News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The local chapter of the Public School Employees union voted 28-8 to ratify a 6-percent raise in the Grand Coulee Dam School District late last month and the school board approved the change last Thursday. After months of deliberations, the PSE Nov. 27 approved the raise for the roughly 75 members, plus a $2-an-hour raise for the lead mechanic position and a 50-cents-an-hour raise to the Spanish paraprofessional position. The lead paraprofessional in the preschool was made a “coordinator,” which comes with a raise of about $1.15 an hour, as...
Hank Wiebe and his friends are raising hell against the United States Bureau of Reclamation’s recent announcement that they are considering no longer allowing people to drive onto “Geezer Beach” behind the Third Powerhouse at the Grand Coulee Dam, or possibly not allowing fishing there at all. The Grand Coulee man has been placing petitions at local businesses to gather signatures to voice opposition against the idea. “People are fired up, saying, ‘Keep after them,’”Wiebe said. Wiebe said that he and his friends go fishing at the beach regular...
It will take nearly $4.4 million to run the city of Grand Coulee next year, according to a budget prepared for the city council, which took a look at it last week. That’s just about a break-even amount that includes nearly $1 million for fixing streets. The city expects to take in just under $4.5 million, including more than $637,000 in taxes and $955,000 for goods and services, including water and sewer. The Grand Coulee City Council was presented the preliminary budget at their Dec. 4 c...
Raider wrestlers competed at the LR Mix & Match before winning the Connell Invite last week. Lake Roosevelt competed against worthy opponents from Wilbur-Creston-Keller, Davenport, Inchelium, and Okanogan, with a total of 59 matches in the LR gym Dec. 5. "It was a very good night for everybody, the idea being that they get mat time, get matches," said Head Coach Steve Hood, who seemed happy with the competition the other schools brought in to challenge his wrestlers. "There were lots of good wre...
The Lady Raiders basketball team defeated Bridgeport and Soap Lake last week to go 3-0 for the season. In Bridgeport Dec. 4, the Lady Raiders dominated the Fillies, 56-13. "This was a good game that allowed us to work on things and give players minutes that they normally would not get," said Head Coach Peewee Pleasants. Kelsie Olbricht led Lake Roosevelt with 10 points in the game. The Lady Raiders had a remarkable 52 rebounds total. The Lady Raiders traveled to Soap Lake Dec. 7, winning a...
The Lake Roosevelt Raiders had two strong basketball wins last week, defeating Bridgeport and Soap Lake on the road, both by double digits. The Raiders lead the Central Washington 2B league with a 3-0 win-loss record, the only undefeated team in the league right now. Tonasket and Brewster are ranked next in the league, with 2-1 overall records. Lake Roosevelt defeated the Mustangs 74-40 in Bridgeport Dec. 4. Tyler Jordan led the Raiders with 17 points. Sam Wapato scored 15 for the Raiders,...
The Bureau of Reclamation may change rules related to fishing and recreation on "Geezer Beach," a popular spot along the shore behind the Third Powerhouse of the Grand Coulee Dam. People will often drive their vehicles onto the actual beach to go fishing there during the spring drawdown, something that the bureau may no longer allow, with another alternative being not allowing fishing or recreation there at all. "Driving and parking on the drawdown can present a public safety risk to drivers...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board approved the details of a new “enrichment” levy, at their Nov. 26 school board meeting. The levy will be on the Feb. 12, 2019 ballot for voters to approve or deny. The enrichment levy, also known as the Replacement Educational Programs and Operation Levy, replaces what was called an “operations and maintenance” levy that expires at the end of 2018. The enrichment levy is the second part of a two-levy approach intended to replace the single levy now taken over by the state. That O&M levy took in up t...
University of Washington students, working for the Grant County Health District, interacted with the community members last week, asking what they think about health in relation to the area. The students, about 15 in total, are in the Community-Oriented Public Health Practice program, earning their masters degrees at the University of Washington School of Public Health. The students attended a school board and a hospital board meeting, spoke to small business owners and people at the senior center, and held a public meeting at Grand Coulee...
The Raiders wrestling crew won the Davenport Invitational on Saturday, defeating 14 other teams with a total of 177 points. Medical Lake Gold came in second in the tournament with 157 points. Five Raiders took first place at the tournament, including Colton Jackson wrestling in the 106-pound bracket, David Crowe wrestling at 138, Tony Nichols at 152, Brandon Long at 195, and Steven Flowers at 220. Winning second place were Robert Thomas at 120 pounds, Kaleb Horn at 145, and Connor Klingenberg at 220. Also placing at the tournament were Tony Mar...
The Lady Raiders took down the Manson Trojans on Saturday to kick off the 2018-19 basketball season. Lake Roosevelt scored 21 points in the first half, holding Manson to only six. LR scored another 21 points in the second half, this time only allowing five from Manson, for a final score of 42-11. "Getting off to a good start is huge," said Head Coach Peewee Pleasants about winning the first game of the year. "It's something that we talked about back in the summer, not playing behind the eight ba...
The Raiders decisively beat the Manson Trojans on Saturday in Coulee Dam in the first game of the basketball season. Manson led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter, when the Raiders switched from a man-to-man to a zone defense. The Raiders took the lead, scoring 25 points in the second quarter to Manson's 11, and led 37-25 at halftime. "We started pushing the pace," said Head Coach Jeremy Crollard. "We have speed, we have athleticism, we have shooters, so we have to push the pace against...
In a symbolic gesture at their council meeting on Nov. 20, the Grand Coulee City Council unanimously came out in support of the chief of police in Republic, Washington, who has announced he will not enforce a new gun law passed by voters in the recent election. Initiative 1639 passed in Washington state with 60 percent of the vote. In Ferry County, where Republic is located, 73 percent voted against the initiative. In Grant County, where Grand Coulee is located, 68 percent voted no, and in Grand Coulee in particular, citizens voted 175-138, or... Full story
Brenda Covington was chosen Monday night by the Grand Coulee Dam School District directors to join their the board. Covington and Lisa Lyngar were interviewed for about half an hour each to fill the Electric City area spot on the board left vacant earlier this year, with the board choosing Covington after deliberating in executive session. Covington will finish the unexpired term of the position left vacant by Joette Barry, which has less than two years left on it. Covington will have to run for re-election for a four-year term. Covington said...
An owner could have his dogs taken away if he doesn’t address the ongoing issue of the dogs barking. The dogs, located on Grand Coulee Avenue, are constantly barking and running at large, resulting in 20 calls made through Multi Agency Communication Center dispatch in 2018 alone. Each call cost the city $29.42, or $588.40 total. Police Chief John Tufts said that whoever reports the dogs doesn’t want to just call the police station directly, and may be calling the non-emergency MACC number, which charges the city the same rate as it would for...
Electric City is looking into adopting a drug nuisance ordinance, similar to one Grand Coulee passed in October, that would allow the seizure of known drug houses for up to a year. State law on the abatement of drug houses, Revised Code of Washington 7.43, says that If a house is regularly the scene of police enforcement, drug use, drug dealing, or otherwise, the home could be evacuated and boarded up for a year to effectively remove any ongoing nuisances. The process requires superior court approval to seize a house. “If Grand Coulee is going...
In January 1947, the United States Army had an excess of metallic sodium left over from World War II and determined that the alkaline waters of Lake Lenore would be a good spot to dump and neutralize the acidic element, which reacts with water with intense explosions. Barrels containing 20,000 pounds of metallic sodium were rolled off a cliff onto the frozen lake where, according to the video description, they were shot with machine guns to expose the sodium. As the sodium reacted to the water, an estimated 162,000 cubic feet of hydrogen gas...
The topic of consolidating local towns into one came up at the Electric City council meeting Nov. 13, where councilmembers, the mayor, the city clerk, a lawyer, and a citizen spoke on the issue for roughly half an hour. The Grand Coulee council had voted last month to put consolidation on next year’s ballot. Electric City talked about doing the same thing, but ultimately decided not to come out for or against it being on the ballot until more information comes out regarding the logistics of consolidation. If a petition for the cause gathers s...
Many of the details on exactly how consolidation of municipalities can happen in Washington were changed to accomodate a Grand Coulee Dam area push in the mid-1990s to do just that. An article in The Star on May 3, 1995, details some of the issues of consolidation as affected by Senate Bill 5275, which was signed into law at that time by then-Governor Mike Lowry. The details answer some questions being asked today, as the conversation on consolidation heats up. “One major objection to consolidation of the four local towns stemmed from the s...
The Electric City council discussed putting a large sign at their southern limits that would welcome people coming into town from the south on SR-155. The sign would read "Welcome to Electric City," and "Re-energize your recreation," with the city's logo suspended between aluminum columns made to look like basalt rock. The motto is the winner from a contest held in 2007 to come up with a motto for a potential sign, which was submitted by a citizen. The council voted to have City Clerk Russ Power...
Sean Garvin, who played volleyball for the Lady Raiders until an injury sidelined her in 2017, won a national championship on Saturday in Kansas with the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles. Garvin's high school injury had dashed plans for a full-ride scholarship to Western Washington University. Not giving up hope, Garvin underwent physical therapy, applied to more colleges, and accepted a full-ride scholarship to CSI. The National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Volleyball...
Citizens of Grand Coulee may want to sit down before reading this, and specifically may want to sit down on the toilet. The Grand Coulee City Council voted last week to raise residential sewage rates by about 63 percent. The $20-per-month hike will cover the expenses of running the system. “As much as I hate the idea of rate increases and taxes, to keep providing services, we’re gonna have to make some changes,” said Mayor Paul Townsend. “Our increases right now, we’re just looking to get up to par with our expenses.” Residential rates will...
Ron Bjorklund had a mission: to golf in all 50 states. And he accomplished that mission on Oct. 9, 2018, at the Cape Cod Country Club in Massachusetts. The daring feat became a goal for Bjorklund in 2007 when he golfed with his brothers at the Mendenhall Golf Course in Juno, Alaska. "I figured if I could get Alaska, I could probably get the rest of them," Bjorklund said. "I already had Hawaii and a lot of the western states. My daughter lives in Montana and we get over there frequently; her...
Need a ride somewhere? Dude, just take an Uber. Hail a cab. Oh yeah! It's the Coulee, so you can't do any of that stuff. Or can you? Teresa Bower has started a company called Blue Dot Transit Connect, which isn't associated with Uber, but offers similar services and has similar rates. Having moved to Electric City via Renton, Washington, earlier this year with her husband David, Bower saw the need for a taxi service in the area. Bower said that Blue Dot is named after the blue skies you see...
After helping people file their taxes for 24 years, Charlie Long is retiring from the tax preparation program offered at the local senior center, leaving a gap that needs to be filled by anyone interested. “It was fun and I enjoyed it,” Long said about the job. “I didn’t especially like the computers, but I like to meet the people and help them get their paperwork together.” Long said that before doing the work on computers he’d do the taxes by hand. Back then the program was located in the basement of what is now North Cascades Bank. The 2...