News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Steven Flowers bested his own shot-put record by nearly two feet to earn the state championship Friday in Cheney, where Raider athletes competed in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association State Track and Field Tournament at Eastern Washington University. Flowers put the shot a distance of 51 feet, 8.75 inches Friday. His previous record was 49 feet, 10.5 inches, which he said he had thrown at the beginning of the season. "It was on Steven's fifth throw that he got his feet...
Put off by bids all higher than expected, Electric City leaders May 14 tabled awarding a construction contract for a new entrance sign to the city until asking for the public’s opinion. The city is now taking a poll to gauge public opinion. Votes, by Electric City residents only, can be registered at city hall or online at the city’s website at www.electriccity.us. Expecting a bid for about $35,000, council members were hesitant to accept bids that started nearly $10,000 higher and climbed to more than $100,000. “Seems like a lot of money...
With the filing period now closed, we can see which Coulee citizens have thrown their hats into the ring for positions on local councils and commissions, and which incumbents either filed to keep their spot, or chose not to file. In Electric City, Birdie Hensley and Bob Rupe have filed to be candidates for a two-year term in council position 2, for which incumbent Rich McGuire hasn’t filed. Brian Buche has filed for the four-year term for council position 3, currently held by Hensley. Cate Slater is running against incumbent Carol Nordine f...
The Grand Coulee Dam was built during the Great Depression and is now entering the future via interactive, 360-degree virtual reality tours becoming available this weekend. Seattle-based virtual reality company Pixvana partnered with Big Power Project, a content production studio in Seattle, to create the five-minute experience that becomes available at the Grand Coulee Dam Visitors Center this weekend, May 25. Up to four users at one time will wear Oculus Go headsets that will allow them to exp... Full story
The Isle of Flags Memorial Day ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Monday, May 27, at Spring Canyon Cemetery, when a dozen new flags will be dedicated to fallen veterans. Those will join more than 500 that have been dedicated over the years and make for a rousing display each Memorial Day. That happens with a lot of volunteer help, and community members are encouraged to join in. Anyone who would like to help set up the flags can do so on Saturday, May 25, at 1 p.m. Local veterans will also be serving up their Veterans’ Center Memorial Day Breakfast a...
Coming into Electric City from the south, there is a big sign that says, “Welcome to Grand Coulee Dam Area.” It was put up decades ago by the local Rotary Club. Another one just like it welcomes travelers coming into the area on the highway to Wilbur. It says the exact same thing. One doesn’t say, “Welcome to Electric City,” and the other doesn’t say, “Welcome to Grand Coulee.” That choice reflected the deep-seated desire of community leaders at the time to unite the community to strengthen it. It was almost an ethic at the time that recog...
There are dams that should come down and those that shouldn’t. Hopefully, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts its review of the 14 federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers, that will become abundantly clear. That review is expected to be ready for public comment in late 2020. Here is the difference. Demolishing the two dams on the Elwha River west of Port Angeles was a good thing. They were built in the early 1900s to bring electricity to the Olympic Peninsula at a time when s...
The Lady Raiders have played their district and regional playoff games, finishing first in the league and third in the region, and are moving on to state play this weekend. The Lady Raiders defeated Waterville 21-2 in a district playoff game on May 14 in Grand Coulee, finishing as the number-one team in the Central Washington 2B league. One highlight in the game came when Addison Hansen hit a home run over the fence, batting home two of her teammates. Pitcher Emma Marchand struck out nine...
Raider athletes received “All League” honors this week, as voted on by coaches from the Central Washington 2B league. In baseball, Raiders receiving the honors were Hunter Whitelaw, who made the all-league first team; and Brit Egbert and Tyson Nicholson, who made the All League second team. The Lady Raiders are the champions of the Central Washington 2B softball league, and several athletes from the team received all-league honors. Making the all-league first team were pitcher and third baseman Cassidy Reyes, pitcher and shortstop Emma Marchand...
Five Raiders qualify for state for track & field following Friday’s District 5-6 qualifier in Quincy. At the qualifier, the top five boys and top four girls in each event qualified for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 2019 WIAA 1B, 2B, 1A Track & Field Championship meet in Cheney. Steven Flowers qualifies to compete in the shot put, discus, 100-meter dash, and the 4x100-meter relay race. “It’s quite a feat to qualify in four events,” Head Coach Lori Adkins said. Flowers placed first in the shot-put event, throwing for a d...
Lake Roosevelt sent six girls to compete in the District 6 tennis tournament last week. The North Central Washington Athletic Associations 1A/2B/1B District 6 tournament was held May 15 in Manson and May 18 in Omak. The girls qualified for the event by placing in the top four of the league tournament. Alexia Ryan, a junior at LR, faced off against Molly Wiser from Cascade in Manson. "She played well but lost 6-3, 6-3, which put her on the consolation side of the bracket," explained Head Coach St...
The votes are in for the primary election for seven of the 14 positions on the Colville Business Council, the main governing body of the Colville Tribes, with 13 candidates seeking office in the Nespelem District alone. All the incumbents survived the primary. The primary narrows the number of candidates for each position down to two who will face off in the general election June 22. The Nespelem District Position 1 race was led by incumbent and current CBC chair Rodney Cawston (324) and Charlene Bearcub (157). Eliminated from that race are...
Faced with critics who question discipline policies at Lake Roosevelt Schools, officials Monday presented data and studies behind a direction they said is not only working better locally, but also mandated statewide. Ready with a raft of statistics for Grand Coulee Dam School District directors at a special meeting, Elementary Principal Lisa Lakin, Mark Herndon and Elementary Dean of Students Shamra Steffler told the school board that incidents of undesirable student behavior are way down from last year, thanks to programs put in place to...
The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a flood watch for areas in North Central Washington and Eastern Washington, including around Grand Coulee Dam. NWS is warning of showers and thunderstorms that might be capable of flash flooding from 2 p.m. today through late tonight, Thursday, May 16. NWS warns: "* Flood Watch for portions of North Central Washington and Northeast Washington, including the following counties, in North Central Washington, Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan. In... Full story
Electric City quietly changed the rules Tuesday night that govern the process by which it could fire its fire chief. The vote happened moments after Electric City’s fire chief told people waiting outside city hall during a closed session of the city council that a problem he’d had with the mayor had been ameliorated with a letter of reprimand instead of a dismissal. The city council passed an ordinance that takes out a reference to state law that imposes an appeals process giving a fired civil service employee 10 days to demand an appeal bef...
Four of the five Electric City Council seats are up for election this year, as is the mayor’s office, and interest is running higher than usual. It’s filing week in Washington, and people interested in running for elected office have until Friday to file their intentions. In Electric City, council positions held by Rich McGuire (position 2), Birdie Hensley (3), Carol Nordine (4), and Lonna Bussert (5) are up for election. The seat held by McGuire, who on Tuesday withdrew his candidacy, is up for a two-year stint, according to the Grant Cou...
As Sheriff Wade Magers, several of his staff, two county commissioners and computer personnel held their collective breath on the morning of April 23, the Lincoln County Sheriff's dispatching center's new technology "went live" and the system that was first installed in 2004 was shut down. Everything worked as expected, giving communications deputies who work inside the dispatching center the benefit of the latest equipment as they take calls from the public requesting law enforcement, fire and...
I was shown an aerial photo of the proposed Electric City sidewalk plan on Highway 155. I am concerned because the parking lot adjacent to New Paradigm Physical Therapy would be eliminated if sidewalks block off highway access. Handicapped patients would have only three spaces allocated at the very rear of the building and would be forced to travel around the building to the front door to gain entrance. This active physical therapy business is growing rapidly, and three spaces at the rear of the building is clearly not adequate and is... Full story
The Raider track and field athletes competed at the District 5-6 2b subdistricts meet in Manson May 8, where nine Raiders qualified for the district tournament on Friday in Quincy. “Our throwers really shined,” Head Coach Lori Adkins said. “They have worked for this!” Steven Flowers placed first in the shot put, heaving the 12 pounder 47 feet, 0.5 inches. Josh Flowers took second with a throw of 44-2.5, a personal record. Steven Flowers also placed second in the discus with a throw of 121 feet, 2 inches, and took second in the 100-met...
Darin Whiteman qualified for the state golf tournament Monday in Pasco at the District 5-6 tourney at Sun Willows Golf Course, taking sixth place in the tournament. Whiteman shot an 88 for the day, rallying after a struggle on the front nine of the par-72 course. Top honors went to Tri-Cities Prep’s Teddy Moore, who shot an 82. That rally qualified Whiteman for the third consecutive year to represent Lake Roosevelt at the state tournament. He’ll head to Tumwater Valley for that tourney next Tue... Full story
The Raider tennis squad competed in the Central Washington 2B/1B League tennis tournament May 6 and 8 at the North Cascades Athletic Club in Omak, where the LR girls team tied for first with Tonasket. That first-place spot was earned by Alexia Ryan, who placed second in singles; Savannah Hobrecht, who placed fourth in singles; Raven Clark and Tarissa Clark, who placed second in girls doubles; and Keziah Stice and Rainy Vargas, who placed fourth in girls’ doubles. The six girls will advance to the North Central Washington Athletic A... Full story
The Colville Tribes have formed a horse management team to help manage the feral horses on the reservation. The tribes have, in recent years, paid money to remove portions of the feral horse population via controversial roundups using helicopters to herd the animals, which were eventually shipped to Canada for slaughter. The most recent effort “failed miserably,” according to the tribes’ Natural Resource Director Cody Desautel. Sun J Ranch, which had removed horses from the reservation in the past, was paid $50,000 for this year’s removal...
A peaceful, but angry, group of about 40-50 people gathered outside of city hall in Electric City Wednesday afternoon in support of Mark Payne, the city's fire chief, who is facing disciplinary action regarding holding wildland fire-training exercises without a permit or the mayor's permission. "I am convinced that it is more likely than not that you violated state law in conducting an unauthorized fire training on April 19, 2019, on the Banks Lake Golf Course," says a letter Payne received...
Locals overwhelmingly oppose a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposal to ban cars from driving on “Geezer Beach,” a beach named after the elderly who frequent the spot because of its easy accessibility. The issue is a hot topic among locals passionate about the popular fishing spot behind the Third Powerhouse of the Grand Coulee Dam. The bureau released its “Draft Environmental Assessment” in April, outlining options of leaving the situation alone, blocking vehicles from the shore, or simply banning recreation in the area altogether. “The pu...
They came to listen and understand what has some Grand Coulee and Electric City customers upset enough to start a petition. Grant County PUD officials held a listening session and dialogue with people at last Thursday’s Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce meeting at Siam Palace. They heard plenty of opinions on less access at the local PUD office, which is open twice a week, including from Lonna Bussert, who had put out petitions for better customer service after spending lots of time on the phone not getting help. Public Affairs O...
