News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Electric City’s council voted Feb. 12 to go out to bid on a welcome sign to the city. The sign would be placed at Electric City’s southern limits on SR-155 on the south side of Osborne Bay and would read “Welcome to Electric City,” and “Re-energize your recreation,” with the city’s logo suspended between basalt columns. An earlier cost estimate for the sign from Graybeal Signs was $42,000. The council discussed whether to have the sign framed by actual basalt columns or by aluminum made to look like rock columns and questioned how long actual b...
A longstanding local group whose efforts have enhanced area fisheries and outdoor sports for decades is likely to disband, says its longtime leader. Promoters of Wildlife and Environmental Resources, or POWER, runs the fish-raising pens in Banks Lake in Electric City and has headed or managed other wildlife-related efforts over the past 30 years, such as feeding wild game birds. It now looks like it will shut down for the lack of someone to manage volunteer work. The group met Feb. 6, and discus...
The Lake Roosevelt Raider wrestlers competed at the state tournament known as The Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome over the weekend, with seven of the 23 total wrestlers placing at the event. Due to the cancellation of the regional tournament because of weather, the state brackets were doubled in size, allowing for a large number of wrestlers to take part. The Raiders as a team placed second out of the 45 1B/2B schools at the event with 219 points, and eighth out of the total 448 teams at the...
The Raiders beat league rivals the Oroville Hornets in the District 5-6 basketball tournament in Chelan Friday before losing to the Kittitas Coyotes Saturday, and will play in the regional tournament this coming Friday. Their 55-31 victory over the Hornets Feb. 15 was something the Raiders have wanted for a while now. At the beginning of the season Head Coach Jeremy Crollard said he wanted to defeat Oroville, who had beaten LR twice by only one point in the 2017-18 season. During the 2018-19...
The Lady Raiders suffered a couple of District 5-6 tournament losses over the weekend in Chelan, but will play in the regional tournament Friday for a chance to go on to state next week. The Lady Raiders lost to Brewster 50-41 on Friday, Feb. 15. The next day LR Lost to Liberty Bell 45-26. The Lady Raiders had defeated both Brewster and Liberty Bell at the end of the regular season, but were unable to repeat those victories in the postseason. Coaches were unavailable for stats or comments. The...
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson warned sheriffs and other law enforcement officers Tuesday that they are required to enforce a gun control law passed by voters last November. Sheriffs in four local counties cite Second Amendment concerns about enforcing Initiative 1639, as do law enforcement officials in more than half the state’s 39 counties. I-1639, which took effect on Jan. 1, raises the age limit for buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. Beginning July 1, it requires purchasers to pass an enhanced background check, show p...
Look out your window for flying pigs, because the coulee area may get recycling in 2020. The towns of Electric City, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam, and Elmer City will be deciding on a recycling option to choose in a new contract with Sunrise Disposal, which performs garbage service in the area. One option is to place a 25-yard container with separate sections for various materials at the Delano Transfer Station to be taken to the Okanogan County Recycling Center on an as-needed basis. This option is said to have no additional cost in the...
The Raiders won both their games in the first week of the 2B District 5-6 tournament, and move onto the second week this Friday in Chelan. The Raiders defeated Liberty Christian 70-52 Friday at the Hanford Middle School gym in Richland. “It was a good game,” said Head Coach Jeremy Crollard. “We jumped out on them 22-13 at the end of the first quarter and maintained that 10- to 12-point lead throughout the game. The kids played really hard.” Crollard said the Raiders played great defense, holding Liberty Christian’s best player to only two point...
The Lady Raiders won both games in the first week of the 2B District 5-6 tournament, and move on to the second week this Friday in Chelan. At Hanford Middle School in Richland Friday, the Lake Roosevelt defeated Liberty Christian 55-47. “This was a good team win,” Coach Matthew Pleasants said. “We had some girls step up in their limited playing time to provide a spark for the team and give us the edge we needed to win.” Hannah Wapato was the leading scorer for the Lady Raiders with eight points, followed by Kelsie Olbricht, Audrey Hansen,...
Lake Roosevelt Raider student-athlete Steven Flowers signed a letter of intent Feb. 6 to play football for Eastern Washington University. "I think it's awesome; he's worked hard," his father Josh Flowers said, adding that Flowers was in the first group of kids to play in the little-league football program started by the late Rob Williams. "It's kind of overwhelming," his mother Jaleen Flowers said. "I'm really happy and proud of him. He made some major goals, and it made a hard road. He's been...
The regional wrestling tournament for state districts five and six was canceled last Friday, so all 23 Raider wrestlers who had qualified for the regional meet at Oroville are now going to the state tournament this week. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced Friday that all regional wrestling tournaments, including the the one the Raiders were to compete in the next day in Oroville, was canceled due to the snowy weather that caused highway closures over much of the state. Since the tournaments never happened, all...
Tribal hunting and fishing licenses are being offered at Coulee Playland again after a brief hiatus. The Colville Tribes are transitioning to an online-only system, and were no longer offering paper licenses through third-party sellers, which complicated things for local business Coulee Playland. The Star reported on the change in the Jan. 30 issue. Colville Tribes Fish & Wildlife Director Cody Desautel said the return of the paper licenses could be because of a time lag on the transition to the digital system. “This is our first year, so t...
Companies in Grant County that “mine” cryptocurrency with high-powered computers have filed a lawsuit against Grant PUD, whose commissioners voted in 2018 to raise electric rates for the emerging industry. The companies say they chose to locate their businesses in Grant County because of the cheap power rates, and that increased rates will inevitably hurt their businesses. They are seeking money for financial losses they say they face, and they’re asking the court to order the electric utility not to implement its new “Schedule 17” rates for...
Local county sheriffs are weighing in on Washington’s controversial Initiative-1639 which is related to guns and is being challenged in the courts. I-1639, which took effect on Jan. 1, raises the age limit for buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. Beginning July 1, it requires purchasers to pass an enhanced background check, show proof of firearms training, and wait 10 days before getting the gun. The new law also makes gun owners guilty of “community endangerment” if their gun is not properly stored and is accessible by a child or by an...
A stray dog found its way into Lake Roosevelt Elementary School and has been a staple there ever since. The 8-month-old, black Labrador female dog, now named Raider, had been hanging out around the school for about a month last fall when eventually school employee Cindy Parra found her by the football field eating a bag of chips out of a child's backpack. Parra grabbed her, and Shamara Steffler, the dean of students at the school, adopted her. The school board in October approved for Raider to...
The Raiders hosted the 2B District 6 tournament on Saturday, and all 22 Raider wrestlers qualify for regionals. Raiders placing first at the event were David Crowe, who wrestled in the 132-pound weight class; Kaleb Horn, at 138; Tony Nichols, at 152; Sherwin Vargas, at 220; and Terrance Saulque, at 285. Horn spoke about his matches against Scott Kuntz from Tonasket, whom he pinned in 32 seconds; and Kevin Sanabria from Tonasket, whom he defeated 11-2. "The first match was a pretty good go," Horn...
Steve Hood, Lee Largent, and Victor Camarena have all been named district wrestling coaches of the year for the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association as voted on by their fellow coaches in the district. Hood won the 2B District 6 wrestling coach of the year; Largent won the award for assistant coach of the year; and Camarena won the award for junior high coach of the year. "It's awesome," said Raider wrestler Kaleb Horn, who has won state championships twice and is going for a third...
The Lady Raiders won three games last week to wrap up their regular season ranked second in the Central Washington 2B league. Lake Roosevelt hosted and defeated the top-ranked Brewster Lady Bears Jan. 29 by a highly respectable 18 points, 51-33. Ellie Hansen led the Lady Raiders with 18 points, sinking eight of her nine shots at the basket and making two free throws. She made seven rebounds, as well. "It is always nice to beat the top team in league," Coach Matt Pleasants said. "The girls came...
The Raiders had a busy week of raids, defeating Liberty Bell, Waterville, and, most importantly, the top-ranked Brewster Bears in a nail-biting, last-second victory. The Raiders hosted the Brewster Bears, winning 61-60 Jan. 22 in Coulee Dam. The Raiders jumped out to an early lead in the game, and from there it was a one- or two-point game for either team. But by the end of the game, the Raiders were down by four points with 27 seconds left. "We called a play and Cameron St. Pierre hit a huge...
The Colville Tribes responded with a press release last week regarding a controversial decision to approve a contract to round up approximately 1,250 horses from the reservation. The nearly $500,000 contract awarded to Sun J Livestock was approved on Jan. 24. “The Colville Business Council responsibly addressed the need to better protect our lands, water, wildlife and native plants on the reservation with these decisions,” Colville Business Council Chairman Rodney Cawston said in the release, dated Jan. 29. “These decisions also provide a plan... Full story
Hunters and fishers wanting to head to local tribal lands will have to look online to buy their licenses, not at local stores. The Colville Confederated Tribes have launched a website for buying fishing and hunting permits on their reservation and eliminated the service from third-party sellers, such as Coulee Playland. “We have transitioned to an online system,” said Natural Resources Director Cody Desautel in an email to The Star. “Customers can come to [Fish & Wildlife] office buildings and get permits, which is still through the onlin...
Gary Darnold, who coached cross country for Lake Roosevelt for 40 years, including 38 state meet appearances, was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association's Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame on Friday in a ceremony held in Tacoma. Darnold coached the sport from 1977 until 2016, and in that time there has been at least one runner at state 38 times, 21 times the team has gone to state including 185 athletes, and had 15 individual finishes in the top eight at state. "He...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District is contesting the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s claim in a draft Environmental Assessment concerning the minimal impact it says a project will have on the district. The USBR is planning on a 10-year project to update three generators, G19-21, in the Third Powerhouse starting in 2023, similar to the ongoing project of updating G22-24 that started in 2010, and is estimated to cost $100 million. The USBR’s Environmental Assessment for the proposed G19-21 update, states that the project would have at most 103...
The lights on the Coulee Dam bridge over the Columbia River will enter the 21st Century in the coming spring, when they will be updated from incandescent to LED lights. "We're replacing all the wires that exist on the bridge, and the electrical service, so that the lights will function," said Robert Stull, the transportation engineer and electrical designer for the Washington State Department of Transportation office in Wenatchee. "And we're updating the lights to LED that should have a sort of...
The Colville Business Council took a series of actions on Jan. 24 related to feral horses on the reservation, including changing a law to allow machines such as helicopters to be used in the capture of feral horses, approving a contract to do so, and raising the bounty tribal members receive for removing the horses themselves. The contract with Sun J Livestock is for $478,750 and is for the removal of approximately 1,250 horses. The Tribal Tribune reported the amount but not the name of the contractor. Sun J Livestock removed about 420 horses...
