News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Imagine being told you have to leave your home, perhaps forever. You only have a couple of hours to pack, and you can only take what fits in your car. Calista Christiansen, a seventh-grader from the Columbia River Gorge community of Lyle, didn’t have to imagine. That’s what happened to her, her family and her neighbors last summer when the Burdoin Fire burned through the community, destroying 14 homes and threatening more than 250 others, including her own. Christiansen spoke about the experience during the 2026 National Civics Bee state com...
My favorite sport is Track & Field. So, I loved watching our Raiders compete at the recent Washington State Championships. Our coaches will miss the Seniors and these kids were super excited about their Senior trip. Head Coach Lori and Assistant Coach Ashley could not coach all 18 events without the help of their 3 volunteer coaches – Christy, Chance and Alfredo. Much appreciated! Once back home, I checked the Star newspaper and wanted to truly thank Scott Hunter for kindly printing my thoughts. I apologize for a grammar mistake, but Scott know...
I’ve known the past three owners of The Star newspaper. My father was an owner of small- town newspapers. The business is extremely hard with few thank-you’s. Scott Hunter, the current owner for some time now, is also my neighbor. I have a great deal of respect for him. This will never change – he is a good dude! He publishes a quality product even though his business is understaffed. It’s rare, but occasionally he’ll squeeze in time to write an editorial. Every once in a while, others will disagree with his opinions and really lay on the wo...
All school districts face significant employee costs, increased insurance rates and inflation along with other major challenges. Many school districts get the same funding sources as the Grand Coulee Dam School District, but they are thriving. Why? It is due to advanced planning, foresight, knowledgeable leadership and gradually taking care of these issues over time before a crisis can develop. Our local elected School Board members, who have boasted they are good stewards, and their current superintendent have destroyed our local school...
I’m sharing these thoughts as a taxpayer. My heart goes out to the army of staff and administrators who have been giving accurate, emotional testimony to our GCDSD School Board. Some of their closed sessions should have been in public. Trust is now lost in the organization. They were warned several times over the last few years that this multi-faceted crisis would evolve, but they ignored the evidence and facts. This crisis is showing a significant lack of preventive fiscal oversight, transparency and actual leadership. There is justified n...
In our local Grand Coulee Dam School District, we have and always have had amazing staff. As a community member for several decades, I’ve shown appreciation for many of their successes but I’ve barely scratched the surface of impactful differences they make in the lives of their students every day. Great school districts have staff who realize that schools must manage their funds properly, provide a safe and secure environment with sound mental wellness options for their students, among many other common-sense priorities that come before aca...
As a longtime community member and taxpayer, I hope that it is now obvious to others in our area that the crisis the Grand Coulee Dam School District is in was totally preventable. This should be unacceptable to all of us. The crisis is much bigger than very poor fiscal decisions. It is a culmination of multiple systems in the organization being mismanaged due to a significant lack of expertise, best practices and on-going reactive management instead of successful preventive collaborative leadership. The upper brass and their hired hand have ne...
Here are a few reasons I feel foratunate. I appreciate those involved with the Center Senior Living proyject. Looking forward to future updates. Very exciting! Persistence, hope and unwavering commitment pays off for CMC’s Leadership. The $3 million innovative workforce federal funds they received for an on-site “tiny village” to house rural health care workers is necessary and long overdue. Once again, thanks for showing your critical employees they are valued. It’s great to see all incumbents back on the Board after recent elections. They al...
In appreciation, I wanted to mention someone we lost recently that was a true angel on earth. Judy Kuiper was a one-in-a-million human. She was a simple, humble, wonderful, loving, optimistic individual who was unwavering in her faith. Judy was such an amazing person, woman, wife, mom, grandma and community member. She always saw the best in everyone, was comforting and could put anyone at ease. Judy was a tremendous role model and will be greatly missed. I was fortunate to have known her for decades and she made me a better person. I enjoy...
I want to remind our GCDSD upper brass that our schools belong to the community. Community members will continue to question dysfunctional, reactive actions that you make. Intimidation, retaliation or vindictiveness will not be tolerated. GCDSD ballot measures should not be supported when the upper brass continues to show zero responsibility with the funds involved. They need to quit boasting they are good stewards. They only have themselves to blame for the on-going crisis the organization is in. Over time, as I’ve shared thoughts, I’ve nev...
Anyone following state news lately may have observed the following “bridge events”: 1) SR 165 has been closed permanently at the Fairfax bridge over the Carbon River due to bridge support failure. This has closed the northwest entry into Mt. Rainier National Park. 2) The bridge on SR 410 between Buckley and Enumclaw has been closed for bridge truss repair after a Vac Truck struck the bridge. 3) The SR 169 bridge over the Green River gorge area between Maple Valley and Enumclaw has been closed for girder repair. The latter two have resulted in...
I tip my hat to a job well done by Kelly and her entourage who make the Run the Dam so successful each year. They make a complex task seem simple. Our local prep talent Caden Portch won the 5K race with family members in tow. I’m not sure how Randy Spotts and Rick King passed through security. Locals tell me they see me running. I appreciate their kind words, but let’s get real, at best it is not even a jog. It is an old-man trot. I’ve had people walk past me — embarrassing! Recently, a girl and her little brother with training wheels on his bi...
Here are just a few things I’ve noticed recently that show we live in an area surrounded by amazing people. I was in awe watching the fire and law enforcement departments fight the recent fire and keep everyone safe in West Coulee Dam. Rick Paris stopped by and assured us things would be alright. People don’t get any better than him! The Festival of America was awesome. They didn’t skip a beat due to the theft of the Chamber’s trailer. Our local talent with Dylan and the teachers “Fuel for Ghosts” was great. Their genuine passion made it a f...
Lori Adkins is the longest tenured teacher and coach in the GCDSD’s history. Over 43 years she has helped thousands of students and hundreds of athletes. Her loyalty and longevity are unmatched. Over the decades I’ve seen her work 20-hour days and rarely miss a day of work. She’s about solutions not excuses. She’s a talented artist who rarely has time to create personally because she’s always creating with kids. Lori raised five Raiders and as the longtime cheer squad coach and leadership class instructor she’s brought more school spirit to o...
I appreciate the British saying “bad form” when something is inappropriate and not right. The GCDSD upper brass and some others are showing bad form. Congrats to them for recently barely passing their replacement levy, but to assume with their response that all yes voters believe in them is a stretch. There are many yes voters, even in my family, who voted yes, but for kids, not them. 517 voted no for this ballot measure. To be clear, most of us wanted to support the measure at a much lower, reasonable rate. Next time you take a picture of one...
If you were confused by one of last week’s letters to the editor due to the obfuscation used, so was I. Are people voting on a four-day school week, or on a school levy? My yellow envelope says election, and I did not see four day week on the ballot inside. Since the writer brought it up, I am enclosing the letter I wrote to Q6news on our four day school week, and how the reporter’s conclusion was inaccurate and not well researched. The STAR can decide whether to give readers a peek at this information or not. With the writer’s request for a...
As a community member for several decades, my passion for our local school district is shown by my consistent words and actions. I have high expectations for the GCDSD. Our School Board members and Superintendent need to be consistent and do what is right. They have an ongoing pattern where their words don’t match their actions. Here are some clear and valid examples. Their mantra is “what is best for kids.” They claim they’re transforming the GCDSD culture for the better. In their strategic plan they promote dignity and improved test scores...
Recently the GCDSD upper brass forced a 4-day school week for the future. They act like this is new but this option has been going on for a long time nationally. The TV coverage the superintendent boasted about, that he was in, said the DOI Foundation’s research does not support this schedule. It actually leads to negative academic effects. Embarrassing! With the 4-day format there will be a significant number of school days lost. So now when students or staff are absent it will have a greater negative impact. Over 275, close to 94% of s...
‘Tis the time of year to be joyful, to celebrate and show appreciation, thankfulness and gratitude. Previously, I’d mentioned how I am keen on Jim Keene and many others but recently Addison Hansen, our previous neighbor, triggered this outpouring of appreciation here. She surprised my partner of 52 years with a thank you - happy holidays greeting and a beautiful piece of her artwork signed off with much appreciation. Addison is a former Raider and fine arts major. Her message to Mrs. A said, “Thank you for encouraging my creativity and culti...
I’ve always been a simple person who needs very little to be happy. My first date with my partner was over 50 years ago. We talk about how if we had nothing but our family, would we be alright? We realize without a doubt we’d be just fine. We are all about quality relationships and being passionate about life and what we enjoy. With these thoughts in mind, we were very excited to be in Yakima this past weekend to cheer on our Raider teams’ athletes and coaches. Last spring after state softball was over, I told the head coach, Jaci Gross, to ke...
The picture of the LRHS Boys’ Basketball Team (in color) on the cover of The Star newspaper last week was amazing! They have been exciting to watch all season and this picture captured the joy and fun they’ve shown. So much class and poise in these young men on this Raider team … very special. Coach Adkins and her Raider cheer squad and Leadership class did numerous things throughout the entire season to support the team. The Head Cheer coach also collaborated with the Brewster Band Director. It started as a gesture of good sportsmanship with...
Have you noticed how many retired school employees regularly volunteer throughout our Okanogan County communities? Retired school employees have told me that helping community members is hard work but extremely satisfying. You may find them working throughout Okanogan County’s many organizations: local, state and federal citizens’ committees, hospitals, clinics, OBHC, senior citizen centers and Community Action. They also serve their communities through groups such as Okanogan County School Retirees’ Association (OCSRA), Kiwanis, Rotary, Mason...
Remember the Coulee Card. It was handy and fun and I wish it would make a comeback. It is awesome to call the Coulee home. Here are a few people and places I’m proud of that make the Coulee area so special – Caden Portch represented Lake Roosevelt well at the State Cross Country Championships. Kasey Garvin did an amazing job with the high school Volleyball team. She’s always been a winner! “Clap for the Wolfman” Edward Wolfe and his staff have the top ranked Raider Boys Basketball team rolling with the 1000-point club member Chase Marchand...
I have waited approximately eight years for a determination on when we, Colville Tribal Members, were going to be compensated for the 2015 North Star fire. Since I haven’t heard of any compensation, I decided to file a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request with the BIA Regional office in Portland, Oregon. I filed this request on January 13, 2023, and I have received two answers as of this writing and will receive a final third response in the near future. I am going to share a portion of what I received because I believe it is in the b...
After the latest reactive management decision from our local GCDSD Board, community and staff members who are furious about the superintendent selection asked me to share their total lack of trust in these elected officials. As someone who has five Raider graduates, loved and fully supported the GCDSD for years, this selfish decision does not surprise me. I just wanted to wait until after the 2023 graduation was over before I shared thoughts that I truly feel are also supported by the majority of community and staff. As taxpayers there is obvio...