the June 16 general election for the Colville Business Council, including the absentee ballots that were announced June 28, with several incumbents voted out, including the current chairman of the council, which governs the Colville Tribes. In the Omak District Position 2 race, Margie Hutchinson won the election with 391-253 votes over the current council chairman, Michael E. Marchand. In the Nespelem District Position 1 race, Janet (Wak Wak) Nicholson’s won 428-390 over Jarred-Michael Erickson. In the Nespelem D...
A large collection of logs and debris floating at Crescent Bay should be all tugged away by a tugboat sometime between mid- and late July. "The Bureau of Reclamation has a contract with Columbia Navigation to collect the logs that come down the river during the spring runoff," said USBR Public Affairs Officer Lynne Brougher. "The logs that are at Crescent Bay and the logs that have collected behind Grand Coulee Dam in the Forebay area will be gathered together and Columbia Navigation will use...
Sarah Shanning was quite upset when she couldn't find her 7-year-old African land tortoise, Mrs. Doubtfire, who escaped from her yard in Elmer City on May 26. Shanning put up fliers looking for Mrs. Doubtfire, and took out an ad in The Star newspaper. Weeks later, on June 15, Shanning was reunited with Mrs. Doubtfire while at her job at the Tee Pee Drive In. "We were beginning to lose hope about finding her, and then there she was!" Shanning said of the reptile, which she thinks is 7 or 8 years...
People who live in areas that are zoned as low-density residential areas in Grand Coulee aren’t allowed to operate a business there. That includes short-term rentals, such as bed-and-breakfast places, even if owner-occupied, or through AirBnB or other websites specializing in short-term rentals. The city’s code states that it’s OK for friends or family to stay in an extra room at someone’s house. Or, in the case of a motorhome, a guest can stay for up to 14 days within a three-month period, but that no rent can be charged, and the vehicle...
Voters will decide if the Grand Coulee Dam School District will function on the same amount of money it has been, or be forced into a budget made much tighter by the new school funding law passed by the state Legislature last year. The district’s proposition for a four-year “Capital Levy Ffor Safety, Technology Aand Facilities Improvements” will be on the Aug. 7 ballot. Money from the general fund that currently goes toward certain things, such as technology, would, if the levy passes, come from the levy, freeing up money in the general fund...
The official vote counts of Saturday’s general election for the Colville Business Council, including the absentee ballots, are in, with several incumbents voted out including the current chairman of the council that governs the tribes. In the Omak District Position 2 race, Margie Hutchinson won the election with 391votes over current chairman Michael E. Marchand's 253. In the Nespelem District Position 1 race, Janet (Wak Wak) Nicholson’s won 428-390 over Jarred-Michael Erickson. In the Nespelem District Position 2 race, Andrea George won 334...
The Sri Chimnoy Oneness-Home Peace Run passed by the Grand Coulee Dam last week, spreading a message of peace and carrying a torch that has traveled the world. The group consist of 12 runners from California, New York, and Hawaii, as well as from Puerto Rico, India, Mongolia, Italy, New Zealand, Ukraine, and other countries. The whole team ran about 70 miles on June 20 when they arrived at the dam, with some people running as many as 15 miles, others running three. Founded in 1987, the group...
A large group of Eagle Scouts took a hard-hat tour of the Grand Coulee Dam June 25, going deep into the dam to explore the inner workings of the marvel of engineering. The group, known as Eagle Scouts Cycling Across America, is currently bicycling across the country, starting in Seattle and ending in Virginia later in the summer. The group of 32 people, ranging in age from 16 to 67, includes people from 12 different states, with many hailing from Virginia and Pennsylvania, in particular. "It's...
Grand Coulee Councilmember Mike Horne said at the latest council meeting that Sunrise Disposal, who performs garbage collection service in the area, will be using new global positioning system (GPS) equipment in their trucks around the time that their contract with the cities expires at the end of 2019. The GPS system will allow truck drivers to check off houses that they’ve stopped at as they go along their routes. “It’s going to make things a lot easier,” Dick Howe of Sunrise Disposal said, explaining the system at an Electric City council...
Lake Roosevelt Schools will have a new athletic director, physical education teacher, and football coach in Tim Rasmussen, and new elementary school teacher in his wife, Nicole Rasmussen. The Rasmussens are returning to their home state of Washington by way of Texas, where they’ve worked at a school the past few years. “We’re excited to have them,” said Superintendent Paul Turner. “Tim’s going to fill a void we’ve been concerned about, and (Nicole) is a rockstar....
High staff turnover this year in the Grand Coulee Dam School District has led some to wonder why. In many cases, it is simply the right personal decision for the individuals involved, some said. Such is the case with Brian Daniels, who is resigning as a high school English teacher and cross country coach to move to Spokane. “We have always wanted to end up there,” Daniels said about his wife and himself wanting to be closer to extended family. He added that he’ll miss his colleagues, friends, neighbors, and students from this area. Other staff...
Consolidation, or the combining of local towns, is a topic that’s been in discussion for decades. A survey conducted by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce in 2016 revealed that out of 514 respondents, the majority were in favor of consolidation of two or more of the local towns, with 308 being strongly in favor and 84 being somewhat in favor, as opposed to 99 strongly opposed and 23 somewhat opposed. But what’s happening now? Many ramifications of consolidating the towns would need to be researched by an outside consulting group befo...
Elmer City council last week elected Jesse Tillman as the new mayor following the resignation of Gail Morin last month. Tillman was the only councilmember to throw his hat into the ring for the mayoral position to replace Morin, which will be up for re-election for a two-year term in November 2019. "He's a fourth-generation mayor," said Public Works Director Jimmer Tillman, Jesse's uncle. "His great-grandfather served as mayor, his grandfather, his father, and now him." Tillman's great...
A young bull got loose at the Cleatis Lacy Memorial Bull Riding and Wild Horse Racing last weekend and is still out there somewhere. “He’s running the hillside somewhere,” said Sorrell Katich, of Red Knection K Bulls, based out of Keller. A group of cowboys tried to get the bull back under their control but he jumped off a small cliff, Kattich said, and they weren’t able to continue following him. The bull reportedly ran off toward the Eden Harbor area, and Kattich imagines it will end up somewhere around Wilbur or Almira. The bull “jumped...