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Articles written by Jacob Wagner & Scott Hunter


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  • Smoke affecting activities locally

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Sep 14, 2022

    The wildfire smoke in the air, which may come from this or that fire depending on which way the wind is blowing, is unpleasant and unhealthy to breathe, and has an effect on local events. Grand Coulee Dam School District leaders discussed air quality at their board meeting on Sept. 12 when Superintendent Paul Turner discussed www.purpleair.com, showing how sensors installed at volunteer locations measure air quality. Local sensors on the network include one south of Osborn Bay, one near Spring Canyon, one in downtown Grand Coulee, another in ea...

  • Lady Raiders end drought with a trip to state

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Mar 9, 2022

    The Lady Raiders competed in the state 2B basketball tournament last week, taking on teams from around the state and capping the year with the best game they've played all year, according to their coach. "That was fun!" Lady Raider Head Coach Peewee Pleasants said about playing La Conner in the Lake Roosevelt team's final event of the tournament at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane on Friday. Pleasants said the Lady Raiders hadn't that quality of competition all season, and the girls...

  • Sport spectator covid restrictions emphasized

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Jan 12, 2022

    School sports restrictions have been tightened up again with the Omicron COVID-19 variant becoming prevalent in the area. The Grant County Health District detailed the restrictions in a press release for "Region 7," which includes Grant, Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Adams, and Okanogan counties. The extra precautions include items like some limits on attendance at games, indoor masking requirements, eating in a designated area, and following the covid attendance rules set by a statewide school...

  • Vaccine mandates shake out few employees locally

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Oct 27, 2021

    Some workers in Washington state, faced with the ultimatum to get the jab or lose their jobs, have chosen to quit or retire instead of receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. With employees in various fields, including school, health care, and state government required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for their employment by Oct. 18, many workers in the state have opted to retire early or simply quit their jobs. Locally, council members for the city of Grand Coulee, as well as the mayor, expressed support for city employees to make...

  • Dozens of police chase stolen bus to Electric City

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Feb 10, 2021

    A man driving a stolen Grant Transit Authority bus out of Moses Lake was pursued by more than two dozen police on the morning of Feb. 3, with the chase ending in a minor crash. The bus had been reported stolen at about 7 a.m., and Moses Lake Police and other agencies were watching for it when a Grant County Sheriff's deputy spotted it about 30 minutes later. The driver, 62-year-old Richard D. Manley of Grand Coulee, was on highway 28 near Stratford. He turned north on Pinto Ridge Road. Lake Roos...

  • Local man arrested after bus chase

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Feb 3, 2021

    A man driving a Grant Transit Authority bus out of Moses Lake was pursued by police on Wednesday morning, with the chase ending in Electric City at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and SR-155 where the driver hit a stop sign and came to a stop. The bus had been reported stolen at about 7 a.m., and Moses Lake Police and other agencies were watching for it when a Grant County Sheriff's deputy spotted it about 30 minutes later. The driver, 62-year-old Richard D. Manley of Grand Coulee, was on...

  • Updated: School board changes own Covid rules to allow older kids back Monday

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Dec 9, 2020

    The return to school for seventh- through 12th-grade Lake Roosevelt students on Monday, Dec. 7 continued under a plan modified in an emergency school board session Friday night that sets a much higher threshold for the number of local Covid cases it would take to stop in-person schooling. The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors held an Emergency Board Meeting tonight via Zoom where they voted 4-1 to modify the plan, previously approved on Nov. 9, for junior/senior high students to return part time to physical school on Dec. 7....

  • School board changes own Covid rules to allow older kids back Monday

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Dec 2, 2020

    The return to school for seventh- through 12th-grade Lake Roosevelt students on Dec. 7 will continue under a plan modified in an emergency school board session Friday night that sets a much higher threshold for the number of local Covid cases it would take to stop in-person schooling. The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors held an Emergency Board Meeting tonight via Zoom where they voted 4-1 to modify the plan, previously approved on Nov. 9, for junior/senior high students to return part time to physical school on Dec. 7.... Full story

  • Two local counties surge with COVID-19

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Jul 15, 2020

    Two local counties reported two more deaths this week amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in their counties, in the state and in many parts of the nation. Okanogan County Public Health reported that 71 new cases of COVID-19 emerged in the county on Monday and Tuesday alone, with over half its cases all year breaking out within the last two weeks - 147 of its total of 263. Those include the county's third death, which OCPH learned of yesterday. The victim was an agricultural worker from Mexico in his... Full story

  • Boating collision on Banks Lake leaves one boat atop another

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Jul 8, 2020

    When Mark Head noticed the other boat headed straight for him in the middle of Banks Lake, it was too late. Head, 51, from Cashmere, and the four others aboard his pontoon boat, including small children, had been just floating, doing some cleaning up without the engine running about 5:25 p.m. Thursday when he saw the wake boat coming. Head hurried to try to start the engine and move, but couldn't before the other boat hit, stopping instantly on top of the middle section of the pontoon boat,...

  • Public meetings to continue remotely

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Jun 3, 2020

    Public meetings, including those of city councils, school boards, and various districts, will need to continue to be held telephonically, a requirement that might lead to an expanded means of public participation in at least one local city. Gov. Jay Inslee extended proclamations related to COVID-19 restrictions Friday, including proclamations related to public meetings forbidding them from being held in person. "The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and its progression in Washington State continues... Full story

  • Organizations scramble, adjust to check virus spread

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Mar 18, 2020

    Local institutions are rapidly adjusting on the fly after a series of cascading emergency announcements from state and national authorities mandating increasingly harsh measures to stop the spread of the new virus that has infected nearly 190,000 worldwide and killed more than 7,500 as it overwhelms some healthcare systems. Preventing that kind of quick and overwhelming spread is what the new restrictions are all about. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced March 13 that schools statewide would close. Then Monday, he said restaurants, bars, thea... Full story

  • Union reaches agreement with school district

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Dec 12, 2018

    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...

  • Skateboarding scene could grow in the coulee

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Jul 11, 2018

    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...

  • Company will convert Electric City facility into Bitcoin mine

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Dec 27, 2017

    A warehouse in Electric City will soon become the "Grant County Data Centre" for processing a type of currency that only exists digitally and has gained recent worldwide attention as its value increased 2,700 percent since September. Atlas Cloud Enterprises Inc., a Canadian company, has apparently purchased the former Young's Welding building in Electric City for $300,000, and plans to invest another $2.6 million into it. Atlas Cloud, shares of which are traded on the Canadian Securities Exchang...

  • Updated 11: 48 a.m.: High-speed chase ends on Peter Dan Road, suspects reportedly still at large

    Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter|Apr 19, 2017

    A high speed chase ended on Peter Dan Road when two vehicles, a car and a truck, both crashed into the landslide that spans the road. A woman, apparently a nearby resident, told The Star that two suspects then took off on foot, and that police were going to houses looking for them. The resident also said that a SWAT team was on the scene in full uniform with guns drawn. No further info is yet available. A witness in Coulee Dam said a car speeding down the hill at Grand Coulee Dam hit the bottom... Full story