News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Companies in Grant County that “mine” cryptocurrency with high-powered computers have filed a lawsuit against Grant PUD, whose commissioners voted in 2018 to raise electric rates for the emerging industry. The companies say they chose to locate their businesses in Grant County because of the cheap power rates, and that increased rates will inevitably hurt their businesses. They are seeking money for financial losses they say they face, and they’re asking the court to order the electric utility not to implement its new “Schedule 17” rates for...
Local county sheriffs are weighing in on Washington’s controversial Initiative-1639 which is related to guns and is being challenged in the courts. I-1639, which took effect on Jan. 1, raises the age limit for buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. Beginning July 1, it requires purchasers to pass an enhanced background check, show proof of firearms training, and wait 10 days before getting the gun. The new law also makes gun owners guilty of “community endangerment” if their gun is not properly stored and is accessible by a child or by an...
The the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced Friday that all regional wrestling tournaments set for Saturday have been canceled due to bad weather conditions affecting travel. Instead, apparently every athlete who qualified for regionals will instead go to the state tournament next week in Tacoma. That means 23 Lake Roosevelt High School athletes will be headed to the Tacoma Dome for the tournament that starts in a week. Here's WIAA's email sent Friday morning: "Due to... Full story
A stray dog found its way into Lake Roosevelt Elementary School and has been a staple there ever since. The 8-month-old, black Labrador female dog, now named Raider, had been hanging out around the school for about a month last fall when eventually school employee Cindy Parra found her by the football field eating a bag of chips out of a child's backpack. Parra grabbed her, and Shamara Steffler, the dean of students at the school, adopted her. The school board in October approved for Raider to...
A group of protesters gathered outside the Colville Business Council's meeting chambers Friday as part of the council debated a move that would lead to expelling one of their own members. Ethics charges had been filed, dropped and apparently filed again on Councilmember Andrea George, who won a seat at the council last summer to represent the Nespelem District. Amid chants and drumming outside the tribal headquarters Friday, cars and pickups drove by on SR-155 and honked in support of those...
Legislation proposed on the last day of January would largely exempt state legislators from the Public Records Act, according to the attorney who led the fight against a similar bill last year. That bill was passed in a last-minute move after a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled in January 2018 that the Legislature was subject to the Public Records Act and had not been in compliance for years. Both sides appealed the decision and litigation still continues in the Washington Supreme Court. A public outcry over last year’s bill led to the...
The Raiders hosted the 2B District 6 tournament on Saturday, and all 22 Raider wrestlers qualify for regionals. Raiders placing first at the event were David Crowe, who wrestled in the 132-pound weight class; Kaleb Horn, at 138; Tony Nichols, at 152; Sherwin Vargas, at 220; and Terrance Saulque, at 285. Horn spoke about his matches against Scott Kuntz from Tonasket, whom he pinned in 32 seconds; and Kevin Sanabria from Tonasket, whom he defeated 11-2. "The first match was a pretty good go," Horn...
Steve Hood, Lee Largent, and Victor Camarena have all been named district wrestling coaches of the year for the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association as voted on by their fellow coaches in the district. Hood won the 2B District 6 wrestling coach of the year; Largent won the award for assistant coach of the year; and Camarena won the award for junior high coach of the year. "It's awesome," said Raider wrestler Kaleb Horn, who has won state championships twice and is going for a third...
The Lady Raiders won three games last week to wrap up their regular season ranked second in the Central Washington 2B league. Lake Roosevelt hosted and defeated the top-ranked Brewster Lady Bears Jan. 29 by a highly respectable 18 points, 51-33. Ellie Hansen led the Lady Raiders with 18 points, sinking eight of her nine shots at the basket and making two free throws. She made seven rebounds, as well. "It is always nice to beat the top team in league," Coach Matt Pleasants said. "The girls came...
The Raiders had a busy week of raids, defeating Liberty Bell, Waterville, and, most importantly, the top-ranked Brewster Bears in a nail-biting, last-second victory. The Raiders hosted the Brewster Bears, winning 61-60 Jan. 22 in Coulee Dam. The Raiders jumped out to an early lead in the game, and from there it was a one- or two-point game for either team. But by the end of the game, the Raiders were down by four points with 27 seconds left. "We called a play and Cameron St. Pierre hit a huge...
The Colville Tribes responded with a press release last week regarding a controversial decision to approve a contract to round up approximately 1,250 horses from the reservation. The nearly $500,000 contract awarded to Sun J Livestock was approved on Jan. 24. “The Colville Business Council responsibly addressed the need to better protect our lands, water, wildlife and native plants on the reservation with these decisions,” Colville Business Council Chairman Rodney Cawston said in the release, dated Jan. 29. “These decisions also provide a plan... Full story
Good luck to the Lake Roosevelt basketball teams and their fans in Richland today; win or lose (just saw that the girls won 46-43) , they may all have to take a long way home. Washington State Department of Transportation is showing I-82 closed between Yakima and Ellensburg, as well as minor state highways SR-24 and SR-241 through rural areas between here and there. SR 17 closed from Othello north, SR 21 is closed at Washtucna. That might leave US395 to Spokane and US 2 the only way home. But... Full story
Hunters and fishers wanting to head to local tribal lands will have to look online to buy their licenses, not at local stores. The Colville Confederated Tribes have launched a website for buying fishing and hunting permits on their reservation and eliminated the service from third-party sellers, such as Coulee Playland. “We have transitioned to an online system,” said Natural Resources Director Cody Desautel in an email to The Star. “Customers can come to [Fish & Wildlife] office buildings and get permits, which is still through the onlin...
Legislation proposed Thursday morning would define how the Public Records Act would apply to members of the Legislature after a 2018 court ruling that the state’s governing body is not exempt from the law. The bill would not satisfy that ruling, according to the lawyer who represented 10 news organizations before a Thurston County Superior Court judge who ruled in January 2018 that the Legislature must comply with the state Public Records Act and had not been in compliance for years. Both sides appealed the decisions and litigation is still ong...
Gary Darnold, who coached cross country for Lake Roosevelt for 40 years, including 38 state meet appearances, was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association's Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame on Friday in a ceremony held in Tacoma. Darnold coached the sport from 1977 until 2016, and in that time there has been at least one runner at state 38 times, 21 times the team has gone to state including 185 athletes, and had 15 individual finishes in the top eight at state. "He...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District is contesting the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s claim in a draft Environmental Assessment concerning the minimal impact it says a project will have on the district. The USBR is planning on a 10-year project to update three generators, G19-21, in the Third Powerhouse starting in 2023, similar to the ongoing project of updating G22-24 that started in 2010, and is estimated to cost $100 million. The USBR’s Environmental Assessment for the proposed G19-21 update, states that the project would have at most 103...
The lights on the Coulee Dam bridge over the Columbia River will enter the 21st Century in the coming spring, when they will be updated from incandescent to LED lights. "We're replacing all the wires that exist on the bridge, and the electrical service, so that the lights will function," said Robert Stull, the transportation engineer and electrical designer for the Washington State Department of Transportation office in Wenatchee. "And we're updating the lights to LED that should have a sort of...
The Colville Business Council took a series of actions on Jan. 24 related to feral horses on the reservation, including changing a law to allow machines such as helicopters to be used in the capture of feral horses, approving a contract to do so, and raising the bounty tribal members receive for removing the horses themselves. The contract with Sun J Livestock is for $478,750 and is for the removal of approximately 1,250 horses. The Tribal Tribune reported the amount but not the name of the contractor. Sun J Livestock removed about 420 horses...
The Nespelem School District has been awarded $2.86 million under a Washington state grant to help small, rural school districts modernize. The award was announced at the district's Monday night school board meeting. Apollo Solutions helped the Nespelem School District apply for the grant. Transportation & Maintenance Supervisor Dave Cirk wrote the grant with help from Jack Horne, Principal Marcy Horne's husband. Cirk said the money will be used to update the electrical system in the school, to...
If you have not already filled out your ballot, which you should have received in the mail by now, you should do so now. Grand Coulee Dam School District is proposing yet another levy, which won’t raise your taxes any higher than they already are. That’s because it’s just part of a two-levy remedy the district is hoping to implement to make up for money lost in the wake of new school funding structures put in place in the wake of the state Supreme Court’s McCleary Decision. The levy you’ll find on the ballot for the Feb. 5 election would kee...
When living in Bothell, we belonged to FIUTS (Foundation for International Understanding Through Students), a program through the University of Washington where you could sponsor foreign students. Through the program we sponsored students from Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. You were expected to share time and your home with them, and they, along with others we met, spread a lot of good cheer to us and our family. We also belonged to a group that raised money to provide supplies for Dr. Pat Smith, a Seattle doctor who had opened a hospital in...
The good news is Washington’s cherry crop is projected to be as good as 2018; however, absent tariff relief from the ongoing U.S.-China trade tiff, a key market will remain limited. When China’s tariff went from 10 percent to 50 percent last July, right in the middle of the harvest, exports to China went from the most profitable to the pits, Fox News reported. “Growers in Washington State, by far the largest producer of sweet cherries in the U.S., saw their bumper crop lose $86 million in value...
Seven performers graced the stage at the Grand Theatre on Saturday night in an open-mic concert that was the first event in the theater on Grand Coulee's Main Street in years. Between 30 and 40 people attending were treated to a variety of acts. Tim Brooks played traditional native American flute songs; Keith Jorgensen played blues songs on harmonica; Randy Spotts played flamenco guitar; Leah Whalawitsa sang an a capella version of "Say Something" by A Great Big World, a song made popular by...
A proposed bill would double the fine for motorists caught using a cellphone in a school, playground or crosswalk speed zone to up to $234 per infraction, or up to $468 for repeat offenders. Washington’s first law to address texting-while-driving went into effect two years ago, which also prohibited eating and applying makeup. “One of the primary crosswalks I sit at is Mill Creek Elementary,” said Christine White, a patrol officer with the Mill Creek Police Department. “I have seen people on their cell phones talking, texting, reading, doing o...
The Lady Raiders beat the Lady Tigers in Tonasket last week, and also defeated Soap Lake. Audrey Hansen was the lead scorer in the 56-32 defeat of Tonasket Jan. 22, with 14 points. Hansen also contributed eight rebounds, six offensive and two defensive. Shantana Pakootas had six of the 18 Lady Raider steals in the game. Tonasket only had one. "This game was a good test to see where we are and see if we are trending in the right direction," Assistant Coach Matt Pleasants said. "It was a close gam...