News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Remember LR grad Cade Egbert. I see him from time to time and he always gives me a big smile. Cade was special as an athlete. He may not have been the most talented, but no matter what year you think of, he would be a starter for any of the Raiders past basketball teams. Cade was always exciting to watch and passionate about the game. He was ultra-competitive and fearless, but most importantly he was having fun. I’ve never seen a high school athlete attack the basket as hard as Cade. He would score, draw a charge or be shooting free throws. I...
The Friday night of Labor Day weekend my wife and I both got home very late. Bubba Egbert and the Raiders won their football game and Mrs. A. was very thankful that Jessica Tufts is her assistant cheerleading coach. Bubba and Jessica are LR grads. Lori used to coach Jessica as a cheerleader. Bubba played collegiate football and his expert, leave-it-all-on-the field, no drama style will lead to success for the Raiders. I was returning from the Spokane Tribal Powwow where I saw many local folks. I visited with Soy Redthunder (such a wonderful...
Nancy Kuiper is the new Athletic Director for the GCDSD. She is such a phenomenal common-sense choice – THANK YOU! She is one of the top three Lake Roosevelt Raider multi-sport athletes of all time along with Dawni Bjorklund and Kasey Rey. All three were top tier student-athletes who excelled at high school state (champions/records) and collegiate levels. All have wonderful parents. Nancy has always been a role model and work horse. She has high expectations for herself and others. She hears and puts others first, collaborates, learns and is s...
Seventeen local scouts traveled to San Juan Island for a g camping and learning adventure last month. Through a state grant, the group was able to travel and catch a ferry to Friday Harbor before setting up at Camp Bogardus, situated on a forested hillside between historical sites. The scouts left on July 15 and returned July 25. Highlights of the trip included charter fishing for flounder and crab, whale watching, exploring state history, hiking, checking out museums, and scout campfire...
In my last thoughts shared in The Star, I mentioned that I had hoped that the upper brass in the GCDSD would start to be accountable for the downward spiral of dysfunction created by their superintendent. I love our local school district and I’m proud that all of my kids were Raiders, but this organization is at the lowest point I’ve seen in forty years. We need genuine leadership where people are valued and heard, and progressive change is made on necessary prioritized challenges. Instead, we have a pattern of selfish, reactive management whe...
Andy Clark is an LR alumnus and was a very talented Raider and UW Husky track athlete. At LR he was coached by Randy Spotts, who was the best high school distance coach around. Randy was very organized, methodical, expected the best from his athletes and coached several state champions and medalists. Coach Spotts always kept things fun with his bizarre sense of humor. Even when his runners were tops in the state he would yell at them to run “Faster, faster, faster.” Then when their events were over he’d tell the coaches jokingly, “Boy, could I...
A while back a person told me I’m always fighting for the underdog. I liked Underdog as a kid but was more of a Popeye fan. I was hoping the GCDSD high brass would not feed me more spinach. However, more cans were opened with leaps of abstraction by the GCDSD Board. Blaming the failure of both levies on the pandemic and reminding us that elections have consequences is unbelievable. These disastrous results are due to their poor decision making over the last few years. This is a self-inflicted wound that they’re responsible for. Now they want to...
Previously I’d mentioned how much I appreciate The Star seeking input by polling our community about the upcoming school levies. People need to be heard and I’m proud of those who’ve studied the issue and logically responded. Maybe the only real avenue they have. It takes courage to go against the establishment, but I can tell you these folks are not against kids. They see a lack of balance and dysfunction over time. Most of us love our local school district but the elected officials and superintendent are out of touch in many ways. Looki...
In life it is very important to make progress from being fully aware of current reality and learning from the patterns involved. We should always strive to improve and find balance from our mistakes. This is not happening at the highest levels in our school district. There are excessive fiscal requests and repetitive unanimous decisions that are not logical to me. We need servant leadership, a diversity of viewpoints with equity in mind. People need to be valued and heard with genuine collaboration so progressive solutions can be found....
Cheers. This is a festive time of year and I want to cheer on a few who make our community wonderful. First, I want to thank our Raider Cheerleaders. Almost two dozen students turned out and they are rockin’ our athletic events. I would love to have a cup of coffee with the head coach who’s been at the helm for almost four decades. Our local athletic director was voted Athletic Director of the Year and deserves it based on the challenges of the last two years. We are lucky to have him as a leader of two systems and a coach in our school dis...
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is often misunderstood as favoring urban residents over rural. Formerly known as food stamps, a new study analyzing this program shows the opposite may be true. SNAP provides nutrition assistance payments to one in eight Americans every month. Approximately 16% of rural households use SNAP benefits, compared to 13% of metro households. In those rural households, a large majority of benefits assist vulnerable populations, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities. The...
The newly passed infrastructure package approved by Congress last week promises to reach every corner of the country, and for rural America, funding for water and sewer, broadband internet, and electrical projects could have the most impact. An $11.7 billion annual increase for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds will assist small towns in making much-needed drinking water and sewage system upgrades. The federal-state partnership provides low-interest loans to eligible communities to improve their drinking water supply,...
I am writing about the article published in the Star on October 20, 2021. I know you [Coulee Dam council member Dale Rey] didn’t mention my husband by name. However, we live in a small town where everyone knows everyone. PLEASE, get your FACTS straight before jumping to conclusions. John did NOT die from covid. John died from heart issues and kidney failure, as per medical records. PLEASE do NOT use John as an escape goat to mandate the vaccine. If YOU, Dale Rey, want to mandate the shots, I suggest you man up and do it. John did his r...
I am now to a point where I welcome new leadership at the highest levels in my hometown school district. This is because there is a proven pattern of not listening to valid concerns with responsive progressive changes and people are treated poorly or ignored. As a community member for 40 years, a taxpayer and someone who loves our local school district, I will clearly focus on just 2 major areas of concern for now. Sound human dynamics I feel that quality relationships and a high level of collaborative thinking with a growth mindset must...
On August 31, 2021, I injured myself when a 400-pound welding table fell off a cable, knocking me down, causing a severe laceration to my right leg requiring surgery. I have lived in this community since 1969 and have had limited encounters with our local hospital. I had formed a somewhat passive opinion of the emergency medical care available, however this injury gave me a new and more definite perspective. From admittance to discharge, my care was excellent and complete from the all members of the medical team. I was so impressed with the...
On August 31, 2021, I injured myself when a 400-pound welding table fell off a cable, knocking me down, causing a severe laceration to my right leg requiring surgery. I have lived in this community since 1969 and have had limited encounters with our local hospital. I had formed a somewhat passive opinion of the emergency medical care available, however this injury gave me a new and more definite perspective. From admittance to discharge, my care was excellent and complete from the all members of the medical team. I was so impressed with the...
I want to thank the GCDSD Board of Directors for making sure their coaches are being fully compensated and that each sport is getting an assistant for various logical reasons. Thanks for stepping up and doing the right thing. I respect our volunteer local board members who try to find balance with issues and will always be questioned. As board members they nor us educators are health experts. They’re doing their best with the COVID-19 challenges. The recent approval for school staff to get vaccinated is tremendously helpful and addresses the “s...
I am writing in response to John Adkins’ series of letters to the editor, the most recent being 2/17/21. As a Lake Roosevelt teacher of nearly 17 years, I have had the opportunity to experience the changing tides of many administrators, several superintendents, and more changes in education than I can honestly remember at times. As a parent of school-aged students for the last 21 years, I have navigated three school districts ranging in size from 250 students to 9,000. I have been trying to determine what point John Adkins’ series of letters is...
When I see Kenny Hoke he always waves and makes my day. Every time this happens, I think about the state championship basketball team he was on back in the days when the rim and net were real baskets. Since Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam combined into the Grand Coulee Dam School District there has only been one Raider team that has won a state championship. That championship was in Track & Field. Raider Track & Field has won multiple team state trophies. It also has had more individual state champions and medalists over time than any other Raider...
My wife, who knows me well after 47 years, says I’m the most patient person she has ever met. When you combine this patience with the actions of putting others first and practicing sound human dynamics, learned from Gonzaga’s leadership program, you’ll see why I’ve finally been speaking up about our local school district. The GCDSD means so much to me, but these important qualities are not practiced at the top level of this organization. When someone talks about my opinion, they need to realize I’m speaking for me and a lot of people who have...
School finance is becoming more and more challenging. When we keep losing ground we cannot continue to make up the deficit by asking our community members to fill the funding gaps. For factual information look into all Washington state school ballot measures. Most districts are asking for $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property values. One in our region is asking for $2.50 per $1,000 but not continuing with their capital projects measure to balance the costs for their voters. If the GCDSD would have kept their levy total at $1.50 it would still...
Our small community has many exceptional people. I want to take a moment to highlight just a few that have earned my admiration over decades, years or recently. Their messages during this extremely challenging, chaotic time are wonderful and heartwarming. Roger Lucas – I’ve known Roger for decades. Like fine wine, he just gets better over time. I look forward to his articles because he knows that simple things in life are by far the most rewarding, and his sense of humor always makes me smile. Almost 70 years ago, sneaking away with his gir...
Whether you’re a local CEO of an organization, business owner and/or a community member, I’m thankful for many of you who’ve been appreciative of the thoughts I’ve shared about our local school district. I’m especially thankful that most of you know me and realize how much I care and how hard it was for me to finally say something. School district officials are ignoring current reality when they keep informing people that issues can be resolved by following the chain of command. This has not been working for quite a while. Also, blaming f...
As Superintendent of the Wellpinit School District, I am very fortunate that all of my staff have been at work in person. This has taken extensive collaborative preventive preparation and is due in a large part, to the support and actions of the Spokane Tribe. The Spokane Tribe arranged for COVID-19 Vaccinations for my staff. This tremendous gesture has given assurance and confidence to everyone involved and we are extremely thankful and grateful. If possible, I would appreciate it if the Colville Tribes would help the Nespelem and Grand...
I wanted to share a few parting thoughts as I step down as the Okanogan County Health Officer. First and foremost, it has been a privilege to serve this community for the past 16 years. I am confident that my successor, Dr. James Wallace, will provide stellar leadership moving forward. Over the last 10 years, I have truly enjoyed working with “Jimmy”; he will be excellent in this role. Community Health Director, Lauri Jones, has been the backbone of our PH response to COVID-19 in Okanogan County. She has been stalwart in her work for us. Our...