Sorted by date Results 6361 - 6385 of 7151
The Regional Board of Mayors met and dismissed their meeting for lack of a quorum Monday afternoon. Only two of the four mayors showed up, Electric City’s Jerry Sands and Elmer City’s Mary Jo Carey. Both Coulee Dam’s Mayor Quincy Snow and Grand Coulee Mayor Chris Christopherson missed the meeting. Those attending did hear reports from the Delano Transfer Station. Grand Coulee produced some 759 tons of material for the transfer station, the leading city in the garbage department. Coulee Dam produced 602 tons of garbage, Electric City, 472 tons... Full story
The Ridge Riders, in their second annual auction and banquet, raised nearly $25,000 to support the various activities planned by the group this year. The auction raised $10,500; contributions for Rodeo Queen Erin Wieldraayer’s activities raised $1,200; and $2,000 was raised toward a new junior rodeo. Monty Fields, vice president of the Ridge Riders, stated that the Colorama Rodeo last year cost the group $20,000, and the bull riding events, $7,000. He said their April 1 banquet and auction w... Full story
Well, once again the Grand Coulee City Hall’s elected officials have proven that they are EXTREMELY effective when it comes to stomping out business in the Grand Coulee area, and not as good when it comes to cultivating an atmosphere for it. Our question to you, Mr. Mayor and the Council Members that have failed to act over the last couple weeks regarding the day care center (whomever you may be, we did hear it wasn’t all of you but complacency isn’t much better in our opinion), why does it take so long to do anything in your city? Why six mont... Full story
When I have a question, I will ask. When I am not given a sensible answer, I read. After quietly listening to a public presentation of the present and clear need for a $6.2 million dollar upgrade to the local Wastewater Treatment Plant in early 2012, I asked how is this going to be funded? A loan, I was told. Why haven’t you applied for any grants? I asked. There are none, was the angry response. How do you know if you haven’t applied, I wondered. The next presentation about a week later was for the $6.2 million dollar project, even though we... Full story
With all the talk about the health care system and its downfalls I would like to make one very big point that everyone seems to be forgetting: that the whole country doesn’t have any money, so how is this plan supposed to help anybody when there are NO funds to supply it? Most of the people that are pushing for the present healthcare system are lacking funds to pay for many medical bills, but the entire country is lacking money for some very important projects like law enforcement and emergency crews. Affordable healthcare for everyone is a v... Full story
Only 30 years ago, crime victims had no rights, access to crime victim compensation, or services to help rebuild their lives. They were often excluded from courtrooms, treated as an afterthought by the criminal justice system, and denied an opportunity to speak at sentencing. Yet through decades of advocacy and hard work, the rights of crime victims have come a long way. Today, all states have enacted crime victims’ rights laws and established crime victim compensation funds. More than 10,000 victim service agencies help victims throughout t... Full story
Political stupidity in Washington, D.C. is about to come down hard on our local area. Some economists argue that the sky will fall because of the “sequester,” a budget cut imposed by Congress and signed by the President in 2011 in a move designed to make such blind, across-the-board cuts so painful that they would never be politically feasible, forcing opposing parties in the nation’s fiscal policy debates to compromise. That was a huge political miscalculation based on the perception that things are as they have ever been. They’re not. Te... Full story
Tours, visitor center hours and laser light show offerings might be curtailed because of budget cuts, officials confirmed this week, but they’re still hoping for a reprieve from the national budget cutback known as “sequestration.” Although tours at Grand Coulee Dam resumed Monday after a normal winter stoppage, a hiring freeze across the Department of Interior has made it impossible to hire the extra help needed to keep operations open all week through the normal tourism season, explained Lynne Brougher, public affairs officer with the Burea... Full story
There is good news and bad news for those who visit the area to see the laser light show. The new show won’t be ready until mid-July. However, the all-new laser equipment will be able to show the old laser show. Until recently that ability was an unanswered question. It all depends on the “sequester” and how that affects staffing the various visitor functions at the Bureau of Reclamation. Nicole Poisson, project manager for LumaLaser of Eugene, Ore., the firm that is developing the new show, said visitors are going to see something outst... Full story
The chamber of commerce is sponsoring the “Are You Tough Enough” first annual Banks Lake Triple Fish Challenge, this weekend, April 6 and 7, out of Coulee Playland in Electric City, a major sponsor. The two-day event features a fishing derby for smallmouth bass, walleye, and rainbow trout. Competition is divided into two age categories, 0-14 years of age, and adults. So get out your rod and reel, read up on the contest, and get your 2013 fishing license, so you are all set for the big eve... Full story
Officials from Coulee Dam, Elmer City, Gray & Osborne, the Colville Tribes and Indian Health Services are meeting and moving toward some decisions on proposed wastewater treatment plant work that has been halted by controversy. Larry Holford, town council member at Elmer City, said he was pleased with the cooperative attitude of those attending a meeting last Tuesday. “We need to let the principals get their report together,” Holford stated this week. Holford said that Alex Dailey, an engineer from Indian Health Services, Frank Friedlander fro... Full story
Jim Keene, retired school administrator, was named to the Grant County Port District 7 board of commissioners last Thursday. Keene replaces Jerry Birdwell who resigned last month. Keene will take over his duties when the board meets the last Thursday of April. Keene has been superintendent of schools in the Grand Coulee Dam School District, in Clarkston and in Pendleton before his retirement brought him and his wife back to Delano. Keene has also served as president of the Grand Coulee Dam Rotary Club and is active in a number of local groups.... Full story
Work on preparing the old Melody Restaurant for opening has been so extensive that the town of Coulee Dam has given the owner, Juan Moreno another month’s free rent in exchange for an extended contract. City officials pondered another problem at the restaurant site, which is owned by the town, in a 40-year-old, walk-in cooler and a same-age freezer. Public works director Barry Peacock told the council that each unit would cost the city $10,000 or more. Councilmember Bob Poch noted that probably neither unit was energy efficient and that parts t... Full story
Wooden sculptures in Mason City Park will get their final touches as a result of action of the Coulee Dam Town Council last Wednesday night. The sculptures were made from the trunks of two trees that blew over in a wild wind storm last year. The evergreens provided shade for the play and picnic areas in the park. The council voted to let a contract to cut the sculptures loose, and prepare the area around them so they could be bracketed down permanently. The contractor will pour a concrete pad for each of the trees and place crushed rock around... Full story
Coulee Dam may be in line for a grant that would replace all its street lights with energy saving systems. Public works director Barry Peacock told the town council last week that the town is entering phase two in a grant from the Transportation Improvement Board to replace some 300 town street lights with new energy efficient lights, including installation costs. Peacock said the new lights, if the grant progresses, will cut energy costs for the lights by 50 percent. He said the new fixtures cost about $400 each. He said the town was notified... Full story
The town of Coulee Dam recently held a meeting regarding the problematic sewer treatment plant project. The meeting was closed to the public and the mayor directed that “Greg Wilder was not to be admitted.” When I asked what would happen if I just showed up, I was told that I would be kept away by physical force if necessary. The meeting was held in the basement of Town Hall — tucked away from the eyes and ears of the public. The town schedules these meetings with virtually no meaningful notice, they schedule them on national holidays, and t... Full story
At the Coulee Dam Town Council meeting held on March 27th, Councilperson Bob Poch stated that "we" could not just walk away from $1.5 million on the table from IHS for the proposed Waste Water Treatment Facility and that more and sufficient time is needed for IHS to bring their proposal and requirements for their contribution to the WWTF. Kudos to Mr. Poch for stating the need to move forward with new ideas and alternative plans. Shame, shame, shame on the rest of the council who hung their heads and for not offering a motion or a second on... Full story
This letter is in response to the March 20 Star article about Electric City looking to get rid of its “butt ugly trees.” In the 1980s, there was a consensus of the whole Grand Coulee Dam area community to beautify our area by creating more parks and greenery to soften the plainness and harshness. Project REV was implemented based on that and other mandates in the mid 1980s and the community worked hard to do just that by creating green areas wherever they could. Now our local governments are cutting down beautiful mature trees and soon we... Full story
Due to our projector bulb manufacturer no longer making the type of bulb our projector needs, and the one they sent us being a bad bulb, The Village Cinema will be down for the remainder of April, and possibly May. We are currently waiting for our fundraiser site to be up and running, but until then, we are allowing any donations toward a digital projector. Our down payment HAS TO BE $5,000. As soon as we have that, we can get a BRAND NEW DIGITAL PROJECTOR into our theater. If you are wanting to donate, please contact Don Redfield on Facebook,... Full story
Two women proposing a licensed day care center on Grand Coulee’s Main Street found out why it is said “You can’t beat city hall,” but they’re not stopping their effort to start a daycare. Andrea Marconi and Angela Feeley, who told council members that they wanted to start a “much needed” licensed day care center in the building at 227 Main Street, currently occupied by Button It graphic design, ran into a zoning problem and could only get a promise that the city would look into it. Under city zoning, a daycare center is not among allowed uses f... Full story
The school board Monday night awarded its K-12 new school project to Walker Construction of Spokane. Walker’s bid of $22,765,200 bid was accepted over a second bid of $23,253,600, by Graham Construction, after all of the alternates were considered. Only the two firms bid on the project. A decision to extend the bidding process may have cost the district the ability to start school in the new buildings in the fall of 2014. Superintendent Dennis Carlson said this week that with a 530-day c... Full story
Thirty-three candidates have filed for seven Colville Business Council positions up for election this year. In the Nespelem District Position 1 race, challenging incumbent Brian Nissen are Randy Laramie, Joaquin Marchand, Ricky Gabriel, Deb Louie and Myland Williams. Challenging incumbent Andrew C. Joseph, Jr., for Nespelem District Position 2, are John St. Pierre, Charlene BearCub, Enid T. Wippel and Jonnie Bray. Filing for Keller District Position 1, and challenging incumbent Darlene Zacherle are Sylvia Peasley, John Stensgar, Leroy Jerred,... Full story
The Colville Business Council has voted to spend $40 million to build a new administration building on the Colville Indian Agency campus near Nespelem. The vote was taken March 7, with half the 14 tribal council members present as the resolution passed on a 6-1 vote. The resolution called for the council to borrow the $40 million from the tribes’ “50 percent sustainable fund” of what is called the Qwam Qwmpt Plan for uses of the funds remaining after distributing half of a $193 million federal settlement to tribal members. CBC members votin... Full story
A dinner and auction to raise money for a family who recently lost their home to fire was a big success at the Eagles club on Saturday. Heather Downs said the event brought in $3,000 in cash for Warner, Nevada and Brianna Whybark. “It was amazing,” Downs said. “We had people dropping $100 for a plate of spaghetti.” The Eagles dinner hall was completely full about 10 minutes after they opened for the event at 4 p.m. Downs said the Eagles Aerie was very supportive, helping in many ways, not the... Full story
Science and math teacher Ralph Rise, of Lake Roosevelt High School, was recently selected as the recipient of the 2012-13 Science Champions: Science Education Advocate Award, presented by Washington State Leadership and Assistance for Science Reform (LASER), a program led by Pacific Science Center, Battelle and Pacific Northwest Laboratories (PNNL). Science Champions demonstrate passion for advancing science education in innovative ways. Each year, with support from The Boeing Company, Washington State LASER recognizes five individuals, teams o... Full story