News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 6041 - 6065 of 7151
Coulee Dam has a new licensed day care. The day care center, at 1111 Central Drive, is run by Clarissa Cawston and is designed to take care of 12 children, from 6 months to 12 years of age. She has named it “Coulee Kids Day Care.” Cawston has designed the daycare center to be somewhat like a preschool, with educational materials including lesson plans and learning opportunities. It’s an opportunity for her to exercise her education degree from Washington State University and still be home with... Full story
Some people have a tough time getting to work on Monday mornings. That was the case for Jason Mucciaccio this past Monday when he fell asleep and his pickup truck left the roadway and knocked down a power pole on SR-174, near Knute Street at North Dam Park. Mucciaccio was driving to work at the new school building project, where he is employed by a subcontractor, when he fell asleep, he told police. His vehicle and trailer left the roadway, jumped a curb and severed the light pole. Police said damage estimate was $5,000 to the pickup, $3,000... Full story
A special dinner to benefit the Coulee Pioneer Museum will be held Friday, Oct. 25, at the Senior Center. Tickets are $10 per person or $20 for a family and are available from museum members or at the Senior Center. Museum coordinator Birdie Hensley said the spaghetti dinner proceeds will help the museum move along in its efforts to define itself. “It’s all you can eat,” Hensley stated. The dinner is sponsored by Flo’s Restaurant. As part of the fund raiser, a quilt raffle will be held at $1 per ticket or six tickets for $5, Hensley stated.... Full story
Coulee Dam area school children will put on “Blackbeard the Pirate” when they perform as part of the Missoula Children’s Theater on Nov. 9, according to Crystal Jones, vice president of the PTA here. School children from kindergarten through sixth grade will be the actors. Auditions start Monday, Nov. 4, at the Center Elementary School gym. Jones said that 50-60 kids will be involved in the play. Representatives from the Missoula Children’s Theater operation will be in the area directing the youngsters for performances on Saturday, Nov. 9.... Full story
I’d like to share an experience I just had. At the time of this writing it is day two of the government shutdown and I decided it was time to contact my senators and representative. Upon arriving at Senator Murray’s website and the “Contact Me” icon I received a message stating that due to the shutdown she was unable to receive emails from her constituents. That was irritating. There was a phone listing for her Spokane office, so I called during normal business hours and received the same message. No one could/would receive my call or comment... Full story
They are a group of local community volunteers who have volunteered to pick peaches, apples, Italian plums, apricots, tomatoes and whatever else may need to be picked. Whatever is picked usually goes to the senior centers in Grand Coulee and Nespelem, and also to the Senior Manor in Grand Coulee. Also, items are delivered to homebound elderly senior citizens in the Grand Coulee Dam area. Yes, the pickers do sample the products as we would never give out a product that we would not eat ourselves! A big thank you goes out to all of the citizens w... Full story
My husband and I thoroughly agree with Sheryl Moore’s letter in last week’s newspaper concerning the discontinuing of the annual Health Screening labs sponsored by the local hospital during National Hospital Week each May. We centered our medical care around the annual screening, and the only prescription I take is for a condition discovered by Chris Seyler, PAC, from lab results many years ago. I don’t know how long it would have taken to be diagnosed had it not been for the annual screening. Because of Medicare and our private insur... Full story
That’s one big pumpkin! Bill Niendam of Elmer City shows off what he calls his “300 pound pumpkin.” He and his wife Dusty raised a single pumpkin in their garden on Front Street. He said the pumpkin vine had a number of blooms but only one pumpkin. “We used a giant pumpkin seed for this one,” he said. It doesn’t look like he will move the pumpkin. “We would need a lift truck to get it out of here,” he stated. (Roger S, Lucas photo)...
The latest failure of Congress to compromise has shuttered two local branches of federal agencies but not affected operations at Grand Coulee Dam. The federal government went into shutdown mode Tuesday as the U. S. Senate and the House of Representatives failed to compromise on a continuing resolution that would allow the government to pay the bills already spent and approved by Congress. Locally, barricades and recorded messages greeted many who tried to contact federal agencies or receive... Full story
Police Chief Pat Collins made a little headway in his efforts to retain at least one of his patrolmen after the town of Coulee Dam was axed from its contract for law enforcement coverage with the Bureau of Reclamation. The contract, which affords the town four additional patrol officers, their patrol cars, training and equipment, was up Oct. 1. The town was already short two officers, and the contract’s end means the loss of two more. “I don’t know how I can provide coverage with only three officers,” Collins told the council last Wednesd... Full story
A 34-year-old man hanged himself in the tribal corrections center Sept. 24, a press release from Colville Tribal Police stated Tuesday. Police Chief Cory J. Orr said police responded last week to the Colville Tribal Corrections Center near Nespelem and found Aaron J. Swan in a cleaning closet. “Mr. Swan had hanged himself with a bed sheet,” Orr stated. Swan had been in the facility for two days, held on tribal charges of rape and indecent liberties, the release said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Dis... Full story
A plan to match kids and horses as part of a school program got stalled when the school district stated that its insurance carrier wasn’t too high on the idea. The idea was hatched by Chris Holman, president of “The Nourishing Hand” group, an equine rescue organization. His idea was to match kids from the school with mistreated horses and create a bond between school-age children and the animals. The idea was met with enthusiasm at the time, but got stalled by the school’s insurance carrier, Canfield & Associates. Superintendent Dennis Carlson... Full story
The Missoula Children’s Theater is coming to town. Sponsored by the Grand Coulee Dam PTA, the popular theater group will be here to train a host of children from local schools, then put on performances Nov. 9. Representatives from MCT will come here to begin after-school rehearsals Monday, Nov. 4. A request by the PTA to Coulee Dam’s town council for use of the Village Cinema venue was approved last Wednesday night. The council agreed on a $25-a-day charge for use of the theater, an amount that council members said would take care of ele... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson told his board Monday night that the K-12 school construction venture is back on schedule. “The elementary side of the project will be enclosed by the end of October, allowing workers to be indoors during the winter,” he said. Time had been lost early on when excavation survey mistakes were made, placing the schedule at a risk. The ground floor of the secondary wing was scheduled to be poured Wednesday. Carlson stated that the 1,100-foot-long retaining wall is essentially complete.... Full story
Port District 7 approved its preliminary budget for 2014 last Thursday and has scheduled a public hearing for Oct. 24 for review and public input. The meeting is at 5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 24, at the airport office, the port’s normal meeting place. The public hearing will precede the port’s regular monthly meeting. The port’s preliminary budget shows revenue of $458,000 and expenses of $440,200. A large portion of both revenue and expenses is some $254,500 of anticipated grant monies from the Federal Aviation Administration. The port’s major o... Full story
Coulee Dam rejected a bid of $21,000 to clean up a burned-out house at 611 Holly Street last Wednesday night. The lone bid had been submitted by Deckwa Construction, a Grand Coulee firm. The council did so because they weren’t sure where the money would come from. At issue also is how the town would recover the cost of cleaning up the property. One council member suggested that Okanogan County would probably end up owning the property because of unpaid taxes. The county wouldn’t pay off any lien the city would have on the cleanup effort. Cou... Full story
Remember when you were a little kid and had to learn, likely through repeated lessons, that you just can’t always get your way? That you have to learn to give a little just to get along in this world? That’s not just a childhood lesson, it’s a basic principal that undergirds the healthiest societies, keeps disagreements civil and greases the wheels of democracy. It makes civilization itself possible. But a new faction within the Republican Party rejects that premise, insisting that compromise is evil. Many in the House of Representatives got el... Full story
I was very disappointed several months ago when I read that the annual low-cost blood screening would no longer be available at Coulee Medical Center during National Hospital Week and our local health fair. My husband and I have found this to be a convenient yearly event in which we could participate to help detect any health problems before they become a major concern, as well as fulfill the required screening to update prescriptions. I question CCH Administrator Scott Graham’s interpretation of the law that governs public hospital d... Full story
I had the honor and privilege to serve on the town council of Coulee Dam for six years. Mayor Snow represented the town with integrity at all times. The mayor does not make the decision of running the town. The council does. Mayor Snow has been vilified unfairly by his opponent. We do need four more years of honesty and integrity, not divisiveness. I strongly urge a vote for Quincy Snow to be reelected mayor. Ray Duclos... Full story
Now let me get this straight. A couple of people are complaining to the city to stop a resident from helping out his friends and neighbors because it may be costing their business clientele? And in order to sweeten the complaint, they tell the city council, “Look, you’re losing money too.” This is so ridiculous. And a waste of my tax dollars while the city wastes their time “looking into it.” So basically, if I wanted to help my friends and neighbors with their yards by going around and mowing the lawns, and they paid me for my gas, and maybe f... Full story
Now let me get this straight. A couple of people are complaining to the city to stop a resident from helping out his friends and neighbors because it may be costing their business clientele? And in order to sweeten the complaint, they tell the city council, “Look, you’re losing money too.” This is so ridiculous. And a waste of my tax dollars while the city wastes their time “looking into it.” So basically, if I wanted to help my friends and neighbors with their yards by going around and mowing the lawns, and they paid me for my gas, and maybe f... Full story
A $5,700 grant is helping Lake Roosevelt lady basketball players mentor young students from the 3-6 grades. The Lady Raiders are holding three basketball clinics teaching the younger students, about 25 of them, the basics of the game. Two clinics have already been held and the third is scheduled Oct. 2. A mini-basketball tournament is planned for Saturday, Oct. 5, at the high school gym. The grant is from the Charlotte Martin Foundation and was written by Mary Schilling, grant writer for the... Full story
If you listen closely you’ll hear flapping going on in all of the towns here in the Coulee. Yes, I said flapping, like the wings of those majestic Eagles when they fly over the Columbia River, Banks Lake and Lake Roosevelt looking for a fish or two. What’s this about? Snow Birds. I’m sure you know some snow birds.I know quite a few and now that winter is closing in on the Coulee, I kind of wish I could be a snow bird and go south for the winter months, with a soft landing in sunny Arizona. Should I have said revving up their engines instead of... Full story
So, I’m very glad I took out that MedStar membership. Took a ride last night. The good pros at Coulee Medical Center figured out why I was so weak and sent me to Sacred Heart ICU. Turns out I have multiple pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in lungs). Yes, that’s bad. A surgery or two is coming up, along with some lengthy recuperation. Life is what happens when you had other plans. So, although your submitted photos are always welcome in The Star, they will be more so in the coming weeks. You can email them to gwen@grandcoulee.com, along wit... Full story
Owners of two business firms appeared before the Grand Coulee council last Tuesday to complain about a person doing mechanical work at his residence without a business license. Mike Horne, of MPH, and Jack Madsen of Jack’s Service, both in the vehicle repair business, stated that Donovan Picard, who lives at 431 Grand Coulee Avenue, is doing mechanical work at his home garage without a business license and in a residential zone that doesn’t allow businesses. Horne and Madsen explained to the council that the city isn’t getting tax reven... Full story