News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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While serving as Lincoln County commissioner, I’ve seen my share of bad laws and unfunded mandates from Olympia. But I have never witnessed the kind of squeeze counties are under today. Between court orders, runaway costs, and the Legislature’s latest strings-attached “help,” rural communities like ours are being set up to fail. The Supreme Court’s Order In June, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that public defenders are carrying too many cases. This decision created new “caseloads standards” and cut the existing amount of cases per...
A wildland fire put Electric City on evacuation alerts Aug. 6 as firefighters from many agencies helped local firefighters in the steep terrain. The Silver Fire ignited in the rocky, wooded hillsides outside the southeast corner of the city where a small forest rises on cliffs overlooking houses and pastures Wednesday afternoon. By 2:30 a large, blackened area dwarfed firefighters with brush trucks hosing the perimeter closest to homes just off the corner of Sunset Drive and Electric Boulevard....
Aug 11, 2025 North Central Washington’s rural hospitals from Quincy to Omak, Brewster to Grand Coulee, are staring down an uncertain future after Congress approved sweeping federal health care cuts that could gut Medicaid funding. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), passed by the House and Senate and signed by President Donald Trump in July, makes deep reductions to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act programs. Health experts and state officials warn the fallout could be devastating in rural areas. According to a study from the University of N...
Thankfully, on Monday, President Trump delayed assessing higher tariffs on Chinese imports by another 90 days. China followed suit and delayed its own tariffs before the August 11 deadline expired. The new deadline is November 10, which, if not further delayed, will see import taxes of up to 145 percent on Chinese goods coming to USA. China has threatened 125 percent reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods entering its country. The extension especially helps retailers who are in the middle of Christmas purchases. Meanwhile, hopefully the respective...
I arrived in Saigon on the first of three trips and near the end of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong Tet offensive. The communists had targeted over 100 cities and hit pretty hard. Saigon was hit hard and there was still some limited fighting in the city when I arrived. I went to the Caravalle Hotel to get a room. That’s where most of the media stayed. They were full and directed me to an eight-story hotel nearby. One of the things I wanted to do was look up families of two UW students who were in the FIUTS program. We also were part of the p...
He was at work, and Randy Adolph's grandchildren were all asleep as fire began consuming their home last month. "Could have been worse if Tim didn't knock on the door," Adolph said Monday, referring to neighbor Tim Lynch who lives a couple blocks down Camas Street in Coulee Dam. About 10 a.m. that Monday, July 14, Lynch, retired, had been headed to the post office and intended to next drive to the Downriver Trail for a walk along the Columbia River. Then he saw the smoke. It was "thick, black...
Chantel Crowe, Grand Coulee's deputy city clerk, attracted a majority of the votes in the three-way race for the mayor's office in Tuesday's primary. Crowe and Mayor Ruth Dalton will face off in the general election that concludes Nov. 4. The two were selected over Micah Seekins in the primary election. Seekins garnered 12 votes, or almost 8%. Of the 155 ballots cast, Dalton got 54 votes (35%) to Crowe's 87 (56%). There were two votes for write-in candidates, who were not listed in the Grant...
Thunderstorms have kept firefighters busy in Okanogan County and the Colville Reservation, but local area firefighters only got in about an hour's work fighting one fire this week. That was Thursday when a fire was called in alongside SR-174 in a rocky area on the right across the highway from East Heights. Firefighters quickly knocked it down. But that same day, the Mount Tolman Fire Center saw the start of the Kinkaid Creek fire that developed into a "complex" of smaller fires. That one includ...
One of the first things I did when moving to Electric City in 1989 was to sign onto a fire crew for two seasons. The owners of the operation, OK Cascade, was the Keener family from Bothell. During the two-season stint we were involved in countless fires in Washington and Oregon. The Keeners had a meat market in downtown Bothell, run by Vern, the head of the family. People came from miles around to purchase their meat. The market featured the highest quality of cuts. The fire operation was run by John Keener, the oldest son. When John learned...
We continue to read about devastation from wildfires and strong storms. Climate scientists say we will see more as a result of climate change. To reduce air pollution that causes climate change we must reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Senator Lindsey Graham said, “CO2 emissions generated by man is creating our greenhouse gas effect that traps heat, and the planet is warming.” Our government needs to do much more to promote clean energy, such as wind, solar, and geothermal, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. This includes res...
Update: Below is the current update for the wildfire incident: As of 5:53: Rebecca Lake to Convalescent Blvd is closed to HWY 155. HWY 155 to Rebecca Lake is closed. 07//30/2025 5:41 PM Fire Name: Kiser Canyon Fire Location: 1 Mile South of Agency Campus Estimated Size: 500 Containment: 0% Fire Behavior: Wind Driven in grass and sage brush Cause: Under investigation Structures Threatened: Yes Evacuations/Closures: Click the link to see the evacuation map. You can type in your address to verify... Full story
Two local school districts passed budgets for the next school year on Monday after a Friday when the Trump Administration relented on withholding billions that were supposed to have been transferred to states by July 1. In Coulee Dam, school district directors OK’d a budget that plans to spend $416,000 less than in the 2024-25 year just ended, but still will end up next summer with less than a quarter of what it will start the 2025-26 year with amid declining student enrollment. The district will start with just under $2.5 million next month, a...
A city council member in Grand Coulee says he’d rather not have to pass an ordinance that forces property owners to get their commercial sites up to standards, but he will push for it if no progress is made. Tom Poplawski said at the city’s last council meeting July 15 that he is aware of arguments for and against passing an ordinance with punitive measures designed to encourage owners of empty or unsightly buildings to clean up. “I agree with all of it, actually, but neither one has produced any change,” he said. “And so we’re still stuck...
Local entrepreneur Micah Seekins has announced his candidacy for mayor of Grand Coulee, seeking to fill a two-year unexpired term with a campaign centered on fiscal responsibility and the fundamentals of city governance. Seekins, who has operated a business in Grand Coulee for more than a decade, is making his first run for elected office. He has not previously held elected positions and did not submit information on educational background or community service, according to the Office of the Sec...
As salmon restoration ramps up on the Columbia River above Chief Joseph Dam, it is important to establish balances between those fish already in reservoirs behind dams and salmon being introduced. Completed in 1942, Grand Coulee Dam became the largest U.S. hydropower plant. It generates enough power to supply about 2 million households with electricity for one year. Water stored in Lake Roosevelt, which is 150 miles long and as deep as 375 feet, reduced downstream flooding. Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams blocked salmon from migrating...
Although 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris lost Congressional District 4 by 59%-38%, she only lost nation-wide narrowly by 1.5%. Yet, 155 years after African Americans were enfranchised to vote, that anyone as openly racist as President Donald Trump can still be elected president is utterly appalling. Racism remains our country’s original sin (quoting Abraham Lincoln) and most enduring, cruel sin. I admit naiveté in thinking a majority of white Americans had progressed beyond considering color when Barack Obama became pr...
When I brought Village Cinema back to life, my goal wasn’t just to reopen a theater... it was to build something this town could be proud of, and something that included everyone. Now, we’re taking another step in that direction. Starting at the end of August, we’ll be launching a new wireless audio system that lets guests stream movie sound directly to their own phones with earbuds and headphones. It’s easy, discreet, and free. Just connect to our Wi-Fi, open the AudioFetch app, and you’ll hear the movie in real time. Loud and clear, ri...
I was born on a farm. It was near Four Mile Creek, south and west of Palouse. My dad went to town to get Dr. Dart, everyone’s doctor since there was only one in Palouse. As it turned out, I was delivered by my Aunt Lorena, who was staying with us at the time. She later was my mentor, in a way. She dropped everything and went to the University of Washington. She was in her 40s at the time, and would go on for her master’s degree. She later taught at the UW School of Medicine. It seemed she was always in my life. I was invited numerous times to...
by Scott Hunter Nothing like getting thrown right into the fire. Ruth Dalton was new to the city council in January of 2024 when the council chose her to fill the mayor pro tempore spot. That's normally simply who fills in if the mayor can't make the next council meeting. But then-mayor Mike Eylar ended up having to resign for health reasons, leaving Dalton at the helm of the city whose police chief was retiring and whose longtime city foreman was too. "It's been a huge challenge, but I have to...
Chantel Crowe thinks her knowledge of the workings of the city of Grand Coulee, along with her past experiences, would let her help the city to "move forward and upward" at the same time. Crowe has been the deputy city clerk since November of 2023. Even if she's not elected, she said in an interview, she has a goal of finding a way to help people who need it. "We have an elderly community that I would love to see supported even more - or a veteran community, a disabled community ... anybody who...
Working on the Northern Pacific Railroad was my first experience outside of Palouse. It was from Palouse to Tekoa, the rail line of some 50 miles. I had already run milk for the local Darigold dealer. We delivered milk on one side of town one day and on the other side the next. You got every other day delivery of milk, cream, cottage cheese and eggs. We still had glass bottles when I started and switched to cartons later . Early on, we had a lot of carton leakers. I worked at my dad’s butcher shop, at the local Piggly Wigley, and as a fry c...
Fire took away a family's home Monday morning in Coulee Dam. Randy Adolph's home at 1004 Camas Street, where he lived with his two grandchildren and a great grandchild, went up in flames about 10 a.m. when, a neighbor the next street over said, a very loud boom was heard. Casey Brewster was behind Lake Roosevelt Schools just down the street, taking a photo of his daughter, he said. He got in his truck and drove to the house on fire. Brewster couldn't open the front door but went around to the...
Grand Coulee’s city council voted unanimously Tuesday night to direct the city government to write to others who might wish to be part of a new “fire authority” that could combine the efforts of local volunteer fire departments. The idea was the subject of a community meeting in November 2024, when the Regional Board of Mayors sponsored a community town hall meeting to talk about options for either an emergency medical services district or a broader regional fire protection authority, which could start out initially as an EMS provider, proba...
When they wrestled with how to allocate a pay boost not all covered by extra state money last month, school directors didn’t know the federal government had just announced it would not pay far more money Congress had already promised, money that would typically be paid the next day. That was June 30 as the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors learned the $136,000 the state would pay for a 2.5% cost-of-living increase next year wouldn’t cover the $679,000 of actual cost involved, leaving a $543,000 hole in the coming year’s distri...
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has put on hold $6.8 billion in federal funds for K-12 schools, according to an Education Department notice obtained by States Newsroom. The agency informed states on Monday that it would be withholding funding for several programs, including before- and after-school programs, migrant education and English-language learning, among other initiatives. But the agency notified states just a day ahead of July 1 — the date these funds are typically sent out as educators plan for the coming school year. “The Depar...