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  • Business manager hire approved for schools

    Jacob Wagner|Jul 11, 2018

    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...

  • Craftsman's busy hands yielding solid art

    Jacob Wagner|Jul 3, 2018

    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....

  • Final vote count for tribal elections announced

    Jacob Wagner|Jul 3, 2018

    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...

  • Debris logs being floated up to Kettle Falls

    Jacob Wagner|Jul 3, 2018

    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...

  • Land tortoise has quite the adventure

    Jacob Wagner|Jul 3, 2018

    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...

  • An explanation of Grand Coulee's residential zoning and short-term rental rules

    Jacob Wagner|Jul 3, 2018

    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...

  • School levy on August ballot would just maintain

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 27, 2018

    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...

  • Final vote count for CBC

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 27, 2018

    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...

  • International peace run includes dam

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 27, 2018

    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...

  • Eagle Scouts tour dam bicycling cross country

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 27, 2018

    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...

  • Sunrise Disposal to use new technology in their trucks

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 27, 2018

    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...

  • New athletic director, teacher hired

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 27, 2018

    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 GCD school district

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 20, 2018

    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...

  • What's going on with consolidation?

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 20, 2018

    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...

  • Tillman to serve as mayor in Elmer City

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 20, 2018

    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...

  • Watch for loose bull

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 20, 2018

    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...

  • Humiston approved for town council

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 20, 2018

    The Elmer City council approved Michael Humiston as a new council member at their June 14 meeting. “I enjoy living here, and feel that by serving on the council I can do my part to help support the community,” Humiston said later. Humiston, who was born in Bremerton and raised in Tacoma, received a law degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1990, and also studied European Union law at the University of Amsterdam. “My three areas of expertise are criminal defense, child welfare, and federal Indian law,” Humiston explain...

  • Elmer City, Coulee Dam may discuss wastewater facility issue

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 20, 2018

    Newly appointed Elmer City Mayor Jesse Tillman said at the town’s June 14 council meeting that he had spoken with Coulee Dam Mayor Larry Price about the ongoing wastewater treatment plant issue between the two towns. Coulee Dam is building a new wastewater treatment plant and wants Elmer City to pay for lift pumps that would allow Elmer City to continue to send its wastewater to Coulee Dam for treatment. Elmer City doesn’t want to pay for those lift pumps. Tillman explained that he and Price think they should have a meeting with themselves and...

  • Electric City resident feels shorted on short plat

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 20, 2018

    Electric City resident Wayne Snyder argues that details of a deal he made with the city to annex a neighborhood he developed aren’t being honored. Snyder owns the land on “Snyder Hill,” located in the northern part of the city limits, which includes half a dozen houses and about 17 acres of land. “(Then-mayor) Ray Halsey said that if we would annex to the city, they would accept the road as-is, and chip seal the roads within two years, and take care of weeds and snowplowing,” Snyder said of a 2008-2009 annexation agreement made about Snyder Hi...

  • Bulls and wild horses to be challenged Friday night

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 13, 2018

    Yippy ki yay! The 7th Annual Cleatis Lacy Memorial Bull Riding & Wild Horse Race is coming up this weekend, named after a rodeo legend who called the Coulee home. Friday, June 15, will see the events start at 6 p.m. at the Ridge Riders Rodeo Grounds on Alcan Road in Delano. The event is named after local cowboy legend Cleatis Lacy, who moved to the area in 1945. Raised in eastern Montana, immersed in the life of a country boy, Lacy had plenty of experience riding animals, even riding wild horses and saddle broncs as a teenager, representing...

  • For Father's Day eve: explosions in the sky

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 13, 2018

    “Ooh! … Ah!” Those words are the universal language for “look at the fireworks!” This Saturday night at 9 p.m. the Northwest Pyrotechnics Association, of which local man Alan Cain is a member, will put on a fireworks show near North Dam on Banks Lake. “It’s going to be a good half hour of pyrotechnic fun for a happy Fathers Day,” Cain said. A good view of the show will be available from Banks Lake Park and North Dam Park, both near the dam, and Cain says the best views “are probably going to be by Coulee Playland.” Another fun option is to go...

  • Koulee Kids Fest this weekend

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 13, 2018

    A wide variety of free kid-friendly activities will be offered throughout the community for Koulee Kids Fest this Saturday, June 16, including a live show from entertainer Leapin’ Louie Lichtenstein. Children will get a “passport” showing the station where each activity is located, and get their passport stamped at each station. When a child gets six or more stamps on their passport, they will be entered into a raffle to win fun prizes at the end of the day’s activities. Passports can be picked up at the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Comm...

  • Festive traveling show to visit Eastern Washington towns

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 13, 2018

    The New Old Time Chautauqua troupe will be visiting local communities this month to provide free shows, parades, and activities. A “chatauqua” is a traveling show that includes entertainment as well as education in the tradition of the Chautauqua Institute in New York state. The traveling shows flourished from the late 19th until the early 20th century. “Lectures by author Mark Twain, suffragette Susan B. Anthony, or a production of ‘The Tale of Two Cities’ are the kinds of entertainment one could expect at a chautauqua show,” the troupe’s webs...

  • Center School sale still in process

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 13, 2018

    The sale of the Center School from the Grand Coulee Dam School District to Centerline Development is still in development, but a survey is now required as a part of the process. “The parties want to get it done, and it will happen,” school board Director Butch Stanger said at a June 11 board meeting. Centerline Development, LLC is the name of the company that will be buying the school, a new company started by Nic Alexander of Coulee Construction and Ian Turner for the purpose of the Center School project. The title insurance company needs to...

  • Absent students issues at Lake Roosevelt

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 13, 2018

    A large number of absences from school is a larger factor than are poor test scores in not finishing high school. That’s one of the key points made in a presentation by Lake Roosevelt teachers Brian Daniels and Jeremiah Seekins at Monday’s Grand Coulee Dam School District board meeting. “Chronically absent,” is defined as missing 10 percent or more of a school year, or 18 days or more, whether they are excused absences or not. The state average for chronic absenteeism is 17 percent, with Lake Roosevelt schools combined being at 25 percent...

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