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 Bureau of Reclamation's new fire station has won a national award for design, taking the gold in Firehouse Magazine's annual contest. The Magazine announced the winners of its 12th annual Station Design Awards program Nov. 9. The program recognizes outstanding architecture and design from fire departments and emergency facilities nationwide. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were issued across eight categories of facilities: Career 1, Career 2, Co-Located, Combination, Renovations, Satellite,...
We have had our first spit of snow. It was welcomed by some and dreaded by others. I am on the dreaded side. My record with snow is not good. I just don’t like it. Luckily, I am at that stage in life where I don’t have to go anywhere. So I can smile and say, “Let it snow.” I’ve had a number of mishaps or near mishaps in snow. Coming home to Palouse from southern Idaho when my father died, I slid off the road and had a difficult time getting one chain on as my wife held a flashlight so I could see. One chain did it that time. Another time, we...
If my body were a temple, the bricks would be glued together with Cheez Whiz. Okay, so sometimes I eat radishes and kale in between almost never-ending portions of hamburgers and leftover Chinese food. But the leftovers run out from time to time. Hence, I rely on the radishes. My idea of a balanced diet is a large Coke in each hand. But that changed when my sister told me about the 75 Hard Challenge. The rules are simple enough. You have to do two 45-minute workouts a day, eat healthy, drink a gallon of water, and read 10 pages of a...
A dozen basketball games got played Saturday afternoon in the Lake Roosevelt gym, but each of them included only 10 minutes of play. The Raider teams - both junior varsity and varsity teams for both girls and boys, hosted the six-school Basketball Jamboree event with Soap Lake, Omak, Inchelium, Nespelem, and Moses Lake Christian. Each team played two short games with three referees packing in a lot of play in just 10 minutes, but not much attention was paid to stats or even scores for long. It...
School district directors heard from surprised teachers Monday night as the district sought permission to make budget changes to meet the reality of shortfalls, stemming from many causes. Depending on whose estimate you’re looking at, the deficit could be from $600,000 to $1.2 million next year. Administrators want to find ways to cut back now to avoid blowing through all the reserves by the end of the current school year. Superintendent Rod Broadnax asked for approval of an emergency measure to allow the district to adjust as needed, i...
Coulee Dam’s town council heard a seconds-long discussion on the town’s lease of the Village Cinema space that had dominated the Nov. 12 council meeting a week earlier. At the end of the Nov. 19 special meeting, which mainly dealt with items like paying the bills, passing the budget for 2026 and a few other items, Mayor Bob Poch addressed the single item listed under Discussion Agenda, the theater lease. No one had anything to say except City Attorney Mick Howe. He said he didn’t have much to add to what had already been said, but he added that...
November 17, 2025 Voters decided this month to allow payroll taxes collected for Washington’s new long-term care program to be invested in the stock market. But they will have to wait a while for the decision to begin paying dividends. Nearly 58% of voters approved Senate Joint Resolution 8201 amending the state constitution to end restrictions on the types of investments that can be made with dollars flowing into the WA Cares fund. The state constitution generally bars investing public money in the stock of private companies, limiting state an...
President George W. Bush’s eulogy of Dick Cheney, his vice president, brought back memories of a kinder, gentler America — a time when those elected to office did what was best for our country not their political party. Bush reassuring words came after an unthinkable government shutdown (39 days) which paralyzed essential functions and threatened to stop flights during our country’s busiest travel time — Thanksgiving. The shutdown underscored how angry and bitterly divided our nation is today. The old adage “Don’t personalize difference” has be...
I would like to comment on the theater in Coulee Dam. I understand that Coulee Dam is cancelling their lease. It seems like Coulee Dam finally, after years of an empty, useless space, has something positive to offer families in the area, as well as tourists. This includes more than just movies or even movies and a snack bar. It has turned into an all-around entertainment center, offering different forms of educational programs, free matinees and live entertainment, along with an arcade and other fun activities. A lot of new equipment has been...
The only grandparent I knew and remember was my mother’s mom. She immigrated from Norway in the 1880s. She settled in Minneapolis where my mom was born an only child. My grandmother, Mary Peterson, came west to Palouse with my parents and my three brothers and sister in 1929. I was born the next year in Palouse. My grandmother lived with us and never bothered to learn English. She held on to her old ways, so my memory of her is rather slim. It took me a very long time — and I had the help of my oldest daughter, Kathy — to help unlock some...
Larry Hernandez asked for community support and got it as he presented his case to Coulee Dam's town council for an alteration of his lease for the Village Cinema. The council meeting room crowd was standing room only Nov. 12 and spilled out the door as the council wrapped up an earlier meeting and budget hearing, then opened up to hear comments on the city's decision to terminate the theater's lease in the city community building. Hernandez detailed a timeline of starts and stalls with working...
The town of Coulee Dam is offering to buy a piece of property owned by STCU, following a town council vote taken Nov. 12. The part of the lot north of the credit union’s building in Coulee Dam is to be acquired by the town for $65,750, the price offered by STCU. The council voted to approve the purchase, although Councilmember Keith St. Jeor “recused” himself from the vote. “I think in my own mind, it would be a good addition to the city if the city owned that property,” Mayor Bob Poch said. “We have no place else to go for any major impro...
Mayor Ruth Dalton leads Chantelle Crowe by just 18 votes in the election to decide who the next mayor will be. Dalton has 53.91% of the 230 votes cast, while Crowe’s votes at last count on Nov. 14 stood at 46.09%, 124-108. Grant County’s elections office will count the remaining 30 ballots Nov.19 at 5 p.m. Those 30 ballots left to count are for all races in the county’s 81 precincts. It’s not impossible for that small number to make a difference, again, in another Grand Coulee election. The race for the city council member 2 seat has flipped tw...
Kudos for the letter to the editor dated October 29th from Kurt Steinke. Thanks, Mr. Steinke, for speaking out! Impartial news is all but extinct and has been for quite some time. It’s all about pointing fingers now and hating the opposing side. These United States have turned their collective backs on God, the Bible, He gave us, and just plain Christian decency for so long, that I’m shocked He has held our Nation together for this long. Recently I heard it said by a reputable source, that of the near 1100 registered voters in Grand Cou...
My current read is “Patriot”, by Alexei Navalny, who courageously tried to save Russia from Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship before Putin murdered him. That raised my mind’s question: Who is currently our US Patriot playing the same role as Navalny was in Russia? I immediately thought of former US Rep. Liz Cheney and her courageous dedication to saving our democracy from wannabe dictator President Donald Trump. At the other (bottom) end of the courage scale, my recent read was the Aug. 18 Time magazine featuring Republican House Speaker Mike Jo...
During his first year, President Trump has been globetrotting attempting to ink trade deals, repair tattered relationships, and attract manufacturing back to America. However, no mission has been more crucial than his recent trip to South Korea, Japan and China. Behind the bluster of new “reciprocal” tariffs was the simple fact that China is not only a manufacturing, trading and military challenge but it is our primary supplier of strategic metals. Not only is America short of RARE minerals, but metals such as iron, copper and aluminum. Wea...
The town of Coulee Dam is terminating its lease of the Village Cinema to the proprietor who has spent over a year coming up with new ways to breathe life into the shell that had been vacant for over a decade. Larry Hernandez posted on the theater’s Facebook last week that he’s been ignored since August when he proposed mediation to come to an agreement about his rent going forward and that he waited for 10 months for the city to propose new language in the lease after the town council wanted to have the city attorney clarify it. “This build... Full story
An enterprise seeking to convert the old Center School into the "Center Senior Living" assisted living project has made significant progress. In fact, they now own the building. The project, driven by a dedicated board including local professionals and community members, aims to address the lack of local assisted living facilities, which forces seniors to move far away. The project has secured a $1 million federal grant for hazmat abatement and demolition, and they've raised $291,000 in local...
Mayor Ruth Dalton pulled ahead in the race to keep her office in Grand Coulee. Dalton switched the advantage since last week, when challenger Chantel Crowe, the deputy city clerk was ahead by a few votes. Dalton now leads with 56% of the vote, 120-104. Likewise, for Grand Coulee’s council member 2 seat, Andrew Dobson pulled ahead of Cameron Whitney 88- 79. Cheryl Hoffman gained a 54% lead over Jeremiah Seekins in the race for Electric City’s Council Member 1 seat, 154-129. Bradley Oliver holds an insurmountable 185-97 lead over Robbin Boy...
Dear Mayor Poch and City Clerk Bowden, Please share this email with Council Member Black, Council Member Schmidt, Council Member Adkins, Council Member Hall, and Council Member St. Jeor, since I can’t seem to locate their email addresses on the Town of Coulee Dam website. I understand the challenges our communities face, especially rural towns, when balancing pinched budgets during these difficult times. I have spent the last year participating in these discussions across the state, and I’ve seen how difficult these decisions can be and how...
Seven Lake Roosevelt Raiders traveled to Pasco to compete in the WIAA State XC Championships last week, which has not occurred with a Raider team since this one's oldest athlete was in first grade, Coach Matthew Timentwa said. At a school assembly the day before they got on the bus for Sun Willows Golf Course outside Pasco, Timentwa praised the team. "They worked so hard this year," the coach said. "They all ... put in their best effort, every single one of them, and every single day." Timentwa...
An important institution celebrated its 90th anniversary Saturday, when the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department members gathered at the fire station on Spokane Way, which was built in the 1970s. The modern fire department was consolidated from two earlier, separate departments for the different parts of the city, Rick Paris recounted as people gathered at the station for food and drink, and to honor the department's work and role in the community. Before there was a city or an ordinance to...
Even in an election year when most races were for often uncontested local offices, several were too close to call last night when county election offices stopped counting ballots after 8 p.m. In Grand Coulee, Mayor Ruth Dalton wasn’t getting too nervous yet about barely trailing by 52-48, Chantel Crowe, the city’s deputy clerk who decided to run for the mayor’s office. Neither was Crowe, reached on her way back from a leadership class in Ephrata. She also said it was too close to call. “As of now, I’m excited and I’m certainly honored,” she sai...
Please renew my subscription to The Star. The editor has won national and local awards; the paper provides important community news and a variety of insightful perspectives that entertain and enlighten its readers. The editor prints editorials from perspectives with which I sometimes disagree and perhaps which the editor himself has reservations over as well. Yet, consistently, his belief in permitting his community to speak through The Star overrules whatever his own political perspectives might be. The community is fortunate to have such an...
We are now in the sixth week of the federal government shutdown, and Senate Democrats still refuse to vote to reopen the government. The latest victims of what will ultimately be the longest shutdown in history are recipients of benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. On November 1 funding for SNAP expired, meaning that nearly 42 million Americans — and over 900,000 here in Washington state — will not receive their full benefits. In response to a federal court order, the Trump Administration announced it would fun...